1. The hottest-looking truck on the road. 2. Well-designed interior, with a fairly roomy back seat, especially for small kids. 3. Great acceleration and smoothness. 4. Excellent reliability and safety. 5. Excellent dealer support. 6. Excellent resale value.

1. Front seats could give better thigh and hip support. 2. No factory tonneau cover offered at the dealership.

I've driven a '99 Ford Ranger Extended Cab for 4 years, and was trying to choose between the Sport Trac and Tacoma Crew Cab. (My wife drives a 2000 Mountaineer that is essentially like the Sport Trac.) I compared both side by side at a recent car show, and after having driven both, settled on the Tacoma. I thought the Tacoma's ride was solid, a bit rough, but definitely truck-like. The Ford rode more smoothly, but lacked the quickness of the Toyota. One feature I liked about the Tacoma was the selectable "Economy/Power" switch, which allows the transmission to shift at higher RPM's, thus giving the 4-speed automatic more torque throughout the range. I also liked the smaller, lighter "feel" of the Tacoma as a commuter vehicle used mostly in dense city traffic. Toyota reliablilty was definitely a factor, along with the excellent safety ratings it enjoys. I leased this new Tacoma, mainly because I drive so few miles, and I want a new one in 39 months (possibly a Tundra). So far, no regrets, no feeling of buyer's remorse or anything like that. The dealer I did business with is, in my opinion, top shelf! This is my 3rd vehicle purchase there since 1985. They gave me a fair deal without alot of haggling.

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1999 Ford Ranger, Extra Cab, 3.0 liter V-6, 2WD, 5-spd. 2000 Mercury Mountaineer, 4.0 liter V-6, automatic.

Reliable Tough suspension Will run forever (I hope) Great looks

Crappy dealership service, but not truck's fault. Have found stupid little mistakes like stripped screws here and there. Wrote NUMMI in California where these are being built now about it. I hate to say it, but I trusted the Toyota trucks more when they were being built in Japan. This NUMMI plant in southern California has yet to earn my trust and respect.

This is my fourth Toyota truck. Overall am very happy with it. The 2.7 liter 4-cyl. has adequate power if you get the five speed, and aren't needing the torque of the 6-cyl. Exterior looks are excellent, and suspension seems well built and very capable off-road. Don't waste the money on the TRD package, unless the TRD badging is important to you. The stock 4WD suspension is PLENTY tough enough, and the rear locker is only needed if you're into serious 4-wheeling. Have had overall POOR service at two local dealerships. Found some stripped screws in fender flares, mud flaps, and interior. One dealership reluctantly fixed it under warranty, but acted like I was wasting their time. Another dealership forgot to drain the oil on it's first oil change at 3000 miles, and added 5 quarts of NEW oil on top of the OLD!!! (I swear I am not joking!) I drove home with 10 quarts of oil in the friggin thing. Luckily, I trust no one and checked it the next morning and discovered the mistake. I immediately called them and took it back. They treated me like crap when I returned, mainly because I think they were embarrassed at the stupid mistake they had made.

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1976 Ford Elite (crap) 1983 Ford Escort (major crap) 1982 Toyota truck (bulletproof) 1976 Chevy Blazer (fun vehicle) 1990 Nissan truck (great truck) 1996 Toyota Tacoma (fantastic truck) 1999 Toyota Tacoma (even better) 2002 Subaru Forester (Good car, although not as good as Toyota. Wife's car.)

Rear Locker is excellent, and willpush you through when you think you're sunk. I can promise you this truck is tough!

Front rotors are not up to par, I think maybe the truck could use a few nells and whistles, but considerig how much more durable it is than the competition, it's hard to complain.

2002 Tacoma TRD 4x4 - I bought this truck after testing out top- of the line Rangers and finding them lacking in comparison. My heart told me to get the Ranger, but I just couldn't justify passing over the Tacoma, now I am truly glad I got it. This truck is of excellent quality, and I have had no problems except for the front rotors wearing prematurly (fixed under warranty) At 60'000km, I am really happy with it, and have checked on resale value for you, It has only dropped about 6 or 7 thousand Canadian (about 4 American) so that is pretty impressive. 2003's got ABS, so if you're looking for one, try and get an '03 or a double cab model with the ABS option in an '02 Also, getting the pre-runner anywhere that it is going to snow would be a bad ove, I know peole that have them, and they wish they'd gottn the 4x4. Now if only the TRD Supercharger came factory installed...

