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Toyota Tacoma vs. Ford Ranger, Part XII - READ ONLY

1840 messages,  Last post on Oct 02, 2002 at 4:10 PM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger

Messages Page 80 of 185

#785 of 1840 scape2 by sc0rpi0

Mar 31, 2002 (12:29 pm)

Lets see if you can answer this:
Mazda B-series is a Ranger with duct tape over the Ford logo, or at least has been until couple years ago. The sales for B-series, however, have been in a hole for years....it sells less than Tacoma.
Now why would that be? They are even offering longer warranty. If Ranger is such a great truck then B-series should have rocked, and it would be #2 selling compact, following Ranger closely.
I don't know why that is. In part it might be that Mazda does not offer as many configs as Ford. Mainly I think it's because Mazda is not a US company.
As far as used vehicle reliability: If toyota trucks are so unreliable, there would be plenty of them sitting around the used car lots with nobody wanting to buy one. I don't see that happening. I got few used car lots around where I live, and every time I drive by I see Explorers, Rangers, Silverados on the lot. Haven't seen a Toy truck there yet.
I'll admit that Tacoma has some problems. Like squeaking dash, that's fixed with $5 worth of purchases at your nearest Home Depot.
As for comments on the msn site...I like this one in particular:
"foren piece of crappe" by "all american boy from the U.S.A"
Pros: nothing
Cons: its not American.
Review: This truck sucks just like all the other none american vehicals. By a ford its a real truck
 
Is this what you mean by used vehicle reliability data? Everything about that comment spells "I'm a hillbilly, my name is Billy Bob, I have 10 dogs living under my trailer, I hate Nips".
Majority of people on the carpoint seem to be praising the truck, and few comments like one from Billy Bob...they all say one thing: dash rattles. Well, it's not rattling in my truck. Nor have I got any leaks (yeah, it rains once a month in Austin, but when it does, it pours). I like to think I drive my truck harder than most people. I spent 1.5 hours washing mud off it yesterday. If those reviews are right, hte dash should have fallen off by now, doors would not stop any water, and engine would knock itself from my truck. It's still running fine, though. Just to be fair...have you looked at used Ranger reviews? Tacoma and Ranger run about the same in ratio of "good/bad" in 2002 and 2001 that I saw. Just Ranger severity of problems is higher.
 
Toyota pulling a Ranger out: yep. It got stuck. I have pictures if you think I'm making it up. However, the point was that I was still able to pull him out without bending the bumper up, like tbunder claimed it would happen.

#786 of 1840 scorpio et al: Tow hooks by rickc5

Mar 31, 2002 (5:45 pm)

As we all know, Toyota does not provide a rear tow hook on its pickups. On all five of my 4x4 Toyota trucks ('86-'99), I bolted an aftermarket hook in the middle of the rear bumper.
 
On several occasions, I pulled unfortunates out of mud bogs and snow drifts. Never did I "bend the bumper" in any way.
 
Even though I now own a new Ranger, I just wanted to set the record straight that Toyota's rear bumpers are stout enough to endure periodic towing WITHOUT damage. BTW- I always used a nylon strap.

#787 of 1840 Thanks to a wayward Ford guy by saddaddy

Mar 31, 2002 (6:24 pm)

LOL, thanx for the support Rick!

#788 of 1840 good question by midnight_stang

Mar 31, 2002 (10:12 pm)

All I can say about Mazda Sales vs Ranger sales is this... In the North Dallas area, there are at least 6 different Ford dealerships within 20 miles, and 1 Mazda dealership in the area. Maybe people just don't look to "import" brands as often as they look towards "domestic" brands when looking for trucks? Overall data would suggest so.

#789 of 1840 tbunder by allknowing

Mar 31, 2002 (11:08 pm)

Good point, the Tacoma came out in 95 didn't it. I just repeated the info in someone else's post. I don't read Consumer Reports but the Ford guys here have used it often stating that other mags are biased and bought off. Now that Consumer Reports rates the Tacoma the best in reliability (which it obviously is), no Ford guys seem to have anything to say. The ranger is nice and has nice features, however, it has a ways to go to equal Toyota's general reliability.

#790 of 1840 Vince by allknowing

Mar 31, 2002 (11:09 pm)

Believe it or not Vince, I'm glad that you're still doing OK.

#791 of 1840 scorpio.....GOT TOW HOOKS? by tbunder

Apr 01, 2002 (1:32 pm)

scorp- check this out.

http://www.jeepjamboreeusa.com/cmf.htm

looks like the "king of off-roaders" wouldn't even be able to participate in this event.

#792 of 1840 Tacoma's aren't perfect..... by issisteelman

Apr 01, 2002 (1:59 pm)

I will tell you one thing about my Tacoma that I just discovered that I don't like. The bed is not very strong. I've been doing a lot of snow machining and using the Tacoma to carry my sled around. Well, one day I drove my sled into the back of my truck a little hard and the skis of the sled slammed into the back of the bed. As a result, the bed bent back like it was an aluminum beer can. It bent back so much that it hit the back of my cab. With a little effort I was able to pull the bed enough away from the cab so that the two wouldn't rub together. So, as I've said before, Toyota's are not perfect. The engine is reliable and the truck can go anywhere but the bed is not very strong. Take care.......Steelman.

#793 of 1840 what are you talking about? by sc0rpi0

Apr 01, 2002 (2:13 pm)

Tacoma has a tow hook, so what's your point? I think that if few ttora members with SAS'ed flatbed tacos, 35s tires, winches and steel bumbers (and no towhooks) showed up there, they'd get in easily.

#794 of 1840 steelman by saddaddy

Apr 01, 2002 (2:21 pm)

The exact same thing happened to my buddy the other day. Only he has a full size Chevy. He hit it with a four-wheeler and it bucked it in so far that the back glass popped out. Everyone makes the beds pretty weak in that spot. One day, I wanna weld a bar back there and mount some flood lights so that I can have good lighting for camping and some reinforcement. Ive seen some people who have done this and it looks great.

Messages Page 80 of 185

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