04 f-150 vs 06 tacoma

[Bean Counter]

You're gonna owe us a lot of pictures when this search is finally done. 

[follow maggie]

I'd go with the Toyota. I have an f-150 now and it's the most unreliable money pit I've ever owned in my life

[klikboom]

I have the 05 taco. It has not been near as bulletproof as my ol' 98 taco was but still beats the competition IMO. I got the 6-speed manual. As much as I love manual's this isn't the worlds greatest tranny. The clutch throw is around 2.5 miles long, the gearing is compact so you're never in the right gear and now my syncros are going out.

I picked it up used at 60K and it has 120K on it now. The exhaust manifolds had an exhaust leak when i got it, got it fixed on warranty (TSB). The AC compressor went out last year, the condenser does not have a replaceable drier so you have to replace the condenser also. I've upgraded suspension at all four corners. It rides awesome, but the design of the rear leafs is poor. The rear end will vibrate if you lift it, i ended up adding pinion shims to get it to quiet down. The front end is susceptible to vibration if you don't have hub centric rims. I learned that one the hard way, bought and ran pro-comps for a year, and then switched them out for some FJ steel rims which work great.

The taco has been a great hunting rig, it's a DC short bed and I've been some tight situations where a full size rig would've been up a creek and i was able to get through / turn around. With a small lift it gets around 17mpg mixed driving. The e-locker is a nice feature for the rear end (TRD).

I don't know if the '06 has this issue but

You can always look at the frontiers also. They have a fully boxed frame (heavier) and their resale is far less. The great thing about the taco is if you get a good deal the value really sticks around. I bought a wrecked 98 taco, fixed it, drove it for four years as a stock do everything truck, never broke anything and sold it for what I had into it.

[b23]

If you want a big, roomy truck...buy an F150. If you want a little truck, buy the Tacoma.
[/quote]

What will your main purpose be for this vehicle? 

I've had may full size trucks and I currently have a 2013 dbl cab sb Taco that is my daily driver.  They're a nice mid size truck and if this will be your DD and you do very much in town driving, you'll appreciate its smaller size.

BUT, if the extra room a full size offers is something you'll need or use on a regular basis, I'd highly recommend going with a full size truck.

I had a 09 Jeep Rubicon as my DD before I bought my Taco and in all honesty, there wasn't a great deal of difference in interior room between the two and when I drove my full size after driving the Taco, the interior room of it seemed huge compared to the Taco.


The Taco I have is a very nice truck and is really convenient to drive when I'm downtown and if I lived on the Wet side of the Mtns. I'm sure I'd like/appreciate it even more BUT for me, if I had it to do all over again, I'd have bought a new full size instead of a mid size.

Best of luck to you on your quest.

[vandeman17]

To answer the question about use for the truck, it will be my main daily driver which is a 15 mile round trip to work and back. It will also be used to tote the dogs back and forth to the river, out in the mountains for hiking, camping, hunting etc. Size for me is a double edged sword. More space is good in some instances and smaller is better in others. I figure its basically a wash because both will be beneficial under different circumstances.

I decided to get rid of my 03 Tahoe via either trade or private sale so that changes my price range a little bit but not much. I might look into a newer F-150 now but really would like to find one with a canopy included because I really would like to have it for hauling gear and a place to keep the dogs and not get all the dang hair in the cab.

[MacAttack]

If it were me, I'd keep looking. With all camping gear, dog and whatever else there is no way I could fit all that in a Tacoma, bed is too small. I didn't know about the issue with the 5.4 so after hearing that and looking it up it came off the board for me. If you can find a newer f150, silverado or ram I'd buy those. I have an 02 1500 silverado with around 138k not a single problem. Brother has a 06 1500 ram with 106k and is a solid truck. I have 5 friends with the F150 and only 1 hates his. A buddy just picked up an 07 Tundra and couldn't be happier. Like I said, if you have the time, I'd keep looking.

[b23]

It's your money so spend it how it pleases you but based on what you just said, a full size is what I'd be getting if I were you.

Like I said earlier, my Taco is a nice truck but it has about the same room in it as my wife's car.  My daughter ski races and when we took her to race camp at Mt. Hood we took the Taco.  When we were loading everything up for the trip down I was amazed at just how fast the bed filled up and before we were all done packing, I was started to get a little concerned everything was going to fit.  We took my wife's car when we went to pick her up.  It has a medium sized Yakima skybox on the roof and her car with the skybox, we had a lot more room then just our Taco.

I kind of think a full size is more what you'd like then a mid size.

Also, and I'm happy they do since I own one, but Tacoma's seem to command a premium price.  I don't really see what the big deal is but they always seem to want a lot for used ones.

