Why did you pick the Ranger over the Tacoma?

[Azhang253]

Payload, towing, 2.3 ecoboost power, and more rear seat legroom

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[myothercarizahearse]

There used to be a large delta in quality/reliability between Japanese and other cars.

That is mostly gone now but some hold on to it.

there you go. serious question, if Toyotas are so reliable, why do they have a service department?

 

[WhyNot21]

Because I wanted a truck. To me, the Taco is more a direct competitor with a Ridgeline than the Ranger.

 

[Desert Sage]

I needed a vehicle with an automatic transmission that I could tow behind my motor-home. You can't tow any Toyota's, so I didn't even look at Tacoma's. The Ranger looked intriguing: its been out for several years in Australia; good gas mileage; the 4WD had a fun factor; it had high residuals after 5 years; good insurance rating; and more. That is when I discovered this forum and was getting ready to jump in the pool- but I couldn't make the jump- and then I got a hold of St. Phil (that is what he is called around here) and I talked to him in the morning, and after that pep talk, the Ranger sat proudly in my driveway that afternoon. Still love the Ranger; this forum; St. Phil; but we've never towed the truck yet due to the Covid dark clouds- maybe this summer!

 

[Friday yet?]

In no particular order, except for #17:

Note, #2 and #3 are deal breakers individually. Both on the same vehicle make it a complete non-conversation for my money.

1. Not a big fan of Toyota as a company.
2. Taco go-kart like seating position.
3. Hideous drive train. Just unbearable to me. Gutless wonder. Towing? Yea right. Payload? Week of groceries for 4, 4 dieting vegetarians even, and you are maxed cargo wise.
4. Overpriced for what you get.
5. Life long multiple vehicle experience with Ford quality and dependability.
6. Favorite three vehicle brands are Ford, Ford, and Ford.
7. Ranger cargo capacity.
8. Ranger towing capacity.
9. Ranger drive train.
10. Fan of Ford EcoBoost engines and technology.
11. Huge fan of disc brakes on ALL wheel positions.
12. Ranger is a great value vs Taco not being.
13. I am a Ford man. Period.
14. Did buy a Frontier in '06 (No Ranger option) so looked at Taco's then also. Didn't like them then either. For the record, I did look at Taco's again this time before 100% deciding on the Ranger. Took me one quick test drive to kill that idea. No better than when I looked at them in '06.
15. Taco fan boys are annoying. While being a Ford fan, I can readily discuss and admit Ford shortcomings. Taco fan boys cannot. They bow down to the gods of Tacoville. Ridiculous.
16. Toyota sales people are generally annoying and cocky about the product.
17. Lastly, the Ranger is built by Ford. Mic drop.

Edit: Forgot one and it is a biggie. Basic Ranger has been in production quite some time. Statistically my purchase should be trouble free. This is why I deliberately waited for the last MY of the current generation. I plan on keeping this truck for 200K miles minimum.

 

[Brett Fields]

Isn't Tacoma a city in Washington ????

Isn't a Ranger a guy from Texas?

...c'mon.... I had to.

 

[Kodiacnb]

Use to own 2 T-100's a reg cab and the latter a crew-cab. Ist got wriiten off when a couple young ladys decided to pass on a solid line, the 2'nd I sold after owning it for 12 yrs. Both were v6 98 and worked great. When the Tacoma's came out I didn't like the looks of them and the dealer left a lot to be decided. So I down sized for a few years until the new Rangers came out but decided to wait a couple years before I purchased my 21. Best decision I made in the long run I think. All the power I need for this old fella. And most of all ... the wife loves it. And so do I.

 

[Jedadiah]

On paper the Ranger is better in almost every way. The only reason I even considered a Tacoma is that I'd rather have a manual transmission, but the worse power, milage were a deal breaker. I didn't drive a Tacoma, but had ridden in one shortly before I bought the Ranger and agree that the seat is too close to the floor.

I was building a deck for the guy whose Tacoma I rode in, and I purchased my Ranger just before I finished the job. He was clearly impressed with the Ranger and told me that he probably made the wrong choice.

 

[AzScorpion]

there you go. serious question, if Toyotas are so reliable, why do they have a service department?

 

[Brett Fields]

Fuel mileage between the two was somewhat of a concern to me, but I'm glad I didn't too much emphasis on it. The Ranger with the factory BF Goodrich's AT's were basically a summer tire, and gave me great mileage. Then I put KO2s on it and I bet I get worse mileage with them than a Tacoma with the same tire. (KO2s are their factory tire). And it most definitely lost its pep and great acceleration. I feel like I'm driving a Ford Tacoma now lol.

People always talked about tires change the vehicle, now I know its true.

Same here. KO2's felt sluggish. Then I added 10ish (8? ...i forget) psi to them. A bit rougher now, but the nimble is back. (Mostly)
I'm ok with that. I love my KO2's. No way I'm giving them up.

 

[Friday yet?]

I give Toyota as a whole a huge edge over Ford as it pertains to marketing and TV ads, like the latest Tacoma ad showing the gal driving her old Tacoma home to visit her dad, presumably it had been his. But the ads aren't even that good to have me consider a Tacoma, not to diss Jan but have to give Lilly the edge, and make that a very large edge in certain areas.
Now if Lilly was a Toyota pitch women it may have been a much more difficult decision.

Got to say, for me ads aren't even on my radar when evaluating a vehicle for potential purchase.

 

[AzScorpion]

Got to say, for me ads aren't even on my radar when evaluating a vehicle for potential purchase.

Same here. Ads are more like entertainment now and rarely have any influence on anything I buy. First thing I did when searching for my Ranger (or anything for that matter) is go online and find real world reviews. I only take so much stock in magazine write ups too because most are skewed but they can be helpful. I find forums to be the best because you're getting real world first hand info. Sure most are bias but if you sift through them you can find very helpful info.

 

[BettaRanga]

Fuel mileage between the two was somewhat of a concern to me, but I'm glad I didn't too much emphasis on it. The Ranger with the factory BF Goodrich's AT's were basically a summer tire, and gave me great mileage. Then I put KO2s on it and I bet I get worse mileage with them than a Tacoma with the same tire. (KO2s are their factory tire). And it most definitely lost its pep and great acceleration. I feel like I'm driving a Ford Tacoma now lol.
People always talked about tires change the vehicle, now I know its true.

This is helpful. Since I don’t off-road I think I’ll eventually replace my stock hankook ATMs with something like the Firestone LE3.

 

[Fordup]

Seat position. Not made for older drivers. Almost bought a 22 Tundra that had great seats but too many turbo problems and ugly front end scared me away.

 

[NoTacos]

I think I was always going to go with a Ranger ever since rumours came about they were brining it back. Although when I first heard about a turbo 4 being the only engine I was concerned about what it could really do - especially coming from a v8 F150. I did test drive a Tacoma before buying the ranger and the ranger was more for the buck and all the other positives everyone else has described.
I haven’t regretted buying it - oh an .99% financing didn’t hurt either.

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