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Compact Pickup Comparison: Frontier, Ranger, Tacoma, S10, Dakota, B-Series, & Hombre
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But the Saturn's close enough to being all-American.
Whether or not you come out ahead or behind on the Ranger versus the Tacoma won't be known until you finally trade, sell, or lease-return the vehicle. Vince's luck with Rangers has supported his OPINION that one would receive a better ownership value with the Ranger. This is not to say that the exact opposite hasn't happened with other Ranger or Tacoma owners. I'd say that it's probably a toss-up (which seems to be the reason that this board has been going for over a year).
"How is it that the statistics (CR, J.D. Powers, Auto magazines, etc) are not totally trustworthy, yet, there IS a consensus, according to you, among all the owners here, domestic and import, that, on average, a Tacoma will have better reliability than a Ranger?"
Have you seen someone post that the Ranger is a more reliable truck than the Tacoma? All I've seen is people attacking the naiveté that all Tacomas are flawless and all Rangers are lemons.
I formed my own OPINION using my own personal ownership experiences with Toyota, friends/acquaintances experiences with Toyota, conversations/dealings with mechanics, data from publications (biased and non-biased), etc...
I just didn't say "J.D. Powers said it was true, so that's the FACT!!!"
The prime suspect seems to have been absent from these boards for quite a while. I wonder why we have been so blessed...
vince only counts as 1 guys.
Now I spend all my time trying to justify my decision through selective statistics and quotations from Consumer Reports and J.D. Powers while dismissing the complaints and problems cited by other toyota owners as being "false or unfounded."
But seriously, other than maybe Spoog, I've never seen any toyota owner here post that all Tacomas were flawless. In fact, there just aren't a lot of toyota owners here period.
I am a major Ford fan and probably will always be. However, I now drive a Dakota Quad cab. It has several attributes that greatly impresses me, including the 4.7L engine. I can only hope that it gets as good or better reliability as I have had with my Fords. Yesterday, I was at a mechanice's shop that I know and respect and the owner buddy of mine came out and saw my QC. He was entralled with it and we discussed it in length. He may be trading his F150SC for one. His is the same logic as mine. He needs a truck that is able to haul a good size trailer. He wants a smaller truck than the F150, but not too small. He likes the 4-doors. He also does not like the fuel mileage and styling of the new F150s. I don't thnk the fuel mileage is that big of a difference, but it ges to show that there is a lot of different needs out there and we have to find the vehicle that best suits our needs.
I had to buy a new bumper from a dealer, OUCH 268 bucks! The stepside bumper is "special" for this box. Now its going to cost me another 145bucks to have it painted. This is proving to be expensive. I searched the junkyards far and wide with no luck along with the internet.
As far as my opinion on a full size.. The Silverado is winning awards left and right and should not be overlooked. The F150 series however comes in a very cool 4-door stepside that just can't be beat on looks (My opinion). Once again it comes down to what you are going to use it for.
just a thought to ponder.
Usually, they have just bought a Tacoma and disappear after a week or two, as they run out of the marketing jargon that the salesman fed them and have a very limited knowledge of both Rangers and Tacomas.
The same thing happens in here with Ford/Ranger owners too. It's the same with all makes if you just scan over these message boards.
as for the yotahead and simple minded fanatic of yota, i am not. i do own a new toyota and i have owned ford as well. both are great trucks. i do however steer from chevy i have had to many problems with them. the fact is that people are going to go with a vehicle that has been more faithful in the past. my ford was a good truck but i have had fewer problems with toyota therefore i decided to back with yota. the truth is that anytruck (with the exception of some situations) will last you as long as you are willing to make it. it just depends on how much money you are willing to sink into it to keep it working. my experience has been toyota just takes a little less babying. i dont remember anyone saying that every ford is a lemon. the only thing i have really encounterd is that owners of other makes seem to seek out toyota problems and attack others with the information that they have found. most are not ready for the come backs that they recieve when yota owners attack extensively documented problems the vehicles have.
as far as the better value thing goes, who is to say what is the better value. better value only applies to what you like. if you dont like ford or you dont like toyota then no matter which is cheaper it wouldnt be the better value for you.
vince i assume you would never buy a toyota because you like ford so much. this to me explains what is the better value for you. you would just not be happy with a yota. you also argue a lot about price and that the ford is a better value because of the options availiable at a lower price. my question is that ford is going to come out with a new off-road package soon that will more than likely bump the price of the ranger up to or more than the yota. who will you then think is the better value. just a thought to ponder.
