3,500 Mile Comparison: Taco v Ranger

[Ronbo]

My next truck will be a manual transmission so that means Tacoma or Jeep Gladiator/Wrangler. My best friend has a 2019 Tacoma off road package with the manual transmission. He is at over 150k miles with standard maintenance and a recall being the only service costs. It is low on torque comparatively, but mpg with the manual is in the low 20's on average. He did get a loaner that was automatic when he had the recall and he noted mpg was not as good. I've ridden in it and would say ride quality is as good if not smoother than my Tremor.

My son just picked up a 2010 Ford Ranger 5 speed manual. It’s an extended cab with 130,000 miles on it. He loves it.

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[Desert Sage]

Greg- You did a great job with your Tacoma report- I'm so appreciative that you haven't forgotten your Ranger forever buddies. That report must have taken quite awhile to put together. I have always bought Asian imports- because I found they can handle the heat here better in the Phoenix area- my German cars had a tendency to overheat waiting for traffic lights. Years later, when I went to retire my WRX, I never looked at the Tacoma because I needed a vehicle to flat tow- Tacomas can't be flat towed no matter if it's a automatic; standard; 4x4 or 2x4. The Ranger was a good candidate for this, but I was pretty nervous about an American car- but thanks to this forum, it turned out to be so helpful getting me adjusted and now I am a big fan.
I try to work on my own cars- I do whatever simple maintenance chores on my own. I hope you come back again soon and let us know the politics of working on the Tacoma. Is there a drain plug on the transmission pan? How often do you change the differential fluids? Is changing the oil pretty simple?
BTW, as you can imagine, buying the Ranger caused some culture shock. Nobody has mention this, but I couldn't at first get use to all the red indicator lights on the dash- like for the heated seats- unlike most cars I've owned, red lights meant something was wrong- it took me a while to stay calm when I glanced at the dash...

 

[pbethel]

As long as we are going down the "if money was no object" path...

As it sits off the lot with minimal mods (and I'm a minimal mod kind of guy), my preference is for the Taco (not trying to convince others, just where my needs align). The few mods I do want are cheap and easy.

But if money was no object, and assuming that we can fix the water leaking from the cowl and corroding your coil packs, I would start with a Ranger build over a Taco any day.

Reason? It is easier to rip out the crappy ford suspension and make it ride nicer like the Toyota, than it is to modify the Tacoma engine and transmission to have the ponies of the Ranger.

So $3,000 to $5,000 in suspension puts the Ranger on top.
But $7,000 makes a spicy Taco that doesn't match the Ranger's power.

Anthem must be much wetter than Kingman.

 

[GTGallop]

Anthem must be much wetter than Kingman.

I busted a gut laughing at that one.
To an outsider, my 3" a year more doesn't look like any difference at all. Inside Arizona you and I both know it makes this a swamp.

 

[pbethel]

I busted a gut laughing at that one.
To an outsider, my 3" a year more doesn't look like any difference at all. Inside Arizona you and I both know it makes this a swamp.

For a day. Or two.

 

[ppfd]

Those 3rd gen Tacoma's really run better with the 6 speed.
I’ll be looking at the new Tacoma after its been out a year

 

[Friday yet?]

the way Monica Lewinski hunts for a new dry cleaner

I laughed! Out loud even. But that joke is dating us.....

Some of the younger folks here passed right on by that one.

 

[Friday yet?]

Read every word. Great comparison IMHO. Thanks for posting it. Must say, I think the engine/tranny comments should be required reading for the Taco forum fan boyz.

One liners....... well, I commented on the Monica zinger right after I started reading it. Couldn't help it. But I should have just waited before commenting. There are some seriously humorous comments in there. Too numerous to point them all out. A few I immediately read a second time just to grin again. Not only a good comparison, but a thoroughly enjoyable read. Nice job.

 

[Rhino]

A while back when I dumped my Ranger and got a Tacoma, I promised an actual side by side comparison. Here it is.

I've got a few tanks of gas through the Taco and about 3,500 miles on it now That's pretty evenly spolit 25/25/25/25 between surface streets, interstate commuting to work, road trips, and off road. The TLDR is that if you factor out the Ford service department F-ing me over on Coil Packs because of the design flaw about rain water on the engine block, I still prefer the Tacoma. BUT!!! Either Toyota or Ford could fix a few things and become a total industry dominator in the Mid-Size Truck Market - they are that close.

