"have him help you pick out the truck"
It was he who suggested the Toyotas! That's what he wants, that's what he gets. B-)
I had a tacoma - not bad features. Got 600 miles away from the office to find out the
original dealership is the only place to replace a tire.
It seems full size trucks are following the market. They are simply too tall to make good work trucks. I would like to evaluate the new Nissan with the small diesel. I was a suburban fan until my conversation with the service department today. I will never consider another general motors product. My .02, Tom (not so proud owner of a 2010 cobalt)
Don't have a clue about the Tacoma but we have a 3 year old Tundra 4x4 and it has been a great truck. First problem we had was last month at 104K miles (just out of warranty), some pressure valve that controls the 4 wheel drive went out. Cost to fix was $2200.00 at the dealership but Toyota said that shouldn't be breaking and fixed it for free. Thank you Toyota.
I think you will like them just fine. Taso has one almost identical to the one you pictured and it is really nice. It has great power and mighty comfy. He had a Tacoma before the one he has now and it was a little smaller. Keep in mind it [the new one] is about the same size as an F150. Last time he got me for some work he sent me out with a surveyor chick (who I've worked with before). We're toolin down the interstate that day and out of the blue she says "you know, I REALLY like this truck!!" - like it was some sort of epiphany. 😉
I don't think you or your crews would be disappointed at all.
E
My 2005 4x4 Tundra is the best work truck I've ever owned, and likely the last one. It will go anywhere my 1994 Jeep Wrangler will go, and carries all my stuff.
A fellow surveyor pulled up last week with a newer Toyota, and it was bigger than mine. I just said, glad you bought a Tundra, but isn't it kind of big. It was a Tacoma.
I'd been a Ford guy forever and had great luck. The brakes seemed to puke out, and I had transfer case issues on my '98 F150. I traded it in for a 2002 F250 Crew Cab diesel. I almost got killed because I couldn't make a U turn on a rural road, so had to jockey it. I traded it in 2 weeks later (how do you spell negative equity). Plus I hated it for working - too high. I had to stand on the tire to get gear out of my side windows (I'm 6'2").
Now they all are too big for this day and age for the stuff we do. I'd go simple and look at good low milage used ones. Maybe even some kind of SUV'ish grocery getter. Most of them are all wheel drive.
Nice!!!
Here's my 2 cents of a tacoma from personal experience... I have an 07, SR5 Access cab tacoma and it is by far the best truck I've owned. Going on year number 7 of owning it and it has 112,000 miles on it with little-no issues with it whatsoever. I've replaced a tail light, rear leaf and rear brakes. The rear leaf was my own bad from hauling 1550 lbs of railroad ties to the dump... just slightly overloaded. That and the temp gets down to about -40 here in winter and I've only plugged this thing a handful of times.
They're basically the same price as a domestic 1/2 tonne but will out last and hold its value much better then the F word as I have a f-350 for work right now.
Used to be GM man and will NEVER go back
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I say your probably kidding yourself to justify buying 2/3 of a truck at 2/3 the price a full size truck. Unless your crews are all comprised of little folks no taller than 5'7" and 150 lbs, and don't have to carry much equipment and material around, I'll bet that most of them would prefer the room of a full sized truck and it's just you who has the preference for the itty-bitty rigs.
I once worked for a company who used mini-trucks. My chief was good with it, but he was 5'6" tall. My knees were always jammed into the dash and my head rubbing the ceiling. If the job was more than 1/2 hour from the office, I had to spend the first few minutes just unfolding and working the circulation back into my legs. Cheap ass boss!
Another place I worked, the boss cut costs by buying the cheapest SUV on the market, which at that time was an Isuzu Rodeo. The idiot survey manager who came up with that figured that enough corgo space to carry 2 sets of legs, the TS, a target, a pole with a peanut on it, a hammer, a few rolls of flagging, and a bundle of stakes was plenty. He was 5'7" or so. The other guy I normally worked with was about my size, 6'4", 240. Imagine 2 vikings crammed into an 8' dinghy and you'll be pretty close to picturing the comfort and utility of that Isuzu piece-o-crap.
Full size truck is the way to go if you doing construction staking. I've always felt that a 3/4 ton was better than a half ton because it will hold up better carrying the weight of all the equipment needed to perform a wide variety of tasks along with several bundles of stakes and/or iron pipe over a variety of road and off-road conditions. Unless everything in FL is so smooth that no grading is required, construction sites put stress on a truck's suspension. The smaller the truck, the sooner it gets used up.
