****EDIT: Staying with an F150. Thanks to all for your input!

Hey folks. I have and plan to keep, my beater '95 ext cab 4 cyl. Ranger as my work commuter, and love it in all its simplicity and "beaterness". I got it to commute to work and back, and fixing it up has renewed my love for Rangers that I used to share. I also had a '93 reg cab 4 cyl. back in the day, and a '96 4.0L 4x4 ext cab, 10 years ago that I loved.

My primary (nice) truck now is an '06 F150 5.4L 4x4 with 53K miles, and it almost could pass for new. I love it, but its just a bit too big for my needs, and the MPG is absurd. I do, however, have two kids, one in a full car seat, and one in a booster. I transport them on short trips a few times a week. Mostly they ride in the family Explorer. So, I need some room, but not really the huge cab of the F150.

So, after much online research, the obvious choice to trade for lead to the Tacoma. They are powerful, sporty, have a great reliability record, and are a bit smaller than F150's, and better MPG. Besides that, they just look super tough, and I have to admit, it is the first non Ford, that I have considered buying.

So, I got the F150 detailed, have the day off work tomorrow, and plan to go 20 miles to a Toyota dealer, to drive a Tacoma, and see what I can get for my F150. On my way home from picking up the kids today, I noticed an '11 4x4 Ranger ext cab FOUR DOOR (I didn't know the newer ones' rear doors open, when did this start???). But, I still can't get a carseat in the back, darn.

You know though, what I like about the Rangers? The old school design. I know its wierd, but I do think, cars and trucks aren't built like the used to be. Granted, the creature comforts aren't there, but older designs just seem to be built sturdier and last longer, from my experience over the years. While my '06 F150 is a super smooth, refined, sharp looking truck, I just don't have faith in it staying that way for 150K miles. Compared to my Dad's '97 F150, I can just see lighter, chincier, and cheaper construction in areas here and there. I am at the point in my life where gadgets and fluff features are nice, but not the priority. I think that is what has drawn me back to the Rangers, a truck that won't work for the family part of my needs. Its a shame too, that with the newer Ranger suicide doors option, they couldn't have lengthened the cab 4" and put some forward facing seats with the Latch system. If they did that, I would buy one for sure, and I am sure they would have sold a lot more Rangers in that configuration.

I know the Tacos aren't gas savers, but it would have to be better than my F150, that gets 11/14.5 MPG. My brother's '08 5.3 4x4 Silverado gets 20+ or so highway, and has more power!? I can't understand how GM and Ford could be so far apart on the mileage.

I would be thrilled with 20 MPG. My F150 gets 11 city and always just under 15 highway. Last tank of highway driving yielded 14.88 MPG and I think thats as good as I can remember. But you know, its not truly only the MPG that I don't love about the F150....and I can't really put my finger on it. Its powerful, roomy, looks great, and is super clean, but, its just not me for some reason. I think its because it was the first Ford that I have ever had to have warranty work on. It also has a noisy valvetrain, that I have been told by the dealer more than once is normal. It very well may be normal, but to me, sounds like engine parts clanging together, that will eventually lead to a problem. It had a list of issues early on, including damaged 4wd hubs, solenoids, etc., and my confidence in its quality has been forever tarnished I think. I can assure you, I maintain, and baby my vehicles too. I think I have just been looking for a suitable alternative since.

Everytime something would go wrong with the F150, I would get mad, and tell the wife "This is the last Ford I will buy!" That is kind of the reason I am not looking into an Ecoboost. That, and I don't want to take on the payments of another $30,000 + truck. You know, if I could manage to get a new basic 4x4 ecoboost for around $26K (not gonna happen), I would be all over it probably.

I don't know, I may just keep the F150, and drive it until that next major repair or $1000 or more comes. Then, I will be really mad, and dump it for sure, and take a huge loss. I will let you all know what tomorrow brings. If the Toyota dealer can make a reasonable deal, I am leaning that way. I don't see them giving me a whole lot for my F150 though, and I am not going to give it to them to turn a huge profit on.

Sorry for the long post. I am apprehensive about trading my truck and want to make the right decision. Thanks in advance for any insight or help, guys.

This are old pics, you should see it as it sits in the garage now, with the Geolandars and all detailed!

