Frontier quality vs. Toyota

[Matt16]

Fed up. Owned a '03 Frontier a couple months, very strongly considering upgrading to a early 1990s Toyota pickup. Frontier gets 13mpg, the engine makes little low end torque, the left the factory without so much as alignment bolts and a passenger keyhole (really Nissan..?), automatic hubs are annoying when using 4wd, rattles, cheap feeling etc. Having wrenched extensively on Toyotas, I have to say the vibe I'm getting from getting underneath the Nissan is that it wasn't well thought out and is closer to Ford in quality than Toyota.

If you're searching through forums while considering a Frontier because its cheaper than Toyota's offerings, think long and hard before getting a Frontier...

I do like the Frontier's single rear jump seat on the extended cab, so its not all bad :S

/rant

[zoomzoom]

umm ok.. enjoy your yota. great thread btw. oh and you were talking about a 10 year old truck right because 2013 trucks are surely made the same.

[treducks]

Yeah, seems incredibly silly. You're complaining about a 10 year old truck having faults? What the hell were you expecting, a Bentley?

I have a 2012 SV V6 4X4 and the build quality is rock solid and I'm extremely happy with my truck. Go ahead and "upgrade" to a 30 year old Toyota and let us know how it goes.

[justin123560]

Now I understand zoomzoom's frustration

[Matt16]

Originally Posted by treducks

Yeah, seems incredibly silly. You're complaining about a 10 year old truck having faults? What the hell were you expecting, a Bentley?

I have a 2012 SV V6 4X4 and the build quality is rock solid and I'm extremely happy with my truck. Go ahead and "upgrade" to a 30 year old Toyota and let us know how it goes.

This is, after all, the First Gen section I'm posting in, no? I've never owned or worked on a '12 Frontier, maybe Nissan pulled up their socks since 2003? I'm not complaining that a 10 year old vehicle has faults. I'm "complaining" that my current truck, a 10 year old Frontier, isn't built as well as some other vehicles I've owned more than twice its age...

The age of the truck doesn't change that the truck didn't come with alignment bolts, a passenger door keyhole etc. Also, the Frontier seems to be aging like a Ranger, not like a Toyota. Its an observation, that's all.

Not my intention to insult anyone's trucks, don't take it that way. I've worked on and owned lots of different vehicles from lots of different brands and don't have any particular brand loyalty (I bought the Frontier in the first place yeah?) and the Patrol looks like a very well built truck. It is the case however, that the Frontier is sometimes billed as better value than Toyota truck/ Tacoma and I'm finding that to be not the full story. Cheaper-yes, same quality- I don't think so after a few months of ownership.

[zoomzoom]

Why are you so stuck on a passenger keyhole? Who uses a key to manually unlock a door these days? And most people would need to open the driver's door to drive the truck anyways.
Are you aware that the mighty Toyota produces new Tundras without the (OMG!) passenger keyhole?

[lane.mcpeak]

Something sounds wrong with your truck to begin with.

I have the one that's listed in my signature. No power anything, standard shift, etc.

I have TWO jump seats in the back. (one on each side)

And, I have a key hole in both the driver and passenger sides (YAHTZEE!!!)

Unless they changed that large amount on the same body style and generation of truck, yours sounds weird.

[climb]

All I'd say is that my V6 1999 has 356000 miles on the original engine and trans. A buddy of mine bought a used Ranger 3 years ago with 80k miles and just this week is having a rebuilt engine installed at 146000 miles. Never aligned the truck one time and tires have always worn evenly and rolled straight.


I'm a Toyota fan too and had a 1993 four banger Toyota truck before the Nissan. It did feel better built but I have to admit the timing chain broke at 155000 miles and bent a valve. Have a friend with a 1995 Tacoma and he got 280000 miles out of his engine but it spun a bearing at that point and has run over 150000 on a used engine since.



Unless you have a Supercharged V6 you should be getting 17 mpg hwy.

[Mhannis]

the problem here OP...is that youre trying to talk people out of buying a truck that is already 10 years old in your post. its build quality is no longer relevant as anybody that is purchasing one of these first gen trucks is going to get one second hand, and theres no telling the condition any of these would be in after that many years of abuse or tender loving care. so its going to be a bit of a crapshoot.

the first gens were a little low on torque, but they dont compare to the new vq40 motor...so again...your bashing is irrelevant to the current market. were the 90s yota's built better than the first gen frontys... /shrug. maybe... but who cares. people that are getting into that old of a vehicle know what theyre getting into, and typically fall into two categories... the " i need something that just runs" and the "ive researched the **** out of this truck, its what i want for my offroading platform before ive modded it into oblivion and its no longer the truck it use to be"...

you want an upgrade? get a 2nd gen frontier..then go drive a modern tacoma... you'll see who won out on build quality then, and from the number of yota people we have on this forum that switched over, and the reviews ive read online, i think the clear winner is Nissan here.

[brett3116]

I had the exact opposite experience as OP. Had a 93' with 180k that was a work horse with very little problems, and now have an 07' with some substantial problems before 80k, with most happening around 65k. I'm sure Toyota has their fair share of problems, but the new Nissans seem excessive for such low miles.