Nissan Frontier vs. Toyota Tacoma

[deerefan]

My father owned 2 Frontiers, a 1987 and a 2000. I remember the 87( not really a Frontier as that name came out well after 87) had 8 spark plugs and was rather "peppy" for a 4 cylinder regular cab pickup. We used to chuckle over the "hardbody" description Nissan used. You could push on the door and the metal would pop in and out. The 2000 was an extended cab. He drove both to well over 100k miles. The only issue I recall was the 87 kept losing teeth on the flywheel, making a grinding sound when you tried to start it until it caught some teeth. We have never owned a Toyota. A good friend has an 05 Tacoma extended cab auto with a V6 and has had very few issues. It has 120k miles or so on it. It would probably come down to price for me as both are good trucks.

[mjncad]

I think these big honking trucks with crew cab and a little four foot remainder bed look and are stupid.

I agree that the "4 doors & a box" pickups look dumb regardless of truck size. To me those things are only good for the soccer moms to haul the team to practice and their gear, or the soccer mom wants to pick up a few potted plants at Home Despot and not have them inside the cab. The Explorer Sport-Trac or whatever Ford calls/called that thing is even sillier with a box not much bigger than the original Gooberu (Subaru) BRAT.

The only thing I can think of with a smaller box was my neighbor's 50's vintage CJ Jeeps with the 1/2 cab over the driver and passenger seat. I always thought the toolbox under the passenger seat was cool. That was 40 - 45 years ago.

I like a comfy truck with creature comforts; but it is a truck and I insist on long beds to haul stuff.