 

Jimbo, I see that you have a 4X4 but my '04 F-150 XLT SC 5.4 4X2 gets 20 MPG on flat open road at 70 (that's honest actual mileage per Scanguage II) Those are ideal conditions, true, and around town it is not good (takes a lot to get 5600 lbs. of metal moving) but I would pencil out how long it will take you to recover what it costs in extra gas to drive the F-150. I'll bet longer than you think. I have had mini trucks in the past and have thought I'd like one again because of the around town mileage, but have vetoed the idea EVERY time. I love my truck and don't drive it around town much, take the car instead, but I have NO intentions of getting rid of it for something smaller.
By the way, Ford has put the 4 doors on the Ranger for a long time, but you seldom see them because most people buy a Ranger for price and weren't willing to spend the extra money for 2 more doors. Therefore, the dealers seldom ever ordered 'em for the lot, but they were available.

 

It's gonna take you a LONG time to make up the difference in vehicle payments with the mpg's from a ranger/tacoma. I'd seriously reconsider the purchase unless you can almost trade staight across.

 

I could not stand giving up the extra room. I really don't understand why your mpg are so low. They should be at least an additional 3 mpg, unless you idle a lot and drive in hills.

 

One other thought. Your truck is one of the safest vehicles on the road if in an accident. I doubt the ones you are considering even come close to matching it.

 

the reason you get poor mpg is because you take short trips with the truck. i wouldnt expect the tacoma to do much better in gas with that kind of driving.

 

Like everyone else, I'll just offer my personal opinions. First, I think you may be surprised with the mileage a Tacoma actually gets. Don't get me wrong, they're a darn nice truck and have a stellar reputation for quality, but the smaller size and the V6 just don't translate to the kind of mileage you might expect. And you're in for a rude awakening as to the final price you'll pay for one. That reputation for quality translates into a higher price.

As for the Ranger, I had several of them and loved them. The sad truth though is that the last Rangers were still pretty much 18 year old designs. Ford really milked the hell out of the tooling and it was starting to show. They were fairly primitive and also didn't get all that great of mileage. As much as some folks here might hate to admit it, the Tacoma is a much better truck than the Ranger ever was.

I'd suggest that if you really run the math, you'll find that keeping your current truck will actually be cheaper. Said another way, what you're putting in your tank will be more than made up for in higher monthly payments. Your call though.

 

I believe the 4dr Rangers are Mexico spec, but i could be wrong

 

Rangers are throw away vehicles. Something major goes, you just scrap it or part it out. And.. I wouldn't buy anything other than a ford truck, well maybe a fullsize GM 88+ pickup. I always liked that body style.

 

You'll be sorry!!!

 

You would be crazy to get rid of your F150. There are no miles on it.

Treat the truck right, and it will treat you right.

 

My 4.0 V6 ranger gets the same MPGs as my 04 supercrew got. 14-18 mpgs. So the bigger truck is worth it

 

You should be banned for even thinking about buying a toyota.

 

Drivers.

I have a 2007 FX4 Scab 5.4 with stock 3.55s and 275/55/20 tires, cat back exh, and SCFP1865 Tuner on 87 Perf tune. The tuner in 87 Perf did increase my mileage figures. It's has about 38K miles. I use a ScanGageII with both AVG MPG and Instant MPG displayed and I check MPG with "math" at every fuel stop deviding miles by gallons used since last stop. If no stops between gas stops, the SGII is always wiyhin a tenth or two of same AVG MPG. It's "correct" unless I stopped some where between fill ups and shut off.

I do get 20.5 on occasion on the highway, depending on the "highway". Recently, the wife and I drove the truck to Ga to visit her brother. Overall I averaged better than 18 mpg and one stretch starting in Dillsboro, NC (after a lunch at Dillsboro BBQ) when I gassed at the BP there, and coming up to Waynesville, NC and I-40 east to I-77 and I-77 up to Hillsville, Va. I got over 20 MPG both by math and SGII. 221 miles devided by 10.9 gallons = 20.26 mpg (I do keep reciepts, I record the miles, and I use BP almost exclusively).

It takes a steady, light weight foot and patience. Watching the SGII instant reading and trying to maximise the AVG will fine tune your habits like a game.

The real world mileage ain't enough to recover what you're going to spend for a smaller cab room and then there's that wondering if the spare wil arrive with you ... or hows that frame doing?

But you want a Tacoma it seems. Sometimes people have to "live and learn".

Later .........

 

I think for the difference in capability of the trucks you mentioned the loss in fuel mileage ,if there even is any, is negligible.