11th May 2008, 19:15

The drop in quality, even over the last 5 years, by Toyota and Honda too for that matter, is quite evident throughout this site and all over ConsumerAffairs.com. That is why we quit buying them. I'll still look at new ones, but no basis is influencing a current purchase from a vehicle 15 years ago.

I doubt you have driven a single 2008 domestic to even offer a basis in comparison. Try driving both, and owning quite a few more in recent years, then reply unless you are into a personal archive comparison... again, drive the new imports and new domestics. I do, and buy the best at the moment. Right now it's certainly not a new import. I do not have faith they will hold up... maybe 15 years ago you had a point, but you have lost sight of current ownership to qualify a new import/domestic purchase. Too far out of date.

12th May 2008, 12:44

I think a lot of people fail to really read the reviews and comments here as well as items in various automotive sources. There is no question that Toyota quality has gone down, but the odd part is, it has really not gone down all that much in regards to the late 80's through the 90's. Even then the quality of most Toyotas was in a decline, especially Camry. There were a handful of Tacomas and 4-Runners that actually lasted to 150,000-200,000 miles. These were the exceptions, and very rare indeed.

I've never seen a Toyota that went as far as the Ford Ranger featured in last October's Consumer Reports (just under 500,000 miles). To last that long without an engine repair requires very good build quality. Toyota hasn't had that in decades.

13th May 2008, 21:36

Yet another review that's turning into a foreign/domestic debate. If you drive a Ford or Chevy, and are happy with that, good for you. Some of us want better and buy Toyota's. Read the headline, it sums it up: no more GM. I said good riddance to domestic years ago, and have a lot less headaches and a lot more money in my wallet driving imports; specifically Toyota's. No one is going to convince me that GM, Ford, or Dodge makes or a better car or truck than Toyota, because I know from experience that they do not.

14th May 2008, 17:33

And that experience was 15 years ago. Read the collective late model import reviews and Consumer Affairs; it may enlighten you to keep your older import and drive it lightly, so that it will not need a newer replacement.

15th May 2008, 16:49

I read a lot about vehicles. Just read today that Ford has recalled over 600,000 F-150's for a faulty vacuum hose that could lead to failed braking. Typical Ford, with safety issues and typical Ford unreliability. Of course, domestic owners will just bring up Tundra recalls that have long since been solved, handled properly, and nowhere NEAR in number what this Ford recall entails. Chalk up another 'negative' in Ford's column. This kind of thing is just one of the many reason's I stick with Toyota, or most any import, instead of cheap Big 3 crap.

16th May 2008, 16:38

12:44 Any Ford that makes it to 500,000 is a miracle. In fact, any Ford that makes it to 200,000 without any major work is a miracle. If you don't know of any Toyota owners that have gotten 200,000 or better, then you must simply avoid them all.

I just took my Tacoma in for a recall on '95 -99 models, and I stood under the truck with the mechanic for a while. This was a Toyota dealership. He said my truck was about the 60th one he'd seen since the recall was issued, and he could not remember seeing any of these trucks come in for any service other than oil changes and so forth; not a single mechanical issue. He also said he could not believe how many of these 10 to 13 year old trucks came in with 200, 250, and upwards of 300,000 miles on them and had no service record. This is simply what Toyota drivers expect and receive over and over. They came in with 280,000 miles or so on them, running just fine, and left.

Fords and Chevy's don't do this. Period. And in the extremely rare occasion that they do, then I agree, someone should write a story about it because it is an oddity.

16th May 2008, 17:04

I just read the latest Tacoma review on Car Survey (many owners) and I know I made the right decision not buying any Toyota truck. Also Tundra sales are down and were no threat anyway whatsoever to Fords #1 full size truck satisfaction for years. A recall can be positive what isn't positive is paying out of pocket personally for a measly 36000 mile warranty on many imports. That's a joke in 2008. GM is also excellent with the Silverado pickup. Far superior pickup in 2008 as well.

17th May 2008, 05:38

OK so the only vehicle to buy is a little 1995-1999 Tacoma, never a new full size truck... it seems like it's Tacoma Tacoma Tacoma from 10 years ago. How can one objectively comment on any Tundra or new Ford or GM in 2008? This review is on full size trucks anyway. I am not downsizing, reducing my capabilities and certainly not the lousy warranty anymore. Look at all the major Toyota issues posted. Sorry its 2008 and I am not buying one especially the little trucks that are useless to the full size market. A decade ago or longer is in the past. Why comment on new vehicles if you cannot objectively critique them. Why not compare to the Model A,bicycles or horse and buggies next? My new computer is better than the one 10 years ago. The point is review apples and apples. Full size truck owners and buyers want comparisons on same class vehicles close to the year under review not long long ago and not even the same size. Maybe the S10 or small Ranger owners might like the comparisons though.

17th May 2008, 07:15

05:38 OK, let's talk full size trucks. Fords and Chevy's are still junk. There you go. Driven them both, looked at them both; not to buy, just to look.

Let's start with the Ford. The first huge, glaring problem is that it's a FORD, which, as most people know, means it won't run well for very long, will doubtless have serious recalls at some point (such as the 600,000 recalled F-150's recently, the cause of several accidents already), and is simply an inferior truck with an inferior to Toyota engine and drivetrain.

GM is much worse than Ford, which is hard to imagine but true. GM trucks don't have any good points at all. Zero. Still a crappy GM engine, with a crappy, cheaply made body and bunch of components surrounding it. Just park it next to a Tundra and look at the obvious differences in build quality. The Toyota, of course, embarrasses it. See for yourself.

For instance, follow any new GM car or truck down the road, and watch the muffler and tailpipe sway back and forth with every bump. Follow a Toyota. You can jump it off a pile of dirt and it won't move. Believe me, I've done it. That's just one of many examples.

I don't even mention Dodge usually because they're so pitifully terrible that everyone should know not to buy one.

Moving away from trucks, let's mention the Durango's brakes for example. There were so many lawsuits over those pieces of junk that auto parts stores stopped carrying their brake pads because they wanted nothing to do with Dodge brakes. You have to go to the Dodge dealership when your brakes fall apart to get new pads.

Let's talk about my good friends brand new F-150 that had a bad hesitation from day 1 and still does because Ford says it's SUPPOSED to do that. Or the six other times he's brought it back so far because it had multiple recalls on the brakes AND airbags. Good combination there. That's even worse than the Ford engines out there that have badly machines heads and the spark plugs blow right out of the head while you driving. Look that one up. I myself have seen it happen on a Ford boxtruck we drove for a company I worked for. Spark plug was still attached to the wire but just hanging loosely out there in mid air. Good old Ford quality; (or lack of it of course).