25th Aug 2007, 18:22
14:06.
You won't "waste" your time explaining why your Toyota is better because you've already used your reason.
"It's a Toyota."
When you and all the other Toyota-ites march to the beat of marketing-powerhouse drum, you don't get concrete reasons. Instead, you get intangible "because I said so" reasons that are as illogical as your blind faith in the squandered legacy of import vehicles.
Come on, don't tease us with the possibility of an actual explanation. Of course, I'd just say use the "It's a Toyota" excuse too if I didn't have the numbers to back it up. Please feel free to make a post when you've got a more substantial counter-statement to make.
26th Aug 2007, 10:16
16:41 what is the classic car that you own? Is it a Toyota? Curious also why you would want a classic car... maybe it has been well made, durable and appreciating rapidly? I agree I am tired of disposable cars, and see small imports as a basic appliance... when they fall apart what's the sentimentality?
26th Aug 2007, 13:09
It's funny - a houseboat company in my hometown uses Diesel E-350's and semi-trucks to move any huge load they may have. But, they have an older model Tundra and a 4-Runner with the company logos on the side, but I don't even think they have trailer hitches on the back of them. I guess they use the Toyota's for advertising while the Peterbuilts, Internationals, and Fords do the real work behind the scene.
26th Aug 2007, 20:04
16:41!!
I was using it as an example of how cast iron engine blocks can be over heated and not be damaged or destroyed. The same applies for any cast iron engine block. Thank you for twisting my story around however you seem fit, especially in a way untrue.
27th Aug 2007, 06:06
10:28 I think we've already covered, about a million times, that NO, a Tundra won't haul as much as an F-250 or larger. What's your point? Try comparing apples to apples. Compare the Tundra to the F-150. Well, there's no comparison there. One's a Ford, so it loses automatically. If you want to know why aluminum is superior to cast iron blocks, there are plenty of books that will explain it to you.
27th Aug 2007, 10:57
The whole " American dollars for American-made products" is totally mute.
First of all, just take a look at both GM and Ford. For one, GM has only one passenger car left in their entire lineup that uses a North American designed platform. The most common platform is now called "Zeta", a platform engineered and developed in Australia. Most of the new Ford lineup is also built using foreign designed platforms. Ford heavily relies on Mazda and Volvo for their new Taurus, which is really a beefed up Ford 500- which was a HUGE flop. The Taurus is built using a modified Volvo platform. The Fusion, which everyone raves about as being a red-blooded, all-American import-buster is made in Mexico, built on a Mazda platform, and utilizing an engine designed by Mazda, Ford, and incorporating a Indian-forged crank. There is very little "American" about this car.
Going back to GM, their Chevy HHR is also made in Mexico. A number of their small SUVs now have Chinese-made engines in them. Many F-150's use transmissions made in France, with many other components produced in Mexico, Brazil, and China.
So when you talk about putting money into American's pockets, would you rather put money in a CEO's pocket, or the pockets of US auto manufacturing workers all across the country? Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and now even Hyundai and Kia have manufacturing facilities in the US. Even Denso- a supplier for Toyota- has plants in TN. NUMI, or National United Manufacturing Inc. has a huge plant in Fremont that makes Tacomas. They also have a large plant in KY making Avalons and Camrys- the best selling car in the U.S. Additionally, they have a new plant that makes Tundras in TX. Again, many of these vehicles use as much as 60-70% American made parts and employee many thousands of US workers getting paid good wages.
The Yen/Dollar exchange is a bad argument too. Why? Because if you want to talk putting money into foreigner's pockets, well you can thank the millions of Americans who bought homes in the last 10 years for helping do that more than anyone else. China, Japan, and many countries in Europe buy US dollars and US mortgage loans, which in effect allowed people to keep right on buying overpriced houses. So there are many countries who own literally billions of dollars worth of US mortgage debt- a number that far exceeds whatever amount could be mustered from car sales.
My final say about this is that someone mentioned a good point above: If you take good care of your car, regardless of the make, it'll probably last for many years. Besides- cars are so entirely international in their composition and origin, that the badge has little to do with where it was made. Buy what you like and be happy.
25th Aug 2007, 16:32
You have to get your story straight. First you say no one really hauls thousands of pounds in their trucks, then I contradict your statement with my testimony of having hauled thousands of pounds. Then you come back and imply that you do haul a lot of weight with your truck; make up your mind. I don't care what you've hauled over the years; if you've done it with a Toyota, it was a light load. Wow, lawn-mowers; those are usually 300 pounds apiece.
Had my father or grandfather used a toy to do their farm work, they would have been terribly sorry and over-whelmed with buyer's remorse.
Quit trying to defy Physics; the metal physically is not there. These foreign trucks are thin and light all the way through. You have to have heavy metal to move heavy loads.
I also bet you're so proud to give American's work while you fatten the pockets of Japanese CEO's. Let's all watch slowly as the Japanese sucker American after American in to sending our money to another country's economy, as ours dwindles away. You think it's a big deal when a domestic company sends its labor to a cheaper country? The profits come back home. The labor cost of producing a vehicle is only a fraction of the total profit a company makes from that vehicle. You think that Toyota and Honda are doing us such big favors by having us to build their products, then they send billions of dollars home to their country and out of ours. Before long, the Japanese will own our whole country and we'll all have no choice but to work for them. I am so filled with Patriotic pride when I think about working for the Japanese. When this all happens, I'll have you to thank.
Here's some economics for you. When you buy a Japanese product with American Dollars, you are basically buying Yen in the form of a truck. When you trade your American Dollars in for Japanese Yen, you drive the value of the Yen up and you drive the value of the Dollar down. So, not only are you sending money out of this country, but the money that remains in this country is worth less, due to depreciation, than what it was worth before. It's a double-whammy for us, except we get the pleasure of WORKING for them with them as our bosses. YAY!
Oh yeah, you think a 15 year old truck is impressive, why don't you try doubling that like my C20. It's a '78 model and I just drove it into town this morning. Every part of the drive-train is original and it has had a very very hard life of neglect, abuse, and work. I suppose you've put 3,800 pounds of tobacco in the back of your Tundra, or you've put 12,000 pounds behind either truck? I sure hope not; there would be no stopping the thing when you braked.
Oh yeah, so your doors and tailgate shut nicely? Of course they do. It's easy for a door to shut when it's light or a tailgate to shut nicely when it weighs 30 pounds. The tailgate on my Chevy weighs about 60 or 70 pounds and the doors weigh about 80 and that's with no features like power windows or locks. Gee, I wonder why my doors shut roughly after 30 years when they're nearly 100 pounds apiece?
God Bless America; give the Japanese your money, at least they'll pay you to build the product first, before they send the rest of it to Japan. I think we're screwed.