Wow that's dang near every one they ever sold eh?

The exact same truck has been around for almost 10 years now, and the problems list with them is longer than route 66. I don't know how they went from making the toughest small truck in america during the 1990s to the biggest POS in the segment in just one generation...but somehow they did.

Is it any wonder the mid-size class is as slow as it is? I mean when you can go a get a full size truck, for about the same price, and get in most cases better mileage and more power? the only down side to the full size I see is size, and the difference between the two is not all that much, the only time you really see it is in the garage or the new parking spaces being painted lately, and that is all! Come on! even the 4 cyl Tacoma does not get the same mileage as a new Ram diesel, and not much more than the Pentastar V-6/8spd! or the Chevy 4.3 reg cab 4x2! like a friend of mine just bought, it is brand new and he is getting 20mpg in the city! and 25 hyw! and I bet when he puts a cover over the bed, and lighter wheels he gets even better! I know he has told me he is going to do whatever he can to improve the mileage, like a Cold Air Intake, headers, cat back exhaust and tuner, all in the interest of better mileage! he bought the truck brand new over the weekend for 17K!!! on a special Presidents Day sale, with no trade, he got the best deal around! it is a nice all black W/T and when he is done it will look really nice!

@Sandman

Is your friend's 4.3 WT a 2013?

The reason midsize trucks make more sense to some is that they do get better gas mileage then full sized trucks and still have nearly the same capability as a half ton. they are more realistically priced as well. A Ram diesel stickers around here for 52k. A Taco 4x4 ext cab stickers for 31K that's a 21K difference. Another great aspect of midsize is the fact that parking them is much easier then trying to park a land ark full sized truck. Using a full size as a daily driver doesn't make much sense either if you have to go more then 10 miles, which many of us do. You'll need to tow a gas station to go any further.
Smaller trucks do better on the small off road trails and are easy to maneuver in the city. Full size truck segment is getting so expensive now that only contractors can afford to buy them for work. Personally, I only need a midsized for the occasional trip to home depot or going fishing or the occasional furniture move. I don't need to utility of a full size behemoth! Its way overkill for my needs. If I owned horses or a construction company Ful lsize would be the way to go but I think the average American could easily get by with a midsized truck.

Here we go again. The oft repeated "they're too close in price" statement is so wrong. Full and mid-sizers are NOT incredibly close in price. Price out similar models and apply the respective manufacturer rebates. The final price isn't THAT close. Also, check out the used market. Sure, you can find full size and mid-size trucks for the same price, but the full size truck will be older and have more miles.

Good comments so far guys. Experience is leading me to believe that a large reason why we don't see a higher rate of core innovation is simply because the controlling parties aren't interested in putting the stuff out there -- whatever the real reason might be (pick your favorite theory). I mean, how does GM, for example (not just picking on them, it could be Nissan or whomever) help design tiles for the space shuttle that routinely withstood 30,000 F temperatures upon atmospheric re-entry, yet have trouble putting enough coats of paint on the current generation Colorado, amongst any one of a number of other issues (I own an '05). I mean, really, are you kidding me?! And again, you can replace "GM" with *any* OEM. I realize this can be rebutted by those who point out manufacturing costs, understanding of value, etc. But the overall point is, I find it hard to believe that for all the engineering might of these companies, we can't be doing better after decades and decades, in everything from transmissions, to body panels, to MPGs.

...When more "news" seems to be taking the form of badge engineering and trim packages, doesn't it make you wonder a little bit, too? Just some food for thought.

papa jim: NO it is brand new, and is a 2014 W/T short bed with rollup windows, but power remote locks, and 3:08 gears w/auot lock rear end,cd player and steering wheel controls being the only options! no OnStar, it has vinyl floors, and we drove it on the scale and it weighs 4,877lbs w/ 1/2 tank of gas, and like I said it is his project to see how many mpg he can get out of it, he is a home owner and can always use a truck, and he commutes 48 miles a day round trip to work, and the only problem I see with it around here anyway is we do, some years get snow! and this year? I have had over a ft of snow in by driveway, 5 times! and if I had just a two wheel drive anything I could not get in and out! that is why I bought an AWD car for the first time in years I bought a car! (Charger R/T AWD) I do not know how it will be in a ft of snow, but better than a two wheel drive pickup, that's for sure!

