4th Nov 2007, 12:07

I think 21:12 is about the best comment I have read in this discussion, congrats.

And for you people who keep citing Consumer Reports for proof that Toyota is far more reliable than the big 3, read this:

http://www.autospies.com/news/Buick-Equals-Lexus-in-Latest-JD-Power-Dependability-Study-18772/

Apparently Buick equals Lexus in reliability, imagine that! Following those two are Cadillac, Mercury and Honda. Nowhere in the top five is the Toyota brand mentioned. I know Toyota makes Lexus, but GM also makes Buick so that argument means nothing. You can keep using Consumer Reports for your claims about Toyota, but then I'm sure you won't mind if we cite JD Powers.

4th Nov 2007, 18:21

I wrote the comment of 21:12, which many of you do not seem to like. I stand by every word of it. I appreciate Steven taking the time to respond at 6:28, and share his local knowledge.

I do not dispute anything Steven said, including the VAT being added to all goods at the point of sale. What I was referring to in my comments, though, is that in countries that have the VAT, when a manufacturer exports a product, they get a rebate equal to the value-added tax rate (VAT) on that exported good. This is intended to make it easier for the company to export the product, while the US (wrongly in my opinion) does not give its manufacturers any such benefit. I do not have a problem with Europe's VAT, or the way Europe choses to conduct its trade. I think the US should implement similar policies on both counts, with a VAT replacing our income tax, which we did fine for 137 years without.

I ask the “free traders,” why can't countries be free to implement whatever policies they want, and let the cards fall where they may? If a nation implements unreasonable trade policies, nobody will want to trade with them, and they will suffer by their own accord. But, if a country choses to implement favorable trade policies, then other nations will want to trade with them. What is so “un-free” about that?

The only people who want to take away freedom, are the “free traders,” as they have conveniently named themselves. They want to erase all borders, take away everyone's national sovereignty, and dictate a unilateral one size fits all policy for the world. If we need to make a decision, the “free traders” would not have us go our elected officials in our own country, but instead to the WTO, where we are just a vote, in a group who may or may not be friendly toward us at any given moment. We cannot adapt to any new situation which comes our way, such as our factories shutting down because we cannot compete with third world wages, because we have to maintain the tunnel vision of free trade at any cost.

Didn't our founding fathers warn us against getting into entangling alliances? How about the constitution? Should we still pay attention to that? Maybe we should just take our marching orders from the UN next. I support the free market, which to me means ALL countries should to be free to make their OWN economic and other decisions, to their own benefit or detriment.

“Free trade” is just another one of those things where if you do not support it, you are instantly labeled as an “isolationist,” much like you are labeled with any number of other catch phrases attacking your patriotism or standing as a capitalist, if you do not fall into line support other pillars of the neo-conservative globalist agenda, which would not be appropriate for me to mention here.

I just look at the record of failure of the policies they are defending, and that is reason enough for me not to go along with them. But those failures mean nothing to the people supporting the agenda. They just rationalize them away, saying things such as the products are not good enough, and/or other talking points designed to save face with anybody gullible enough to buy it, when it is so much more of a multi-faceted problem than that.

4th Nov 2007, 19:39

The last several comments are about cars... how about focusing on new full size trucks? I encourage everyone in the market for a new full size truck to simply test drive 3 or 4 different models and then buy based on that. 2 imports and 2 domestics...

I chose the new Silverado after personally doing so. I feel it rides and handles the best and has the 100,000 mile warranty. Straight line performance maybe the Tundra, but I like handling much more than 1/4 mile straight line driving.

I owned new cars in the 80-90's myself as well. What relevance that has when you are out shopping for a new full size truck? It seems a bit removed trapped far in the past. If you drive 25,000 miles plus a year as I do, you may want the nicer standard warranty without aftermarket addons and high deductibles. But again in my opinion driving is the biggest factor unless you want to park and read consumer magazines, which will never replace testing each vehicle personally.

I am a tall driver and once ordered a new vehicle with a sunroof option which reduced my headroom in bad weather, and no amount of seat adjustments could resolve the problem, so I learned a valuable lesson about test drives with all options in place before... vs. blindly ordering especially from magazines no less.

5th Nov 2007, 00:15

Did he just try and deny 21:12's statements? This is exactly what the problem is with Toyota lovers. "gee hmmm, these are some pretty interesting facts, something I didn't know and don't like so, THEY'RE JUNK!"

NAME those technological advancements you say Toyota and Honda are responsible. NAME THEM. NAME THEM NAME THEM NAME THEM.

I thought so, you CAN'T.

Where is your proof to back up your accusations towards 21:12?

As I have researched, everything in that comment is purely factual and well-obtained. However, what you say is flat out wrong. There is no proof to back up what you say. None.

I'm rather shocked that you can simply say domestics from the 80's are scrap. Well, I have a little personal story to tell you.

It goes, there once was a man named Tom, who owned many Chevrolets throughout his life time. None of them gave him a hassle, none of them failed to start. However it came to be that one day, his friend Jerry decided to say, "gee Tom, your Chevys suck, why don't you buy something new for a change!" Tom replied, "but why would I want to do that, I've had no problems here!" Jerry simply said, "well I can guarantee that if you buy a Toyota, you'll be glad you made the change!" Tom thought about this for a while, and decided to take the plunge. Out goes a huge chunk of change, and in comes the shiny new Toyota! He was impressed of course, being its new, but his hopes began to fade away, as the Toyota brakes prematurely blew. Then came just about everything imaginable, from suspension components to even the driver's door handle! He asked Jerry, "why, oh why, have you put me through such misery. I've worked and worked to own a truck that works. I'm sorry to say, despite what the critics say, that I will not own this truck another day." Jerry hung his head low and meandered back to his home, where his Toyota happily awaits, waiting for the next trip to town.

You see, this is a personal experience (in story form) of MY experience with Tundras.

I think you are the one who should be re-evaluating your credibility at the moment. Perhaps it is you who are the one posting things, thought most would never take you serious?