18th Sep 2007, 18:33

Thank you 10:53.

I TRULY get a kick over how many people have 'friends' and 'neighbors' with all these bad Toyota's. LOL. That way, if you ask them specific info. about the 'bad Toyota', and they know nothing, it is because it was their 'neighbor's car.

Boy, I'll tell you, almost everyone with a bad Toyota shows up here. I have yet to meet one dissatisfied Toyota owner in REALITY, where I can actually talk to yet another of the millions of we Toyota owners that never have problems, but these guys online, where no proof is possible, have got me convinced (that was called sarcasm).

Sure, the Ranger is awesome. Must be why Ford's decided to stop making it. Ha ha. There's enough material here for a good comedy album for someone.

Toyota beats the hell out of Ford and Chevy every day with every car they make, and all of their small trucks, so the only hope these Ford owners have to cling to is F-150 sales. It's not even a good truck, it just sells a lot. Wait till Toyota pulls the rug out from under them on that one too.

18th Sep 2007, 19:21

I drive a 2007 Tundra CrewMax with the 5.7 liter engine.

Every day I am more impressed by this vehicle.

To me, the engine is stronger and the sheet metal is stronger than that on my previous vehicle, a 2000 Silverado. The Tundra also has features and innovations that make it unique. It has unbelievable safety features and incredible acceleration.

My 2000 Silverado was a wonderful vehicle, but it took a lot of trips to the dealer to make it right.

The Tundra is truly a remarkable vehicle, with no trips to the dealer, which I regard as truly remarkable after my experience with my 2000 Silverado.

18th Sep 2007, 20:01

10:53.

I can believe your Toyota lasted as long as you say - some do. But, I could also give the exact same kind of testament regarding my domestic trucks/vehicles that have lasted just as long, and in some cases quite a bit longer than the mileage your Toyota is at, and I am not even implying that your Toyota is necessarily going to die any time soon.

But the fact remains, the domestic trucks can undeniably haul more than Toyota, given their much tougher construction. The cast iron engines are in the trucks for a reason. GM has both aluminum and cast iron versions of their series III V8's, so they could just as easily put an aluminum engine in their trucks, as a cast iron. Yet they (wisely) choose to put a cast iron engine in, because cast iron, as a metal, is clearly a tougher than aluminum, capable of withstanding higher loads, for longer periods of time, at more extreme temperatures than aluminum. I challenge anybody to provide scientific evidence to the contrary.

In terms of durability of the end product (i.e. the assembled engine), we could argue all day about who's truck lasts longer, but at the end of the day, the domestic trucks can rack up the high miles as well as anyone, and based on what I have seen better. Achieving better than 200K+ miles on all of my domestic trucks/vehicles with very little or no problems is evidence enough of that for me.

19th Sep 2007, 11:06

Yes, you are incorrect at least in my case. I own a Tacoma with well over 200k and make over 6 figures for my income. Enough to easily buy a fully loaded Chevy Silverado with all the trimmings or even a BMW or Mercedes. Yet I drive a 12 year old small econo-truck with lots of miles on it why? Perhaps it has something to do with intelligent financial fortitude.

I got my truck for a number of reasons. For one I knew it would be top-notch quality and last for years with few if any problems. So far that part has been quite true and even now the fit, finish, and appearance of the truck has held up very nicely. If you knew nothing about model years, you'd think I still had a somewhat new truck. I also got my truck in particular because the engine is well laid out: the plugs are all in a row and not hidden under some useless plastic shroud. Things are easy to get to and allow me to do all the work myself, which is another money saving advantage.

My truck cost me $10k out the door. A fully loaded Silverado is over 40k, or approximately 4 times the cost of a small Tacoma. Yes, they are totally different trucks, but when talking money, there is a massive difference. While I'm sure there are a few 'lucky' Silverado owners out there who got one of the 'good' ones, I seriously doubt equivalent aged Silverados are holding up as well as my Tacoma, meaning the vast majority of their owners have probably already bought another 40k Silverado. So let's do the math: 10k versus 80k.

Lastly, my truck gets around 30MPG. A loaded Silverado might get 17-20MPG, but more than likely between 14-17MPG. Gas is over $3 a gallon where I live. I drive 50 miles each way and that costs me roughly $50 a week. A fully loaded Silverado driving the same distance would cost double that, if not more.

If you look at it this way, it isn't really a surprise that the average US citizen has -0.08 in savings. When I see these construction workers driving full-sized Silverados with a trailer full of toys behind them, it isn't a surprise to me that our country is in such serious debt.

We live in a country that is filled with people that think they HAVE to drive the absolute most expensive car their incomes can support, when in reality if people simply drove something adequate and economical, they might be surprised at just how much they can save. I plan on retiring young. I would never be able to do so buying a big plastic fully loaded truck every 5 years.

There's your answer.

19th Sep 2007, 15:02

20:01 Well, it's kind of hard for GM to screw up a cast iron block, so that's what they use. The block isn't the reason their engines are substandard, it's all the other shoddily assembled, cheap parts.

Toyota has the talent and the technology to make an engine with an aluminum block run much farther and longer than GM can with an iron one. And the Toyota will get you better gas mileage and not wear out the suspension in the front end because of the pointless extra weight of a cast iron block.

Argue it all you want to, the proof is in the fact that these Toyota's with the alum. blocks will outlast a GM every time under the same treatment.

19th Sep 2007, 16:55

You can't fairly compare the Silverado, Dodge Ram, or Ford F Series with the Tundra. For those of you old enough to remember the Chevy El Camino and the Ford Ranchero; these were vehicles which were basically passenger cars with a box on the rear. They were not built for heavy payloads or serious hauling. Such is the case with the Tundra... a glorified Camry with a box grafted onto the rear... in no way is the Tundra to be considered a serious truck. Back to the drawing board, Toyota!