Dan: the Ram you talk about for 54K is not an taco ext cab! but you can get the Ram ST club cab 4x4 with a diesel for under 38K if you were to order one! maybe even better, I know you can build a reg cab 8' bed 4x2 Tradesman for under 30K! if you were to try and buy a taco with as closely equipped as the 54k Ram, in other words a Double Cab V-6, loaded, you would be closer to 40K, get maybe 75% of the mileage, maybe more load capacity, but less towing cap. But the biggest difference would be in comfort! and room inside! All I know is you can get a diesel Ram fo the same price as the Tacoma! 4x4 or 4x2 Ext cab or Club Cab, if you know how to order it!

The Ram is defiantly not the most roomy truck. Look at the passenger floor board in one, the passenger can not even extend their legs out as their is a big hump on the floor like a van, and if you get the center console it eats more space. I'm tall so maybe its not as bad for short people but I think its cramped compared to just about every other truck out their.

@sandman the price threw me!

not surprised at all about the highway mileage though. The Gen 5 engine technology is very smart, and the cylinder deactivation technology has finally arrived, from the sound of it. And the 6 speed.

I gave up on toy trucks when I retired. I only needed one for driving to work which could be anywhere from 10-100 miles RT. I worked in construction and needed to carry some things but not contractor stuff. My union employers supplied 90% of the tools I needed. Now that I retire I own a 2500 CC LB 4x4. Don't care about mpg's.

My last toy truck was in fact a 06 Nissan 2wd V6 AT extra cab. I only had it long enough to put 60,000 miles on it. I got an average of 20-21mpg freeway running 65-70. 22 running 55-60. Not much more than a new 2013-2015 1/2 ton comparably equipped. I bought it because it was less money than a full size truck and I didn't need a full size truck. IIRC it was right around $21,000 off the lot.

In todays market $21,000 won't get you diddle in a 1/2 ton truck. But to the guy that says no one buy contractors can afford new trucks must work at McDonalds.

@WXman: Nissan is managed by Renault. 'Nuff said.

papa jim me too! until he showed me the bill of sale! at the deal was 2.5K factory rebate and then a big dealer discount! plus like I said no trade so he got an even better deal! the list price shown on the window sticker was $25,873! with the options and delivery charges! and there was only one on the dealers lot, and he got here just in time! also Presidents Day weekend helped a lot!

@Dan - Start by comparing similar trucks. Not a highly optioned Longhorn and eco diesel Ram 1500 vs a fairly basic Tacoma. The Ram 1500 4X4 Quad cab is $32,515 in Ram Express trim. It's similar in trim as the basic Tacoma 4X4 Crew cab and offers similar front/rear legroom (except 3 across) as the Tacoma. So they're around the same price before rebates. But full-size truck OEMs/dealers can and do offer far bigger rebates/incentives. So you do end up spending slightly more for a mid-size truck that actually gets slightly worse mpg than its full-size counterpart.

http://www.autos.yahoo.com/toyota-truck/tacoma-4x4/2014/

http://www.autos.yahoo.com/ram/1500-quad-cab-4x4/2014/

My thoughts on the Nissan , its a great engine trapped into a cheap truck, it costs more new than a full size pickup, doesn't get any better gas mileage than the full size trucks, can't haul or tow much, low ground clearance, its dead in deep snow.

@Sandman4x4

You probably already know this but Detroit makes the dealer buy certain models, colors, trims whether they really want one or not. For the dealers there are certain seasons for their key products, so for example the fleet buyers in your neighborhood may not be actively sourcing new cars/trucks until mid summer, or even November.

A Chevy dealer sitting on a WT trimmed reg cab six cylinder fleet special must have been aching to get that truck into some happy buyer's hands even if it meant accepting the thinnest cash deal. 'Keep the inventory churning' is sometimes the name of the game.