31st Jul 2007, 14:35

16:16 Things haven't changed much at all. Toyota STILL makes the best automobiles out there, and at best, Ford makes slightly better cars than they used to.

I guess in your world, Toyota, being the #1 seller in the world, and having a sterling reputation for quality means 'going downhill', and Ford's loss of 13 billion dollars and reputation for making trash means they're improving.

3rd Aug 2007, 00:57

The last thing I would ever buy is a Toyota. they are junk! Everyone I know who has owned a Toyota couldn't wait to sell it. I guess there OK as long as you don't mind putting the extra money you save on gas into parts. I own a 79 ford f150 ranger and have never had a problem. its pulled a lot of trucks out of the mud, including Toyota's.

3rd Aug 2007, 01:13

The truth is every rig out there has its problems. someone has a bad experience with one brand, or in your case 6 or 7. and the other swears by it. I'm not saying ford is the greatest machine out there. trust me I've seen some junker fords. but I have never seen anything good come from a Toyota. I personally say go with a Dodge Cummins.

4th Aug 2007, 06:54

01:13 You say you've never seen anything good come from a Toyota?! Well I say I flew a kite to Mars yesterday. One statement is as ridiculous as the other. No, I don't want a big, loud, gas slurping Dodge diesel either. For one, I couldn't stand driving something that smells like a 50 year old farm tractor when it's running, and have no inclination to cut my fuel mileage by 75% either.

10th Aug 2007, 17:35

Original reviewer here. You guys seem to be missing the major points here: this was a Ford truck, and this Ford truck was a piece of junk, as are most Fords. It's just too bad I found out AFTER I bought one. My last one of course.

I am fanatical about maintenance, and like every vehicle I own, this one had every fluid in it changed by the numbers, using only Mobil 1 or Castrol fluids wherever possible. Apparently, strict maintenance is not enough to keep a Ford running for much longer than a month or two without breaking. That should settle the argument.

In my experience, and just about every other sorry one-time Ford owners' experience that I know of, Ford = JUNK. Good riddance. I hope they go under, and it sure looks like they're well on their way.

11th Aug 2007, 14:12

Yeah, original reviewer, you bought the truck when it was already 5 years old and had 90K miles. Who knows whether the person or persons who had it before ever bothered to maintain it, even if you were "fanatical about maintenance" as you claim.

Too many posters on this site announce that all vehicles from a particular brand, whether its Ford or something else, are "junk" just because they bought a high-mileage example and then, surprise, had to have repairs made to it!

11th Aug 2007, 21:09

09:36 Sounds like you got extremely lucky with yours. Mine was garbage. My Toyota will do everything you've done with your Ranger, but it DOESN'T leak oil.

Toyota changed the way they build their truck bodies in 1989. Since then, they are at least as good, and most likely better, than anything else out there as far as resisting rust.

As far as off-road, forget it. Your Ranger, any Ranger, can't touch a Toyota. No comparison. I don't know where you guys get the idea that Toyota's can't be used for work. Mine will do anything a Ford of the same size will do, and will stay straight and tight while the Ford falls apart and rattles. I've loaded it down with everything, you name it, bricks, rocks, gravel, scrap metal, everything. And the bed, fenders, and tailgate have NO flex in them yet, unlike a Ford, where you can shake the fender and it moves even when the truck is new.

Contractors don't generally use them for the same reason cabbies don't drive BMW's; why beat the crap out of a nice vehicle when a piece of junk will do the job for a while. You guys have this 'built Ford tough' slogan stuck in your head, and it's funny.

As far as the drivetrains go, again, forget it. Toyota's are so much better, there's no point in mentioning it. Engines especially. Toyota's 22re 4-cylinder will (under abuse) outlast any two Ford engines of the same size. The 3.4 V-6 Toyota puts in the Tacoma's has proven itself to be one of the most reliable V-6's ever made, if not THE best. They do not break. The V-6 in the Ranger I had in no way compares. Not even in the same ballpark.

Now, to be fair, I HAVE seen a Ranger or two get upwards of 200,000 and still run okay (not 300,000 or even close to it). Meanwhile, EVERY Toyota truck I've ever seen seems to never break, and they ALL go upwards of 275 or 300,000 miles. And I'm talking about trucks that were off-roaded HARD. I have a lot of experience off road, and the Toyota's are the only ones that stood up to our abuse. Drive fast through 3 feet of water, the Toyota makes it, the Ford stalls. Run the engine everywhere at 4 grand, the Toyota seems to like it, the Ranger blows up before too long.

It can't be coincidence that practically ALL of the Rangers I've ever seen in serious off road situations needed fixed all the time, and NONE of the Toyota's needed work, or VERY little, and not once have I seen one of these Toyota trucks ever need the engine, manual transmission, or differentials touched.

Sorry, but I KNOW that Toyota trucks are far and above Fords. I've seen it proven far too many times for too many years to believe otherwise.

13th Aug 2007, 19:11

20:43 It has nothing to do with personal experience. They all make machines. Ford builds a machine. Honda builds a machine. It's just that when Honda builds a machine, they are concerned about things like balancing the weight of the pushrods in the engine, so that it runs more smoothly, in turn wears out more slowly, and (bingo!), lasts longer. That's a fact, and it's just one example of many details that makes a Honda superior.

Yeah, if you absolutely baby the Ford all the time, and drive the Honda like most Honda owners seem to (hard and fast), the Ford MIGHT get almost as many miles (still not likely). But under equal treatment, forget it; the Honda engine will last longer practically every time.

Same goes for Toyota; they make the only other 4-cylinder on the planet that might equal the quality of a Honda 4.