Why Does the Tacoma Dominate the Off-Road Pickup Segment?

[Car1]

I've been looking at small pickups for off-roading and I see that other than the new Jeep Gladiator all of the other ones are Toyota Tacomas. I'm wondering if there is a particular reason for this? It appears that the Ford Ranger and Chevrolet Colorado are almost identical to the Toyota Tacoma, why not use these instead? AEV even has an excellent build for the Chevrolet Colorado:
https://www.aev-conversions.com/vehicles/zr2-bison/.
I'm sure there are also some nice builds similar to this for the Ranger?

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[THLONE]

Taco Toys have a reputation to live down.

 

[GTGallop]

Most of it is reputation gained in the time when there was no other competition for Toyota in that segment. They have a reputation for reliability and for years were just plain simple good.

That parlayed into some good modification by the owner community and Toyota learned from that and started to fold that into the truck for what you see today. Yes it is an amazing truck and probably better than the Ranger - but it ain't that much better.

 

[Dinglehead]

I just shopped the two against each other. Ended up with a Lariat FX4.

It wasn't even a tough call to make. The Ranger just seemed like a better truck (to me) across the board. I mean, I liked the Tac's bed options and amenities that aren't really available to us.... other than that the Ranger was just so much cooler.

I'll admit, I also tend to be automatically disinterested by "what everyone else is doing" so that bias may be seeping in here.

 

[Trigganometry]

They were able to dominate for two reasons really. First comparable similar sized trucks to pick from did not have the Ranger as an alternative. Gen 4 ended 2012. So competition was weak. Then came Toyota’s truck frame issues. Just about everyone got a rebuilt (almost new) or mega trade in value for their vehicles. So stay in the Taco.

Toyota paid dearly for the top spot hands down. Ford waltzed back in when they realized they we’re having their lunch eaten! Didn’t cost them a dime!

 

[GTGallop]

...and aftermarket support for the Taco is almost Jeep-like.

You can still customize a Tacoma more than a Ranger.

 

[Bt_ostate]

Had trd pro for a year. The move to the 3.5l with the old style tranny was a mistake. Okay on the trails, but terrible on the highway or under load. Kept lugging and downshifting and really struggled on hills or passing etc. Made it unbearable to drive so I got rid of it. Crazily for within $1500 of what I'd paid for it new.

Wouldn't go that route again until they update motor tranny combo. Made buying a ranger easy this time.

 

[doug910]

I'm not sure if Tacoma truly dominates the off road pickup segment any more than it does the mid-size pickup segment. Ranger/Colorado sales are strong, but they don't compare to Tacoma. More tacos sold = you see more tacos on the road = you see more tacos off road. More sales also means that there's a bigger aftermarket scene. I think the sales are just a result of Toyota's reliability, "cool factor" associated with Toyota trucks, and the loyalty that the brand receives when Toyota did a great job marketing and engineering a decent midsize truck for 15+ years when the Big 3 completely ignored the segment.

But ugh. Ok, mini rant here. I hate the Tacoma and will refuse to ever buy one because I KNOW Toyota can make a better truck if they wanted to. They simply made the cheapest truck they could to barely meet industry trends, while simply marketing the Toyota truck "cool" factor and reliability. Let me explain.

The most obvious example of castrating the Tacoma is the C-channel frame. Toyota claims it's to reduce weight, but clearly payload is suffering from it (Ranger even outhauls the Tundra) and fuel economy hasn't improved from it. And Toyota KNOWS that fully boxed frames are beneficial: 4Runner, Lexus GX, FJ, Hilux, Land Cruiser, original Toyota Pickup ALL have fully boxed frames! Not to mention the rest of the body on frame segment has fully boxed frames.

And then there's all the smaller things that Toyota just didn't bother with in 2019 (when I bought my Ranger, I know Toyota has implemented some of the following): Wimpy powertrain, plastic bumpers, uncomfortable manual-only seats, no Apple Carplay/Android Auto, poor fuel economy, below average tow/haul figures, DRUM BRAKES, etc.