For Comparison, my Ranger was a 2019 XLT 4x4 Crew in Magnetic Storm. My Toyota is a 2023 TRD Off Road 4x4 Crew in Magnetic Grey - I know. I might have a "type."

Lets look at the Toyota Cons first - this is where the Ranger beats it:
1. Engine - The 3.5L NA V6 is an absolute DOG of an engine. Far less HP and especially TORQUE than the Ford Ecoboost and Ford makes all of it's grunt low in the RPM's where Toyota wants to rev up to 3,000 before it starts to wake up and 4,500 RPM before you really see the power come on line.

2. Transmission - This thing is constantly hunting for gears the way Monica Lewinski hunts for a new dry cleaner. And as a 6 speed the difference between each gear and where the torque converter locks up are further separated. It also likes to skip gears - going up hill will drop 6 to 3 and then blast the RPM's. There is a "tune" you can buy for around $400 to $500 that fixes this and makes it drive smoother and more efficiently and apparently it operates "with in Toyota specs" so they can't tell it's there. Well if that's the case Mr. Toyota should fix his product and install it at the dealership as a free or discounted service. You really have to LEARN how to drive this truck. And the combination of engine and transmission means that trailering anything is a poor experience, where the Ranger pulled a trailer up hill like it was nothing.

3. MPG - Is it really a #3 all on its own or part of 1 & 2 above? Not sure. But my Ranger was getting 20 to 22 MPG and that was WITH bigger tires and no speedo calibration. In the summers it would drop off but that's because my wife would want to go places with me but then not get out of the truck when we got there so a lot of parkinglot iding for AC. The Ranger got pretty close to that 20 off road too. My Taco is getting around 16.5 on the pavement and 10 in the dirt. WTF Toyota?

4. Air Conditioner - Every single Import Car I have ever had, has had an anemic AC in it. Every Domestic Car I have had, trounced the competition with AC. This is no different. I got the Taco at the beginning of the summer and the AC has run Full-Tilt since then. Only a few road trips at high way speed in cooler altitudes in the morning did it finally catch up. And at Max Cooling it's LOUD. It also doesn't auto slow the fan when you get a call or text.

5. Technology - The Ranger was the closest thing to a Luxury Space Ship I have ever bought. The technology in that thing was amazing. Everything worked so seamlessly and integrated very nicely. The Tacoma is a 2016 platform that is basically a retro-fit of their 2012 Tacoma. It is much more plain, basic and trucky. I like that too so It'll show up again below in the Pro's. But the Tech that IS in the Tacoma is all based off of solenoids and relays under the hood that has more clicks than an African Xhosha couple having a marital spat. Seriously, every time I do something, especially going off road the dashboard starts clicking like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang taking off.

6. Dash Layout is an after thought. It looks like it was designed by a prepubescent teen loaded on Monster and modifying his truck. Everything is helter skelter all over the place. Got a new feature to add? Find some unused territory and stick it there. Never mind that transmission controls are now in three places

7. 4LO Crawl Control - Not a fair comparison since I didn't have this on the Ranger. But I hate this feature. Pointless tech. I keep looking to find a time and place to use this but I haven't yet. Maybe I'm a control freak? Maybe I'm just so awesome I don't need it (not likely)? And the rear E-Locker only works in 4LO too? Not that I have ever needed it but I would think and hope that I could have that locker in 4HI. Wouldn't you want to run locked if it was Icy?

8. Bed Cover - I didn't have one on the Ranger but the Yota came with it so lets talk about it. The dealer wanted to charge me $1800 for it. It's the Bak-Flip "style." I say that in quotes because I thought it was a Bak-Flip and it turns out it is a shitty knock off. Thankfully I had them throw it in free with the deal but now I'm in this predicament that the wife won't let me get a Bak-Flip because I already have a Bak-Flip. She doesn't see the difference. So I got a free problem not a free solution. The difference is that it is barely big enough to cover the bed and leaves little gaps along the edges. It also drains INTO the bed. so all of the water that hits it either leaks in or gets piped into the bed. The last panel also doesn't flip up. So I only get access to 2/3 of my bed now.

