Hello, been thinking about getting a Frontier for a while, and finally did more research and found the one for me a few weeks back. I had a 4 cylinder Tacoma until about 4 years ago, sold it to a coworker. Loved that little truck, but when I bought my FR-S in 2012 I hardly ever drove the Tacoma anymore. Been driving the FR-S since, and since it is now almost fully paid off was was wanting to get a 'small' truck again, but with a V6. Not a fan of the changes made to the newer Tacoma's versus the 1st gen, my dad has one and I can't stand driving it. Don't know why Toyota had to change the driving position, how the clutch grabs, and put such a floppy FWD cable actuated feeling shifter in it. My '98 Extended Cab had great seating position, perfectly setup for heel/toe (even more than the FR-S), with a nice clutch actuation and much better shifter.
Anyways, I much prefer the exterior angular styling of the Frontier to the more rounded styling of the Tacoma and really wanted to check one out. There was a '05 Frontier S spec locally that was configured how I would want, and even though I had no intention of getting that particular one I still wanted to check it out to compare against the newer Tacomas. In checking out that Frontier, I indeed liked what I saw - the driving position, 6-speed shifter, and clutch all felt really good. Rear room is a little less compared to the Tacoma, but not really too concerned with that. Then I found the '13 Frontier with 80k miles I ended up buying, located some 1,400 miles away in North Carolina....it was within my budget and looked practically brand new in the ad from a dealership that had a good reputation from what I could find. So got finances all arranged and flew out to buy it sight unseen. Dealership had a driver pick me up from the airport and drive me to their place. The Frontier looked every bit as excellent as it did in the ad, the bed didn't even look like it was ever used for anything - factory spray in liner in pristine condition. Within about 30 minutes the keys were in my hands and I was on my way back home.
Truck cruised beautifully on the Interstate... cruise set at 80mph...averaging ~22mpg ::smile:: Did hit a massive downpour in Florida near Tallahassee late at night...wipers were practically useless and 50mph was the max I'd dare go...truck was hydroplaning some. Ended up stopping in Tallahassee for the night. The next day it was really windy....everybody was getting blown around all through Louisiana, the Frontier was very effected by wind gusts, but nothing unmanageable. Stopped by my grandparents for a bit then went on into Texas to come home to the Houston area. Been driving the Frontier to work ever since to get more use to it and I do enjoy it, no slouch in acceleration or fast turns. Fuel mileage it the only downside, but it's not that bad.
Anyways, I do really like this Frontier (it's meeting my expectations) and have a few mods I'd like to do - foremost get a roll-up tonneau cover for it and the PRG short shifter. The stock shocks aren't in bad condition, but I would like to get some Bilsteins on it. Long term plan is to have a nice daily and on-road tow vehicle that also is good for light offroad/desert prerunner style use on Arizona dirt and gravel roads (parents have place in northern Arizona near Utah border I visit every year.) Searching around this seemed like a good forum for the Frontier, so here I am. Looking forward to learning more about this truck that I am growing to love as much as my FR-S it seems.
Anyways, I much prefer the exterior angular styling of the Frontier to the more rounded styling of the Tacoma and really wanted to check one out. There was a '05 Frontier S spec locally that was configured how I would want, and even though I had no intention of getting that particular one I still wanted to check it out to compare against the newer Tacomas. In checking out that Frontier, I indeed liked what I saw - the driving position, 6-speed shifter, and clutch all felt really good. Rear room is a little less compared to the Tacoma, but not really too concerned with that. Then I found the '13 Frontier with 80k miles I ended up buying, located some 1,400 miles away in North Carolina....it was within my budget and looked practically brand new in the ad from a dealership that had a good reputation from what I could find. So got finances all arranged and flew out to buy it sight unseen. Dealership had a driver pick me up from the airport and drive me to their place. The Frontier looked every bit as excellent as it did in the ad, the bed didn't even look like it was ever used for anything - factory spray in liner in pristine condition. Within about 30 minutes the keys were in my hands and I was on my way back home.
Truck cruised beautifully on the Interstate... cruise set at 80mph...averaging ~22mpg ::smile:: Did hit a massive downpour in Florida near Tallahassee late at night...wipers were practically useless and 50mph was the max I'd dare go...truck was hydroplaning some. Ended up stopping in Tallahassee for the night. The next day it was really windy....everybody was getting blown around all through Louisiana, the Frontier was very effected by wind gusts, but nothing unmanageable. Stopped by my grandparents for a bit then went on into Texas to come home to the Houston area. Been driving the Frontier to work ever since to get more use to it and I do enjoy it, no slouch in acceleration or fast turns. Fuel mileage it the only downside, but it's not that bad.
Anyways, I do really like this Frontier (it's meeting my expectations) and have a few mods I'd like to do - foremost get a roll-up tonneau cover for it and the PRG short shifter. The stock shocks aren't in bad condition, but I would like to get some Bilsteins on it. Long term plan is to have a nice daily and on-road tow vehicle that also is good for light offroad/desert prerunner style use on Arizona dirt and gravel roads (parents have place in northern Arizona near Utah border I visit every year.) Searching around this seemed like a good forum for the Frontier, so here I am. Looking forward to learning more about this truck that I am growing to love as much as my FR-S it seems.