22nd May 2007, 08:04

Yeah! If domestics are so good then what about the Ford Tempo, Contour, Five-Hundred; or the Chevrolet Caprice, Cavalier, Lumina, Celebrity, or S-10. Man, if they can't even build the ones that are on the roads they sure do have a problem with building a car forgetting it and destroying the car... Honda and Toyota have not had to do that except for the demise of the Prelude or Cressida, but they still have the Camry, Corolla, Accord, Camry, and now newer names such as Odyssey, Sienna, Tundra, Ridgeline, Pilot, Crv, rav 4, etc will be added to the list of great vehicles... you can hoot and holler all you want about me adding the Tundra or Ridgeline--just remember they have only been around for a short time and Ford has had over 50 years to make the F-series the top seller. Don't come crying to me when Toyota finally builds more trucks!

22nd May 2007, 20:12

8:04 I could also start listing all the great American sports cars past and present to add to the list. All I know is it's spring, and I have a great new V8 domestic convertible sports car to drive that doesn't say Toyota on it. Sorry, I expect a whole lot more than basic transportation.

22nd May 2007, 20:22

21:24 I would suggest getting a graduate degree increase your disposable income and then start frequently buying new high end imports as many of us have been. After a period of time document your mechanical issues as some of us are trying to inform others. I am only driving high end domestics at this point. If I had financial constraints I would however drive old low mileage imports.

23rd May 2007, 07:36

What is a high end domestic? A Buick Lucerne? Well good luck being young and driving that... I am 20 and the only GM car I would ever touch would be that car... but I am waiting till I am old to ever buy a Buick...

SO much for high end GM... any high end GM would be the trucks... isn't it a mistake to go from a fuel sipping Japanese car to a gas guzzling beast when gas prices are so high?

The guy talking about the Sierra just admitted something about American car companies... THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT THE TRUCKS!!! So true that has been for years, they will only see crashing and burning from higher fuel prices...

Now try and drive a car from GM and Ford, and it is all headaches (you could sit here and talk about my TL or my 02 Ody..but keep it fresh and talk about the new ones which you domestic activists failed to ever drive)... Nothing in their stable even compares to a Honda Civic, Fit, Accord, Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline, Crv.

Essentially you are comparing a truck to a truck that never existed in Honda's line up. The same goes for Toyota vehicles... GM and Ford do not have much to compete with... I sit here while Toyota and Honda are doing just fine, and GM and Ford are going berserk! Good riddance!

23rd May 2007, 18:32

If I were 20, my particular immediate first choice would be... either a brand new GM 2007 Z06 Corvette for starters, or if not that coupe, instead own the brand new Vette Convertible... or a loaded full size Black or Artic White GM SUV with every available option.

I started at that point, and then tastefully upgraded the electronics further. Sorry you only see the Lucerne as the only really great new GM to own. Many of the comments you read will be by individuals who start generalizing about an entire manufacturer they will likely not ever own, drive or even be a passenger in the very models they critique.

I attribute a lot of current car purchases to fuel expenses at the moment... but what would most people really prefer driving?

My commute to work is short, and with limited traffic as I anticipate some enviromental comment forthcoming. But the real question is, what you would rather drive and enjoy?

23rd May 2007, 20:30

20:22 Well, I'm here to inform others about my experiences with vehicles I've owned, as well.

And the information I'm here to pass offer is that ALL of my 'domestics' broke down at least once, (usually several times), and my 'imports', (Toyota's) have NEVER broken down.

I bought my first one 13 years ago, have had 2 since, including the one I now own, and they are without a shadow of a doubt, MUCH better than any of the domestics, new or old.

I don't have any mechanical issues to document, as you suggest. They seem to run for as long as you care to keep them. In those 3, I have put on over 225,000 miles without a single problem, and I have close friends and family that have the same faultless experiences with them.

A friend just last year traded in a '91 Toyota truck that spent a lot of its life in four wheel drive in rocks and mud; the odometer broke roughly three or four years ago, and he drove it to the dealership and traded it in with over 250,000 HARD miles on it, never having had any trouble with the engine or drivetrain; the only parts ever replaced were consumables that will eventually give out on any truck treated this badly; rubber bushings, universal joints, shocks, etc.

And this case is far from unique as far as Toyota trucks go. I could site more examples that I know of firsthand, but that's just repetition.

You can keep your Ford's and Chevy's, including the much hyped (for no reason) Fusion and so forth. Even they are not even close to the reliability that Toyota's from 10 or 20 years ago offer still.

And to all the people on this thread that like to believe that Toyota is dropping in quality: wrong. They've had more recalls lately than is usual for them, but no company is perfect. Toyota is just a hell of a lot closer to perfect than Ford or Chevy ever have been or probably ever will be.

A lot of people will say, "Well, what about my old Dodge truck with 250,000 on it, that has never been to the shop?" Well, what's your point? The Toyota engines I'm speaking of are 4 cylinders, that have surely been abused far more than some Dodge farm truck, and they get better than twice the gas mileage on top of that. No domestic truck ever built could take the lifetime of abuse that the Toyota I'm speaking of has taken and not have serious mechanical issues. If someone out there thinks so, they are mistaken.

The point is that the Toyota's ROUTINELY do this, not just the lucky one in 100,000 Ford's or Dodge's. As far as Chevy goes, that's a laugh. Their trucks have been junk for the last 30 years, as well as their cars. None of the three are any match for a Toyota.