Tacoma or Frontier?

My family hauler DD is an '08 rav4 sport V6,does everything we need it to do very well but my towing needs are changing a bit this yr.Last yr I towed a 6x12 enclosed v-nose with an F500 in it c/w extra sets of wheels and the usual crap needed for a race day.Easily 2500lbs,towed it fine with the exception of the transmission occasionally refusing to upshift again after climbing a grade regardless of throttle position,slowing down etc for sometimes maybe 20-30 seconds.That part makes me nervous. This yr I'm switching to an NA Miata,with JRSC,W2A I/C and harddog hardcore bar so probably 2200+lbs,I'm going to extend the rear of this trailer and use it for now; [URL=http://s117.photobucket.com/user/kevlarcorolla/media/100_0100.jpg.html][/URL]

The trailer will weigh approx. 900lbs so around 3000lbs(has 3500lb spindles),not ideal I know but its what I'm working with.

Anyways back to the question,I thought the collective here would have some insights on the merits of either a Tacoma or frontier both in the 2010 range double cab V6 4wd.Done a bunch of reading already but some it is tough to filter as it feels like both camps are trying to justify their decision to the other.

Love to hear from those that own(d) either truck,even better if you've had both trucks.

My dad has a 2010 or 2011 I think no problems at all I think he's prblly over 80k he tows a small trailer sometimes but nothing big. Around here in pa at least it seems like people selling used Toyotas think they are worth their weight in gold, the nissan seems a little better. The Suzuki equator is the same mechanically if you can find one. May be cheaper since Suzuki left the us and they have a longer warranty if there is still a Suzuki place near you.

Thanks,yes the taco prices up here in Canada are retarded...ok when you want to get rid of it yourself down the road though.I've never seen a Suzuki Equator here.

We have an '11 frontier in the family, bought new. Did the vs. battle then; settled with nissan due to less $ for what seemed same vehicle. Too much of a "big truck" but too steep of depreciation to back out.

I would recommend a lightly used Nissan due to price point. Stock trans cooler, could be easily upgraded to larger unit. Toyota's demand silly money new and used. MPG is not great, but better than 1500. (get about 17mpg vs 15ish.)

The long wheelbase, although hard to find, would probably be ideal( 4 door with 6' bed).

Used example truck (has the short bed)

kevlarcorolla wrote: Thanks,yes the taco prices up here in Canada are retarded...ok when you want to get rid of it yourself down the road though.I've never seen a Suzuki Equator here.

Sorry, didn't catch that you were in canadia, don't know if they ss those there. Honestly I only think I've seen a couple in my life lol . They didn't sell many.

I bought a CC short bed Frontier, new in Feb 09. Admittedly, I didn't have a ton of time to shop around (my previous DD was stolen). I liked them both. Both are good trucks. Ultimately, Nissan won because they offered some silly incentives at the time ($4k if i remember correctly?), plus they were willing to deal on the price.

The utili-trac system on the Frontier is awesome, Toyota came out with something similar on the later Tacomas (I think?). And I've towed with it a few times without issue, but nothing heavy.

My daily mpg sucks, I've seen as low as 13mpg. Typically 15mpg, all stop and go driving. Best I've seen was 19mpg, on a long trip.

I'll second the long bed recommendation. I'm happy with my Frontier, but I do wish I got the longer bed version. I've found the short bed to be just too short many times.

Be careful with the frontier, I believe it suffers from a coolant/trans fluid mix problem (just like the pathfinder does). The trans cooler is integrated with the radiator and the seal between the coolant and trans fluid section disintegrates. Water and trans fluid mix and it kills the transmission quickly. When looking at them check the coolant and transmission dip stick for signs of fluid mixing. If you purchase one you need to bypass the transmission cooler to prevent the problem.

kevlarcorolla wrote: Thanks,yes the taco prices up here in Canada are retarded...ok when you want to get rid of it yourself down the road though.I've never seen a Suzuki Equator here.

I have seen a Suzuki Equator in Canada, but I think they sold 3 of them in Canada so you won't see many!

old_ wrote: Be careful with the frontier, I believe it suffers from a coolant/trans fluid mix problem (just like the pathfinder does). The trans cooler is integrated with the radiator and the seal between the coolant and trans fluid section disintegrates. ..

