14th Oct 2011, 18:03

Nobody is confused about anything, there are tons of domestics from the 90's with the same miles as your Tacoma, or your dad's Tundra, let alone the domestics from the 70's and 80's that are still on the road at the 200,000 mile mark. Just because a vehicle is not a Yota, doesn't mean they can't achieve the 200,000 milestone.

16th Oct 2011, 11:23

My dad had no problem getting late 60s and a 1970 Mopar V8s to rack up that mileage even then, before the emissions and pollution smog devices were forced on us. However, the big trucks and heavy vehicles go exempt because of weight. The drive trains were exceptional. They also ran great, and were comfortable as well. We had 318 and 383 automatics. Today it's routine, especially with trucks making daily deliveries.

17th Oct 2011, 09:50

Ironic that people are mentioning rust issues on older Toyotas, being that Chryslers from the 70's had AWFUL rust problems. My Dad actually had a Dodge Charger - back when they were new. To this day he will never buy a Chrysler product, because in his words, the quality was terrible and the body began rusting out as soon as he bought it. I think a lot of people tend to forget this. My first car was a 72' Plymouth Fury II. Massive, gigantic boat of a car. All of the fenders were rusted out, and when it rained, the water from the window cowls drained right into the floor boards - which were also rusted out.

As far as restoring old cars, well here's the thing and my opinion. Yes - I have several Toyotas and they have been nearly flawless, hence why I strongly feel that company makes an excellent product. But conversely I own a '55 Ford. I've had the car for years. It is indeed easy to work on, and as long as you know what you're doing, it can be made to run forever. I spent $1,200 on the car, and I spent probably another $1,500-$2,000 fixing it up. That included spending probably a whole summer sanding it down, removing all the chrome, door handles and whatnot and getting it painted at one of the chain painters. So no - I didn't pour a ton of money into it, and it's definitely got a lot of imperfections. But to me it's like so what? I still enjoy it, and so too do the people that see it on the street. I guess it's just a matter of opinion, but part of what makes old cars "old" is that they sort of look old. It sort of gets tiresome going to a car show and seeing the same 10 models of cars, all perfectly restored, over and over again. And again - most people who go to these shows will like a less-than-perfect old car as much as a perfectly restored one. The cars that you actually see getting more interest are those that sat in someone's barn for 50 years, got dragged out and driven to the show. You can "see" that car's history.

Getting back to Toyotas, there are quite a few people starting to get into restoring 80's Toyota 4X4's, 4Runners, Land Cruisers, and so on, because back in the day, those were some mean looking, hard-working, no-nonsense trucks. My dad had an 80's 4Runner, and we took it everywhere and it would go anywhere. Those are bringing some serious bucks now.

17th Oct 2011, 18:25

In October, 2009, Consumer Reports ran an article on long-lasting vehicles. The longest lasting one featured was a Ford Ranger that was just shy of half a million miles. I know many Rangers that easily surpass 300,000 miles with no engine or transmission issues. Most domestic trucks easily go as far as any Japanese vehicles without major (or even minor) repairs. I seldom open the hood on my domestics except to change oil or batteries for the first 100,000-150,000 miles. I don't have to.

18th Oct 2011, 10:29

My family has always had a 2 car garage typical suburban home in the northeast. If into classics or antique cars today - garage, it's basically a no brainer to have one. I found a storage center that rents indoor as well at only $35 month for cars and boats.

The home I own now, I bought the garage setup with even more importance than the home itself. It's not new construction, but when I bought another this time, I knew what to look for. You can add an electric lift for under 2k in kit form. What a bargain for a car enthusiast. And many of my friends are adding them in. They are free standing, no foundation concerns. So why expose a nice car well done and nice paint under a cover? My dad had the same Plymouths, same era, with no aforementioned rust issues because of the garage. The drive trains mentioned were just unstoppable.

I car show with 2 cars. I alternate from early shows to late models every other week through November. I can walk down a row of the same model, yet see the differences and look for them. For example Mustangs. I see a Fastback, Boss302, Mach 1 and then different powerplants, paint and options. Not just a row of Mustangs. I like to get involved and talk with the owners; learn how long they have had it, where they got their parts, who did their restoration. If you walk down a row and don't notice the differences, you are missing what car show actual participants do. Last weekend I went over a suspension setup idea for one of my cars.

I am not big into trucks, but I like the early ones, even some of the Broncos and the like. But I am a car guy as far as shows. I haven't seen one Toyota at any show, but I like seeing the unusual ones that were saved. I see some cars that I personally would not sink a lot of money into unless it was sentimental. I stick with the Big 3, and have flipped some and done very well. I wonder how much return you get on a Toyota restoration, without taking a loss down the road.

18th Oct 2011, 12:40

My mechanic opened the hood on our Pontiac Grand Prix twice for the melted lower manifold gasket. He also jacked up the same car to change the transmission, once. ALL under 80,000KM.

He also opened the hood of our Pontiac Grand Am to replace the blown head gasket, it had 75,000 Km on it.

We had a 1995 Chrysler Grand Caravan that required two rebuilt transmissions, but he didn't have to open the hood.

A friend of the family had a 1999 Dodge Caravan that had a constant issue with the serpentine belt falling out of place every time it rained.

Another friend had a 1999 Ford Windstar, which needed a transmission before it reached 35,000KM, and before 100,000 KM, was recalled several times for rusted subframe bolts.

I'm reading these comments, and they are all similar. You must be the same person over and over and over again with your opinions about domestics and imports. Funny how 30% of your domestics are either imported from Canada, Mexico or Germany.