27th Dec 2007, 16:09

23:58 The question was how many 70-80's Toyotas such as Celicas especially GT's or Corolla SR-5's so where are they?...so again where are all the vastly so called superior Toyota cars at from 70-80's? I personally would want a Honda more myself, but the answer was left totally unanswered on old Toyota's. There are virtually millions of domestics throughout the era on the interstates every single day running great. And the new domestics are even better we have had no problems or issues whatsoever.

11th Jun 2008, 11:07

Garage Door Opener: For my Highlander with Homelink, I had to read the Garage Door Opener manual to program it. For that particular opener (new LiftMaster with random codes) you have to open the light cover on the lifter motor and push a button during the Homelink programming process. It's convoluted, but just follow the directions in the Toyota Owners Manual and the lifter's owner's manual. It actually has nothing to do with Homelink; you would have to push that button on the lifter to program any remote opener.

12th Jun 2008, 11:34

It seems that a domestic vehicle that blows an interior light bulb at 450,000 miles is "poorly made crap", while a Toyota (or Honda) that goes through 3 engines and 4 transmissions in 100,000 miles is "reliable" and "superior".

It would be nice to see some honest justification for these attitudes, especially in view of the fact that some automotive ratings no longer even recommend the Camry due to it's poor reliability.

Sport Compact Car magazine in its latest issue calls the Chevy Cobalt SS "The best front-drive car ever", and on 2006 Motor Trend called the same car "The fastest front-drive car we've ever tested".

The Malibu is Car of the Year and is getting rave reviews, and nearly HALF of Car and Driver's "10 Best" come from GM.

The highest reliability rating Consumer Reports has ever given to ANY car went to the Ford Fusion.

I guess all of that will be brushed aside, just as failed engines and transmissions are brushed aside by import owners.

13th Jun 2008, 10:56

To comment 16:09. You bring up a good point. I'm amazed at the number of 20+ year old domestics I see on the streets every day. I especially see a huge number of old GM cars, such as Buicks, Oldsmobiles and Large Chevrolets.

One car I see a really large number of is the older Chevy Luminas, which have not been made in some years. I also see hundreds of very old (70's or 80's) Ford pick-ups, as well as the older LTD's. I do occasionally see an older Toyota Camry... usually abandoned on the road with a tow-away tag on the windshield.

28th Jun 2008, 21:59

Ditto what the last poster said. My Altima has Homelink and it does require a careful read of your owner's manual to get it up and running with rolling-code garage door openers. Pretty much every opener is rolling-code now with only rather old units having the single code. I'm guessing that's the problem. Good luck.

8th Feb 2009, 21:44

I have a 1992 Toyota Camry with the 3vz-fe V-6, and the A-540E auto transmission. It has over 300,000 miles on it.

It is ALL original, except for the front and rear struts, brakes, and the usual maintenance items such as spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, timing belt... etc... It has always had timely maintenance performed. It was painted once. The exhaust system is 100% original (stainless steel system). All wheel bearings, tie-rod ends, C-V joints and suspension bushings are also original.

This is a JAPAN built Camry. I believe that the JAPAN manufactured vehicles, (even other brands) are built to higher standards and with higher quality materials and components than their domestic manufactured cousins, Toyota, Honda etc. These domestic manufactured vehicles seem to have more problems and shorter life of their components.

As some of you realize, there are a lot of parts that are made for domestic built "imports" by the same domestic suppliers for domestic brands such as FORD, CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER etc. This accounts for the apparent downfall in quality and reliability in the newer TOYOTA and HONDA "imports" today.

I am currently debating buying a domestic manufactured Toyota or a Japanese built Lexus. Honestly, I'm leaning toward the Lexus BECAUSE it is made in Japan. If I can find a Japan built Toyota, I will buy THAT.

9th Feb 2009, 14:07

I am not sure all Lexus models are made in Japan, but maybe it is true for now. Some city in Canada has been advertising about how proud to have the first Lexus plant outside of Japan. I think it is Montreal.

9th Feb 2009, 17:38

If you want to contribute to the worsening woes of your fellow Americans, our country gives you that freedom. However, the WORST vehicle we ever were cursed with (and that's a MILD way to put it) was a JAPANESE BUILT Honda.

3rd Oct 2009, 02:19

Don't be prejudiced against American/Canadian made cars. Yes a 1989 Camry can go 200 or 300k miles, but so can an Oldsmobile Delta 88 or a Pontiac Bonneville with the 3800 V6.

Be honest when looking for a new car, truck, SUV or van... do your homework on price, options, safety, is it a new/redesigned model, how is it in snow, how quickly will I see rust, MPG, comfort, power, NVH, smoothness of ride... and so on. Don't listen to the media or online reviewers entirely.

I don't care about resale value, personally, because I believe that you should drive a vehicle into the ground, and at 20 to 27k miles per year I have run a few into the ground. Although most of my cars have been old 10-18 year old Ford and GM products, which rusted out before they wore out.

I drive a late model domestic now, and hope to keep it until it has in the 150,000 mile range... I figure I can still sell it at that point for a few grand, because it will only be 5 or 6 years old by then.

Thanks for reading - don't pick a car based on hype - pick based on value, quality, and comfort - give US cars a shot, and when you do you can feel good knowing that you did your part to help a fellow American... or Canadian neighbor.

3rd Oct 2009, 21:43

I was saddened to hear that 13,000 more Americans are now jobless thanks to citizens who prefer to send their money to Japan. Saturn's closing puts the entire town of Spring Hill, Tennessee in a terrible financial bind, and leaves thousands of children without health insurance.

On a more positive note, I was ECSTATIC to read that even bankrupt GM sold more cars in the past year than Toyota, and Ford's sales drop in September was less than HALF the drop experienced by Toyota and only ONE FOURTH the drop experienced by Honda. Maybe patriotism is still alive in the hearts of a few Americans.

This weekend two friends of mine who know I'm a mechanic, auto buff and member of several car clubs asked me to help them test drive and pick out new Fords. Both were import owners (1 Nissan, 1 Toyota). I was happy to be of service, but our Ford dealership is selling their cars so fast there were very few Focuses and Mustangs, and ZERO Fusions to look at. Both friends opted for Mustangs. The Ford used car lot now has two more late model Japanese cars to go along with the half-dozen 2005-2007's they already had. A few people in this country DO care about their fellow citizens.