Tacoma or Ranger

[pcollins]

Hmmmmm ok well. 3 Dealerships and Not one had what I wanted. They had a few 6 cylinder 5 speeds...extended cabs. but whats the point in getting all that and then NOT 4wd? Theres one more dealership around that claims to have my Reg Cab 4 cylinder 2wd manual everything truck I'm looking for....we'll see about it tomorrow. For now I gotta relax before work (**** Nite shift).

I did glance at toyotas too...they only had 1 6 speed though and it was crew cab.

 

[azreb]

Fyi, toyotas are not more reliable than other cars/trucks. People will put$3000 in repairs in a toyota and turn around and say what a great truck it is and how its never givin them a problem. Its 90% hype. The price is rediculous, my friend at work just payed $6000 for a 1993 tacoma with 130,000 miles on it.... its in good shape, yes, but its rediculous! He also says what a great truck it is, even though the previous owner kept all the service records and there is aabout $5000 in recent repairs in the last 3 years. Also, have fun finding a used part, or even new parts. I worked at a toyota bmw and chevy dealer, and the toyota parts are usually twice as much as the bmw parts.

I put 130,000 miles on a 94 T100 4x4. The only repair required was a speedometer cable at around 120,000, except for a couple of timing belts, routinely required for that engine. It still had the original brakes, with lots of use left when I sold it. I put about 90,000 on an 85 Toyota 4x4. It required a bit more--fan clutch and water pump. My '82 Toyota 2WD required no repairs the 3 or 4 years I had it. I was it still running around 12 years after I sold it. I guess the price of parts is not a big deal if you don't need them.

Toyotas are the most reliable vehicles I have owned. That said, I believe they are overpriced now. Nissans are probably more cost effective. I just got my Ranger, and it needs some clutch work at 56,000 miles. Time will tell how it works out.

 

[Rose2300]

You got doc. On this? Side by side comparison it specs out identical to a Taco...... Sure would really lile to know for sure. Not that I could afford one either way.

Specs are simialr, but specs between equator and frontier are Identical. only difference is badging and the front end design

 

[wrecking-crew]

I put 130,000 miles on a 94 T100 4x4. The only repair required was a speedometer cable at around 120,000, except for a couple of timing belts, routinely required for that engine. It still had the original brakes, with lots of use left when I sold it. I put about 90,000 on an 85 Toyota 4x4. It required a bit more--fan clutch and water pump. My '82 Toyota 2WD required no repairs the 3 or 4 years I had it. I was it still running around 12 years after I sold it. I guess the price of parts is not a big deal if you don't need them.

Toyotas are the most reliable vehicles I have owned. That said, I believe they are overpriced now. Nissans are probably more cost effective. I just got my Ranger, and it needs some clutch work at 56,000 miles. Time will tell how it works out.

Comparing old Toyotas to new ones is like apples and bananas.

 

[Rose2300]

Sounds like Apple computer users.

except Macs are better than PC's so...

 

[4.0B2]

Comparing old Toyotas to new ones is like apples and bananas.

comparing old fords to new ones are the same way...

 

[koa's93ranger]

ive seen an 85 toyota 4x4 22re go for 500,000 and still counting. they just dont make em like they used to. im all for old trucks though. if i could, id trade my truck for a 1st gen any day

 

[wrecking-crew]

except Macs are better than PC's so...

I wouldn't say that.

Like Comparing Toyota to Ford.

Mac/Toyota: Over priced.

PC's/Ford: Priced decently.

That is my opinion anyway.

comparing old fords to new ones are the same way...

That is why I dislike the newer vehicles Ford offers. Yet, everyday, I work on them.

 

[robertc1024]

Forgetting about the PC's - To the OP - I'm sort of in the same boat. I've got an '88, while it's fun and all to drive an old truck, I'm thinking about buying a new (or newer) one too. Edmunds reviews kind of blast the Ranger because it's so old. Not as much interior room as the Tacos or Frontiers, not as much power out of the engines, lots of amenities blah blah blah. I've driven lots of the Frontiers and they are great, but I'm a Ford guy. The things that are currently selling me on the Ranger are:
1. Parts cost. I've had craploads of foreign cars from Porches, BMW's, Nissans, Volvos etc. and the first time I had to replace a couple of front calipers on the Ranger, I about sh!t myself on how cheap they were.
2. Amenities. Do I care? I rarely have more than one other person with me and if I've got big stuff, it goes in the back. Any 5 year old ranger is 1000x better than mine. I can get cruise etc. (which I consider the basic stuff) on a Ranger anyway.
3. Bed Length. Although I've hauled a yard of dirt in my father-in-law's Ridgeline (yeah, I know, it's not a truck) but it was a real PITA. 8' 2x4's stick way, way out the back with four door cabs.
4. RSH would fly up here and kick my butt.