I can tell you as a fact my father's 11 nissan has a separated trans cooler sitting in front of the radiator/condensor. I have had the grill off. Looks easy peasy to upgrade if you are overheating a trans towing. I assume his nissan has some type of towing package due to hitch, pre-wired etc, but have no idea if the 4 cyl models have the same separate cooler.

I did help my uncle swap radiators in his 4 runner due to that exact rad/cooler prob...

As far as the crew cab/long bed, I can say my father bought new to get that combo, it is a large "compact" truck. Again, mpg is mildly better than a 1500, but nothing amazing. I think he got 21mpg on a slow highway trip once. He no longer likes it as it is "big," but would take a bath with resale. It is practically a 1500 without the tow rating. He hates the turning radius, has trouble parking.

We've got a current gen taco, it's been a good truck, I like my 89 way better, new one is pretty americanized. V6 is strong, 6 speed feels a little rubbery, I bet a stiffer tranny mount would help (i might fill in the gaps in the mount). LSD is nice (it's a trd/ sport), sliding tie down setup is slick, composite bed is cool. Wish hood line was lower and there was less isolation from suspension (like the 89 which is stiff and feelsome). Way I see the price difference in nissan vs toyota, pay more, get more, resale more, or pay less, get less, loose more on resale. It ends up cheaper in the long run to have a better product (in my opinion).

I've had my Tacoma since new and it's been a good truck. I'm getting close to 100k miles now. The body still looks new. It's never been parked indoors. I use it to plow and haul trailers. A short bed would be nicer for plowing, but I wouldn't want to go much shorter on the wheelbase for towing. I've never had any issues towing, even through the mountains of upstate New Hampshire and Vermont. I've used it to haul Porsches, Miatas, Subarus and Jeeps.

I've had to replace an O2 sensor, the intermediate shaft on the steering column (worn universals) and the front wheel bearings, as well as a few brake jobs. I expect to get another 200k miles out of it.

I use to have a 2011 Frontier SV King Cab. Interior has a lot of plastic but I liked the layout. My main complaints were the blind spots and gearing. I could get 24 mpg on the highway with the V6 and auto trans but I felt the 3.36 gears hurt acceleration and towing. I paid under 22k new so for the price it was a good truck.

daytonaer wrote:

old_ wrote: Be careful with the frontier, I believe it suffers from a coolant/trans fluid mix problem (just like the pathfinder does). The trans cooler is integrated with the radiator and the seal between the coolant and trans fluid section disintegrates. ..

I can tell you as a fact my father's 11 nissan has a separated trans cooler sitting in front of the radiator/condensor. I have had the grill off. Looks easy peasy to upgrade if you are overheating a trans towing. I assume his nissan has some type of towing package due to hitch, pre-wired etc, but have no idea if the 4 cyl models have the same separate cooler. I did help my uncle swap radiators in his 4 runner due to that exact rad/cooler prob... As far as the crew cab/long bed, I can say my father bought new to get that combo, it is a large "compact" truck. Again, mpg is mildly better than a 1500, but nothing amazing. I think he got 21mpg on a slow highway trip once. He no longer likes it as it is "big," but would take a bath with resale. It is practically a 1500 without the tow rating. He hates the turning radius, has trouble parking.

Some of the frontiers did have a seperate trans cooler as well as the integrated cooler in teh radiator. My radiator went bad and I got a new from rock auto for pretty cheap. I bypassed the integrated cooler at that time.

The frontiers have problems with rear axles (I had mine replaced under warranty), bad ECUs (only certain years - again, replaced under warranty), and bad timing chain issues. Basically, if the truck sounds funny from the front of the engine on initial start-up, it needs the timing chain serviced.

I traded my Frontier (4wd 4.0 V6 extended cab) in on a 2011 Chevy Silverado. The silverado is cheaper to maintain, gets better gas mileage, tows better, and is WAY more useful. The frontier got about 19 mpg on the highway and 17 in town. The Chevy gets 18.5 in town and 21 on the highway.

I would seriously consider a full size truck to the mid size trucks.

Rob R.

