Sad to leave; sold my awesome 4Runner.

My needs changed from an awesome and trail-capable SUV to a mid-sized 4dr pickup.

I started looking at pickups last Fall, and tried to buy a Tacoma TRD Off-Road, but the Toyota dealers were full of themselves with low availability and low-balled me.

They started begging me for business about a month ago, so I started looking at pickups. Then saw the 2024 Tacoma. Didn't like much about it. And I didn't like the seating position or transmission in the 2023.

I heard that Nissan bought back their controlling interest from Renault and quality has improved. Reliability ratings of late bear that out.

Plus, with a new 310hp 3.8 V6 and 9spd transmission, the Frontier spanked the Tacoma. The test drive was amazing, with 24 mpg average and tons of power.

The Nissan dealer gave me what I paid for my 4Runner new for trade, took $3k off MSRP, and a lifetime drivetrain warranty with $200 deductible through the dealer.

Brought it home...



Sad to see my 4Runner go, but I just didn't need the off-road capability of it, or the 15 mpg, or the lack of power and road noise on road trips.

Goodbye faithful friend.

 

I don't think Stellantis and Renault/Nissan have any connection?

 

Cool Color.

 

Thats sure is a nice looking truck, I had a 07 frontier that I absolutely loved(drove it for 150k miles with 0 issues).

Do you think the rear seating is larger or smaller then the tacoma?

Plus I bet that frontier is more off road capable then the 4runner(yeah I said it)

 

Happens to the best of us. Cheers and good luck!

In what way? I haven’t driven the Frontier, but if more articulation=more capable, and coil springs offer more articulation than leaf springs, and the Frontier has rear leaf springs, I’d say that gives the 4Runner the edge. No?

 

I think the rear seating is a bit larger than the current gen Tacoma, but is more upright, so not as comfy as the Tacoma.

And no way is thing more capable than my 4Runner. Clearance and approach/departure angles are not as good, and the rear uses leafs, so not as much articulation.

The 4Runner surprised me with it's capability. I'm sure the Frontier will not.

 

Good Looking truck enjoy

But just to have fun:

NISSAN
Needs Imminent Salvage So Abandon Now

 

Oh look, it has current Gen Tacoma wheels!

 

I am a Toyota fanboy and can’t go back to Nissan. Good luck to you, hope you’ll enjoy the new ride and won’t miss probably the most reliable vehicle ever.

 

That's a good looking Nissan! Enjoy, and stick around for the BS.

 

It was the red stripe wasn’t it?

 

I got a Nissanndealer 8 miles from me.

 

Sad to see a long time member go. I agree, the 4runner isn't compelling. We overlook a lot for reliability and if the Nissan is fine then why stay. I'd consider one if they still sold a manual.

 

This is my driveway. I like both of them.

 

Best wishes!

 

I did a similar thing. Traded in my 2016 TE for a Tundra, but realized we needed another vehicle and still wanted a 4Runner after test driving a bunch of other vehicles. we ended up buying a 2023 ORP.

 

In stock form the 4Runner has very little articulation in the rear due to rubber bushing bind. The Frontier probably has more articulation in the rear. However, the Frontier's front suspension has very limited travel. In stock form it's probably a wash.

 

We had an Armada…..the 5.6 is a awesome hotrod but the rest of the truck body/especially the interior was falling apart within a year and if you towed anywhere near capacity the air suspension would pump up rock hard to nearly zero travel. It didn’t stay in the stable for long.

 

Did Nissan figure out their new 9 speed transmission? I would take some hunting from the Tacoma over clunking and banging the new Nissan 9 speed has been known to develop.

 

Interesting.

 

I really dig the new Frontiers. Enjoy man.

 

I kinda did the opposite. When our 3rd gen had only 300k on the clock, we thought, hey let’s get a new truck. After 18 years with the 3rd Gen I thought I had enough of 4Runners. We drove everything, poured through the forums, manuals, etc. we ended up with a 5th gen LE bought new in 2015.

It’s been slightly modified and is extremely well suited for our purposes.

I totally get it when your needs change so does your choice! Bon Voyage!

