What else did you test drive and not buy?

Just a Tacoma. I may try a Frontier one of these years, though. I like the plain and simple vibe.

 

Same here. Plus the turning radius was terrible. And since I drive a lot of two track dirt roads for work I needed something that could turn tightly. I actually liked the Pro-4X and I think it would have been pretty capable. But it's also pretty bad on gas (bigger motor-which would have been nice). It also only comes in a crew cab configuration, and I really wanted just an extended cab.

 

I've been test driving a frontier for about 134,000 miles. It's been very reliable, quick, and gets pretty good mpg if you can keep your foot out of the pedal, but the turning radius is definitely on par with an aircraft carrier. I'd buy it again.

 

Test drove a Colorado 3.6 gas, Canyon diesel, Ram 1500 hemi, and GMC Sierra 1500 5.3 V8. Garage space took the Ram and Sierra off the list, Canyon and Colorado felt too cheap and car like to me, plus the rear seats don't fold flat like the Tacoma (which I prefer for my dog and hauling stuff in the cab)
I knew about the Tacoma's transmission / engine complaints when test driving, but it still felt like the right choice for me. Two years later no regrets!

 

Your mom.

 

Pink taco?

 

Real sick burn there dude

what are you like 15?

 

Maybe in 3 years

 

I was coming out of an ‘02 Tacoma that I bought new that had been flawless for 17 years and 227k miles, but I knew she wouldn’t last forever, so...

Test drove a Colorado, F150 and Ranger. I liked the Colorado, but the well documented 8 speed automatic transmission issues scared me off of it. I really liked the F150. It was a bit more $ than I was comfortable with. I REALLY liked the Ranger, and was gonna buy one, but the dealership started playing dealership games, pissed me off, so it didn’t work out.

So, I ended up going with a ‘19 Tacoma. Nice truck, no issues, no complaints (much, LOL. The transmission gets on my nerves).

Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I woulda bit the bullet and got the F150. I’m 50 years old, so I think as I get older, a F150 will suit me better.

I’m not disappointed in the Tacoma, though. It’s a fine truck. I know it will serve me well.

 

Like a few others have said, I knew what I was going to end up in. Thought I wanted an SUV so I bought a brand new Grand Cherokee Limited 4x4 last August, 9 months in I knew I shouldn't have left my '13 DCLB SR5 so here I am, back in a Tacoma and couldn't be happier.

 

Retired my 2 FJ’s and went right to Tacoma and 4R..
Couldn’t bring myself to try another brand.

 

Looking at manual trans options, the Frontier was a close 2nd for me - dated design and all. In the end, since I was buying new, I wanted a more refined truck which held value better and frankly looks better. I still think the Frontier is a good truck.

 

Had a 02 Dakota with 240k on it, loved the midsized ride. Test drove Colorado and Frontier, but had a certified 16’ taco for 3 days and had serious puppy love.
Tried to negotiate with dealer in Delaware, no budging from 27k.. so found the same truck in Virginia with less miles and pulled the trigger. Been loving it since!

 

Nissan Frontier Pro4x4 6MT: liked how it drove, but the interior and price were a letdown.
Porsche Macan S: Loved how it drove but it would have been $75k to configure it how I liked it.
Ford F-150: Not bad, not great. Too big for what I wanted.
Jaguar F-Pace: Liked the drive, but interior quality and reliability issues made it a no-go.

I wouldn't even consider the Colorado or Canyon. I've had GM vehicles before and I will never put myself through that hell again. Not to mention the interior quality is barely on par with a Tonka Truck.

 

I was originally going to buy a new dodge 2500 or 3500 SRW truck. I test drove a couple of them and really liked the trucks. I wasn't too keen on dropping that kind of coin on more truck than I regularly need. After I found out I could rent a heavy duty truck from Enterprise for the 2 times a year I need one I decided to look at something smaller.

