frontier vs tacoma vs colorado

[pdonoho]

i know ya'll might be a lil biased, but any thoughts for a guy considering buying a used version of any of these three trucks? i want a four door, 4x4, v6 min

any thoughts/info would be greatly appreciated

[amorf]

I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what I know, and what I've heard from others. First, it depends on what you want the truck for. That said, the frontier is the fastest (05 or later), but it gets the worst gas mileage. The colorado gets the best mileage, but it has the least amount of power, and I would not expect much tow capacity out of it's Inline-5. I hear that toyota's, and nissans especially, are noticeably more expensive for parts, but then again they tend to brake down much less. Those are some of the basics, hope it helps.

[Desert Rat]

The Colorado is the smallest and least powerful of the three, and it also has a clearance hindering crossmember that I imagine would get hung up easily while offroad. I do like their styling, however.

The Toy is the biggest of the three with the 2nd most powerful engine (2005+). It's also the ugliest, but will probably hold the best resale, and they have outstanding aftermarket support.

The Nissan has the best powerplant, but is notorious for weak axles. Avoid those with the factory locker option, as those Dana 44 variant axles have been problematic, and the aluminum housed R180 front diff pretty much sucks too. That said, if you don't plan to modify or wheel the snot out of the truck, this combination will likely hold up fine.

Ultimately it boils down to what you'll use the truck for.

To me, the Nissan wins on power and looks.The Toyota has better resale and more aftermarket presence (although plenty is avialable for 2nd gen Frontiers too)The Colorado is a good looking truck, but it's smaller, less powerful, and will probably have the worst resale of the three.

[hsckris]

forget the colorado.

tacoma and frontier (new style) are the ONLY choices in the compact truck market. they outclass everything else in towing, hauling, handling, braking, acceleration, quality, offroad ability, and reliability. i just did this research about a year ago when i bought my frontier.

the colorado was absolute junk compared to - go drive them and you'll see what i mean. it has 3" less clearance, tow less, and has no power. not only that, but the MPG isn't very different -- i average 20 mpg in my frontier.

for me then it came down to fronty and taco, and i got the frontier b/c it was thousands less for the same equip. as a tacoma. i keep hearing this weak axle crap, but i've never seen it and i've never had a problem (*knock on wood*) and i do offroad my truck. i do not however offroad it ridiculously and i think that is where people are seeing failures.

[Desert Rat]

Read up on some other Nissan forums like xterraownersclub and N4W for a few horror stories on the D44/R180 axles.

[hsckris]

i've heard about the problem -- but i've wheeled as serious as i'm going to with a stock d.d. truck with no problems (again, *knock on wood*)

regardless: taco & frontier > all other compacts. after that its a matter of what you want. i bought the frontier b/c it meets my current needs and was thousands less.

[S14-KOUKI-MONSTER]

Apparently GM is offering a v8 option of the colorado/canyon this coming year. Which one I'm not sure since they make 4.8, 5.3, 5.7, 6.0 & 8.1 v8s. I'd suspect the 4.8 or 5.3.

They're all nice trucks though, tough call.