Which Pick-up do I buy?

rrrjr

I am in the market for a new 2001 or 2002 small pick-up. 2WD with 4-dr ext cab. 4cyl or small V6. I've read most every discussion, review, etc. out in town hall, message boards, and anywhere else I could get info on the WEB, consumer reports, etc. I am now more confused than ever on who has the better product? Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, or Mazda B-Series? Please help me decide!

redsilverado

but when i decided to buy a pickup that i could trade-in 1 yr. after purchase, the toyota tacoma won hands down. not just because it was a tough little truck that gave awesome gas mileage, and for a small truck that handled as much wieght as i could pile up on it, but also because it would give me the highest trade-in value out of all the ones you listed. i first wanted the chev s-10, but was steered towards the tacoma and i wasn't a bit sorry. i literally worked the crap out of that little truck, and it never made so much as a squeek. i paid 14,700 for it and there was also a 1,000 rebate at the time. when i traded the truck in 1 yr. later i got 12,100 for it, and it had 22,000 miles on it. it was a '99 extra cab. w/ 4cyl. and it also had A/C. gave about 24 mpg on the average.

fredvon4

Just my two cents worth:
As an army first sergeant many of my young soldiers had/have S10's and Rangers, some new some not. They all were not happy with reliability and maintenance costs. I have owned Toyotas and still own a V6 nissan w/284,000miles. I would go with Toyota if resale was the final decision but I also would not hesitate to do another Nissan even though I think the new body style is ugly. Both are damn good work horses that will haul the load and return great fuel economy.

I get 26 in town and 29@75mph (1986.6 V6 3.0L 5sp manual).
Happy shopping new trucks are fun.
Make sure to get a RED one as the cops will stop you often to talk about your new truck ;>)

dsdrvr01

If you go with the Mazda might as well go with the Big six from everything I hear it's getting about the same mileage as the 3.0. On the other hand heard a few complaints about the 4.0 motor set up in the ranger/mazda twins that I haven't with the 3.0 version.

I went with the 3.0 myself and it is a little light on the power side and I definitely wouldn't want it in an auto if I was driving on lots of hills. I went manual and so far 3500 miles without a problem clunk weird noise or other annoying phenomenom.

If you are buying a new truck and plan on maintaining it well, I wouldn't expect you to have major troubles with any major manufacturer. Every manufacturer has the chance to produce a few bad vehicles within every production run regardless of how sound the overall design is, just hope you don't get one of those.

If I was buying used I'ld probably go for a toyo as Toyo owners seem to baby their trucks and I rarely see them working.

One of the advantages of going with a toyo or ford or other good selling small truck is down the road there will be plenty of parts both sitting in junk yards from wrecks as well as aftermarket created for these popular vehicles.

Bottom line choose one you like, baby it and it will baby you. Abuse it and it may abuse you.

rsabaka

My husband has a '90 Ford Ranger with 250,000 miles on it. That's right...250,000. He's changed the oil every 3,000 miles, give or take a few hundred sometimes, and the maintenace has been nothing to really complain about. In fact, it's just been the last 50,000 or so miles that he's had to put any real money into it. So, he has nothing really to complain about. It's manual transmission, and I think it's a 6 cylinder.

rm13

I have bought of these vehicles and had good luck with them. I only put 30,000 or so on both so can't comment on long term reliability. I was younger and drove harder when I had the Toyota (92) and it never complained. I traded when I needed more seats. I bought my Ranger for 10900 new in 1997 and just sold it for 7500 by parking it in front of my house for a few days.
Toyota 4cyl was quicker than Ranger 4cyl. Both got around 25-28 mpg. Ranger looked and drove much more "truck-like", which I liked.
I don't think the backseat of extended cab truck with side facing seats is a safe place to be in an accident.
Ford vs Mazda: same product. Ford dealerships are more common. Ford was about 600 less when I bought. Mazda looks a little better. (and check length of warranty)