First off, cost. Yes, it’s expensive, but not much more than the (in my opinion) clearly lower rent Frontier. Compared to a full size domestic, it’s about on par. But the reliability alone is worth that to me. This truck is bulletproof, as just about every survey can attest. Resale is also a huge factor. I priced used trucks along with new when I was doing the shopping, and a three year old domestic is worth barely 50% of purchase. A similar Toyota was closer to 80%. In fact, that’s the main reason I bought new as it made no sense to get a mid-mileage truck for marginal savings.

Second, size. Where I live, the downtown area is very dense. Lanes, parking spaces, turning radii, all are squeezed to the limit. A full size truck is simply a pain to live with day-to-day in this environment. The Tacoma (I have the full Double Cab, long box, TRD version) is long (just as long as an extended cab 6.5′ box F-150), but significantly narrower. This makes all the difference. Yes, it’s big for a so-called mid-size truck, but I would argue that it’s the full size trucks that have gotten too big.

Overall, I have spent significant time in every full size with the exception of the Nissan Titan (whose reliability record automatically disqualified it from purchase consideration). As a specialty contractor, I travel a lot for jobs and therefore rent whatever is available locally. The Dodge is crappiest, and calling it a lard bucket is being kind. The GM is solid, but I hate the soft, floaty ride (I know I’m in the minority of truck owners there, but hey…). The Tundra is simply huge, and with the 5.7 an absolute rocket, but to me it seems Toyota cut costs in too many places to try and be at least close to the domestics in price. The Ford is my favorite of the bunch, with low MSRP, decent enough handling, and reasonable quality.

Overall, though, none of them can touch the Tacoma for usability. For the way I use a truck, it meets my needs perfectly. It can haul and tow 2/3’s of what a full size can, which realistically is all I need. It can cope with a much broader range of driving environments (tight downtown traffic, far better off-road for my occasional back woods camping trips and muddy jobsites, not to mention it’s dramatically better in the snow). It gets marginally better fuel costs (including premium gas) than any full size I’ve driven. Finally, it’s more fun to drive (yes, you need to rev the teats off it).

I read a lot of comments above (not all) from people who clearly don’t understand what many people want out of a truck. Considering the Tacoma’s comparative sales numbers (with a huge price disadvantage), clearly I’m not alone in finding the Tacoma to be an ideal compromise.

The hood scoop does suck though.

Has anybody seen the new ‘09 Access Cab?

Further, can anybody explain to me why they didn’t just make the jumpseats a single solid bench, maybe with a cloth lightly-padded backrest? The new center console looks like it would make it harder to use the back part of the cab to lay out long things, like a sleeping dog or what have you. Why didn’t they just eliminate the console entirely and stretch the jumpseats from one side to the other, like in the old T-100 extended cab?

You can see this if you do resale research today, too. The four-cylinder Ranger still has the highest depreciation rate despite having the best fuel economy in the class – thank Ford for hanging four-figure incentives on the nose of new trucks to kneecap the value of the one sitting in your driveway.

Taco owners lucked out. The huge move out of full-size trucks pushed demand for small pickups through the roof. Better to be lucky than smart, as my father always says.

I bought my 2005 Taco Prerunner (Regular cab/4cyl/5sp/SR5) new three years ago for $15,600 plus tax and plates. Today its worth $13,200. That’s a total depreciation of 15% over three years. Any full size truck has lost about 50% over the same period. That’s the value of the Tacoma and no other truck comes close.

The four-banger Taco does a lot better on fuel economy, too. I get 20/25 and the 2.7 Taco doesn’t need premium to hit those numbers.

I like completely rude and obnoxious trucks, but the Ranger is much too outdated to be a primary vehicle for most anyone.

Having said that – this is as horrible a time as any to mention that my Tacoma does have the hotly disparaged synthetic hood scoop (hey – it was on there when I picked it off the lot).

If you want a nicely loaded Taco, you’re pretty much forced to deal with it. Its a shame, really.

I will expect a hearty railing on the fake “bolts” that are “holding” the fender flares on. Poser indeed!

Yeah that stuff is terrible.

Clargnblost: its always nice to chat with owners like you. :)

Thanks – this is fun!

… At least the Ranger has aged well. (i.e. as well as can be expected)

I knew it – you’re a Ranger guy [cue Toby Keith].

Actually – I completely agree with you regarding the Ranger. I can appreciate it, though I have no desire to drive one.

I feel the Nissans are a bit overdone in styling too, but they are cohesive designs and avoid the mistakes of the Taco (beefy door handles, no fake scoop, symmetrical fender flares, etc). Speaking of, TTAC needs to test the Frontier.

