Frontier is a bit cheaper but it is not the State's truck. 2024 Tacomas will all have turbos so is it reliable? Discuss.
Looking to upgrade from my Ford Taurus

With the addition of a turbo, that's 1 more part that would require maintenance in the long run.  But if you plan on keeping the car for less than 5 years, there should be no issue.

I had a Subaru WRX (turbo) and had the car for less than 3 years with no issues. I ran it hard due to racing at tracks, aftermarket parts, etc...

Since this will be the first Tacoma that comes with turbo, it will be interesting to see if there are any issues.

Also wait time is a think right now. So depends on how soon you want to replace your Taurus.

We're getting a new car in June and the Toyota Cross was 1st draft choice. But due to 1.5 year wait, they're not on the list anymore. It will be between a Subaru Sport Forester or Nissan Pathfinder.

Frontier is a bit cheaper but it is not the State's truck. 2024 Tacomas will all have turbos so is it reliable? Discuss.
Looking to upgrade from my Ford Taurus

I had a 2012 frontier, it was super cheap, but after owning it for a few years I vowed never to get one ever again. My biggest complaint was the turning radius. It made it terrible to drive and park. Second complaint was the mileage, I think I got 14mpg out of that v6. My theory is that the transmission is set up to make it sporty instead of efficient. I upgraded to a toyota tundra, which drove and parked better than the frontier even though it was bigger, had a V8 with over 100 more horsetorques, and got pretty much the exact same mileage, if not slightly better.

If they havent fixed the turning radius my personal opinion is to stay far away from the frontier unless the price point is important. The current frontier is a different generation from the one I had so its possible. Im sure the mileage will still be horrible though.

The new toyota motor has only been around for a couple years, so I dont think anyone can tell you if its reliable. But unless you are driving from one side of the island to the other every day, I dont think its something you have to worry about. Toyota resale value is also one thing to consider, its the best.

Also mileage issues might only apply if youre like me and have a short daily commute up and down a few mountains. Whenever I drive to the country my mileage skyrockets for that one tank of fuel lol.

stay out of debt

I’ve got a 2021 Frontier, approaching 30K miles.  No problems with it at all, easy ownership experience.  Plenty of power (for me, but I haven’t towed anything with it yet).  No problems with turning radius/parking.  I’ve got a pretty flat, 12-ish mile commute (one way), and I get about 21 MPG in traffic.  When I used to drive to the range more often on weekends (longer trip/less traffic) it’d get up to 22+.

Only issues so far: one recall for some trucks that the transmission would slip out of park and roll away; never affected mine, but got the recall done.  Also ran over a spent .223 case in one of the bays, lodged in the tire… got it repaired, but had a slow leak ever since.  I’m cheap, so instead of buying a new tire I got an air compressor at Home Depot, air it up every couple of days, lol.

4.5 stars, would buy again.

Buy a used Tacoma 2016-2023. I like the new design of the Toyota Tundra Tacoma Sequoia but I dont like having more electric stuff on board. So I  personally would pass on the 2024. I had a Frontier in the early 2000’s, everyday I drove Id imagine it was a Tacoma lol

Just a general observation here:
Over the years I've owned many Toyotas maybe 7 or more.
None have lived up to their reputation for reliability.

Generally, I've had best success with Datsun/Nissan cars.
I drive a modest little Nissan now and I love this thing.
Especially in this age of claustrophobic parking garages and tiny parking spaces.
I used to have a big ford suv when I had small kids, It was great on family camping trips.
But now they are all grown up and they got their own trucks.(tacomas, I think)

Mustang 

Ram TRX

brand new
2 tousand tree
lifted






cherry

Frontier is a bit cheaper but it is not the State's truck. 2024 Tacomas will all have turbos so is it reliable? Discuss.
Looking to upgrade from my Ford Taurus

The Frontier is a pretty solid truck. The rest of the Nissan line I would not bother to even look at.
I am not a fan of the Toyota turbo charged 4 cyl. I expect long term reliability problems.
Do not miss any oil changes with this type of engine. Most people do not follow the maintenance schedule.

I love my 20 year old Tacoma. It is still going strong. I might as well keep it until it falls apart from lack of parts.
Due to current emission/fuel economy standards ICE engine reliability is decreasing. That is the plan.
IMHO there is a good chance this would not be the case if Trump was still in office.
Hvybarrels is right stay out of debt. 

The Frontier is a pretty solid truck. The rest of the Nissan line I would not bother to even look at.
I am not a fan of the Toyota turbo charged 4 cyl. I expect long term reliability problems.
Do not miss any oil changes with this type of engine. Most people do not follow the maintenance schedule.

I love my 20 year old Tacoma. It is still going strong. I might as well keep it until it falls apart from lack of parts.
Due to current emission/fuel economy standards ICE engine reliability is decreasing. That is the plan.
IMHO there is a good chance this would not be the case if Trump was still in office.
Hvybarrels is right stay out of debt.

great perspective. I didn't look at it that way.

