9th Jan 2008, 05:42
11:26, I made that comment and I've owned more domestics than I have imports. The fact that I HAVE suffered through the misery of owning domestics is exactly why I drive Toyota's now.
9th Jan 2008, 08:10
12:49 And while you're reading about Tundra engine problems, you can also look up Ford and Chevy engine problems, and you'll see that Toyota's rare troubles aren't even a tiny percentage of the major issues that the domestics always have.
9th Jan 2008, 10:12
I think anyone reading any of the Ford Taurus, Chevy Silverado, Ford Windstar, Ford Explorer, or any number of other domestic vehicles on this site would find your statement a bit overblown. Toyota's problems (of which are few) pale in stark comparison to some of the reviews I've read here on a great number of domestic cars. So I don't think you really have a leg to stand on that point at all.
9th Jan 2008, 10:19
I wanted to add this to my previous comment. If you want to see such examples of how 'great' Domestic cars are, why not read a few of these little gems for a Ford Taurus? These problems are borderline insane and unacceptable for ANY car.
9th Jan 2008, 17:59
10:19 you are commenting on a 9 year old station wagon. What brand new full size trucks have you owned since? I have only owned 3 full size trucks myself in that time period currently drive another brand new GM Silverado now.
13th Jan 2008, 10:43
23:05 Who cares about the reviews and comments on this site? People just type whatever they want here with an agenda in mind half the time. The facts are these: the Camry has historically been one of the highest quality rated cars in the world as has been THE best selling car in the world many times. So let's hear about your blessed Fusion? What has Ford accomplished with it, other than POSSIBLE future reliability? Which, being a Ford, is extremely unlikely. Try sticking to the facts instead of a collection of anonymous, random opinion.
14th Jan 2008, 16:01
Yes, if you actually buy vehicles and spend money on them, and have owned both domestics and imports, the imports will break down less and last longer. Despite all of the comments made here by Ford and Chevy owners, who can't stand the fact that Toyota is still blowing them out of the water. Toyota makes the better car or truck. It's that simple.
15th Jan 2008, 12:27
I honestly enjoy the "Toyota is best because I say so" comments on this site because they are actually proving the point that us domestic owners have put forward for years: There is no evidence to support the claim of import (ESPECIALLY TOYOTA!!) superiority, so all that is left are meaningless statements such as "They are best because I like mine" and "They are best, so get over it".
Personally I prefer the "I've driven a (fill-in-the blank) domestic for 300,000 miles with no problems" and "Consumer Reports (and everybody else) rates the Ford Fusion the most reliable car in the world", or "My company routinely gets 300,000 miles out of its Ford trucks".
Those are the comments that carry meaning and influence my buying decisions.
It's also interesting that the F-150 owners on this site are far more prone to buy another Ford than Tundra owners are to buy another Toyota. That carries a lot more weight than "It's best because I say so".
15th Jan 2008, 13:18
The Tundra may be adequate for a suburban Mom who occasionally uses it to haul a light sack of groceries, but for any kind of heavy hauling, I would recommend a Professional Grade GMC pickup or the 2007 Truck of the Year Chevy Silverado!
17th Jan 2008, 13:09
The problems with the Taurus aren't isolated. Nearly every single person I've known who has owned a Taurus wound up getting rid of it within 2-3 years because frankly, the cars were a joke as far as anything remotely close to being acceptable.
Some of the problems included severe issues, like blown head gaskets, transmission failure, and premature brake system wear. The worst part is that since the Taurus has such a horrid reliability track record, the value of them drops like a rock almost as soon as they drive off the lot. So as a result, most people I know who owned them and got the dreaded blown head gasket was stuck with a $2,500 repair bill on a $4,000 car.
The new Taurus isn't a Taurus at all, but instead a mish-mash of other cars and platforms. It uses a Volvo platform and the remnants of what was once the 500, which was such a bad selling car that Ford 'cleverly' renamed it the Taurus. It is entirely too new to be claiming that it's a great car.
On the other hand, the Camry has over 20 years of a nearly spotless track record. Yes - there WERE a few defects with the latest model, which have since been remedied. So if you want to make comparisons, then in all fairness, the previous generation Taurus is what you would use. I suspect the new Taurus will be equally crappy and fall apart in less than 5 years.
I can make generalized comments about "how lucky I was to switch back to imports", but that in itself is a generic generalization. What's an import? It could be a Fiat, Skoda. VW, Honda, Toyota... Daihatsu? Who knows? The real issue at hand here is for a company versus company comparison.
For example, Mitsubishi is one Japanese carmaker that makes rather awful products that get poor reliability ratings. If I were to say " I only buy imports", then that's an inconclusive statement.
The same goes for saying things like: " We only buy domestics in this household" Well, if that be the case, then what do you mean? Do you mean Chrysler, Ford, or GM? These have different reliability ratings too. If for none other, if you're making such baseless statements, then I would only imagine this is another one of those old-fashioned "Buy American!" arguments in which case it has nothing to do with a conversation based on quality, but rather one for the sake of nationalism.
If you want the proof, then read the quality reports. I don't need to say anything else since the top five of those on the list are not made by any of the domestic producers. But you can whittle it down to the top five companies, which happen to be Japanese. Interesting...
18th Jan 2008, 09:35
What if a person on here was shopping for a Tundra, Silverado, Ram, Titan, F Series truck instead of reading about Camry and Taurus? I have no intention of buying either on this full size truck review. I would like reading about Ferraris, but would still probably remained focused on what vehicle platform is being reviewed (full size trucks) as I buy that specific type fairly frequently. I guess we could migrate over to cars if we might be remotely interested in that review.
7th Jan 2008, 11:26
Don't you just LOVE it when the "Best auto maker in the world" has one of the WORST owner reviews on this site (The Camry) and over HALF the ACTUAL OWNERS say they wouldn't buy another one?? If OWNERS aren't capable of providing a valid opinion about their OWN CARS, then the opinion of someone who has never even owned a domestic attacking them carries no weight at all (like a Tundra).