Frankly, I can't see the advantage of paying 2-3K more for a perceived quality/reliability advantage. Please see the new Motor Trend. The hammer the new 4x4 Tacoma 4door on interior quality and plastics. And please note the price....
If you have questions about the Pickups Message Board, here's: Questions about the Pickups Message Board.
And now back to the discussion of Compact Pickups: Frontier, Ranger, Tacoma, S10, Dakota, B-Series, & Hombre. Thanks for your participation. ;-)
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Allknowing, I notice how you fail to respond to the person who also went to a Toyota dealership and saw the outragouse prices. The price debate is over here bud. Toyota's cost a heck of a lot more at sale so I sure hope your resale is better.. Man, I must have really deflated that Toyota is god ego of yours. You really have a chip on your shoulder for me...
Enjoying that open axle in that so called superior offroad Tacoma? LOL!!....
moparbad, if the trucks you looked at cost that much, you need to find another dealer or move back in the country were they don't add on so many import taxes. the sticker on my truck was 24,500 and I paid 22,500. were I live in Mississippi a ford ranger completely loaded can be bought for the same price as a toyota or at least within a grand not two or three.
My old man bought a Ranger with absolutely every option available for 19.5 last year.
Both of the trucks came with great financing too. I got 3.9%/60months, and my pops took .9%/36months.
It's dismal in the winter with long warm-ups (Chicago area) and short trips. I've seen it dip down to as low as 12mpg (and typically averaging 14mpg).
With mixed city and highway driving, it's usually around 17mpg.
The one plus with it is that mpg hardly decreases when towing around a couple of thousand pounds. I've gotten 18mpg towing my sleds up to Wisconsin at 70mph or so.
I live in the NW and have priced the Tacoma over and over and over and over and over and over again for the last 3 years. Not once has a Tacoma like optioned ever been within 1K, ever. TRD's are spendy and go for 24-26K in this region, the 4doors are about 27-28K.
As far as the OPEN AXLE, truth hurts huh? YOu paid a whole bunch of extra money for some Bilstein shocks and springs and a locker you will use maybe 2 percent of your total driving time. Other than that ONE tire is spinning back there...
Enjoy the sticker... LOL...
Resale again.... the Tacoma resale better be higher, you paid more when you bought it....
We have gone the KBB path before. The difference is not that much, especially when you option LIKE trucks.
Yeah allknowing, all those people in the Tacoma problem rooms are fakes, Toyota's NEVER have problems, EVERY one is Perfect...
It's my opinion that Toyota's are not worth the extra cash, and yes the Toyota's are 3 to 5K more than a Ranger, Frontier, or S10 (in my area) because the Toyota dealers are that GREEDY.
I like the product, the sales channel needs improvement.
Hope you plan to drive your ranger into the ground or else you're screwed on resale-- oh yeah, you've had it a year or 2, it must be on its last leg by now. do you just like to argue? you have no valid points
It is like the government buying $300 scredrivers and $1100 toilet seats. It was not because the parts were better quality, it was due to a lack of intelligence. Why pay 4-5K more for a brand name? Toyota Tacoma is not 4-5K better quality and functionality. What does the Toyota do that is superior to what Ford, GM, Dodge and Nissan do?
I have owned all of the above brands of trucks and I can say that the Toyota I owned had the edge in quality, however, it was not worth the difference in $.
besides if you invest an extra grand now you will get an extra 4-5 grand in resale plus any added benefits of owning a quality "name brand" truck
where's barlitz he'll back up the investing part
To some people, like myself, and possibly Tacomasrock or Allknowing, having the best quality is more important than the extra 2-3 grand the product may set us back. When I shop for jeans, I always buy Levis even though they cost more per pair (anywhere from $5-10 a pair more) than the competitors that I would consider buying. The price difference is irrelevant to me because I plan on wearing those jeans until they absolutely fall off, and I know that with their meticulous construction, they are up to the task. I don't like anything that wears out fast. Of course, this is a rather simple analogy, but we all have different tastes. Some want to save a buck or two and some want to reduce the risks or headaches in their lives.
