I’ve been sporadically driving my wife’s 2006 Suzuki Forenza and it’s starting to reach that point where it’s going to cost too much to make it a good car again. I’ve been wanting another pickup for awhile and I’m looking around at the current options. I know it’s a tough time to be a buyer but the $25k-30k range doesn’t seem so bad to me.
At the Nissan dealership up the street a few miles away, they have a brand new 2020 Frontier King Cab V6, and at a used dealership about 130 miles away they have a 2017 Tacoma Access Cab with 50k miles and the 2.7L 4-cylinder engine. Nissan is $29k, Toyota is $25k. Both seem reasonable, but I’m not sure about the Nissan, having never owned or driven one before. And the Tacoma is right around that sweet spot in age and mileage, it seems.
I don’t drive much more than about 6k miles per year so a low-mileage used truck is not a problem. And most of what I might haul comes out to around a few hundred pounds of lumber once or twice a year, and maybe – finally – hauling a bunch of stuff to the dump that’s been collecting. I do enjoy the thought of putting all the miles on a new vehicle, but at the same time I’ve driven the Tacomas in the past and I think I know what to expect with owning one. Basically I’m just wondering which is the best value for my money?
No one here can tell you the best way to go as we can not see or drive them best way have a mechanic inspect them also if you have a garage take Docnick’s advice.
No garage here. I figured since the 2020 is “new” in the sense it’s never been driven off the lot, that someone might have some experience with one, plus the Frontier model line has been around forever. surely someone here must have owned one and liked it…?
I know multiple Tacoma owners who have had great luck and a couple Frontier owner’s who also seem happy but this Frontier is the new V6 that will be in the next gen trucks as well with the transmission shared with the Titan.
You’d have to find one but a new Tacoma Access Cab I4 SR Utility Package would be about $26,000 MSRP, deletes the rear seating and a few other things and is the work truck spec for Tacoma but a friend who uses his to haul stuff for his rental houses uses one as a mobile office with tool boxes that you open the rear half doors to get to.
Oh, I thought the 2020 was the last of the old powertrain style, I didn’t realize it was the updated version. This is new info to me. thanks.
Also, I tried pricing out a new Tacoma, but all the dealerships around me are selling $10k-15k above MSRP. So a new Tacoma is out of the question right now.
The Titan is larger than the Frontier by a lot. We had a 2014 Nissan Frontier SV will towing package and the bed extender system . The only reason we don’t still have it we no longer need a truck . New with warranty makes more sense right now with used truck prices being completely ridiculous .
The advantage of the Nissan truck is that you start with new tires, new battery, new wiper blades, etc. and a warranty.
If the Nissan meets your needs, it may be the better purchase.
+1 to both comments.
While the Toyota is likely to be more reliable in the long run, I think paying just $3k more for a brand new vehicle–complete with multiple warranties–makes a whole lot of sense.
And, since you drive only ~6k miles per year, that new Nissan is likely to last for many years.
I just bought a 2020 Nissan Frontier SV crew cab with the value package for about $27k plus taxes etc. I like it. It only comes with the new V6 and 9 speed automatic, it gets better gas mileage than the 4 cylinder Toyota and has more power than the Toyota V6.
I think your dealer is a little over priced for a King Cab version, but if it has not only the value package but the “Midnight Edition” and the next package up from that, it may be OK. BTW, I suspect that the used Toyota is way overpriced but the used car market has gone crazy lately for some reason. I priced on of those 2017 Tacoma’s with 4WD and new it was only $25k (with manual transmission).
The 2020 was supposed to be the new Frontier, but it wasn’t ready in time. They did start putting the new engine/transmission in them though. The 2021 was then supposed to be the new Frontier, but more delays and higher demand than expected for the 2020 because of the new drivetrain caused them to extend the old Frontier into the 2021 model year. Now the 2022 is slated to be the new Frontier, we will see if they finally get it to production this time.
Nissans are every bit as reliable as a Toyota. Reliability has never been the issue with Nissans. The issue is that Nissans tend to be a bit less comfortable, noisier, and have fewer amenities than the Toyotas. The new Nissans are very much improved in those areas. Maybe not quite a match to the Toyota, but getting a lot closer.
Nissans also had the least horsepower and worse gas mileage in the small truck segment, but the 2020 has gone from worse to first in the v6 small truck segment. They don’t have the new 4 cylinder yet that may not come until 23 or 24.
Add to that, the Toyota is another 125 miles or so away (130 vs. “a few miles”) so if it has to go back to the selling dealer because of a problem that’s going to be another factor. I’m blessed to live in a metropolitan area with abundant dealerships but even if I didn’t there’s no way I’d buy from a dealer 130 miles from home.
Toyota still has the value package Tacoma Xtended cab at just under $26,000 with destination but the market is so crazy right now my dealer only has higher trim ones at around $35,000 msrp.
My cousin had a Frontier King Cab and loved it. She carried her motorcycle in the bed. The built in restraint system was great for that. I rode in it a few times, and it was very comfortable.
Thanks everyone. I was already leaning to the Nissan because of the close-ness as someone mentioned, but I decided to go up to them today to test drive the Frontier and it checks enough boxes that I semi-enjoyed the actual experience of driving it. Nice leg room, good visibility, the steering wheel doesn’t quite tilt to my liking, but I’m sure I can live with it. The tilt stops at specific places, it’s not a fluid tilt. I dunno, didn’t read the manuals yet so maybe I just did it wrong.
Anyway, they told me I qualified for 0% for 5 years, but not at the $28k previously mentioned, and I decided a basically free finance was going to win this battle. I got it for the list MSRP of $31k and added the extended warranty just in case. $28k was only available for 4.9% financing. It came with the value package and something else, but they pulled the window sticker and must have disposed of it while I was signing papers, and I could not find it in the papers left in the cab.
Thanks everyone for the quick and helpful advice, I appreciate it!
It should have been left in the glove box with the owners manual. BTW, there is an upper and a lower glove box, they probably left it in the upper box.
If you paid MSRP, you should get a $2000 rebate from Nissan. If the dealer did not give you credit for this, then call the CSR rep listed in the owners manual.
Something really dumb, my insurance agent left their brick&mortar facility, now online only. They had me mail a copy of the window sticker! Never been asked for that before.
