It’s been almost two weeks since we bought it, and today we’re finally going to do some truck-type stuff with it. I present to you, for the first time, truck with something in the bed:
We’re going to go down to Jess’s family’s land today and we’re going to drop our Christmas tree off dahn ‘ere so it can “biodegrade” naturally.
It’s 7° with 20mph winds outside right now, and the new truck is all covered in road salt already, so I’m not too keen on getting out there to take a bunch of pictures to post here. I’ll post all sorts of pictures after it warms up enough to wash it. In the meantime, here’s good stock photo I found online:
Click the picture for a larger view.
Obviously, ours is black, not red. But you can get the idea. What we bought is a 2006 Toyota Tacoma 4X4 SR5 with a 236hp 4.0L V6 that actually out-powers the 4.7L V8 Magnum available in the Dodge Dakota. From what I’ve read, the fuel mileage should be very good in this truck, too, averaging somewhere between 18 and 22 mpg for us. Considering we get 15mpg in the Jeep with it’s 3.7L V6, I’ll be pretty happy with this mileage.
I’ve wanted a truck since I was about 12, and now I finally have one. I did my homework before buying. I considered the mid-size offerings from everyone but Ford – the Chevy/GMC Colorado/Canyon, Dodge Dakota, Toyota Tacoma, and Nissan Frontier. I read nothing good about the GM truck. It’s the smallest in the group, but has the worst turning radius. Its “big” engine is a weak 5 cylinder. It has no towing capacity. I liked the older model Dodge Dakota – like the one that got crunched – a lot. But the newer model just isn’t the same. It’s a lot heavier, but uses the same 4.7L V8. Reviews have said this engine just isn’t powerful enough to haul the extra weight. Additionally, the newer model has a wider turning radius than the previous model, and I felt it was too wide in the old one. Moreover, I just don’t like the angular looks of the newer model. However, I just saw on Car and Driver that the Dakota’s getting a facelift for 2008 that really improves the looks, and it’s getting a newly-re-worked 4.7L that adds 60hp and 10% more torque. So if you’re buying a mid-sized truck later this year or next year, it looks like Dodge will be back in the picture. After ruling out the trucks offered by GM and Dodge, that left the Nissan and the Toyota. I really like the looks of the Nissan. I read a lot of good things about it, too, with regards to its power, handling, and off-road capabilities. However, I thought there was a silver bullet. The Nissan web site makes it appear that if you want a 4×4 Frontier, you have to be willing to drive a manual transmission. While Jess & I both know how to drive a stick, we’d rather not. In actuality, it appears you can get a 4×4 auto, but the website misled me into not buying a Nissan. That left just the Tacoma standing. Luckily, most reviews gave it high praise. We test drove one and liked it, so we had the dealer set out to find a remaining ’06 model for us, since the ’06s had the best financing option. Now we have a truck. It’s waiting for us to actually use it!