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Comments
The Desert Runner is not as stellar a performer, but it's excellent value for the money. Perhaps not as good a choice as the Tacoma for the serious off-roader.
Since this is a "Nissan or Toyota" forum. I'll limit it to these two.
The Crew Cab and the Desert Runner models even in 2 wheel drive form are built on the 4 wheel drive frame, which makes them a much heavier duty truck but they still have the good ride of a 2 wheel drive. Car and driver road tested a Frontier Crew Cab and said that the fit and finish of the body panels was as good as on an Infiniti.
The only thing now is "Why did Nissan have to come out with the Desert Runner!!!?" because I am seriously thinking of trading in my Frontier.
If you get the 4X2, make sure they offer a locking or limited slip rear axle. That should be enough to overcome any slippage you may encounter at the ramp for most situations.
I "just said no" to having more kids so I don't know about the car seat problem. My 10 year old doesn't complain about the exteded cab on my Silverado.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Wasn't that impressed with the Tacoma. Sales guy had to go along which meant 3 in the extended cab. The 4 cyl was sluggish, no doubt due to the extra weight but 200# in the bed wouldn't be unusual for this truck. Wife liked the style of a Prerunner (parked near the test unit on the lot) better but who wouldn't, plus it was stickered at $21K. The test Tacoma had "frumpy" hub caps and just didn't look like it was worth what they were asking.
We then went for the Frontier ride. It was better on pick-up (had the salesman with us here, too) but still had to use the passing gear in the auto to really get going on the Calif freeway. It was funny or fate that while testing the Toyo a new Niss King Cab Frontier drove by so wifee could see the competition. Don't see many around here so that was unusual. She liked it. Lines are crisper and, in my opinion, detail is better. Box is also deeper. Right now there's a $2,200 difference between the toyo and the cheaper Niss deal and I can't see what Toyo gives me for the $2,200 extra cash. I've had 2 Maximas since 87. I'm not in love with Nissan but I'm still driving the 91 and didn't have a lick of trouble from either of them. I just want the most reliable vehicle for my $$.
Niss might be a tad smaller inside, which might be considered by the previous poster who was going to have a kid. (He might look into the 4-Dr version but they're not dealing on that one. Still too popular, I guess. My dealer is asking $1200 over invoice.) The extended cab is probably not as deep as the Toyo, but mechanically and, especially price-wise, it is far above the toyo. I guess I'd better decide this week to take advantage of the $1K rebate from Niss. Opinions are just my .02 and I'm thinking out loud. Hope this helps someone.
By the way, Consumer Reports rates Toyo at "much better than average" reliability while Nissan is "better than average". That's a VERY CLOSE call because I think they're about the same nowadays. Toyo dealers are rated at the BOTTOM of the customer satisfaction scale, and that has been my experience in dealing with my local one. A "turnover" shop if there ever was one and I hate to even drive by the place because of my previous contacts with them.
I'd apreciate any comments if anyone has the time. This board has helped me a lot.
Why I switched to Nissan? Well, I was pretty happy with my Tacoma reg. cab and was perfectly happy to drive it another 2-3 years and then probably get a Tundra. However, a dude in a Montero decided I needed a new truck, rear-ended me and totaled the Tacoma.
For now, the Tundra is too new and too hot to get a good discount deal, so I bought the Frontier, which is just a little bigger, better equipped and more bang for the buck than the Tacoma.
new 3.3 L V6 motor and automatic trans. In my test
drive, the truck seemed to get off the line fairly
easily, but ran out of steam shortly. At 65 mph
with the OD on the engine rpm seemed high, at
somewhere around 2,800 rpm, and slightly noisy. I
can live with the slight noise, and the lack of
spunk, but I'm concerned about the high rpms. Is
this an engine that I can easily get 150,000 mostly
highway miles out of, assuming excellent
maintenance ?. I would be towing 1,200 # max., and
very few times. If I understand, this engine has
been around for quite a while, in other Nissanmodels.
Also, who can tell me anything about the camshaft
belt drive ?. I hate rubberbands, but the Tacoma
and Tundra use one, and Toyota buyers seem to be in
love with their vehicles. Dealer tells me service
life is 100,000 miles. Kind of scares me since
premature failure of the belt leads to major engine
damage since it is an interference engine. I find
Nissan's 2000 Frontier brochure ironic in that
they brag about how the 4-cylinder engine uses a
durable timing chain, and conveniently make no
comment about the belt used with the V6.Is this a reliable powertrain ?
Personally I find the Frontier and the Tacoma to be two very good trucks of equal quality.
this topic is being "frozen". It will be archived or deleted in the next 10 days or so.
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