[bobcat]

I think if I were to buy a Toyota, I'd buy new. Since it seems the used prices aren't very much lower than the new price.

 For a good used truck, look at a Chevy with the 5.3 motor. My 2002 has been very reliable so far, and I bought it new. It's got 135,000 miles on it now and I've done nothing to it except regular maintenance and the fuel pump and alternator have been replaced.

I do think with your dogs and all the different types of hunting you do, that you'd be better off with a full size truck.

[Bean Counter]

Also, and I'm happy they do since I own one, but Tacoma's seem to command a premium price.  I don't really see what the big deal is but they always seem to want a lot for used ones.

You can say that again. when I was shopping in 2008 I looked at a 2005 Tacoma. It sure did look nice and I think the dude may Have  put  few aftermarket items in it, but he wanted $25,000 for it. 

Expect to see a lot of sellers listing their truck at or even above KBB if it's only a year or two old.

If you're going to go new consider the Costco buyers program. I had to go I to the Stealership to get a quote and it was a bit of a drawn out, gay process but the quote was a bit better than what I probably could have haggled. They looked pissed off when I didn't buy and was just there to find out how much. They wouldn't tell me over the phone so I had no apology. 

Once you get past 150,000 miles the prices come down to earth a little more and as has been discussed it's still a baby at that mileage.

[Slimdog350]

Like I said in my previous post- I love my 05 Tacoma but it's not roomy and on long drives it sucks. When I bought it I was downgrading from a 06 dodge crew cab w/cummins. At the time I didn't need a truck that big but then I got married and now have 2 kids and 1 on the way. I wish I would have held on to that truck. I would be money ahead. Heck I'll sell you mine so I can get a bigger truck. It's only got 105k on it, a canopy and a 3" lift kit with 33s. Don't know if you like maroon or not. If you have a family or want a family I would go bigger with some room to grow. You never know what life will throw at you when you least expect it.

[vandeman17]

Like I said in my previous post- I love my 05 Tacoma but it's not roomy and on long drives it sucks. When I bought it I was downgrading from a 06 dodge crew cab w/cummins. At the time I didn't need a truck that big but then I got married and now have 2 kids and 1 on the way. I wish I would have held on to that truck. I would be money ahead. Heck I'll sell you mine so I can get a bigger truck. It's only got 105k on it, a canopy and a 3" lift kit with 33s. Don't know if you like maroon or not. If you have a family or want a family I would go bigger with some room to grow. You never know what life will throw at you when you least expect it.

how much?

[dog]

I have been very happy with my 2000 f150. It has the 4.6 v6 and would say it is definitely not gutless as someone else suggested. When my son blew the transmission on our camry in Idaho I went over put it on a trailer and pulled it back through the passes with no trouble at all. It also gets 16 mpg city and 19 hwy, seats 3 across and has room for at least two rifle cases behind the seat. (standard cab) I have changed nothing but brakes and tires so I'd say it has done very well.

[Slimdog350]

Like I said in my previous post- I love my 05 Tacoma but it's not roomy and on long drives it sucks. When I bought it I was downgrading from a 06 dodge crew cab w/cummins. At the time I didn't need a truck that big but then I got married and now have 2 kids and 1 on the way. I wish I would have held on to that truck. I would be money ahead. Heck I'll sell you mine so I can get a bigger truck. It's only got 105k on it, a canopy and a 3" lift kit with 33s. Don't know if you like maroon or not. If you have a family or want a family I would go bigger with some room to grow. You never know what life will throw at you when you least expect it.

how much?

IDK probably $16k. It's an extended cab though. Not sure if you're wanting a crew cab. I can PM you a pic if you like. It's the TRD off road version.

[Mossy]

The stuck spark plug thing is such an overplayed non-issue unless you don't know what you're doing or wait way too long to change the plugs. I am surrounded by F-150's all day long, change spark plugs on them all the time and I literally can almost count on 1 hand how many my guys have broken in the last 1.5 years. Definitely less than 10. Even when they do break, with the correct tools, they come right out. I wouldn't consider that an issue to be concerned with. The plugs are changed out every 90k miles...if you worried about every issue a vehicle had, you'd be riding a bike.
The cam phaser issue is a potential deal breaker. That is super expensive to fix, and it does happen from time to time.

My 04 just hit 61k, bought it 5 years ago with 41k. I tackled the cam phaser issue a few weeks back myself and it cost me $560 with all the timing components included. Was quoted anywhere from $2600 to $3200 at the dealerships. It took about 10 hours total, kind of a pain but worth it. That's the biggest issue I've had besides replacing a couple window motor setups.

[270Shooter]

Jack, since you work on fords all the time, what is your opinion on the 5.0 Vs the 5.4's as far as reliability and potential issues? Figured you would probably be a pretty good guy to ask.