If you look at the details of the Hilux, you know that Toyota knows what they need to do to make a real midsize truck competitor. Instead, they just leveraged their reputation and built a sub-par truck. I hope that the resurgence of midsize truck competition from the Big 3 will encourage Toyota to make a vastly improved next gen Taco.

 

[dtech]

Never would have suspected so many Ranger owners have deeply repressed feelings of Tacoma envy. Wow.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

I shopped the Tacoma as well and the main issues that I didn't like were:

Seating position. I couldn't get comfortable. They finally added power seats so now that might be a non-issue but by the time they got around to that I was already happy in a Ranger.

V6/Auto transmission combo. Really weak V6 unless you hammer it. And talk about an indecisive transmission. Asking it for a gear is like asking my wife to pick a restaurant.

Me: How about 2nd gear?

Tacoma: You can have any gear except 2nd.

Me: Then how about 3rd?

Tacoma: No, I don't like that one either.

There have been numerous flashes to update the transmission control logic but the last one I drove still hunted constantly.

There were a few other minor things I didn't like (drum brakes? Really?) but they weren't the deal breakers that the uncomfortable seats and hunting transmission were.

I think the Taco is a nice looking truck and it has an extensive aftermarket, probably second only to the Wrangler/Gladiator as far as off road products.

The reputation for reliability has been tarnished a bit by the 2016 and up version as it has had some major issues (differential recall, look up smoking when climbing and blown engines).

If you go on Tacomaworld you would swear that it is God's Own Chariot and if you point out any shortcoming you will be labelled a troll and your family lineage brought in to question. I've never seen a site so full of White Knight Fanbois.

All that to say try them yourself as yours is the only opinion that matters to you and it's your money.

I will say that stock for stock the Ranger will outrun the Tacoma handily if that's your thing.

Put a $500 tune on the Ranger and it will blister the Tacoma's paint as it blazes past.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Never would have suspected so many Ranger owners have deeply repressed feelings of Tacoma envy. Wow.

I don't think it's envy as anyone here who bought a Ranger could have just as easily bought a Tacoma.

And there are quite a few former 3rd gen Tacoma owners here.

 

[AzScorpion]

I don't think it's envy as anyone here who bought a Ranger could have just as easily bought a Tacoma.

And there are quite a few former 3rd gen Tacoma owners here.

If I had bought a 2nd gen Tacoma I'd probably still be driving it. The 3rd gen drivetrain is one of the worst I've ever driven and yes the seating position is God awful too! I could never drive any long distance with that truck. When we went to CO summer of '19 I rented a car because I hated driving it for any length of time. One good thing though while we were in CO I met a lady at the gas station with a brand new Saber Ranger. Talked her ear off for about an hour and 3 weeks later I bought mine.

 

[GregM]

If I had bought a 2nd gen Tacoma I'd probably still be driving it. The 3rd ten drivetrain is one of the worst I've ever driven and yes the seating position is God awful too! I could never drive any long distance with that truck. When we went to CO summer of '19 I rented a car because I hated driving it for any length of time. One good thing though while we were in CO I met a lady at the gas station with a brand new Saber Ranger. Talked her ear off for about an hour and 3 weeks later I bought mine.

Dave I hope you lowered the tailgate to sit on while chewing the cud.

 

[mtbikernate]

Pretty sure the fact that Toyota never left the "smaller than fullsize" truck market counts for an awful lot. GM left it. Ford left it. Chrysler/Dodge left it. Jeep has dabbled in it, but was never fully committed to the market segment. Toyota has quite a bit of momentum just because of that, and this seems to be a big way they built their fanboi club.

I still see a lot of the older, smaller pickups on the road. Quite a few lifted with bigger tires, etc. From all the manufacturers who made them up until the early '00's.

The Toyota fanboi club is very real. I know a few people who are serious about it and won't look at anything else. They LOVE to talk shit, too. It's generally "good-natured" but it's incessant.

 

[Obijack]

Uh it dominates in resale value. But that’s about it.

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