To buy or not to buy

Hi all, looking to get some opinions I'm looking to get into a new vehicle here soon. I'm between a 22,23 tacoma with the v6 or a 22,23 f150 with the 2.7 v6 or preferably the 5.0 v8. First how do you guys like your tacomas? I love the look and the overall reputation for reliability but have never owned one. I've heard they "hunt for gears" transmission wise is this more a feeling or a actual issue within the tranmission? How's the engine feel? And the overall driveability in general. Any major issues to watch out for? I will use this for some light hauling and plan to get a trailer to haul four wheelers and occasionally landscaping/ home project materials. Stuff that the bed won't be good for. Just any good or bad shout it out! Thanks sorry for the long post.

 

Test drive several samples and decide for yourself.

How much you actually tow, and what conditions, matters too.

Fitting people matters if you use the back seat, so try that as well.

 

As Bill says, try them both on for size. Two very different trucks. The F150 is more relatable to a Tundra than a Tacoma. Light hauling, building supplies (within reason), dump runs, a 4 wheeler or two should be well within the capabilities of a Tacoma. But, the bigger the load, the less fun it will be. The F150 will haul and tow more. The trans hunting seemed to be an issue with the early gen 3's but I believe this was fixed at the dealer by reprograming the computer. Anyway, the more gears, the greater chance of some hunting. The gen 3's have proven to be solid trucks. Your needs will dictate if it's right for you.
Cheers.

 

Double cab Tacomas still limit rear passenger room. The bed is only 5 ft long unless you find a "long bed". Towing is limited "real world" to about 3500 lbs, and you need to use S-mode (limits to a maximum of a certain gear, not locked into that gear) to S-4 ... towing torque comes from higher revs and gear-5 lowers revs too much. An OTT "tune" will help with "gear hunting". Real-world MPG for Tacoma will be around 19 if you stay with 30-32 inch tires, less if you go with 33+ and a lift.

BUT

The smaller Tacoma is easier to navigate around off-roads and easier to maneuver in parking lots (I came from a Corolla). It has survived my clumsy efforts at offroading so far. I find the driver-space fine, but would put smaller passengers in the back instead of the 6-ft people. And I expect more than 200k miles from the Tacoma.

But drive to decide if you can live with the Tacoma cab VS an F-150 cab.

 

Thanks all I'm coming from a chevy sonic as a daily and a beater f150 as my stuff hauler. The cabin size doesn't bother me. Wasn't sure how great the Tacoma was at bigger truck stuff does seem capable. I don't like the new tundras or I'd consider them. I love the old v8s shame it's not still offered. I plan on test driving both I appreciate your guys input.

 

I like my Tacma, and will continue driving until something happens were its not cost worthy of repair (like crash damage). When I go shopping for replacement vehicle I would look for another 12-15 access cab Tacoma with the 2.7l, or an F150 reg cab short bed 4x4. Ford engine type not real important as it's use is 90% commuting.

Test drive both for a week. Rent if you have to. Put them through the paces with how you will use them. Load them up, hook a trailer to them, take an hour road trip. Only then will you be better informed.

Six years ago I needed to replace my truck. I rented a Frontier for 5 days. Didn't like the cab layout. Didn't like the 4-door crew cab. Didn't like radio or A/C controls. Center console was too confining.

Then went and looked at an access cab Taco. It was a major improvement. Sure, there was stuff I didn't like about it either. But it just fit me better. Build quality and materials were better too.

Make shopping a fun process. Be sure it fits your needs, weigh pros & cons, and it checks as many boxes on your list as possible.

 

I like the rental idea and I didn't think about that. I briefly considered a frontier but I can't trust a nissan. They are the best of the bunch imo but I've heard wayyy too many horror stories of primarily their passenger cars but still can't trust it lol. I like the simplicity of the Tacoma tech isn't a big deal for me as much as reliability and a good power train.

 

How often would you need a bigger truck? The nissan titan was really at the forefront of bigger trucks for me because I wanted something new and with good warranty. Ultimately I still couldnt stomach the cost of it and the tacoma fulfills most of my truck needs. I use my truck as a truck but I also currently daily drive it. Dont like what I had to pay for it and dont really care about a lot of the "options" it came with which no doubt upped the price, but knowing that the resale value/trade holds pretty well in case I change my mind was a big influence on my purchase. All these companies suck and are willing to trade their name for money and I dont think toyota is any different. Sometimes I still think about a chevy zr2 but I think I made the right choice.

