Well I just got back from the Auto Show today and I used it as an opportunity to look at all the trucks in this segment. I have already ordered an 05 Taco, so this for what it's worth.
Engine and How it Drives Aside:
The specs on the frontier say it has more leg room and hip room. I have a feeling that while the specs "say" that, I dont think you're going to agree when you sit in it.
I sat in the Double Cab of each truck (since that is the one I am looking for).
I took a 6 hour road trip in my friends king cab titan, and I was in the back seat. My back hurt for a weak after the trip due to the seat having zero lumbar support. Almost inverted lumbar support.
As for the Frontier, the Double Cab has the same type of seats in the rear. NO lumbar support at all. So if your going to get a double cab, do not expect to put passengers in the back for a long time happily.
The Toyota rear seats are just as supportive as any other car's rear seats.
Also (this is personal preference), but I just dont like the frontiers interior. Alot do not like the look of the polished or brushed aluminum in the taco, but it gives it at least imparts some feeling of quality, vs sitting in the frontier and feeling like your in a truck from the 90's. Personally I want a new truck to look new!
The Frontier doesn't even offer a long bed (enough said).
Now there are a ton of other things people look at, I understand, but since it was a car show I could only look at the interior. And I will say the interior, room, and comfort, the nod goes to toyota all the way around. Comfort is not subjective the Toyota hands down is more comfortable than the Frontier, look and feel is definately subjective however IMO Id give the edge to the Taco as well.
It's weird some people want leather interior, but the trucks interior doesn't imply quality at all. So it's like putting leather in a Sazuki Swift.. I mean what's the point. However I hear ya on the sunroof, I'd like that option. OH well.. it is a truck afterall!!
Oh and for Info's sake. I also sat in the Colorado and new Dakota. Does GM even care about interior quality? I mean they can't seriously think that these piece of junk, pieced together interiors can pass these days. Both were horrid IMO. The Colorado was nice on the outside, but had the worst interior of all 4. The Dakota is ugly IMO, and well it just looks like a bare bones type of truck. Bleh... I will say, I walked away from the show alot more confident in my purchase.
I just checked out and test drove the new tacoma, then went down to the nissan dealer and test drove the new Frontier. They are both really nice trucks. I sort of think that that the Frontier looks a little tougher. The Frontiers Engine also seemed more powerful and it was quieter than the tacoma. I also liked the (steel) bed with the utila-trac system as a standard option. The price might seal the deal for me though. A similar equiped Frontier MSRP was about 3K less than the Tacoma, and I bet nissan will be more willing to deal. So I could get a 4x4 for less than a 2 wheel drive Tacoma. I have never owned a nissan but I may be converting soon.
I test drove a Tacoma and 4runner today and was very impressed, even after reading all the raves in magazines and online. I owned a '00 Tundra and enjoyed it. But I found the Tacoma a little more refined even than that.
I'm surprised at the comments on engine noise from the Tacoma, I thought it was pretty quiet! I suspect that many who find it a little loud may be coming from cars, suvs, and japanese vehicles rather than domestic cars and especially trucks, which are much coarser in my experience (I've owned 3 chevy, 1 ford, and 2 dodge trucks)
I thought the Tacoma was blazing fast. I zipped right up to 90mph with no fuss. O-60 is reported at 7.4 sec for a 4x4 doublecab, the heaviest version, and I believe it. If you are towing or hauling and need more power than that, you shouldn't be in too much of a hurry anway! I would assume that the difference in the two trucks in terms of power would be unnoticeable.
As for price, carsdirect already has tacomas at $1,000 or so off MSRP, so I assume you can do better than that if you shop around and know what you're doing. (call fleet/internet managers, don't call regular sales staff)
The two are very close matches I think. I'm sure many will try to show how their favorite is better, but I think it comes down to personal preferences in terms of styling and subtle things, nothing major.
Looks are subjective, but after eyeing them both I prefer the toyota look both inside and out. The Frontier can look nice too, but I prefer the Toyota.
Just got the '05 Frontier brochure in the mail today. I requested one on their website for kicks like 5-6 months ago.
I must admit that the looks have grown on me. But I still like my Tacoma 100x more.
I think the one area where the Frontier has us beat is their utilitrack system. Seems much more versatile and sturdy to me. Of course, they've been doing it longer, so Toyota will probably have it figured out before too long. I think I'll go check out a Frontier some time, just to see the rack system up close. (and so I can drive into the lot in my Taco)
I "seriously" considered both truck and went through great pains trying to decide on which one to go with. The high-level pros/cons/deal breaker are listed below:
The three main pros for the Frontier are:
- Frontier has a more powerful engine. I have seen multiple 1/4 times posted for each truck and sometimes the Tacoma is within 1/10 second and other times it is a second behind (I think the differences were probably street vs off-road test). Subjectively though... you can feel it. At low RPMs, the Frontier is just quicker.
- Storage and tie-downs. Interior has more storage (two glove boxes, more room under rear seat, etc) and bed tie-down system is better than Tacoma
- Value. For the exact same price (within $80), I could have gotten a 10-speaker 380 watt stereo, sunroof, roof rack, Stability control, Hill Climb/Decent Assist and a locking rear differential.
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The three main pros for the Tacoma are:
- Hand-down better driving experience. Handling was better, felt more stable on the road, absorbed bumps better (both Tacoma and Frontier had off-road packages), better transmission, etc. Note that, while the Frontier felt quicker, the Tacoma was no slouch either and actually felt like it had more punch on the highway (versus standing start) than the Frontier.
- Exterior design. Frontier looks nice, but the Tacoma IMHO just outshines it in this category.
- Undeniable reputation for Quality and Reliability
However, the deal breaker for me was:
- Better interior design, comfort and room. If I am going to be spending a large amount of time in a cabin I want it to be comfortable, nice and ergonomically sound... seats in the Tacoma offer MUCH more support, dash is nicer, more overall room (especially in rear seats), placement of center storage was better (offered better armrest). The interior design of the Frontier is unimpressive (which surprised me for Nissan).
Needless to say, I am now the proud owner of a 2005 Tacoma DC Sport 4x4
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