I hate it that Nissan calls the D40 Frontiers "Midsize". Dodge created "midsize" with the Dakota, it had 4" between the wheel wells so you could flat haul drywall, plywood etc, the Frontier is still not wide enough between the wheel wells to be considered "midsize" IMHO. That being said I'm a Nissan guy who owns a Toyota. For me it's full size anyhow. The Nissan track system was better as it was on the floor as well as the sides, the Nissan also offered a real locker instead of the use the brakes to act like a idff that my Toyota has. I'm happy with my Toyota and have no plans to replace it.I was happy with my 99 Frontier until I decided I needed to replace it with a fullsize, I was not happy with the Chevy I replaced it with.

Rob R. You and I had very different experiences, my 99 Frontier SEV6 averaged 17 mpg (real average not some published figure) and in 154k miles I replaced brakes, tires oil and one hose clamp. My 04 Z71 in 100k miles lost a wheel bearing, speedometer, steering gear, transfer case (really just a low range box) switch, module and encoder motor, and at 100k the heads cracked, and it averaged 13.5 mpg. My 2010 Tundra at only 50k miles has been trouble free and averaging 12.5 mpg.

Agreed. However, both of our trucks are different generations. My frontier was a 2008.

Thanks guys,your thoughts mirror what I've been finding so that's good.

I've been driving full size domestics for about 15 yrs from the company I work for(that's ended),to not offend any domestic lovers I'll just say I'm not spending my money on one.I had a Nissan hardbody back in the day,ranks as one of my top 5 favorite vehicles I've owned-couldn't kill it.Owned 4 Toyotas now and can't think of a single major issue between all of them.

I've been a little concerned about the Toyota frame issue being up here in the rust belt,I applaud Toyota for stepping up and spending big money to buy back the trucks but not sure that gift would come along again if this gens frames turn out the same way.Decent 2010 double cab 4wds up here are listed for between $24k and about $29k which seems ridiculous,guess I'll be lubing up and bending over.

You should be able to buy a NEW CC Frontier for that money.

When I purchased my 2011 Frontier Pro-4X with the Lux package and iPod integration I paid $26,750 for a truck with 11 miles on it.

This was in the summer of 2011.

old_ wrote: Be careful with the frontier, I believe it suffers from a coolant/trans fluid mix problem (just like the pathfinder does). The trans cooler is integrated with the radiator and the seal between the coolant and trans fluid section disintegrates. Water and trans fluid mix and it kills the transmission quickly. When looking at them check the coolant and transmission dip stick for signs of fluid mixing. If you purchase one you need to bypass the transmission cooler to prevent the problem.

It's not well known, but Nissan has a standing unlimited year/100,000 mile warranty specifically for this defect.

Both trucks are fine, personally I'd skip the Tacoma tax and buy a used F-150 that can haul more, get better mpg and be half the price. If that's not an option, then Frontier.

I had a 2001 Tacoma SR5 2WD Pre-Runner V6 Auto. It was an exceptional truck - absolutely stone reliable, and having worked on all manner of cars for a long, long time, I was very impressed with the engineering, ergonomics, and most of all the build quality.

Bottom line: Toyota makes excellent appliance vehicles, full stop. After it was balled up on the way to Summit Point, my clean-sheet replacement vehicle search ended w/ an '05 4Runner Sport V8 - essentially my Tacoma w/ more motor and brakes and with my stuff riding inside with me rather than under a leaky cap.

When's the last time someone said "Man, you want stellar build quality, you buy yourself a Nissan"?

This is what my family owned when I was in high school. [URL=http://s79.photobucket.com/user/TAEnvy/media/5a1bf0c4.jpg.html][/URL]

The Green Z71 was mine, sold with 264K miles. I put a ball joint in it and a transmission (first car for a teen driver, it saw alot of off roading) and with a 4L60 I wasnt surprised, but overall it was cheap to maintain, got about 15-17 mpg with a Vortec 305 and 3.73s

I still think OBS Vortec trucks are about as good as they get for a cheap utility vehicle. Put some shocks on them and they actually drive really well, eventually you made need a WP, Intake gaskets, a spider (if a vortec motor), idler and pitman, and ball joints (if you buy a 4WD). All those things are really cheap except the spider at about 200 and the lower ball joint labor on 4WDs.

The two dodges are still being driven.