9. Bed Width - My ranger could fit two large dog crates in the bed side by side up against the cab. Tacoma is just a half inch too narrow and the Bed Cover puts them out right against the tail gate.

10. Bed Material - This is more to round it out at an even 10 items to bitch about. but the Toyota bed interior is Fiberglass. Pretty Cool! My Ranger had a spray in bed liner. That Toyota bed is slicker than Owl-Snot. Everything slides up into the 1/3 of the bed that doesn't open so I'm forever fishing shit out. I need to get a $200 rubber mat.

Toyota PROS - Where it BEATS the Ranger!
A. Suspension and Ride Comfort - Yeah... This thing floats like a Cadillac, especially off road. I used to air way TF down in the Ranger to soften up the trails. This does it without even airing down. Nice becasue if there is a short section I want to run, I can do it w/o airing down. I still do on all day trips. This one thing right here is the real winner over the Ford. My wife would cringe in parking lots where there were potholes or speed bumps . Even going slow over them was a pain in the ass in the Ranger. It does have a little more body sway cornering but not bad at all.

B. Interior Space / Seat Geometry. I'm not talking about Passenger Space. This is gear stowage. I took the gear that barely fit in the Ranger and was hard to access and filled about 18 to 20 gallons of a 27 gallon HDX Tote with it. Then I added the things to fill that tote up to the top. All 27 gallons of crap fits easily in the Taco with room to spare. Maybe about another 5 to 7 gallons. And it is MUCH more accessible.

C. Time Space Continuum Worm Hole - I can't figure it out but... The Taco has better ground clearance, but is shorter at the roof. Has lower bed walls you can reach over into, more storage (mentioned above) seemingly more interior space. all in the same or maybe smaller footprint? The hood feels bigger too... How did they fit so much space in a smaller package?

D. Mods... This thing is a Lego Truck. It snaps apart and back together. Want to run a Ham Rado? No issues. Tons of rubber plugs and access panels that pop off and on for access. Adding lights? No isssue, pop off and back on. Everything in the interior is snap-assembeled. There are 8 bolts holding the seats in and then maybe another 4 bolts all together on the interior / dash. Easy access for customizations.

E. Customizations? Why YES please! The aftermarket community for the Taco is bonkers. You can get anything to solve any probelm and the things you buy seem to be a lot less expensive than they were for the Ranger.

F. Trucky-ness - Mentioned above, the Ranger was great at being a space ship but sometimes was overkill. I like the simplicity of the Taco. Somewhere there should be a balance of Tech Integration that the Ranger does well, but with the simplicity that the Taco does well.

G. Rear Window - Tacoma is powered for the win. Ranger I had to get out and adjust manually - POO. I know that sounds small but it means that I basically never used the Ranger Window but I use the Taco window ALL the time. I like opening the rear glass and then venting the D/P front windows when I get in to suck out the heat when I first get in. In Phoenix we have heat in spades.

H. LED Lights - I probably SHOULD have mentioned this in the Cons too. The Taco has INCANDESCENT bulbs all over it. The Head Lights and Fogs were Factory Upgrades to LED and are VERY NICE but the rest of the truck, especially tail lights are DIM. Good news, for cheap you can upgrade to LED lights in the interior and you can pick color if you want. There are even some dual color / brightness LED Map lights that are perfect for low and high light applications. Tail lights are a little more expensive but then I got an LED strip that plugs into the trailer harness without tricking the truck into thinking I have a trailer now. Simple...

I. Oh and I can park the Tacoma nose down without fear of ruining my coil packs when it rains. Yeah F-You Peoria Ford and Ron "Lick My Nutz" Hubler for how your shop treated this flaw in the design of the product.

That's about it. There's a ton of stuff that's different but neither Toyota or Ford gets a win / loss on it. Falls squarely in the "Your Mileage May Vary" category and would be purely subjective. And again, while I'm pointing these items out, they really are very close (except for that engine and transmission thing and the suspension thing). I'd call it a close race and either one could change their product to dominate the other one.

I know the G4 Taco is out soon so not a lot of people will be buying the G3's. I'm excited to see how that new Tacoma plays out. Especially the Hybrid. It could be a game changer.

good read and good comparison of the 3rd gens. personally never been a fan of them since i prefer the 2nd gens with the 4.0. but since ive been around toyotas a lot longer figured id let you know a couple things.

