I'm a 2007 Nissan Versa owner looking for help choosing a small pickup truck that will seat 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) in a pinch.

I might be going to work for a delivery service that requires either a van or truck. I have a van that will work for a couple of months but I'm looking for a small pickup that will be able to withstand a ton of miles in southern California traffic.

Choice is narrowed down to the GMC Canyon extended cab, Toyota Tacoma access cab, or the Nissan Frontier king cab.

Is the Frontier durable enough for that kind of work and is it the kind of vehicle that I won't mind spending 8-10 hours a day sitting in and driving? What are the real advantages and/or disadvantages for the Nissan compared to the other two for that kind of work?

Thank you in advance for your honest opinions.

I have a Frontier Crew with nearly 150K on it, and it still sounds / runs like a new truck...

I'd strongly consider the crew cab over the king cab - it's much more convenient, and you're not giving up much.

The Frontier has great seats, but the interior of the Tacoma is nicer. The GMC? Forget it.

AZhitman wrote:The GMC? Forget it.

I agree -- after doing a lot of research, I decided the only two realistic choices in the compact truck market are the Frontier and the Tacoma. The Ford, GMC/Chevy, and Dodge simply do not compete with the build quality, power, reliability, and capability of the Nissan and Toyota in the compact truck market. That said, you might be better to get a full size truck for delivery purposes. Even a lower optioned full-size can tolerate more abuse than basically any compact truck.

The Frontier (if you are talking new) and the Tacoma are almost dead equal in all capabilities/specs/etc... but you'll find that you can get into a Frontier for thousands less. I spent approximately 6-7,000$ less on my Frontier than what Toyota wanted for a truck with the same configuration. I actually talked to Toyota and told them what Nissan would sell me the truck for and the guy laughed and said he couldn't come anywhere close.

If you are talking used -- either one is fine and neither shoudl be significantly more than the other.

Thank you for the assessments. I was already seriously leaning toward the Frontier because of my relationship as a customer with West Covina Nissan. The dealership has really treated me well and their service dep't is one I can trust. Your opinions have reinforced where I was ready to go in the first place. I mainly wanted to make sure there weren't major flaws/inconveniences in the Frontier or advantages in the others I was overlooking.

I don't know enough about the local Toyota dealerships to trust them and the local GMC/Buick/Chevrolet dealers have horrible service dep'ts. Penske Honda in Ontario is awesome but Honda doesn't offer a pickup that suits my needs.

And, yes, the more I think about it the more I'm leaning toward the crew cab.