16th Dec 2013, 06:20
I would be glad to park a couple of our Fords next to a Toyota and compare. They are not unibody.
16th Dec 2013, 13:57
No proof needed, nobody beats Toyota; reliability, quality, dependability and sales world wide, and this is for a reason.
16th Dec 2013, 15:41
The rust issue is related to the off roading that the reviewer mentioned. It's certainly a strong part of the 4runner to have the off road capabilities, but you have to be careful when running through streams. That water that splashes up on the underbody is contributing to the rust.
17th Dec 2013, 16:30
"No proof needed" because you have no proof that Ford, Dodge, and G.M. frames are inferior to Toyota's.
17th Dec 2013, 16:50
We are talking about frames, not what the media claims, and on Tundra and Tacoma models, the frames are well-known to decay and rot. I never heard or seen it on a 4-Runner.
18th Dec 2013, 15:46
I pull my large boat in and out of a salt water ramp every weekend. Just rinse it off when I get home. No severe rot or rust concerns whatsoever.
19th Dec 2013, 16:45
It's a fact that salt water corrodes sheet metal. The only ways to protect the truck from rusting would be to avoid submerging anything in the water except for the tires or to spray on some protective coating onto the underbody. The truck is probably rusting from the inside out after off roading in salt water, but it may not become obvious until it's too late.
20th Dec 2013, 23:08
It's never a bad idea to thoroughly inspect all areas of a vehicle related to safety. I would think that the frame would be one of these. You might find something while under warranty coverage, or that mint looking 10 year old truck you're considering buying, may not look so mint from underneath.
I inspect the frames of my less than 10 year old car and truck, even though they have no history of frame issues. They were also made by a company with very high sales and reliability rating, but this doesn't make me think that frame damage could never happen.
22nd Dec 2013, 06:07
I like full frame trucks, not unibody. The real problem is the normal usage with rain and snow (as well as highway salt) entering the voids and pockets. Then rusting severely inside out. We have a junkyard stacked with late model imports; the drive trains survived longer than the bodies. Those that live in the south may not see this as strongly as the top half of America. I actually read that even with a garage, it's a detriment with snow and ice melting with daily driving. You are better letting the snow stay on the car outside to not accelerate the moisture melt off. I even built a frame garage so the garage breathes vs masonry.
24th Dec 2013, 08:32
16:30 Please provide "proof needed"... to use on how any Toyota model you select has a superior frame to our Ford F Series and Silverado large full size frames. You may wish to rephrase.
26th Dec 2013, 01:27
I can't provide proof that Toyota frames are superior because there isn't any. What I have seen are the large number of 20-40+ year old Ford, Dodge and G.M. trucks still being used in the winter environment of the large city I live in. I haven't seen any 20 year or older Toyota trucks. The only explanation for this, is that the domestic frames have better metal composition.
30th Dec 2013, 13:11
Toyota quality is just unbeatable. That is what statistics and surveys show.
Which also means that Toyota vehicles have long lives with fewer problems when compared to any other auto makers.
You not seeing a more than 20 year old Toyota does not change TOYOTA's sales and reliability numbers.
1st Jan 2014, 16:39
Both G.M. and Ford have much higher sales and are gaining more market share in the U.S.A. than Toyota.
Neither Toyota advertising or surveys on 2 year old vehicles is going to change this.
2nd Jan 2014, 18:28
I used to buy brand new Toyotas and new Hondas. And new Acuras as well. My last decent one was 1995.
I disagree somewhat with high production comments. My best of all were lower production, made in Japan models long ago. I remember in the late 70s and early 80s not going in for a single warranty issue. Not one. That's quite a claim, and I was very impressed. Besides recalls and issues today, what on earth has happened? Maybe keeping the costs down, maybe the high production, maybe cutting costs on quality components. I am not sure. But the quality dropped significantly for us.
It's now quite the reverse, as we own GM and Ford new models today. We have had minor issues, but certainly not drive train failures at low mileage.
Quality and service stays on one's mind. You certainly are not going to rush out and repeat buy without that in mind. We actually went to the same dealer, bought another new model that looked literally the same as before, just a color change, especially Accords. They looked the same. Nowadays with the Internet you can shop over a 100 mile radius. Being from a small town, we never changed where we bought... then. Now we scour and shop hard, and expect great results and quality. If not, we look elsewhere every few years.
4th Jan 2014, 00:03
I also once was of the opinion that imports were superior, until the 22R engine in the 1975 Celica 5-speed I owned seized up at 90,000 miles. Had it not, I might be driving a 4-runner today.
Have exclusively bought domestic since. American V-8's and V-6's are virtually bulletproof (I soured on 4 cylinders after Toyota).
Have a healthy and successful 2014.
4th Jan 2014, 11:22
I sold my 77 Celica GT (which I purchased new) with around 60k on it as I recall. I got lucky I guess by the sound of it. It was my favorite. I also had a black Corolla SR5 in 1980 with the glass and metal dual set of sunroofs. Also a good one. It was a good car, but I switched to a 82 white Datsun 280zx 2+2. Better than the prior ones, and a great car. I never kept cars long.
15th Dec 2013, 23:21
There is no proof that any Toyota frames are stronger and more durable than any other manufacturer's frames.