Tell my why I should trade in my Honda Ridgeline for a Tacoma DC?

Ok fellow Taco lovers...... I just read the past to pages of this thread. FLORIDAFEMAN's first words were... "I am new to the forum". Not one of you posters of the 2 pages welcomed him. Is this how we treat our new members? With that being said......
&

On another note...... Good job Albert!

 

Maybe because he didn't post in the NEW MEMBERS section?
Ok, I give in... HI

 

Buy the Taco for the owner experience, drive it, mod it, but most importantly enjoy it!

 

My Tacoma is 7 years old and is getting close to 100K...KBB says i can sell it for 11,000 but with the setup i have may......get 12-13K. Pretty damn good.

 

ok, great pictures of your Tacoma. Is it 4WD?

You almost have me convinced.

 

When I was shopping for a Truck I had at top of my list the TACOMA. Hands down I fell in love with the design of the Tacoma. I've always loved the 1st Gen Tacos. The 2nd Gens Looked sporty, aggressive, and manly. However I wanted to make sure it fit ever need. So I looked into the Frontier and Ridgeline @ the time.


I feel in love with my V6 DC Taco right off the bat. I drove that thing and examined it in and out when I was at the dealership. However I didn't want to get too excited before checking out the other options.

So I test drove the Frontier and it too is a very nice truck. However it lacked in Interior and looks for me. I do like them when they are modded. I didn't like the Nissan reliability on them. I've read some bad timing belt and transmission issues on a few Frontier forums. So I was discouraged.

I then went to test drive the Ridgeline. I didn't like the looks at all. The feel of driving it was like me driving the Pilot or Odyssey. I felt like I was a soccer mom to be honest. I didn't like the interior or the power. I didn't like the fake bed. It was overpriced and I just didn't see potential in modding it either. The only thing I liked about it was the cooler in the trunk and the Honda name. I come from an civic si and s2000. So I've been a Honda guy.

Hands down I love my TACO and if I needed more truck. I'd have a Tundra.

Just ask yourself. Do you want to feel like a Soccer Mom or a Man?
​

 

Sig Worthy. Repped.

 

ridgeline=sheep tacoma = beast make your pick.By the way welcome to TW.

 

Tacoma ftw! Trade that Honda in!

 

Would you believe me that I can do all this in a PreRunner? That's what I drive.

 

Put any tacoma in the same spot & all wheels will stay on the pavement.

 

I looked at several trucks before buying my 1st Tacoma in 2003. I tried the Frontier(A friend had nothing but complaints about his frontier),Titan,Ranger(I had owned one before), F150,GMC,Dodge Ram.

2003 Tacoma 2wd


The 03 didn't lack the power to tow my 18' bass boat. It never struggled on hills with the 3500+ pound boat. The 03 was smaller than what I originally wanted. But I was staging with it for the next gen Tacoma. Due to resale value & I knew I wouldn't be upside down when I traded.

But it came down to lasting quality. Toyota vehicles last. The others above not so much. Resale value is awesome on these trucks! I wanted the 2nd gen Tacoma, but needed a vehicle right away. So I bought the 03 & planned on trading up to the 2nd gen 05 when they were available.

After a year & a half with the 03 I traded it in & was given 2500 more than I owed . Wow! I have never had a vehicle with that kind of value. I found my the 05 Tacoma I wanted.

My 05 Tacoma 2wd currently with 121,400 miles & no problems.


It is paid for & I was curious what the resale value is on it. The retail value is $15000 without my upgrades. I paid $23k OTD & used the $2500 for my tonneau cover, tow bar & wiring harness,tax, tag, & title. Only depreciating 8k in 4 years with 121,400 miles. WOW!

It is up to you on what you want in a truck. But for me I am very happy with Toyota. Another great point with Toyota. There really isn't any need for an extended warranty. It is just throwing money away. You would be better off taking that $1000+ & putting in savings(or stocks) for any repairs that may(but unlikely) come up after the warranty expired. Then if you didn't have to repair the truck, You would have a grand to use for mods or other things.

Heck I'm still on the original Toyota battery. I have never had a factory battery last more than 3 years, let alone 4 & still going.

Good luck with your desicion & welcome to Tacoma world!

Sean

 

I will say I had the Ridgeline in my list of "test driving" and the wife liked it a lot. Me? I just couldn't get past the design. Yeah it rode decent but I liked the idea of a "real" truck???? I don't know. The salesguy I rode with even told me if I plan on taking it off road this is not the vehicle for me. Any type of mods, etc... not for me.

I also tested Chevy and Ford V-8's for the heck of it and that was not what I wanted at all...

So it came down to TACO vs Fronty. I leaned towards Frontier a lot but seeing no dealers had any available I guess I focused more on TACO. I found one Fronty Pro4x crew cab fully overloaded and it was like $36k and they were only willing to take $3k off that. I walked. I tried looking for a LE crew cab but there are none at this time I guess. So I focused on a double cab TRD OR and there are a lot of them around me and good deals. So I'm on it.

Personally I think the TACO would be a good change for you. I think you'll be able to do a lot more with a TACO than a Ridgeline. But there are other things to consider, is it supposed to be a family truck, etc... you would need to focus on a double cab and then a short bed? or... so...good luck with whatever you do!

welcome and have fun!

 

i love this pic!

 

Exactly!

 

Great pic Chris.

Another point that hasn't been raised yet is if you own a home, not all you're trips are to home depot. Below is a pic of mulch but I've hauled top soil as well. What is the capacity of the Ridgeline?

 

The paint defects I've seen on brand new 09s on the lot and the rust issue are 2 things that worry me. I'm just shocked at the paint issues I've seen and don't understand how this is so common on trucks on the lot that are waiting to be sold! I've also seen quite a few 09s on the lot with small hints of rust and corrosion on the leaf springs and exahust system already. When confronting salesman about this they always shurg it off saying "its a truck..." or some smart remark like its not a big deal!!!! bah!

FJs have it worse, they seem to rust out fast. Well granted these are used FJs i've seen with bad rust but still, it shouldn't be this way.

The one I am going to purchase is clean so far. But i've looked over so many in the past week or so and noticed these 2 issues are common.

 

Photoshop is GREAT! It almost looks like its in mid-air. Haha.