14th Oct 2010, 08:37

"What does the Ford Escape have to do with anything? We are talking about the junk that Toyota builds."

I was merely comparing the Escape to the RAV 4, because they have just as many tranny problems. POINT is, that you can find issues with ANY car on these type of sites, so to go on about how bad one brand is over another based on the reviews here doesn't make sense.

If you want to talk about junk... talk about GM! I don't even have to look at the reviews on them, as I already know how bad they are from personal experience. If I ever got even a third of the miles out of a GM vehicle without major repairs that I have out of any Toyota I've owned, then I would have been amazed. It has never happened and it never will. Fords are better, but still not to the level of Toyota as far as refinement and quality of the driving experience. And no, I don't care what J.D. Powers says. Follow the rest of the flock if you like, but I'll stick with what actually works for me.

14th Oct 2010, 16:13

"OK, let's talk; of all the GM's I have owned, they have been pretty good vehicles except my wife's Pontiac Vibe with a Toyota engine that she wanted so badly, and guess what, the infamous sludge problem. Yes the whole engine was replaced after it was always maintained. Say what you want about GM, to each is there own, but I never had to replace an engine in the 8 GM vehicles I've owned."

Oh, the infamous sludge problem. This is usually caused by improper maintenance or incorrect oil. What was your change interval? Did you do your own changes or take it to Jiffy Lube where they could care less about what type of oil they put in?

I haven't replaced any engines in my GM cars either, but the rest of the parts on their cars and trucks? Not so lucky there. I had so many ridiculous repairs that added up to $1,000s for each car - it was crazy. I'd never ever take a chance on anything GM is offering these days.

15th Oct 2010, 09:03

"Oh yes, that's what they all say. For your information, I am an ASE certified mechanic with 20 years experience, and yes I do all my own maintenance and repairs, and my shop specializes in all makes and models."

Yeah, and all the domestic lovers say you are being duped by a shady mechanic when you have problems with domestic junk cars. PLEASE!

15th Oct 2010, 09:19

"Toyta RAV-who? You mean the RAV-crap? My transmission in my 01 failed at 71,000 miles. Of course after the warranty was up.

I love my new Nissan Murano."

Good luck with Nissan. I will never even go onto a Nissan lot after the horrific experience with a Maxima and the dealer that sold it to me! They fixed it under warranty twice, and then refused to do the same repair a third time. If they'd done it properly the first time, I would have never had to go back. I contacted Nissan, and they basically told me I was out of luck and too bad..... nice! I ended up dumping it and losing lots of money on it, because even the Nissan dealer wouldn't give me anything for it on trade. They don't even value their own cars. Nissan is right beside GM on my "never buy again for as long as I live" list.

16th Oct 2010, 11:37

"In response to Oct 15 09:19'

Thank you for wishing me luck, I really enjoy my Nissan and will for years to come. It sounds to me that you have no luck with any vehicle you purchase, many GM models, Fords and now Nissan?"

Yeah, Honda's, Toyota's, Subaru's and Saabs have all been flawless for me, and I have never had one problem with any of those brands, other than a flat tire on one of my Subies. Ford's have been okay overall, but flatbedding a car to the dealer at 8K miles because the crappy Microsoft Sync failed (and is still not working right) is kind of a disappointment.

Like I said, Nissan is the worst company to deal with as far as customer service, so you better hope you never have a real serious issue with yours! Note that mine was still under warranty when they basically told me to take a hike. This was more about the company than the car, because again, like I said, the car would have been fine, had they actually fixed the problem correctly, but I wasn't about to drop over $1K on something they agreed to fix initially under warranty, as I was only 2 years into making payments on the car.

GM is GM... junk, period, and I've never had luck with any of their cars or trucks I've owned. End of story. How anyone can claim they are great cars is beyond me.

So, yeah, I've had lots of bad luck, but as long as I stick to the brands that work for me, I don't seem to have any extra costs. This is what I am now doing, and so far so good!

16th Oct 2010, 12:09

"The cause of the sludge problem is a defective PCV system, where the engine can't breath properly, and gases and deposits bond to the internal parts, and form thick and gooey sludge. Improper maintenance is a sorry excuse."

This has been yet another quality control issue that has plagued Toyota for the past decade.

16th Oct 2010, 16:22

"Well then, if any of your Saab's were after the year 1990 they were owned by GM, you know the company you hate so much."

Actually the Saab I owned was primarily a Subaru. It was a 92X Aero, which is a WRX in a Swedish costume. Besides, even if they were owned by GM, doesn't mean they are all using GM parts. The only Saab I know that was GM was the 97X, which was a glorified Trailblazer.

16th Oct 2010, 16:28

"Well then, if any of your Saab's were after the year 1990, they were owned by GM, you know the company you hate so much."

And GM used many different Toyotas in their line, which were, incidentally, some of their best cars. So what is your point?

17th Oct 2010, 10:04

"The Nissan dealership told you to take a hike? Wow, that's pretty "shady" if you ask me. PLEASE!"

I wish people would read thoroughly BEFORE commenting. I said Nissan the company, not the dealer told me to take a hike. I wrote letters to the president of the company with cc's to every VP and district manager and got nowhere. I also was on the phone with the highest person at the company I could get a hold of, and they told me I was out of luck. The crappy dealer I bought from no longer exists, which is a BIG surprise. Nissan as a company is the worst at backing their products that I have ever come across.