 

Great job on the deal you made, mountainman! Nice truck! Nissans are excellent rigs with a loyal following, i think you’ll really enjoy it.

 

I made a huge mistake...

I hate this truck.

First, the "oh shit" handles that look so cool bruise the crap out of my right knee when not using cruise control.



Second, the front driver's seat is simply too narrow for my fat rear end. I found out that the seatback adjustment lever gets bumped by larger drivers and slowly reclines the seat. WTF? It drove me nuts having to constantly re-adjust the front seat. I was told that the only fix is to remove the adjustment lever, which I did. No more movement, but the seat is still too narrow and there are annoying pressure points on my butt. One of the main reasons for switching to this thing was road trip comfort.



Third, the quality control is just not there. The paint issues are driving me nuts. What car manufacturer doesn't paint the inner fenders body color and instead just leaves them with overspray and primer???!!!





Fourth, the fancy systems and bell and whistles are cool, but none work like they should. The 360 degree camera and back up system is such a low pixel quality that it is just sad. The cruise control will go from 1700 rpms to 6500 rpms on a moderate hill on the highway. None of the buttons are for the off-road goodies are easily accessible and are out of sight and out of reach. Stupid.

Fifth, the fit and finish is sub-par. Door gaskets were coming off, plastics are hard and cheap, and when I was driving around town in the sun with my left arm on the driver's window sill, I got cut from the sharp plastic panel edge.

Fail.



What is great about the truck? It feels like a full-size pickup and feels solid. The 310 hp V6 feels amazing when passing and accelerating. I'm liking the 21 mpg average. The off-road goodies work very well off-road.

It is not a Tacoma. You can't throw a rock and not hit either a Tacoma or 4Runner around here. Several people have asked me what it was and thought it was a new EV pickup. It looks cool and the headlights are awesome.



I just wish it wasn't so uncomfortable! A 10-minute test drive is not long enough to really see if a vehicle will fit you.

I called my local Toyota dealer and they indicated that the trade-in value of the Frontier will be pretty much the same as I paid for it, so I can trade it in and not lose a bunch of money.

Now trying to decide on either a new 2023 Tacoma TRD Off-Road in Lunar Rock, or a 2021 Tundra 1794 Edition with a canopy and 30k miles for the same price.

 

You don't have to leave! Drive the Nissan and let us know how it's behaving, besides that we'll miss your posts!

 

Thanks for the update. Those kinds of things would make me fret too.

 

I looked at the Frontier as well as I've owned and liked one in the past. The 9 speed should definitely be capable of slightly higher mpgs at highway speed, but in town stop-and-go is going to be similar. Looking at Fuelly seems to support that. Most people averaging 16-17, some getting low 20s on all highway trips.

Your tuck has direct injection only, and Nissan's DI system is known for caking carbon on the valves quickly. Some people use catch canes, but I wouldn't. Walnut blasting services are in your future either way if you keep it longer term, and they're not cheap if you pay someone to do it. I wont consider a DI vehicle for this reason, and it's why newer Toyota engines are port and DI - so this isn't necessary.

See titan forums: https://www.titantalk.com/threads/carbon-on-intake-valves.427466/

 

One thing I never liked about Nissan as a company back in the 80s was that they performed what I'll call cheap copying. For example, they'd make a Sentra that looked Corolla-ish, use cheaper materials and cut corners, and beat the Corolla price by $1000. Nissan might add a little extra HP to entice enthusiasts, but that was about it. A dealership body shop manager (a combined Toyota/Nissan dealership repairing my wrecked 1984 Supra) explained that things like belts and hoses were thinner and failed more frequently on Nissans, and that parts overall were lower quality. At least you got a good, meaningful comparison under your belt. Best wishes finding the truck you like!

 

i had a 2017 Frontier SV. Was a good little truck, but so plain and small. Went from that to the Titan. Used to be a Nissan fanboy. Glad i finally got my head straight and got Toyotas. LOL.

 

On my commute the other day, a Frontier in that color accelerated from 65 to 90 in the blink of an eye and blew by me like I was riding a horse. It was a nice-looking and probably quite capable vehicle.