I’ll give you that the Nissan’s do have a more purposefully consistent design over, say, the Honda Element. However, the overly manly door handles and random bulges are not attractive to everyone. I do appreciate function over form.

Having said that – this is as horrible a time as any to mention that my Tacoma does have the hotly disparaged synthetic hood scoop (hey – it was on there when I picked it off the lot).

I reason that it is functional in the sense that it takes me back to my youthful days with my GTO’s twin hood shovels.

Alas, the GTO “functional” scoops had about the same level of effectiveness as the Tacoma’s (i.e. none) but at least you could pop the hood on the goat and see that they went somewhere. Perhaps I should duct the Tacoma’s scoop to the AC intake or something.

TTAC needs to test the Frontier.

If this comes to pass, I will expect a hearty railing on the fake “bolts” that are “holding” the fender flares on. Poser indeed!

When I saw the Dakota I thought it was a reject from a Grand Theft Auto video game. Just a terrible design with zero refinement inside and out. At least the Ranger has aged well. (i.e. as well as can be expected)

I feel the Nissans are a bit overdone in styling too, but they are cohesive designs and avoid the mistakes of the Taco (beefy door handles, no fake scoop, symmetrical fender flares, etc). Speaking of, TTAC needs to test the Frontier.

And I don’t mind the Pre-runner concept at all. You get the ground clearance/locking axle/tires/etc needed for trail use but none of the parasitic drivetrain loss of a 4×4. And there’s a whole class of Baja Pre-Runner race trucks. Its the real deal, even if Poseurs flaunt ‘em too.

I’ll also agree that the Dakota is even uglier…but that’s not a compliment to the Taco. I still think its a clumsy, bloated rig with no sense of what a truck is supposed to look like.

Glad to know it’s not just me when it comes to the Dakota. Seriously – it looks like they went ahead and pre-wrecked it for you before you took delivery to save you the trouble.

Tacoma Bloated? For a primo example of bloated see above reference to the Armada (as well as the Nissan pickup that originated the statement). Nissan must have hired away Billy Bulbous from Pontiac to needlessly push the panels out further on an already ginormous vehicle.

Why am I the only one who cowers from the Nissans?

I’ll concede that the fender flares on the Tacoma could be slightly more conservative – but this seems like the thing to do these days. The new Chevy full size reminds me of the early 70s Monty Carlo, and I think I’ve said enough about Dodge and Nissan. Ford has done a respectable design job, but good God – those “Big Dog Daddy” commercials have got to go.

And – need I mention the Honda Ridgeline?

IMHO by comparison, the Tacoma is pretty restrained – but you are correct in one regard. It does not look like what a truck is supposed to. It also doesn’t have fjord like panel gaps (btw – that was fjord, not ford – but either way…) and rattle like a cowbell if you drive over a speed bump.

Since you mentioned it – what is a truck supposed to look like?

I want to address the comments that the 2wd Prerunner model is a “poser 4×4″.

I contemplated the 4×4 – but went pre-runner. My truck is primarily a commuter and weekend home-depot plywood hauler (apparently too harsh a workload for my C-1500, RIP) and the step down in mileage for the privilege of carting around extra 4×4 parts un-sold me. I do go off-road on rare occasions with all my astronomy gear but it’s pretty tame stuff which the Tacoma has 0 problems with.

I want to address the comments that the 2wd Prerunner model is a “poser 4×4″. I like to go out in the backcountry, places like trailheads at the end of a primitive road. I need a truck that can get me to those places, and the 2wd Taco with the locking diff does a fine job of that. I don’t go 4-wheeling just for the fun of burning gas in the wilderness and tearing up trails. I go to those places for quiet, scenery and solitude where I get the workout, not my machine.

And when you factor the price, the market’s big picture gets worse. Its a lousy value, IMO.

But you mentioned piece of mind, and those quality concerns are most valid: and that’s why the Tacoma will please many. The Tundra was plagued with suspension (balljoint?) problems and the new one had camshaft failures…all seem to have been addressed without much trouble. As long as the Tacoma doesn’t follow suit…

I’ll also agree that the Dakota is even uglier…but that’s not a compliment to the Taco. I still think its a clumsy, bloated rig with no sense of what a truck is supposed to look like.

But I understand why you bought it, and I’m sure you’re gonna love it for years to come.

The Toyota is only 1 MPG better? And it needs Premium gas to make that happen???