The blue is an 03 2WD 4.7 had 300K miles on it, has had one waterpump, a thermostat, a radiator, a condensor fan, brakes, plugs once or twice, tires, wipers, oil changes and air filters, and a few turn signals. Its on factory tranny fluid (scared to change it at this point), factory diff fluid, factory p/s fluid, stock wheel bearing and all stock front end parts, in fact the headlight bulbs are the originals. This thing has towed a flat bed trailer hundreds of times, a huge camper a few times, the camaro 7 or 8 times, a suburban a few times. It is used like a truck, in fact in the picture the bed is full of dirt. I just plain cant fault the truck, its been amazing.

The red one is an 05 4WD Hemi. It has 320K. Has had a condensor fan, plugs, brakes, oil changes, and egr solenoid, air filters, a fuel pump, thermostat, wheel bearings and ball joints (to be expected on a big three 4WD truck). The red one has had a few more problems than the blue one but still it has been an awesome truck, because it is used and abused, and it has pulled or towed twice as much as the blue truck.

The blue one gets about 19 and the red gets about 17.

I strongly recommend a full size truck from the Chevy or Dodge if you can go used. The depreciate like crazy after a few years or they used to, dont keep up with the newest generations, they will tow whatever you grow into next, dont take that much of an economy hit compared to mid size, and they are downright cheap to run. After working on them for a long time im not a fan of the Ford stuff, and the jurys out on the newer ecoboost and 5.0 stuff.

Or you could look at the newer dakotas, they are built on the full size platform and you can get the 4.7 in them.

I have friends that have frontiers and tacomas and they either arent very useful (4 cyls, small cabs) or they poor economy of a full size without the utility (V6s).

Whatever you do stick with something with 16s or 17s and a common tire size. After putting a few sets of good 20" tires on the red one im tired of it. I can almost buy 4 good tires on the blue one for the price of 2 mid grade tires on the red one.

Work trucks included the last 3 generations of F150's,tired of control arm replacements,paint eroding from every panel but the hood,blown rear ends,steering shafts,steering racks and every single metal fitting/part under the hood rusting to E36 M3 from the piss poor attempt of sealing the engine bar from the wheel wells which continues right into the 2014's.No thanks.

Just read your post about not wanting a domestic, Im also a huge fan of the 4Runner, My friends has an 02 w/ 390K miles and is damn reliable and very cheap to run, doesnt ride very well, even with new shocks on it but, Ive always preferred them to the tacomas.

Made the mistake of buying a new Dakota once,biggest pos I've EVER owned.As I age I try to not make the same mistakes twice.The entire dodge group consistently ranks amoung the worst for reliability records,glad yours worked out for you. I'd prefer a truck this time over a 4runner just for carrying tires,fuel and other stinky stuff which I do surprisingly often independent of towing.

kevlarcorolla wrote: Made the mistake of buying a new Dakota once,biggest pos I've EVER owned.As I age I try to not make the same mistakes twice.The entire dodge group consistently ranks amoung the worst for reliability records,glad yours worked out for you. I'd prefer a truck this time over a 4runner just for carrying tires,fuel and other stinky stuff which I do surprisingly often independent of towing.

I had a brand new '03 DAkota with a V6 in highschool. RCSB, 2WD, 5MT. I was a bit tall for it, but I'd take a Extended cab, 4WD, 4.7L powered one in an instant. Mine ate a camshaft and a block within 10000 miles when my dad traded it in on a Liberty. More than likely my fault, I beat on that thing like it owed me money.

Datsun1500 wrote:

motomoron wrote: When's the last time someone said "Man, you want stellar build quality, you buy yourself a Nissan"?

I assume it was right after they replaced the frame in their Toyota. When was the last time you heard Nissan build quality was lousy? You don't really hear good or bad about them. In the 70's, the top 3 were Datsun, Toyota, and Honda. They fell out of the top 3 when they changed the name to Nissan because people did not realize they were the same company, go figure.

I don't think they ever fell out of the japanese big 3. Mazda, Mitsu and Subie were and still are all pretty small market shares by comparison. The name change was gradual although I'm sure still confused some. I've met people that think Datsun was part of Dodge!? They might not have kept up with the appliance sales of Honda and Toyota but the altima has been a contender. I think it's the appliance market that helps to build the reputation that Toyota and Honda seem to have.