Tacoma vs. Ridgeline...

Keep in mind I was very stoked to go buy my 05 Taco Sport.This was a big decision. I can only think of a better choice if I needed to tow 10,000 lbs. For me it came down to the 05 Taco and the Ridgeline. This is my first Honda purchase. #1 in consideration was brand reputation, reliability, and resale value, and for me that was Toyota and Honda. I've owned a Toyota truck and car for fourteen years with not one problem between them, so Toyota really had brand loyalty from me, but the more in depth research I did about how Honda engineers approached this vehicle. It convinced me this was very different than a chopped up pilot that I initially thought it was. Honda truly brought some new ideas and improvements to the pickup table and they needed too with their first entry into this market. I was impressed with their Unibody integration with a ladder truck frame giving it 20 times more torisional stability and 2.5 time more bending rigidity. combine this with a beefy 4 wheel independent suspension, and you've got truck toughness with a ride of a nice car. This really does give the vehicle a more overall solid feel. This is also the best automatic transmission I've driven. Acceleration is excellent.

Other features that pushed it over the top:

-really like the VTM-4 AWD system instead of part time 4x4. It also has VSC that can be turned off and VTM-4 lock that locks the rear and front diffs

-I can haul 4x8 building material, and it will lay flat in the bed of this mid size truck. There's no wheel wells taking up valuable space. No other midsize can do this. (I really don't want to be driving some huge full size truck just to do this.)

-Biggest cab in class. It's pretty roomy inside. Love the flip up backseat allowing for alot of storage in back of the cab. lots of storage space through out. The center console is the best laid out storage space I've seen in a center console.

-Inbed trunk and 2 way opening tailgate (genius) lights in bed light the cargo area when you open the gate. (not available on Taco-NAOT)

-dual climate control (saved my marriage )

-leather interior, I really feel like I'm in a nice sedan (very classy, and not available on Taco)

-moon roof (NAOT)

-power rear window (NAOT)

-heated mirrors (NAOT)

-power driver's seat (NAOT)

We love this truck. It does everything well for us. It's a nice luxury touring car. It hauls cargo when I need to, and I love it off road. The most amazing thing: The styling has grown on me. I love the way this truck looks or maybey it's function and utility is driving the beauty.

This would be my first Honda, so I don't consider my self biased, yet.

I have yet to buy my RL but I'm just about ready. I was set to buy a tacoma back in Jan, then I test drove one. About mid throttle it had a bad top end rattle. That sent me into the forums, where I found 05 taco owners complaining about rattle noises in their engine. Then I found other owners complaining about water leaks and other issues. The big thing was that it seemed the Toyota service centers weren't helping their customers. On one of the Toyota forums someone mentioned the RL and that started my interest. Though the RL has had some issues reported, most of them seem minor and Honda seems to be addressing the issues.

Now, regarding other trucks, I've had fords and I'm not going back. The chevy colorado and gmc sister truck just don't impress me in styling and that Inline 5 really turns me off. The Dodge is interesting but when they have a recall on ball joints, (could those wheels fall off) and other quality issues it wasn't a truck I considered for a long time. The Nissan is a possible, it's cheap, my old 90 240sx was rock solid but the Frontier just doesn't seem to compete with the RL, I feel like I'd be stepping down, not moving over.

I know the RL doesn't have a rock crawler serious 4x4 driveline but I don't plan on taking this thing up the Rubicon. I foresee snowy trips to Tahoe or muddy firetrails in the fall/spring and dusty trails in the summer. Why not do it in something that feels more like you're riding in a Acura TL then serious work truck.

Just my two cents.

I was about six hours away from buying a Tacoma Dbl cab long bed 4x4. It is quite a nice truck.

I have long been a Honda fan my first motor vehicle was a Honda 50 in 1965. I have since owned five accords and two Acura's, usualy get 150,000 miles out of them before replacing them. I was recently looking for a car for my som and after driving a few cars with nearly 100,000 miles on them, I was amazed at how tight the Honda's feel compared to other makes at that milage. I guess that makes me a fan.

I realy did not like the look of the Ridgeline at first, but I felt compelled to give it a try. I was sold in the first block,
I have come to love the look.

I would state that the Toyota may be a better off road vehicle if you realy want to get into rough stuff. I would probably suggest it may be a better work truck as well.

But as a daily driver and occasional truck Honda realy hit the nail on the head. Its a sports-limo-truck. It has way more creature comforts than the Tacoma, the back seat in the Tacoma was marginal, there was almost no foot room and the seats were not nearly as comfortable as the Honda.
The full time All wheel drive and other safety features blew the Tacoma out of the water.

I once again reconfirmed that I am a Honda fan for a reason.

I can speak from first hand experience to this one. I traded in an 04 tacoma for the ridgeline. The main advantage for me was the much bigger interior for carrying the kids, and the trunk for going shopping. My wife loves it and she hated the tacoma. The RL has become our regular family car over our Sienna minivan. Child seats fit great, there is a trunk for purchases and strollers. Its perfect for going to the dump, and it has a great drive. We feel it has a better ride than our 02 Toyota Sienna and it is a world of difference from my tacoma. I love the 4WD/AWD. I had the TRD version of the tacoma, but I could only use the 4WD on wet roads. We had a very bad winter and the tacoma was superb in the snow. However, when the snow melted the roads were covered in "dry" sand. Without the 4WD my tacoma did very poorly starting at sandy intersections when trying to accelerate to turn on a busy road. The RL never falters at the same intersections that I had trouble with the tacoma on dry roads. I love the RL and I have been a loyal toyota person and come from a family loyal to toyota. Now I am even considering replacing the Sienna with the Odyssey because I am so happy with the RL. I was unfortunate enough to have a problem (leak) with my RL but I found my customer service deparment extraordinary. I expected some problems given the age of the model anyway. We actually had a problem with our Sienna three weeks after buying the vehicle and had terrible service. We turned the vehicle on and had leaves blow out of the vent. Took it to Toyota and they said a field mouse took up residence and it happens all the time. They charged us for the repair, but I was never convinced the animal wasn't there on delivery since the car was so new. The story gets worse because for the next few weeks the car smelled like a dead animal and the dealer wouldn't check it saying "My nose never lies". Took it to another dealer, they inspected, cleaned the dead animal and treated it with ozone. They didn't charge us even though we bought the vehicle at a competing dealer. Car finally smelled like a new car! Anyway, I haven't been impressed with customer service at toyota and I am very impressed so far with Honda. I'm sure there are dealers out there like my first Toyota dealer, but the Honda dealership seems more concerned about what I say when Honda calls me than anyone else does, so I think Honda takes customer concerns very seriously. Hope this helps. Sorry about my Toyota story but I couldn't resist passing that on.

I too was going to get a TACO DC LB PreRunner. I actually ordered one from the Fremont factory with all the accessories I wanted. I took a couple of months to get the truck made. In the meantime, I looked at the RL and I was sold! My wife the rear room in the RL and said don't get the TACO. Initially I was hesitant because I could not get over the look of the RL but sitting and driving the RL has changed my mind. It rides much better than the TACO. The Honda has a lot of the accessories built in the truck compared to the TACO. I had to order a TACO with side airbags...no curtains like the RL...the curtains are standard in all the models of the RL. What surprised me was the TACO did not have an option for leather which I could have done without but I had to have the leather on the RL. There are many other "little" things that attracted me to the RL but the two main things were the Honda name and the ride. No regrets here and BTW I don't troll on the TACO site.