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2001 Ford Explorer (ok) 2001 Ford Expedition (nice, but obviously quite large) 19966 Jeep Grand Cherokee (Excellent, but too much gas with V8...DUH!) 1993 Jeep Cherokee (never had a problem that wasn't because I beat on it)

1)BEAUTIFUL! best looking truck on the market, even out of full-sized. 2)good stock lift and nice sized tires 3)Manual shifts nice 4)4X4 shift on fly button 5)rear-locker 6)pretty nice storage in extended cab 7)great resale value if you keep it in good shape 8)I heard great reviews on off-road prowess even though i havent tested that yet. 9)good center console space-2 compartments 10)lunar mist metallic looks hot (i have the colored keyed package- same color fender flares look great

1)seats look cheap (but still comfy) 2)this truck should come with a compass and thermometer!!!!!!! would be perfect right under the map lights with the convienance package! 3)Fog lights should come with TRD 4)packages in general should be more loaded, too much money for such few things that should ALWAYS come standard. You shouldnt hav to pay more for a shift on the fly button and maplights for the money you spend on this truck!

I bought my Tacoma in late September, Lunar mist metallic with over the rail bedliner and loaded. I really love the truck so far, even though I only put just over 2,000 miles. The gas mileage is decent, around 20-21 on highway. I've always wanted one of these and I finally got one. The exterior is beautiful, by far the nicest compact on the market, good curves and nice stock lift and large tires. As far as the interior is concerned, I cant complain too much, except I agree with others on the reviews that the seats are kind of shabby and cheap. Toyota could have upgraded those a bit more.(Im going to get some nice waterproof neoprene seat covers, about 300 bucks but worth it for the fact that I surf and snowboard.) However they are no less comfortable than many other cars I have driven, contrary to many opinions. The rest is nice on the inside, 6 speaker sound is nice, controls are convienant, extended cab is great for storage of luggage etc. The dealer sticker charges like 80 bucks for the carpeted floor mats that say "tacoma." (ridiculous). Side Note-I think this truck could have come with more advantages per package purchased, maybe soem fog lights with the offroad package, a compass and thermometer would be perfect where the map lights are. In terms of power, the engine sounds nice, a mild roar when you hit the gas..not a whole lot of speed in pickup by you can tell that this sucker has good torque. I cant imagine this truck being solid with a 4-cylinder...6 should be the minimum for a 4X4. Handles nice, kind of rough when you hit a bump and the steering is tight, but thats what you get in return for upgraded shocks and springs. I noticed that no matter what the temp when you start it up after an extended period (overnight) the engine revs a little high, about 1500 rpms, and then goes back to normal after a few minutes. I guess the engine is just tempermental, probably a good indicator of how long to wait on those cold mornings. I love my truck, it looks good and i cant wait to use it in the snow! If you want to buy a compact, get one of these.

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n/a

Power is good on acceleration and handles fairly well for a truck. Stereo system is great and the air conditioner freezes you out of the cab.

On going problems with the rotors (has anyone else had this problem) and the clock is in useless location.......gas mileage has never been better than 20 mpg......

Walked on the lot one night with my son and was sold after I drove it. Truck handles well except for the constant rattle in the dash that no one can seem to locate. I just had the 15000 mile service and mentioned the brakes pulsate on hard stops. Dealer states the rotors are "blue" which indicates hard stopping, now come on I am the only driver and at 47 yrs old do not abuse this truck. Dealer states I will have to pay to have the rotors turned so you knwo that I will writing Toyota to complain about this..........

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2001 Toyota single cab, Dodge Dakota

Most defiently the 4x4 system. If you lock it down in 4 low that baby will crawl over anything. until it get's hung. the power in the engine is ok to an extent. If i had a choice i would have got the 6cyl one. i drove one of them and they are awesome. Skid plates are everywhere and they are nice to have. Average about 19 miles to a gallon, 21 without big tires

front bumper is plastic, get a brushguard. it is not a full size truck so things get croweded. cd player sucks.

Well where to begin, I bought the truck from a guy i knew in columbus, a city boy who never used the 4x4, only locked the wheels in maybe 2 times. Well the first day I got it. I put the little 4 cyl. to the test on the way home i maxed it out, got to 110mph and got scared of it so i let off of it. the next mornign was sat. so i took it off to some mud holes did fairly well with the a/t firestone tires. so about a mth later i went and bought some stampede tires 31/10/50's mud tires then went back to the mud holes with ease and even up some pretty steep hills my dad's 2500 dodge 4x4 wouldn't climb so i'm happy with it. gas milegae was good until putting the big tires on

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79 dodge power wagon 318 ( AWESOME) 90 ford pick up 4x4 (ok)

I think engine power is the first strength. That would be followed by the four doors and of course the locker. I love the exterior looks, tires and wheel size are good although I wish they would use All terrain TA's vice the Rugged's. I added a K&N filter and am just starting to notice the difference there.