The numbers on my 4.0 four door long bed Tacoma are actually 17/21 with semi-primo fuel, but still – if you are looking for a high mileage pickup, keep looking (and looking..and looking…). Maybe that four bang Ranger (24/29) is for you.

Keep in mind that the Tacoma is not really so much a compact truck (anymore).

I have, however, noticed that this particular Toyota engine, the 4.0 V6, is not a shining star of efficiency. If memory serves me, Toyota’s own 5.7L V8 gets only 1 MPG worse in the Tundra than if it had the 4.0 V6. From a mileage perspective, it seems like a no brainer to actually go with the bigger V8.

Aside from its garage-friendly size and reputation for quality, where’s the value in this vehicle?

After enduring years of dis-proving GM’s engineering experiments, I have to say that the second item in your list is the big one for me. My Tacoma was a little north of $30K when I purchased it but I am pretty sure I’ll get at least six digits of mileage without major re-investment in it.

As a side note – consider the recalls lately. Ford just recalled trucks because they randomly catch on fire (even if turned off). I received a recall notice for my Chevrolet truck for the wiper motor about a month after I was driving in a very heavy downpour on the freeway (you know, at freeway speeds, with other cars around) and the wipers stopped – just stopped. I’m in the left lane of an 8 lane city freeway and completely blind at that point. Talk about soiling your underwear.

Compare – I’ve received two recall notices on the Tacoma. One was because they didn’t put quite enough umph on a nut enough under the dash that holds the emergency brake lever and the other was for the driver side floor mat.

Hmm…

Someone up there mentioned that the Tacoma is ugly. While I respectfully disagree with this evaluation – I’d also like to direct your attention to three of the most butt-ugly trucks / SUVs for sale these days:

The Dakota. What were they thinking?? I can find no angle to look at this machine that is pleasurable. I think the old AMC (remember the Hornet or the Matador?) design engineers finally broke out of the closet at Chrysler and have taken over.

The Nitro. Looks like it was modeled after the old Willys Jeep wagon. Have they already run out of good looking old vehicles to retro?

The Nissan Armada. This one screams Studebaker at me and not in a good way.

THOSE are ugly.

Because a 2WD, V6, automatic Taco manages 16/20 and a similar V8 (5.3L) Chevy Silverado gets 15/20. Those are EPA cycles.

The Toyota is only 1 MPG better? And it needs Premium gas to make that happen???

Aside from its garage-friendly size and reputation for quality, where’s the value in this vehicle?

Historically, I’ve always been buy-‘merican. This has lasted since my early dirty-finger-nailed high school 70s muscle cars days (man, I wish I had never sold my ‘70 GTO).

My previous truck was a ’97 Chevy extended cab 1500 which effectively (and finally) ended my lifelong (I’m now 43) love affair with GM. This truck was purchased new and the problems began as early as the next morning after I woke up and more closely examined my new truck procured late night just prior. This should have been a precursor – but apparently the factory just plain forgot to paint certain portion of the exterior just behind the front bumper. Hmm.. It was still pre-coat gray and I must have missed that during the late night brief examination just before taking ownership.

Now – I’m a white collar guy and this truck had the easy suburban life. Despite this – the ensuing seven years were marked by what I’d consider a lofty frequency of visits to the dealer until eventually, at a mere 73K miles, both the head gasket and rear main seal decided they’d had enough and performed an all-at-once impressively coordinated collapse. Combine this with the experience of my prior GM product committing a premature, spectacular, and massively expensive blown head-gasket suicide while idling at a stop-light one day – and the love was definitely gone.

Now consider my wife – who had (at the time) only two cars her entire life. The first was a Toyota, the second was a Honda. When both were traded in, they were in perfectly operational condition with very high mileage. You just get tired of looking at them after a while and you want something new. They don’t break – this was a new (and very appealing) concept to me.

You certainly can understand then that I only visited Honda and Toyota dealers looking for my next truck. The Ridgeline was too weird for my taste, the Tundra was about to be complete redesigned, but the freshly redone Taco fit the bill. Perfect size – about the same length as by C-1500 but about 4” narrower. Fits in the garage. Done deal – I got the four door with the off-road sport package (had them pull off all the silly decals – I don’t like driving around with the letters “T[u]RD” stuck on the side) – this was in December of ’04. The truck has about 30K on it now. Now – at this point in my Chevy’s brief and pampered life the steering had about 1 inch of play, there were rattles and squeaks coming from all four corners (hitting a bump made the thing shudder endlessly) and the alternator and compressor had already been replaced. The Toyota – is tight and (so far) problem free. Put in gas, change the oil. Drives as if it were still new.

