Best Midsize Trucks for 2024

The Honda Ridgeline differs from all of its peers in this segment by being a unit-body vehicle, meaning it is not built upon a traditional truck ladder frame. That is either the best feature or worst feature of this truck, depending upon which view you hold and what you intend to do with it. The Ridgeline is only offered in a crew cab configuration.

Honda’s Ridgeline earns high praise from automotive testers, particularly those who don’t focus exclusively on trucks. We’ve driven the Ridgeline many times, and it always amazes us that this is not the top-selling vehicle in the compact pickup class based on our impressions.  Since the Ridgeline is a Honda with a unibody design, it is often referred to by its detractors as a “Pilot with a bed.” We find that to be high praise since the Pilot is among the best three-row crossover SUVs in the world. Others see it as a sign of weakness.  The Ridgeline entered its second generation in the 2017 model year. That brought an updated infotainment system, safety updates, and a sleek new look.  Drive a Ridgeline and you will find that it exhibits excellent handling, acceleration, braking, and comfortable ride quality. It's in a league of its own among trucks in these ways. We’ve also taken the all-wheel drive Ridgeline off-road, and its capabilities are impressive. If you want to do some exploring, have a remote cabin to access or live in an area with unimproved dirt roads, the Ridgeline is more than up to the task. If you want to off-road for the sake of off-roading, pick the Gladiator Rubicon, Tacoma TRD Pro, or the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison.  The Ridgeline is significantly better at what most trucks are used for most of the time (driving on the pavement while running basic errands). It's also very capable when towing a boat or snowmobile trailer, and ideal for light off-roading.

Toyota’s Tacoma has been the sales leader in the midsize segment for decades. While other brands quit this market, Toyota continued to polish the gem that is the Tacoma pickup.

Toyota’s Tacoma midsize pickup truck has been on the market with only minor updates since the 2016 model year. However, the truck still dominates sales in this hot segment. The Tacoma’s popularity stems mainly from its impressive reputation.  Reliability, durability, and quality are the foundations upon which the Tacoma fanbase was built. However, starting around 2016, many fans found the automatic transmission’s personality hard to live with. Some older trucks from the mid-2000s suffered from frame rot that Toyota spent considerable time and money to rectify.  The Tacoma offers trims with a low starting price point, a basic engine, and rear-wheel drive ideal for daily transportation and some business applications. The Tacoma line also includes extremely capable off-roader TRD Pro trims that set the bar in this segment. A bar that some of the Tacoma’s competitors have now surpassed. Fans of the Tacoma also like the availability of a manual transmission – a dying feature in today’s world.  The Tacoma tops our list of the best pickups in the midsize class because it earns the highest retained value score, highest overall reliability score, and the Tacoma also scored high for safety. Like all new Toyota’s, the Tacoma comes with two years of included maintenance. Toyota offers shoppers a value proposition that’s tough to beat.

Ford discontinued its iconic Ranger small pickup truck in 2011 despite a large, loyal fanbase. It recovered from that mistake by introducing an all-new Ford Ranger in 2019. The old and new Ranger small truck have nothing at all in common, and most older Ranger used trucks are now "fully depreciated,” to say it kindly. We’ll focus our comments on the new Ranger.

Ford’s fresh take on the Ranger includes the first use of a turbocharged four-cylinder engine in this class. As the only engine offered by the Ford Ranger, it needs to be a winner, and it is. The Ranger’s EcoBoost 2.3-liter engine offers 270 hp and an outstanding 310 lb-ft of torque at low RPM.  Ford’s Ranger is a great all-around truck with a tow rating of up to 7,500 pounds and has leading fuel economy for the midsize truck segment. However, every manufacturer knows that a halo truck capable of off-road excursions helps boost a model’s popularity. For 2021, the Ranger line adds a Tremor off-road package with suspension and equipment upgrades to scratch that itch.

The GMC Canyon is a near-twin of the Chevrolet Colorado. They are made on the same assembly lines with the same key components. GM markets the GMC Canyon as a more upscale or professional grade version of the same Colorado design. Even the warranty is identical.

One way the Colorado and Canyon are different is their available trims. The AT4 is the Canyon’s off-road trim. It adds some capability, but nothing like what the Bison does for the Colorado. The Denali is a premium Canyon trim that GMC claims surpasses what Chevy offers.