Here we go, I had to replace the transmission at 2000 miles due to a leak they could not fix, so big Toyota just sent a new tranny that supposedly was created without the defect in casting as mine was (no leaks so far). While testing the the tranny the first time after they fixed it with a new gasket (it still leaked) I found out the rear locker did not work, and after much arguing with the dealership about whether I understood how to use it I took it in only for them to admit the computer that runs it was never installed at the factory, huh, imagine that. At this point I proceeded to buy a lemon law book and educate myself. The gas mileage is of course not great, but I stay on the gas so that may be my fault. I hate to repeat it but the clock, please, it must have been comedy day at the plant when they decided to place that. All in all I think the weaknesses are far less than the strengths, I only have 7, ooo plus miles and I hope I get 200,000 out of it, we will see.

I love the truck and spent all of a year researching and test driving trucks to make sure that was the one I wanted. I got lucky and got the green that I wanted and even though it came with TRD that I did not want to pay for, I got it for such a good price I just bought this one. I also wanted the rear locker but not TRD, oh well. I love the power of the engine, good pick-up, it seems to have better high-end, 50 plus mph. I am disapointed at the interior, it seems very cheap with a very low grade plastic. The seats are uncomfortable and cheaply sewn, but I still love the truck, and love the four doors. I have people tell me all the time that hey, everyone's not going to fit in there, that is until they get in and find out this little foreign truck can seat 5!

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1968 Ford Bronco 1969 Bronco 1979 Bronco 1982 Jeep CJ-7 (junk) 1986 Commanche (junk) 1997 2wd Ford ranger (decent truck)

Good power, torque Great body styling Rather roomy for a mid-sized truck Dependable

Clock position Subtle vibration between 40-60 mph Cheap factory rotors TRD does have a bumpy ride on normal roads, but that's what makes it a "truck" in my opinion

I love the truck now, after I had it at the dealership 6 times in the first month. I bought it as a "Certified" Used vehicle, but there were little things overlooked during the 160-point inspection. Other than that, I also notice the "clunk" when coming to a stop. You get use to it. If it's supposed to do that, then that's cool with me. Just so there isn't something wrong with it. The clock is in a horrible place, but raising the tilt wheel a little from its lowest position improves the viewing of the clock. I had the rattle in the dash fixed. That was actually a recall that the previous owner never had fixed. The rotors needed replaced due to a horrible vibration when braking. I would also, and still do, get a subtle vibration between 40 and 60 mph, but the dealer claims that it's the All-Terrain tires. Other than the things listed above, I love the truck. I can't wait to try it out in the snow this winter.

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2001 Chevy S-10 ZR2 (also an awesome truck)

Good functionality. Good air conditioning. Lunar mist paint color easy to maintain.

Rough ride on regular pavement, but could be an acceptable trade off if you cherish the off road capability. Interior seating could be more comfortable, in many ways. The drive train clunk is not well explained by the dealer, and we don't believe a power steering pump should blow after 47,000 miles of pretty easy driving on what is supposted to be a true off road vehicle.

Purchased the Double Cab 4X4 V6 TRD package. Truck is nicely functional if you require a 4 door truck and can handle the shortened bed. Unfortunately, we too have experience the infamous drive train clunk that occurs frequently when coming to a stop. The dealer has assured us this is normal, but many owners state otherwise. However, the truck is still running and shifting. At 47,000 miles the power steering pump is shot (according to the dealer), and requires a $650 repair. We have found the warranty service by the dealer to be excessively expensive. The gas mileage has rarely been above 18mpg, but in all fairness rarely below 18mpg, either.

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Ford and Chevy full size pick-ups

POWER TORQUE STYLIN EFFICIENT RELIABLE SMART!!!!!!!

SMALL

The most awesome vehicle I have ever imagined owning. I still can't believe I own the best small truck out there. Got the fully loaded, sport dials, power everything, SR5 prerunner, raised 4x2 w nice big tires, on chrome mags. SOLID INCREDIBLY MANEAUVERABLE PUNCHES OUT!!! 2.7 straight 4cyl kicks a**!!!! SOOOO much torque it's incredible. I feel like a genieus having purchased this dream of a truck. Gas mileage isn't as great as my tercel but hey it is a truck!!! kinda small inside, at times uncomforable, but the seats and headrests make up for it. ROCKED IT HARD THE FIRST MONTH. PUT 4K miles on it. ALLL UPHILL!!!! RAN LIKE A DREAM. SMOKED MY FRIENDS BRAND NEW V6 DODGE W/ A HEMI...SMOKED IT CLIMBING AND OFF THE LINE!!!! I LOOOOVE IT!!! I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING BUT A TOYOTA... INGENIEUS VEHICLES!!!!

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MAZDA B2000, TERCEL, FORD F250, BMW