Frontier vs. Tacoma vs. Colorado

[Masked Bandit]

I'm looking at possibly buying a new truck and I've narrowed it down to the Frontier, Tacoma & Colorado.

Now I know everyone on here (myself included) has preference for the imports. I won't deny that the Nissan and Toyota are better machines than the Chevrolet BUT....they are also quite a bit more money. I'm wondering if anyone on here has any actual experience with any of the three.

Thanks

[teknical]

Depending what kind of truck you want. I drove a Tacoma Sr5 6 speed that was very fun, but was lacking something that the frontier didnt have. For the frontier, I tried the king cabs, crew cabs, nismo crew cabs, autos, 5 speeds, and I must say these are very fun to drive. If I were to purchase one it would have to be the crew cab nismo version. Its only auto but has more options and much more room than the nismo king 6 speed. As for the colorado, I havent driven one so I cant say anything about that one, but I hope this helps.

[b_t]

I own a new Tacoma. I shopped around a lot and really when it was all said and done...

- Tacoma has a better engine then the Colorado. The inline-5 sucks, and Colorados are difficult to find in a stick shift.
- The Frontier has a more powerful engine (~26hp/20lb-ft more) then the Tacoma but it also gets worse mileage then the Tacoma. 17/20mpg compared to 21/28 for the Tacoma (comparing autos).
- The Frontier is pretty ugly compared to the Tacoma.
- The Colorado rides poorly, it feels like an old full size truck (not the new Silverado or Tundra) and doesn't have the most comfortable handling around. The Tacoma rode the best of the trucks I looked at (GMC Canyon - same thing as Colorado, Fronter Nismo King Cab, Tacoma Access Cab).
- Colorados for the most part don't come with body colored fender flares. Cheaper interior feel.

Also, I am leasing my truck. Since Tacomas depreciate very little, a lease on one of them is cheaper then it is to lease either of the other trucks and it is easier to get approval. They are forecasting my trucks value at lease end to be $16,500 (just under $37k new) but look at how much 3-4 year old Tacomas are selling for and you would be hard priced to find them for under $20k for a well optioned one, so you have the option of buying it out and then selling it right away to make money off it and you also have flexibility to get out of your lease early because the dealership has no problem with that - they would make more money letting you off and selling the vehicle then they would by letting you buy it out at the end. You don't have that option with a domestic ever but I couldn't say about the Nissan because I received very poor service at their dealership and didn't talk money with them at all (Brasso? The one by McMahon).

[waypastfast]

toyota FTW!!

[Mangina]

I'm sure the Colorado is a good truck, but until the domestics can do something about the horrible depreciation it doesn't make much sense buying a brand new one.

[Neons4life]

the Toyota is such a fugly truck, the body styling is

[teknical]

The one by mcmahon is stadium nissan.

[b_t]

Originally posted by Neons4life
the Toyota is such a fugly truck, the body styling is

Well of course I disagree with you, I think my truck is gorgeous (only in extended cab though, the quad cab is not so good). The Frontier trys very hard to look macho with a bunch of chrome, and all but the top optioned model come with hideous four spoke wheels, and the Colorado just looks cheap. The Canyon is pretty nice, but they are still based on an old platform that does not drive well and have a poor powertrain in them.
Really when it came down to it, I could have gotten into either the Tacoma or the Frontier but the great sales staff at Charlesglen Toyota, the amazing resale value of Toyotas and fantastic long term reliability ended up selling the Tacoma to me.

[78si]

Tacoma

[Freeskier]

my good friend has a brand new colorado, its a decent truck, a little gutless, but not too bad at all. I'd probably go with the toyota if I could swallow the price tag.

[Aleks]

C&D mag reported their tacoma had bad interior rattles and poor brakes. Anyone with a tacoma have similar issues on here?

[RZRSHARP_SVX]

I have worked at a Nissan Dealership and a toyota. I find that the toyota is way more comfortable to drive. I work on them all day so I look forward to when I have to drive the tacoma's. rather than when I worked at nissan

[kaput]

.

[Gspotracer]

ANYTHING BUT A COLORADO!, I bought a brand new one is 05' It was the worst vehicle I ever owned, back to the dealership 37 times in less than a year, Had to hire a lawyer, in the end GM bought it back form me, what a crappy truck

[kaput]

.

[Graham_A_M]

^ Oh really? jeez thats too bad. I talked to a few people that had the Colorado in the oil patch, and their quite pleased with them, but mind you I dont own one, and have never driven one, so I can't really say which I think is better.

[The Cosworth]

I like the colorado but i found that the body panels and insulation resemble that of a tin can, the metal just feels really thin and cheap.

For the $17,000 pricetag of the one I drove from shag chev it was pretty good, but If i could afford it I would go Tacoma.

Never driven the Nissan but the styling just feels to dated to me

GL dude, also you have a few members from another lancer forum coming your way for business

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by brendankharris

GL dude, also you have a few members from another lancer forum coming your way for business

Thanks

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by Gspotracer
ANYTHING BUT A COLORADO!, I bought a brand new one is 05' It was the worst vehicle I ever owned, back to the dealership 37 times in less than a year, Had to hire a lawyer, in the end GM bought it back form me, what a crappy truck

Please elaborate. Is there another thread in here with the details?

[b_t]

Originally posted by Aleks
C&D mag reported their tacoma had bad interior rattles and poor brakes. Anyone with a tacoma have similar issues on here?

My interior isn't whisper quiet which is very disappointing. There is a rattle coming from behind me when I am driving, but I think it is just the seatbelt rattling against the plastic. It only does it sometimes, its not bad at all. Then again my truck only has 950km on it. I haven't really leaned on the brakes yet so I couldn't comment on that either. I wouldn't take Car and Driver's word for anything... they beat on trucks waaay harder then even a 4x4er would (because they don't know the proper way to 4x4) and automotive mags in general don't know what a good truck is... they took the fucking Nissan Titan as a truck of the year a couple years back and that thing has bombed every long term test report since.