Let me add to your Levis jeans story. Aalfs Manufacturing is located in my hometown and they manufacture denim items. They manufacture or have made all major brands of jeans using the same machines, employees, materials, and same quality level. The extra $5 dollars you paid for meticulous construction is very similar to the extra 1 to 7 thousand dollars that people pay for Toyota, you paid for the Levis tag, the meticulous quality was due to perception, not reality.
Vince8
read the post better. You said 24-27 i told you my sticker price was 24,500. By the way a z-r2 also has bilstein shocks, are you saying it is not a good value because of this. You know most people i have encountered on this site at least are open minded about topics and even if they disagree are still open to the fact that they don't know everything. you on the other hand must be "The Automobile Messiah". you know absolutly everything and everyone else is just ignorant to the truth unless their experience or knowlege is agreed with by yourself. To me this way of thinking and acting is ignorance in itself. Have you ever owned a toyota. The only thing we "Yotaheads" and even webbed have tried to get you to consider is that your odds of having to fix a ford before a yota are cosiderably greater. You may have the money to fix a truck when it breaks. I on the other hand don't. 6,8,10, years from now when my truck is no longer under warranty i will rest better feeling the sense of security (whether it is real security or not) that i won't have to shell the cash for a new tranny or some other major costly problem. Like it or not ford, chevy, and dodge are more likely to have these major problems before a toyota. At the cost of rebuilding a transmission (which i used to do) around 1500 dollars and more depending on problems, that extra money at the purchase just makes a lot more since to me. Consider this also. Statistically the above problems are going to happen to domestics before a yota on most cases. After just two of these problems you have already spent the difference between the two vehicles. I really don't care about my open rear-end were as it makes no difference to me. My truck does everything I need it to. I also think it is sad that you can not compromise to the fact that no one here is saying that rangers just flat out suck. In fact most people I have heard so far have said that they happen to be a very good truck. It just so happens that in their own experiences with the two trucks, they like the yota better.
Seeing as I can no longer quote Consumer Reports or J.D. Powers, both of which handily favor the reliability of Toyotas and the Tacoma, I'm left, like everyone else, to give my personal experience.
I owned a '95 ranger. I only experienced two problems with it--the wiper blades came on whenever they wanted and sometimes wouldn't go off unless I pulled over and turned the truck off, and the same thing went for the interior dome light. I got the problem fixed expertly for only $165, so I wasn't too upset. But I moved into a '98 Toyota later on, did 55,000 trouble-free miles, and then traded up for my current Prerunner which has 29,896 trouble-free miles. I will pay the extra money to have a trouble-free experience, and this is how Toyota stays in business. Again, there was nothing "perceived" in my ownership.
Toyota has lost its edge in the Quality and value equation. In the 80's and 70's Toyota had the quality and value edge hands down over the domestics. Today however its a different story. I'm telling you read Motor Trends truck of the year article. They don't like the interior quality of the Tacoma at all! Cheap plastics and quality!
As far as resale, I will say it again. I have punched so many damn times the same numbers it just plain getting old. The resale of a LIKE Toyota is a bit better but in no way 4-5K better. Where the heck are you getting your numbers from? Please list what you punched in and I would like to see this 4-5K resale difference. The resale is a bit better on a Tacoma, but not the thousands of dollars you hope for. And as I keep saying until my face is blue, RESALE SHOULD BE BETTER ON A TACOMA, YOU PAID MORE AT PURCHASE. Now, if I take the 3-4K I saved in NOT buying a Tacoma and invested it at a 15% return over 5 years. Who is going to be ahead then ? Vehicles are NOT investments they are a depreciating asset, ask any investor. Unless you own a 1957 T-Bird or a 57 Belair in prime condition, your car is going to depreciate not appreciate as some Toyota owners wish and want you to think.
And a new Ford Ranger owner has entered the room. A owner who has had great reliability/quality. How are you Toyota boys going to shoot bart down now?
Some of you veiw me as narrow minded. You may want to take a step back and look at yourselves. This stigma of "Toyota can do no wrong" is old and crumbling. Better take a look around the net and visit other rooms. There are plenty of dissatisfied Toyota owners out here.