The Nissan Frontier received a much-needed redesign for 2022, transforming it from the oldest to the newest truck in the midsize category. Its drivetrain, a 3.8-liter V6 with 310 horsepower connected to a 9-speed automatic transmission, was all new in 2021. Now the rest of the truck has caught up, giving the Frontier a stylishly-aggressive exterior design, high-quality interior materials, and a long list of advanced standard and optional technology. 

The 2022 Nissan Frontier starts with an all-new chassis featuring upgraded suspension components, a revised steering system, and advanced standard safety technology like automatic high beams and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. The off-road-oriented Pro-4X trim adds an electronic locking rear differential, Bilstein shock absorbers, steel and aluminum underbody plates, multiple exterior cameras, dual tow hooks, and new 17-inch off-road tires. It also includes a best-in-class approach angle (32.3 degrees) along with a 23.3-degree departure angle and 18.9-degree breakover angle. The new Frontier’s interior is similarly enhanced, with high-quality materials, comfortable seats, and a range of high-tech features. Standard items include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and four USB ports in crew cab models (including two USB-C ports). Optional features include a best-in-class 9-inch touchscreen, wireless smartphone charging, over-the-air Wi-Fi updates, two 120-volt power outlets (one in the cab, one in the bed), and a Fender premium audio system with 10 speakers. Despite the Frontier’s powerful 3.8-liter V6 it still falls a bit short on towing capacity, at 6,720 pounds, while its payload rating of 1,610 is impressive for this truck category. And the engine, along with the responsive 9-speed automatic transmission, moves the truck with both authority and refinement. Combined with the truck’s updated suspension and improved cabin insulation, the all-new Frontier is among the more refined and comfortable trucks in the category.

GM stopped making the Chevrolet Colorado in 2012, but it returned for the 2015 model year as a much-improved vehicle.

GM’s new Colorado targeted what many consider weaknesses of the segment-dominating Tacoma. Chevy’s new Colorado offered a more modern and comfortable interior, better infotainment, and a more rugged chassis and frame. The Colorado is a “real truck” in every sense of the term.  GM methodically introduced more and more features every year after the 2015 re-introduction. They include a diesel engine, courtesy of GM’s Isuzu partnership, which thrilled fans looking for the torque and efficiency it offered. Next up, the ZR2 off-road package, which expanded upon the Tacoma’s abilities in the high-speed and rock-climbing arenas. Finally, the uber-rugged Bison trim. Early model years offered a manual transmission, but that option was dropped in 2019.  If the Colorado line has a weakness, it may be reliability. Owners report transmission issues as the most significant problem.

The Jeep Gladiator entered the midsize truck market in 2020 after many decades in retirement. Under its recent owners, FCA America and now Stellantis, Jeep has thrived; and its new models are hits. The new Gladiator is no exception.

The Gladiator is a boxy, brash, and bold body-on-frame truck that shares a lot of DNA with the Jeep Wrangler and Ram 1500 full-size pickup. This truck has the most bad-boy attitude in the segment, and its Rubicon top-trim is downright macho. The Gladiator is also the only convertible truck in the segment with both a hardtop and an American-sourced Haartz soft tops available.  We’ve driven the Jeep Gladiator’s top trim Rubicon edition and discovered it is very livable on-road and in normal daily driving. What’s more, as a driver, you are in an exclusive club that comes with its very own “Jeep wave” from other Wrangler and Gladiator drivers as they pass.  The full range of off-road equipment the Gladiator comes equipped with at the Rubicon level is too long to list on one page. Suffice it to say it has front and rear locking differentials, a low-range transfer case, and the Gladiator can even disconnect its front sway bars to allow more suspension articulation.  Being a fresh design, Jeep offers a great infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa integration, and a handy phone app. N ot only does the Gladiator come with a V6 gas engine but a diesel option was added this year. It would not surprise us if the hybrid drivetrain from the Wrangler also transitioned to the Gladiator. The Gladiator is available as an extended-cab long-bed or a crew-cab short-bed. To increase its overall value, Jeep is offering three years of included maintenance. Jeep’s sales are brisk, and this truck is making a run at the Toyota Tacoma’s long-dominant market share.