I own a 2011 Tacoma V6 with 125000 miles. No major issues with the engine since it’s a timing chain. The most reliable V6 is the 1GRFE which has been around for 20 years. In the last years of the 3rd gen Tacoma they were up graded to a 3.5 V6. These smaller V6 are doing good so far, but new are being replaced with the 4 turbo. Besides the normal expenses of upkeep (oil/filters/belts/tires), most expensive repair was the ac evap. Only cons I are paint fades and the cab is on the smaller side.

at the risk of perhaps stating the obvious, and preaching to the choir...

car mfrs are going from V8's to V6's, and from V6's to to turbo-4's, because of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation being imposed on them by the climate extremists and tree huggers.  The car still weighs the same, so they need to boost the output of the tiny little four-banger so it'll go up a hill, and they do that with the turbo.  The point being that in general, the four-banger will lead a more highly-stressed life in order to move those 3,000 lbs of weight up and over Red Hill freeway.  So IMHO, those little 1.6L or 2.0L engines, that are being boosted to try to match the output of previous 3.0L, 4.0L engines will wear out sooner, ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL.

Highly stressed means more bearing loads on the crank, the rods, pistons.  Higher heat loads, operating temps internal to the engine that have to be dissipated.   Sometimes they spin the engine to higher RPMs in order to get the power to get up Red Hill, whereas before, they'd let the engine displacement, cubic inches do the work with torque.  This also shortens engine life.

so how do you make up for that?  have to change the oil more often, so that the bearings last longer, piston rings, piston walls last longer.  Oil breaks down sooner due to exposure to higher temps and combustion products exposure.  This creates a more frequent and greater maintenance burden that is incumbent upon the owner.  Hopefully the cooling system is right-sized, but the rubber hoses will not last as long due to them working harder to dump the heat out of the engine.  Plastic stuff being exposed to more heat will become brittle and crack sooner.

I'm sure many of us have experienced the frustration of working on older vehicles and some older plastic part just snaps off or breaks in two, just due to age, heat exposure, and then you find out it's discontinued, no longer available, and then it's "improvise or adapt", or eBay for used parts.  Well, maybe not all of us.

In general terms again, a bigger turbo-V6 will lead a less stressful life than a smaller-displacement turbo-4 since it's likely not being worked as hard to get the same power output.

If the vehicle you want is only available with a turbo-4, then you got no choice.  If you're looking for that 10-year, 20-year, 30-year longevity, then get the bigger engine, avoid the turbo, if possible, and change your oil when you're supposed to.

JMHO, YMMV.

Used (non turbo non supercharged) Tacoma??

I heard Tacoma’s have a tighter turning radius than a Frontier. 

People at my work don’t like the frontiers because sometimes they have to drive up to forest roads….they rather grab a tacoma….easier to turn it around on a narrow road if needed

I’ve owned 2 Sentras and 1 pathfinder.   After owning 2 Toyotas and 2 Hondas, I doubt I’ll buy another Nissan.

That said, Nissans depreciate fast so you probably can find a used Nissan for a decent price.   That is the only reason I bought Nissans in the past.   Starting in the job force, Paying for a mortgage and starting a family didn’t leave much for car payments.

I've heard that newer Toyota engines eat oil after awhile if you do not change your oil often enough.  Problem is Toyota went to low pressure piston rings.  Do a search on youtube on why you need to keep adding of 2 qt. or more of oil between oil changes for Toyota engines with no visible leaks anywhere.  Then again YMMV. 

The Frontier is a pretty solid truck. The rest of the Nissan line I would not bother to even look at.
I am not a fan of the Toyota turbo charged 4 cyl. I expect long term reliability problems.
Do not miss any oil changes with this type of engine. Most people do not follow the maintenance schedule.

I love my 20 year old Tacoma. It is still going strong. I might as well keep it until it falls apart from lack of parts.
Due to current emission/fuel economy standards ICE engine reliability is decreasing. That is the plan.
IMHO there is a good chance this would not be the case if Trump was still in office.
Hvybarrels is right stay out of debt.

Agreed! Tacoma 2007 - 119,000 miles and still going strong.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

My daughter has a 2009 Tacoma that wife and I bought for her back when she fell on hard times and needed a new vehicle.

That truck is amazing.  120,000 + miles and still going strong.  Hood is a bit tarnished but otherwise still a reliable and solid transportation piece.  I told her just regularly do oil changes and the truck will do the rest.

She is doing well financially now, and I even told her if she ever wants to buy a new vehicle that I would buy that truck from her (even though daddy bought it for her back then, lol!).

That truck is solid.

I think they still goin offer the V6 if you no like the turbo. But turbo these present days are low maintenance and reliable. I have a 2018 Tacoma pro in stick shift I bought brand new.. Good fun to drive. 1st and 2nd gears really get it going. I don’t know about the automatic version. But man the new ones coming out looks sweet. Especially the 4Runner. I say get one ren. Frontier? Eh, aright I guess. Anyway buy what you like and enjoy. On a 2nd note, put super unleaded on these trucks. I notice plenty difference going from the plus to premium.

If you are the type to keep your vehicles till it is difficult to find parts (over 20 years), I would avoid a super charger or a turbo

I had a supercharged 1995 previa van and the only reason I got rid of it was that it used a different distributor from the normal previa.  I think they were no longer made or real expensive….so the mechanic had to rebuilt the distributor

Our mechanic recommended that the next time the distributor went out, it might be better to get another cheap used van

The previa was not a safe van anyway….no motor up front similar to a vw bus so I gave it away

Previa had its flaws but it was cavernous.  We used it for the manana elem choir to transport risers and spreakers