I am curious about what you wind up with - please let us know. And I'm surprised that nobody's brought up the "Tacoma Station" comment.

 

[pcollins]

If the dealer I visit today after I wake up from work doesn't have the truck I want, I will most likely begin paying down bigtime on my current loan so I have some good equity next year when I get a tacoma...But I'll let you all know how it plays out! my fingers are crossed.

PS- Where the Hell are all the 10k mile used rangers at? I see so many 2010 F150s barely driven but no rangers....

 

[06RangerXLT]

Just spend a good half hour combing over some search results....most of the threads I read were just People spewing back and forth about how Ranger>Tacoma or Visa Versa only because they prefer that brand. Not really what i was looking for.

With fords discontinuing of the ranger I've got a decision to make, really. I'm either going to be hopping into a new 5 speed ranger soon, before they're too hard to find, Or a tacoma. On one hand, Im a ford guy thru and thru...and the rangers have a good price, but on the other hand...I like toyotas reliability and the fact that they are More of a supporter of the US job force. Does anyone own or Have owned before both of these trucks? Ups and downs of them, reliability...ease of finding parts etc....

Been raking google and such for a while now but just cant find a good, SOLID reason to pick one over the other.

just so you know, brakes are $1000 for parts (pads, rotors, drums, shoes), the truck rides on booster shocks, they are cheaply made and fall apart, their made of thin metal which rusts quickly if you get a chip. they cant handle offroad driving (friend has one, replaced the ENTIRE front end from a trail that my 2wd ranger made it through, now she wont go offroad) they are expensive to own, expensive to maintain, and honestly a pile of overpriced junk.

now the older body tacoma, the one thats ranger sized, thats a decent truck. those will take the abuse.

dont waste you money on a new tacoma, or i wil be forced to laugh...

 

[Ozwynn]

Thats how all of the new ones are. Nobody spends 30k+ on a truck to beat on off road. You buy a beater for offroad.......... I work to hard for money to beat on a 30k truck....... Now a 5k truck I will beat the snot out of and that will prolly be a ranger........ Although for a Ranger it would be more like 2k because afaiac the ranger died with the TTB.

 

[pillen140]

ive seen an 85 toyota 4x4 22re go for 500,000 and still counting. they just dont make em like they used to. im all for old trucks though. if i could, id trade my truck for a 1st gen any day

At one of the dealerships I worked at, out of 4 rangers that employees drove that were high miles, one had over 300,000 miles on a 2001 3.0 (three years ago and he's still driving it), one had 242,000 on a 93 4.0 and another one had around 212,000 I think? There was also an '88 chevy full size with over 400,000 on a 4.3. They all had never had any serious work except for the chevy had the intake resealed once. It was a toyota/chevy/bmw dealer and 75% of the people that worked there drove fords. We rarely ever saw a toyota with over 200k on it not in need of a few thousand worth of work. Id tell you about 5 people I know that own newer toyotas and have spent small fortunes on keeping them going.... but they are long stories! Especially my friend with a 2005 avalon, he puts an average of around $1500 a year into repairs, and his family has had it since new and always maintained.

 

[Rose2300]

YES! Look at the pics, especially the rear side window on the extended cab, Suzuki is defiantly a Nissan. Better than the Dakota it was rebadged before.

And the tailights, and the interior, and the engines, and the overall shape, besides the front clip lol

 

[pcollins]

Hmmmmmm. Well good news. The dealer had 3 5 speeds. 3 of them are exactly what I want. Bad news: Its a far away dealer. so what I'm doing today when I get up is heading to the dealer thats only 20 mins from me, and having them get the truck Shipped to their lot and then just buying it from there. I was also told that ford has some damn good rebates on the rangers right now. So I may get an even better deal than I first thought.