 

It would vary greatly. For example I have an 08 f150 as a back up and gopher essentially. Did some landscape work and took 4 trips to menards (big chain hardware store in the midwest) for bricks and leveling sand. But that's not every summer. I do home improvement stuff quite a bit. I did utilize the whole bed to distribute weight each time. I kept it a few hundred pounds under max capacity to save some stress on the power train and suspension. Towing it all wasn't an option. In that regard a full size would be a huge plus. Outside of that it'd be pretty light stuff kayaks, my mower ect. I do enjoy the power of the v8 despite it's age it's still got some get up to it. How does the toyota engine feel? Assuming you have the v6? Want something that feels pretty good power wise. Doesn't have to be insane or throw you back or anything. For context my daily is a chevy sonic naturally aspirated 1.8 4 cyl. And it's good on gas and that's the best thing I could say lol

 

Also I wouldn't have any hesitation or regret not going chevy my car has started to turn into a money pit. And As far as their trucks go I know a guy who had a gmc with the 5.3 100k miles needed a trans was on its second set of lifters and it was going to need injectors soon.

 

The one thing I would heavily consider before buying a Tacoma would be, are you thinking about a long bed? or are you thinking you can get by with the short bed? To be honest, the 5 foot bed is not great if you are coming from a 8' or 6'+ bed. Moving even basic building materials can be tricky, and definitely increases the need to have a trailer around. If you are used to being able to easily move large furniture, that becomes much more challenging as well with the short bed. That said, if you don't use your full sized bed that often, the Tacoma is great. Fun to drive, turns much tighter, and fits in normal parking spaces.

 

Having a Tacoma and an Expedition and friends with both Tacomas and F150.

The Taco really is more reliable and pleasant to drive in tight quarters and will hold it's value. The F150 has much more room in the back seat and will pull more and can be gotten well optioned relatively inexpensively.

At the end of the day you probably need to do some test drives and maybe doodle up a decision matrix for your needs.

 

Yeah seemingly that way posted here and on a f150 site for some opinions and I've really come to see I'm just gonna have to drive both and it'll come down to which is a better experience. Both are generally good options.

 

Tacoma comes into its element when it goes off road and takes beating too against time and so on.

F150 5.0 V8 will feel nothing during towing, while Taco will definitely feel some of it.

I personally don't tow with my taco, I use it for travel, off road and carry sht around. I've carried around 2K payload and it felt bit slow but planted on ground , did feel the slow acceleration.

If i were u, i would rent tacoma V6 and have it 2-3 days or so, try it out. F150 def beats Taco with tow, carrying stuff around. As well as space inside, in bed and all around, your family will feel comfortable in F150 lariat. In Taco double cab not so much, its a midsize.

F150 compares to Tundra, not Taco.


As far as what to watch out for, watch out frame rust on Taco and paint too. There are 2 main issues.

 

I actually really like the older tundra before the changeover the v8 was a hog but everything I've heard and seen it was a fabulous engine. I'm looking to get something 22 to 24 depending on model and when in 2025 I buy. Or else id probably go tundra. I will definitely try both I'm leaning towards full size mostly due to the towing capacity.

 

I probably wouldn't do it, but what about a new V8 Nissan Titan? Things I like column shift, V8, not a lot of tech. Things I don't like the truck is done, Nissan might be gone soon either way not a lot of support moving forward.

Other wise F-150 will do more truck tasks and the Tacoma will almost always hold more value. First one is debatable.

 

My vote would be a 2.7L Ecoboost over the V8. Lots of people love the 2.7L as it has a decent amount of pep but also great fuel economy. I have the 3.5L EB and the 2.7L might be the engine I get in the next truck.

 

I briefly considered the frontier and decided against it. Cuz resale and while it's the best of the bunch nissan is not held in high regard imo. I have actually heard good things on the titan. But this year or next is last year of production. And the styling isn't to my taste at the end of the day.

 

As far as the 2 7 and 5.0 go I like the 5.0 for the better towing and it's natural aspiration less things to go wrong. In theory more longevity. I'm looking between the 2.7 and 5.0. The 2.7 is zippy good on gas, can run on cheap gas and can still tow. But it hasn't been around as long as the coyote and I wanna do some more research before I commit. Plus the turbo I don't have any issue with and I know that maintenence matters as much as anything. But I have a hard time thinking it will last a naturally aspirated engine. The 3.5 is pretty sweet in terms of output and numbers. My YouTube algorithm has sent me too much rattling 3.5s to make me feel comfortable getting one.

 

I've owned Toyota 4x4's since 1982. Between company trucks and personal ownership, I have driven them for probably 950,000 to 960,000 miles and was stranded 3 times in 42 years. So as far as dependability goes, they are hard to beat. To avoid the "gear-hunting" get a manual transmission.