My theory on why most think Ford/Chevy/Dodge make better work trucks is that since they treat you so poorly – you don’t feel all that bad about returning the favor.

The only complaints about Toyota I have is the buying experience was horrendous. The dealer was sleazy, the packaged options make no sense, they seem designed to make you purchase options that you don’t need and there was no available leather or sunroof options.

The original Omni-based Rampage, not the pudgy piece of garbage of the same name assembled by an unimaginative German company that can’t make anything that’s in between ultralight and ridiculously heavy for its class, was a blast to drive and had a GVW of 3350 lbs. Most small trucks don’t weigh as little empty.

Re-release this truck, with its full 6-foot box , galvanize the ENTIRE floorpan (these things died of premature cab-floor rot because the bean counters told Lee and Lutz to galvanize only the box floor and nobody will notice anyway), and give it modern fuel injection and ignition. I’d buy one in a heartbeat.

I have a 2WD Ranger that’s the only thing I can find with anywhere near as low a liftover height as the old Rampage. It has more rated horsepower and torque than the Rampage had but seems slower.
The extra 28 horses should negate the extra 500 lbs curb weight but doen’t.

Still, I’d take a Ranger over a Tacoma and definitely over a Ridgeline.

The Ridgeline’s curb weight is an astounding 430 lbs higher than my Ranger’s GVW and the payload ratings are exactly the same. Put two pudgy Yuppies and their 2.3 couch potato kids in a Ridgeline and you’ve barely capacity to spare for their iPods. Damn near every one of those vacationing families you see in Ridgelines must be overloading the vehicle. Ditto most fams travelling in “soft carlike ride” SUVs.

Thanks for sharing. Your comments are spot on, but the premium fuel requirement (sure it can run on regular, but that’s not the recommended fuel) and larger dimensions make the new Taco…well…its more like a big truck and less like your Taco. And that’s what I dislike about it.

Why buy a little Taco/Dakota when a F150/1500 can be had? Because it is those ubiquitous “full-size” trucks that fall short. Sure they can hold 4×8 sheets, but try to pile some weight in or do any serious towing and they are hopeless. I already have a 94 F250 with the big 7L. That truck can do some WORK. I had a ton and a half of rock in it, with an extra leaf and damn good tires. The pro does the grunt work and I’ll use the little Toy for my daily 100 mile round-trip commute. I don’t have to go into gas debt to haul trash, I can get to work in any weather and park easily when I arrive, my grill guard will toss the 2-3 deer I hit each year into the ditch like Frisbees, and I bet it has a lunar (238857) on the odometer before I even start thinking about what comes next.

I agree that the newer small trucks are getting too big. Seems like most car/truck models have been doing this for decades, though. Something new steps into the tiny niche when it frees up.

Bravo TTAT-ers!!!

Unfortunately, none of the other trucks in this class are up to snuff. The Ranger, although attractive, is too small and outdated for the task. The Colorado/Canyon twins are quite ugly (their front ends look like the results of an explosion in a polygon factory and their interior looks like the inside of a plastic mailbox) and are underpowered. The Dakota, although capable, is not going to bring in the non-traditional truck buyer with its tupperware interior and unrefined chassis. Finally, the Nissan, although very competitive, doesn’t seem to be as refined as the Tacoma and Nissan seems to be unwilling to spend the marketing dollars to make it a worthy competitor.

Some of my points are quite subjective. However, the marketplace has spoken – the Tacoma is the best selling truck in its class.

The Ballooned-up Gas-Guzzlers currently offered by Toyota & Nissan are NOT small trucks.

I heard Kia may bring a real compact truck to the US market. I bought a Toyota in the 70’s, a Nissan Hardbody in the 80’s, and a Mazda B2200 in the 90’s.

Perhaps the Koreans will beat the Japanese using the strategy the Japanese employed to break the American market; reliable, cheap, durable vehicles for the REST of us.

If you need a truck for a daily driver, and whatever you’re carrying is within the payload capacity, a small 2WD pickup is a good idea for its better gas mileage. Their smaller size can also be a big advantage in urban settings.

If you’re looking for something to horse around off-road with then a small 4×4 pickup can make a better choice than a full size one. With a high-output V6 you can have a higher hp/lb ratio. Install a lift kit and bigger, wider tires and you have a lower lb/sq ft ratio that helps keep from getting too bogged down in the mud. The narrower chassis can also be better for handling rock piles. There’s more advantages in this dept, but that’s fine for now.

Beyond much more than that, I think the full size trucks are more practical.