Toyota Tacoma vs Ford Ranger: which is more reliable?
The Toyota Tacoma and the Ford Ranger are level on the federal record — 70/100 against 71/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Toyota Tacoma
- 14 model years scored
- 2,085 owner complaints on record
- about 28 complaints per year on the road
- 61 recall campaigns, 18 safety-critical
- best year 2014 (90/100) · worst 2025 (38/100)
Ford Ranger
- 7 model years scored
- 625 owner complaints on record
- about 10 complaints per year on the road
- 59 recall campaigns, 25 safety-critical
- best year 2022 (84/100) · worst 2019 (47/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Tacoma against Ranger
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Toyota Tacoma
- Power Train — 439 complaints
- Engine — 285 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 270 complaints
Ford Ranger
- Air Bags — 196 complaints
- Power Train — 143 complaints
- Electrical System — 56 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Tacoma's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Ranger's in Air Bags. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Toyota Tacoma — avoid: 2024, 2025.
Ford Ranger — avoid: 2019.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Toyota Tacoma prices at about $51,700 and a Ford Ranger at about $51,700 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 23.0 against 23.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Toyota Tacoma or the Ford Ranger more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Ford Ranger scores 71/100 against the Toyota Tacoma's 70/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger years should I avoid?
Toyota Tacoma: 2024, 2025. Ford Ranger: 2019. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Toyota Tacoma and the Ford Ranger?
The largest complaint group on the Toyota Tacoma is Power Train (439 complaints); on the Ford Ranger it is Air Bags (196).
Is the Toyota Tacoma or the Ford Ranger cheaper to own?
A recent used Toyota Tacoma prices at about $51,700 and a Ford Ranger at about $51,700, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.