1. this engine is a dog unless you got the 6spd... its a car engine so imagine a old honda with vtec ya thats how this truck wants to be ran... high in the revs which isnt a problem unless you got an auto then it feels pretty boring
2. get a tune done. it will solve the trans searching for gears, its pretty well documented on tacomaworld and most get a tune and have no issues and also get better mpg where some will hit 22mpg or around that area.
4. i agree something about the 3rd gens ac just isnt great? idk why but my 2nd gen had awesome ac and it ran great no issues for many many miles!
7. crawl control is a great feature for those that done know how to wheel or find them selves in a shitty situation and dont know how to get out. its mainly for those that know nothing and got stuck. i never found any use for it since ive been wheeling for years now and know what to do and how to get out but a lot of people who buy these trucks daily drive them and have never been in that kinda situation so it helps them out, bout it tbh

Agree. I had a 2014 Taco TRD Off Road and sold it for Ranger. All I know is the Ranger is better in every way I can even think of. Engine, transmission, comfort (specifically seats and sitting position), stereo, headlights. And I had two warranty repairs on my taco under 36K miles and my Ranger is right now at 36 and no issues. I was able to sell the Taco for a lot so I guess that is good.

you had a 2nd gen... its not even the same truck as the one he is talking about.. your truck had a lot of low end power for being na and is still well known as a great power train setup and way more reliable then the ranger... also idk what warranty's you had but i had a 13 tacoma and never had one minus incorrect tire label on the door... i beat on that poor truck until 135k miles hard... to the point i tweaked its frame. but it still drove and ran best truck ive owned to date would rather have it back over this pos.

seating did suck thou lmao but they make risers to fix that issue

 

[Rhino]

I laughed! Out loud even. But that joke is dating us.....

Some of the younger folks here passed right on by that one.

that would be me idk what that means lol

 

[Friday yet?]

Read everyone's follow up comments now. This to me is a very enjoyable thread. Was happy to see a few mention the Taco seating position. I was surprised it wasn't listed as a "Ranger win" item in GT's review.

For me there are two items that kept me from even considering a Taco. Each of them alone is a deal killer so both together make the idea of purchasing a Taco an absolute non-subject.

1. First man in the bob sled seating position.

Don't remember who in this forum used that line but it is forever seared into my brain. Never have I heard such a perfect description of the horrific seating position.

2. Gutless gear hunting power train.

As with everything else in the world, JMHO.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I laughed! Out loud even. But that joke is dating us.....

Some of the younger folks here passed right on by that one.

Yeah, wasn't she on the West Wing show or a former governor of Alaska?

 

[Bob902]

Read everyone's follow up comments now. This to me is a very enjoyable thread. Was happy to see a few mention the Taco seating position. I was surprised it wasn't listed as a "Ranger win" item in GT's review.

For me there are two items that kept me from even condsidering a Taco. Each of them alone is a deal killer so both together make the idea of purchasing a Taco an absolute non-subject.

1. First man in the bob sled seating position.

Don't remember who in this forum used that line but it is forever seared into my brain. Never have I heard such a perfect description of the horrific seating position.

2. Gutless gear hunting power train.

As with everything else in the world, JMHO.

There was only one item keeping me from a tacoma. Its a toyota.

 

[Friday yet?]

There was only one item keeping me from a tacoma. Its a toyota.

? drop

 

[kendive]

A while back when I dumped my Ranger and got a Tacoma, I promised an actual side by side comparison. Here it is.

3. MPG - Is it really a #3 all on its own or part of 1 & 2 above? Not sure. But my Ranger was getting 20 to 22 MPG and that was WITH bigger tires and no speedo calibration. In the summers it would drop off but that's because my wife would want to go places with me but then not get out of the truck when we got there so a lot of parkinglot iding for AC. The Ranger got pretty close to that 20 off road too. My Taco is getting around 16.5 on the pavement and 10 in the dirt. WTF Toyota?

16.5 MPG for a compact truck. I'm glad I did not buy one I was looking. My 15 F150 3.5 Ecoboost did better than that.

I would buy another F150 over a Taco any day... Now a Turbo Hybrid Taco I would ponder on for sure...


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