15th Aug 2007, 06:16

11:35 Yeah, as if it's not ALWAYS a Ford or Chevy in the yard with the engine hanging out of a tree or something. The people at Ford couldn't build an engine to match any of Honda's if their lives depended on it. They don't know how, and wouldn't care enough to do it right if they did know how.

1st Sep 2007, 10:54

13:36 Sorry, dude, Toyota surely does NOT have flaws in 1 of 10 vehicles. Not even close to that number.

As far as the 'previous owners' idea, I've had about 15 vehicles in my life, all of them used; all 4 of my Toy.'s were and are perfect and the other 11 domestics broke down at least once, with one exception: I had a 95 Dakota that never broke down. I did however have to put a starter in it and repair leaking tranny cooler lines.

I've yet to turn a wrench on any of the 4 Toyota's outside of routine maintenance. You can't tell me that it was chance that the 4 previous owners of my Toyota's all treated them perfectly and the other 10 domestics were all treated badly. The Toyota's are simply better put together so they break less, or in my case, never yet.

5th Sep 2007, 12:07

Sorry for the long post. This has to be said... Yes, I know a bunch of you will think I am full of it... Everyone has the right to their opinion..

I would bet money the loyal Ford and Dodge posters have never actually owned a Toyota truck for any length of time.. I am 50 years old and have owned a bunch of vehicles, been a mechanic all my life. Drove Volvo for years, got into the Toyota in the early 1980s because I was so fed-up with the American cars that I needed a change.. I was working on a Toyota occasionally and was very impressed with the quality. Generally speaking, they do not leak or drip oil. Period!

Get real, admit it! In the late 1970s and the 1980s, American cars were terrible! There are millions of Americans who were hosed on new American iron that will never buy GM, Ford, or Chrysler again... I got bit, I stay away from the thing that bit me... It's that simple. Remember when 100,000 miles was considered "used up"? That's because it was! A 100,000 American car was on it's last leg.. Had probably had ball-joints and tie-rod-ends two times already!

I found this post because I am once again working on my neighbor's constantly malfunctioning 119,000 mile 1987 V6 Ford Ranger... This truck is disgusting... She keeps spare jugs of oil stashed under the hood, the shifter knob fell off and she uses the bare knurled shift arm to change gears, the hood release handle is a pair of vice grips clamped to the busted off handle.. The glove box is held shut with wire, the bed is about to rust off the truck, the tailgate won't stay shut, this thing is junk...

Once again, I have loaned her my 160,000 mile 1995 2WD Toyota truck to get to work... I bought the 1995 Toyota in 1999 when it had 117,000 miles. It was purchased to replace my tired 285,000 mile 1984 Toyota truck that I drove like a mad-man for eleven years. My brother's 1989 Toyota 2WD just turned 200,000 miles and is going strong. My buddy down the street has a 1989 DX 2WD Toyota truck with 160,000 miles... Sorry, but little trucks like Rangers and S-10s are junk... I think the Mazda version Ford sells now is probably OK. Wonder why Ford switched their Ranger to a Mazda re-label? hmmmmm...

I agree that the reason that GM, FORD, and Chrysler are in financial problems is because they cannot win back customers that they have lost. My 1973 Ranchero with a 351C got less than 5MPG. Our Lincoln town car got about 5MPG. I had a 3/4 ton 2WD Ford that got 4MPG (390 engine). Besides malfunctioning constantly, every Ford I owned was a gas guzzling, leaking, oil burning pig... I will never buy another FORD or GM product.. When we get rid of our 2001 Suburban, we are done with GM also. It now has 73,000 miles and it has consumed $1600.00 in brakes in the past 15,000 miles. More money in brakes than all the brake jobs on all the Toyotas I have owned combined!

16th Sep 2007, 22:06

Toyota's are making good trucks now. Ford, however... their new trucks aren't so hot. 40,000 miles on a F250 Triton and the transmission goes out. Now my dad has a 90 something van with a 300 straight six in it. 340,000 miles on it and it's still running good, even though it's been overloaded all of its life. My uncle's work truck, an 89 Chevy with a 350tbi (cheap motor) has the same if not more miles.

A diesel, if its built right, will get better mileage than any gasoline motor the same size. In a 02 Dodge Cummins, you can expect 22mpg in town and 25mpg on the highway and it will still outrun most trucks. I heard some Toyota's are fast. But does a Toyota make a work truck? A one ton? No foreign vehicle will have anything on American trucks.

If you bought a lemon, it's your fault not the brands. Every vehicle, ESPECIALLY older vehicles, have their own characteristics. Just like a person. Because I had a bad experience with a black person doesn't mean I should hate black people does it? That's just childish.

30th Sep 2007, 23:39

As an owner of an 87 ranger myself I have beat my truck to a pulp and have had NO trouble. it was washed down river in 3 floods and every time started on the first try. I owned a Toyota once and I blew the transmition on the third day, but the ford keeps coming back for more even though its been on its side 8 times. beat that!

10th Jan 2008, 14:36

The 1987 Ford Ranger is one of the best 1/4 Ton pickup's ever to come off an assembly line. It's obvious that your Ford wasn't taken care of, and that's why It was a price of rolling garbage.

PS: Maybe if you did some maintenance your self you wouldn't have to keep buying oil.

29th Jan 2009, 23:53

The truck wouldn't start when you went to test drive it. That is usually a pretty good indicator that the vehicle was in really bad shape. You knowingly purchased a lemon, your mistake, not Ford's.

30th Jan 2009, 22:28

Yeah, it was my mistake. And that mistake was: buying a Ford. Everybody makes a mistake once in a while. Buying a Ford is on that list. Not to worry, I won't ever make that mistake again.

31st Jan 2009, 09:43

Never say never. Things change with companies. I also thought Fords of the 1980s were pretty poor, but since the late 1990s and especially now they make a good vehicle. They changed my opinion, which as you seem to know, is hard to do once you've made up your mind. But don't take my word. Just look at the consumer magazines, and CNN boldly states that when you buy a Ford now, the quality is just as good as Toyota or Honda. That's not me paraphrasing -- that is on CNN's survey of small SUVs in the panel on the Ford Escape.