I test drove:
Jeep Gladiator - Ugly as sin. The only one I would have considered was the Rubicon and that was just too damn much money. Dealer wouldn't come off the price on them so I walked.
Chevy Colorado ZR2 - Nice truck. Felt a little peppier on the highway but just didn't get me excited.
Ford Ranger Lariat FX4 - Cool truck, I really liked the tech package amenities. Seats were pretty comfy. I was concerned about the reliability of the 4 banger. Dealer didn't want to drop the price any, and it was more expensive than a Taco TRD Pro
Ford Raptor - This is what I was originally going to buy. I really freaking LOVE this truck. It really got me excited and I was down to buy it. Got to talking numbers and it was going to be around a ~950-1k/mo payment. Not a deal breaker since I was already dropping 1k on car payments, but it sure would be nice to have a little more money at the end of the month.

After I drove the Taco I wasn't super impressed with the TRD Pro. Its a nice truck, but for the money I expected more. More tech, more power, smoother ride. Just doesn't feel like Toyota is giving you much for your extra money. The only thing I wish the TRD Off-road had from this truck is the stock skid plate. That thing is much nicer than the Off-road's plate.

I decided to take a gander at the TRD Off-road after talking to the sales guy a bit. Truck felt pretty similar to the TRD Pro for the test drive, and came in around 10k less than the TRD Pro.The payment was about 300 less than I was paying and has lowered my monthly expenses about 400 with the improved fuel economy.

At the end of the day I found the Tacoma OR to be the best deal available. Add the reliability Toyota is known for in to the mix and it was a no-brainer for me.

 

I test drove a 19' colorado zr2 with z71 package, a 19' silverado LT with Z71 package, and a 17' silverado ltz midnight edition with z71 package. Colorado didn't impress me especially with the interior. Just felt cheap in my opinion and hated that the back seats didn't fold the way the Tacoma's did.

Really liked the new silverado but the dealer wasn't able to work out a good deal for me. Then I tried working out a price on the 17' sivlerado ltz. This one I really liked a lot and I thought I was gonna get a great deal since it was a used model with 70k miles. The best number they could give me was 35k OTD which I thought was ridiculous for something with so many miles, being a GM product. Passed on both silverados since I came to realize that I had no use for a full size.

Finally decided to test drive the Tacoma again, and fell in love with it. Bigger than the 1st gen tacomas I've owned and I knew that it was going to be a reliable truck.

 

Had a 2010 frontier for a few years before my last car, so I knew what I would be getting from Nissan- it felt dated when I got it in 2014...

Also test drove the ranger before I bought, but the xlt fx4 was like $4500 more than the TRD OR I ended up with. If it had been cheaper, I may have ended up with the ranger but I was too nervous about resale and reliability to even consider justifying the higher price than the Toyota.

I looked at but didn’t drive the ridgeline. The rear door openings are too narrow for the infant car seat I need to get in the back so that was a dealbreaker. I like the in bed trunk, but now I have a diamondback on the Tacoma so it’s like a whole bed trunk!

 

A 2nd gen Tacoma, supercharged 4.0 6mt. The truck was everything I wanted, even the color, options, etc. Only down side was, the clutch was on its way out, and it had 70k miles and they wanted 29k. I would have gotten it but didn't want to put a clutch in for the price.

Colorado z71 with the 2.8 duramax. I really liked the truck a lot. But at the time I could not get over the 41k price plus tax and license fees. If I would have waited another year I would have gotten one since the price at my local dealer has come down around the 35-36k range now.

Then I went to my local dealer and found my truck. Was not the color I wanted but it had all the other options plus the 6mt. 33500k plus tax, licence, etc. Looking back I should of waited for the color I wanted and fought for another 1000 off the price.

Would still buy my truck again.

 

Test drove a Ridgeline, but the dealer was not at all willing to come off MSRP or KBB for trade. Considered Colorado for a hot second, but decided against before a test drive. Wish I'd have looked at a Nissan, I don't know that its too much worse than current Taco. Also accidentally test drove a 4x2 SR5, sales guy thought it was 4x4, but about half way through the drive he came clean. Seemed like a genuinely honest mistake, he was easy to deal with for the actual purchase, but left the dealer shortly afterward, probably because he wasn't a big enough asshole.

 

Not gonna lie. Test drove a New Ranger little while back. Reaffirmed my decision to stay with a Tacoma.