Ask the Car People.SM


Best Compact PU - Toyota, Nissan, Chevy, Ford? - READ ONLY

49 messages,  Last post on May 17, 1998 at 8:43 PM

You are in the Pickups - Archived Discussions Forum.

This discussion is ARCHIVED. To reactivate the discussion, post a request in the Javascript runtime error--TypeError: obj has no properties-- no stack trace file was written discussion.

Messages Page 1 of 5

#1 of 49 by danz28

Mar 03, 1998 (12:20 am)

I am kind of curious of what people think about
the four compact pickups on the market, ( I lumped
the Mazda with the Ford and the Isuzu with the
Chevy) Tell me what yall think

#2 of 49 JTO by JTO

Mar 03, 1998 (5:35 pm)

Toyota! Now that the rust problem has been taken care of there's no stopping them!

#3 of 49 Toyota by gazdeckr

Mar 09, 1998 (4:17 pm)

I am with JTO. The Tacoma 4X4 with TRD and the V6 is one hot tamale!! The Ford is nice, but the engine is underpowered. The Chevy is also underpowered. The Frontier needs a bigger engine. All in all they are COMPACT pickups and are for Light truck use, Don't expect them to pull tree-stumps for you!! (Although the Toy can!!)
My $0.02.

#4 of 49 delmonte by delmonte

Mar 11, 1998 (4:44 am)

I have the '98 Tacoma 4x4 Limited. I don't have the TRD upgrade, but it was the best overall performer against all the compact pickups I test drove. Oh, by the way, it is FUN to drive! I've already racked up 6K since I bought it 3 months ago.

#5 of 49 danz28 by danz28

Mar 11, 1998 (6:48 pm)

Well, here are some thoughts on my topic.
1. Chevrolet S10 - I had one so I know what I am talking about. I question the safety and reliability. It has the WORST four cylinder on the market today.
2. Ford Ranger - I like the styling ( opinion) but its four banger could use some horses.
3. Nissan Frontier - I used to think this was the best value in the compact pickup line. My opinion again is that it is ugly but its four cylinder has power
4. Toyota Tacoma - Probably the best compact out there but also by far the most expensive. For what you would pay for the V6 4x4 you could get a full size Ford,Chevy or Dodge.


When I think of compact trucks, I think of regular cab four cylinder 2x4 pickups. The V6s are good for extended cabs and 4x4s but I personally cant justify the added expenses of all three (four wheel drive, extended cab, V6)


Tell me what yall think.

#6 of 49 Toyota by ecoff

Mar 18, 1998 (2:14 am)

Talking about the reliablity of the truck in market now, Toyota truck is still the best.
What do you think ?

#7 of 49 Hey danz28 by gazdeckr

Mar 18, 1998 (7:46 pm)

I'm with you. The Toyota's are much more expensive and comparable to the full-size domestics. The conveinence of driving and PARKING a compact far outweighs the advantages of a full-size. I have a small garage, and I can't fit the full sizes in it, but the compact's squeeze in. I really like the Toyota and I am biased against Ford (my Ranger sucks) so I am saving my pennies to pick-up an expensive Toy. BTW You get what you pay for!

#8 of 49 Brutus by Brutus

Mar 18, 1998 (8:24 pm)

The real test for Toyota will be the to see how the new T-150 stacks up to the F-150, Ram 1500 and Chevy/GM 1500s. That will be a real "apples to apples" test for Toyota.


The full size vs compact debate all depends on your needs and preferences. I've not seen many fifth wheel trailers behind Toyotas. On the other hand, I've seen a lot of full size trucks jumping from gas station to gas station not pulling anything. Everybody has a different cost/benefit point of equilibrium.

#9 of 49 danz28 by danz28

Mar 18, 1998 (9:20 pm)

As for full sized trucks, I have always liked the Chevys the best. I am looking forward to seeing the performance tests on their new LS1 derived engines. Ford makes a good truck but I think they need to get some more horses out of their 8 cylinders (the same goes for their Mustang). Dodge also makes a great truck and if I am not mistaken they are about the come out with a new family of 8 cylinder engines (4.7L ??).
Nothing against Toyota but unless they bring their new T150 prices out of the upper atmosphere, which is where the T100s are, they will be fighting a loosing battle, even if their trucks are superior to the big three.
It wasnt too long ago that "mini" or compact trucks were the craze and SUVs were just Suburbans and Jeeps.

#10 of 49 Brutus by Brutus

Mar 18, 1998 (10:33 pm)

Someone in one of these other chat areas mentioned that the T-150 will be made in the US so they won't be subject to the big import fees, which should correspondingly bring down the price. I suspect if the price is close, Toyota will probably do fine in the light duty truck market, but I certainly wouldn't expect any quality difference from the Big 3 to be significant. The pride of the Ford Motor Company is their F-Series. I just don't see Toyota ever coming near to challenging the sales figures of the F-Series. Then again, I'm partial to Ford trucks.

Messages Page 1 of 5

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement