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Its crazy even now looking up issues people are having with the 16'/17' Tacos. I'll be honest, I felt a great sense of pride the day I drove the 2016 SR5 Tacoma home. They have this history and are almost the stuff of modern "legend". I loved the exterior look, and even the interior design. But the mechanical problems were unreal for a vehicle costing that much. Had I realized the 4runner was still using the old trans and 4.0 engine, I might have gotten one of those instead (very happy with my frontier though).

Check out some of the Toyota forums and you'll see more than a few people dumping their Tacomas for other trucks. Either full size or other midsizers. Some of them were previous gen owners. Not good for Toyota. They really messed up with the new trans/engine combo.
 
I liked the Colorado, but its still too new to gauge long term reliability. By looking at other GMs, my hopes aren't very high. The newer Tacomas have a lot of long time Toyota fans trading them in because they've taken a drop in performance and reliability. I'm hoping that doesn't happen whenever the next gen Frontier comes out.

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I owned a previous gen Colorado for 9 years and it was an absolute pc of garbage. I replaced just about every part that could be replaced on that thing over the years, and some twice. I originally planned on keeping it until it died, but I finally reached the end of my rope last year when the electrical system started going haywire. I traded it last October on a 2017 Frontier Pro4x 6 speed crew cab that I couldn't be happier with. GM will never get my money again.

I did test drive the new Tacoma TRD, which I didn't care for, and I considered waiting for the next gen Frontier, but I fell in love with my Pro4x when I test drove it and was able to negotiate an incredible price, $7000 less than the Tacoma TRD. Buying the Frontier was a no brainer.
 
I bought a 2017 SR5 Taco extended cab 4X4 with the v6 & automatic. I drove it for about 14 months and 15,000 miles. The more I drove it, the more I hated it. The relentless up shifting was simply crazy. I live in a hilly area. Maintaining following distance in heavy traffic was impossible. The truck is in 6th gear at 45 mph. Hit a small grade & traffic runs away from you. It takes about 2/3 of the pedal travel before anything happens. Then it downshifts a couple of gears, pegs the tach and shoots forward. This makes you have to decrease pressure on the accelerator. At that point the truck shifts back into 6th and the cycle begins anew.

About 2500 miles ago I traded it for a 2018 Frontier SV 4x4 extended cab with the v6 & automatic. I am happy as a clam. Rides better, drives better, performs better, and is quieter. The only negative is a roughly 2mpg hit in mixed use. That is a price I gladly pay to get rid of the Taco's horrid powertrain calibration.
 
Easy Choice (COMFORT)

I just bought my Frontier SV 4.0 last month and it was easy for me when I got in and sat down...No hard decision because it has the room inside I was looking for. I'm 6'1" and some where around 250:angel: and after trying out the Toys and General Motors it was EASY. Sure, there are lots and lots of other reasons that are genuine for everyone but this is mine. After selling my 97 F250 HD 4X4 460 I found out it was going to take some pondering. Back in 09' we bought a new Mazda Tribute and my wife just turned 60,000 in it and she is still happy. A major test at that time was room for me and there were several other brands to select from until we got in them and the rest are history. Some times a lot of genuine reasons get beat out with something simple as comfort. That's my story and I stickin to it. Thanks for asking.
 
+1 I'll go with ya on comfort any day. We have a condo in Maine and if you have a 10 to 12 hr drive and you're hating the vehicle you're riding in every minute of every hour, it makes that drive soooo much longer. I would say the Frontier seat foam may be a touch stiff ( but I have a messed-up back and knees from a wreck 12 yrs ago so that factors in too ), but overall I have really zero complaints except the center console. The cover should be higher and farther forward to make it a decent elbow rest but that's pretty minor overall and the aftermarket has fixes for it too. And here's another small pet peeve, why no "oh crap" handle above the driver's window / door? The other three positions have one. Gotta ask Nissan that question.
She was pretty quiet when stock but with the addition of 3 LED light bars on the roof rack, the wind noise on the upper cab area has definitely noticeably increased but that's all my doing, 101%.
 
My opinion. Everybody has it wrong about the Frontier looking dated. I think in '05 it looked ahead of it's time. It doesn't look dated now, it just finally looks modern instead of futuristic. Huh? Maybe? I don't know. What I do know is the Taco looks hideous. Maybe the choice isn't new vs. dated. Maybe it's ugly vs. timeless. Techy vs. tried and true. If I want a new tech toy I'll get a new phone. If I want a new truck I'll get a new Frontier. But I don't NEED a new truck because I have an old Frontier. That's the real beauty.
 
As I originally posted, I went in the Toyota showroom to buy a Tacoma. Walked past a gauntlet of salespeople and managers that were too busy making assumptions about me to ask if I wanted to give them 28,000 dollars. Took the opportunity to crawl underneath a Tacoma and see that hideous weak frame. Then I walked out and drove straight to the Nissan dealer. I never planned to do it. I took a Frontier for a drive after checking out the frame which looked solid. It drove flawless and made no errors. Sold. Still happy as ever though I have to confess, I love how the Tacos look
 
I looked and looked for a decent used toyota and was unsuccessful. I did not care what year as long as it was an 05 or newer, I just like the body style. I looked at 05 up to 2014s and not a one of them didn’t look like it hadn't sit in a creek for a year. The newer ones were no better than the older ones, even the disk brake dust covers on the 13 were about rusted off, and it was at a dealership. Then they say.. we’ll it is 5 years old! Right!
I give up and found my old 06 frontier with 122,000 and it looks like a new truck compared to what all I looked at. Not a speck of rust on body and underneath is super clean with your normal barely surface rust.
 
I looked and looked for a decent used toyota and was unsuccessful. I did not care what year as long as it was an 05 or newer, I just like the body style. I looked at 05 up to 2014s and not a one of them didn’t look like it hadn't sit in a creek for a year. The newer ones were no better than the older ones, even the disk brake dust covers on the 13 were about rusted off, and it was at a dealership. Then they say.. we’ll it is 5 years old! Right!
I give up and found my old 06 frontier with 122,000 and it looks like a new truck compared to what all I looked at. Not a speck of rust on body and underneath is super clean with your normal barely surface rust.
Looks don't lie look at my Frontier and look at the Tacoma which one looks more sturdier ?
 

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. Where are you buying a Pro 4x for $29k ? My dealer wouldn’t budge below $35 but I did get the premium package...
actually the off road tacoma here was $38k on the lot.

i got my pro4x for $29k. it's not the one with leather and roof rack and all that but i didn't want that anyways. mine was sitting on the lot for 9months because most everyone wants an auto tranny insted of a manual these days. i prefer a manual. every vehicle i've owned has been a manual tranny.
 
Long live the 6-sp!
 
I might have posted this earlier in this thread, but at work we remoted both a Tacoma and a Frontier. There was nothing about the Toyota that I liked better than the Nissan. The seating position doesn't feel like being in a truck either. When it came time to find a mid size truck I priced them all. Equivalently equipped trucks were thousands more from the other manufacturers.
 
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