Toyota may be standing behind their product, but I would still be very hesitant to buy anything from a company that builds vehicles with frames that rust in half in less than 10 years.
Toyota basically gets a free pass in the media and all the car magazines (until recently anyways) and most people's opinion of them are usually unfounded, severly overrated, and usually based on the fact that "well, everyone thinks they're good, so they must be good".
I've got more dirt on Yota's than I care to type here... That being said toyota really isn't any worse with problems than any major car company, but they're definately not one step down from God like alot of people like to make them out to be. And don't get me wrong, a mid-90's taco would be my next choice of truck after the ranger.
Ranger's usually resale for much less than taco's, have you checked craigslist? I can find all kinds of ranger's for sale around here, and I'm just a few miles south of the WI-IL border...