24th Sep 2008, 15:23

Let me try again, to 9/21/08 00:28.

Dodge is not worth mentioning any more huh? The 2009 Ram 1500 will be the Motor Trend truck of the year.

24th Sep 2008, 15:31

12:04 just because you feel you have a foreign badge on a vehicle is no guarantee of reliability or lower cost of ownership. The "good ole boy" comment is not necessary the case. I have owned a Mercedes, Acuras and a domestic full size loaded V8 pickup at the same time and parked in the same garage. I tow a large boat and there is no import truck available with the same capability. If I am being labeled as such, would that also pertain when I was out in my convertible import the same afternoon?

Some people have some specific application needs that a Tacoma, Tundra is not able to accomplish (at least safely) To buy a undersized import truck would perhaps sideskirt your incorrect labeling definition, but be foolhardy to jeopardize others with my towing requirements.

I now own domestics by the way and my repair costs have gone down since.

25th Sep 2008, 12:15

First of all, The 2008 GMC Sierra gets 13-18MPG. The 2008 Tundra? 13-18MPG. So the costs are exactly the same. Even if you drive one of the Chevy Yukon hybrids, which cost well over $50,000, the best you're going to get is around 20-22MPG, which considering the cost of gas might as well be 5MPG. Frankly, I'm not impressed with anything that gets anything under 30MPG, and even at that rating, the cost of fuel is significant.

I keep reading all these comments about how: " well... I owned an Acura, a Toyota, and a Honda, and boy- they all had problems and now I have " domestics" and none have any problems."

I can tell you for fact that my family has owned nothing but Toyotas and two Fords for the past 30 years. Out of all of those Toyotas, only one problem was had with a 4runner with a faulty wheel bearing. But the Fords were both sold within a few years after acquiring them because they BOTH has serious mechanical failures at rather low miles. We had a 1995 Ford F-150. Second gear went out at 65,000 miles. The other Ford, a 96 Ranger also had transmission problems along with issues with the rear brakes, the steering column actually coming loose, and countless electrical gremlins.

The fact is that pretty much anyone I know who owns either a Honda or a Toyota seldom if ever has any problems with them period. Secondly, I do have a classic American car and frequently go to the junk yard looking for parts. Guess whats the most common cars I see in those yards? Fords and Chevys. We're talking cars and trucks that aren't all that old with blown head gaskets and self-destructed transmissions.

There's one part of the yard I call "Ford Taurus row", because there are usually 15-20 of them sitting there with their hoods open with a white crusty sludge spewed all over the engine compartment - the tell-tale sign that the head gasket blew. Whats more, most of these have fairly low miles.

It's rare that I see US brand cars in the yard that have over 100,000 miles on them. The Japanese car section though is the smallest section. Most of the cars there are extremely old and with huge amounts of miles on the speedometers, as in 200,300, and even 500,000 miles. These cars tend to get junked once they've completely worn themselves out versus the countless American cars that had premature deaths.

Lastly, I see a LOT of 25 and 30 year old Toyota trucks on the road out here in California. Some of these are being used to haul huge stacks of pallets, engine parts, and debris from the nearby shipping yards. This was back when Toyota made nothing but tiny little trucks with no frills at all. It's just as likely that the trucks they make today will have the same if not longer survivability. My almost 14 year old Tacoma still looks brand-spanking new with zero problems. I see no reason why it, or the new Tundra will have any problem staying on the road for decades.

25th Sep 2008, 13:31

"The ironic thing about all of this, is that from what I still see, the majority of the folks out there who buy full size trucks are stereotypically what I'd call "good ole' boys" who regardless of whatever other choices exist out there will never-ever consider anything that doesn't have an American nameplate on it."

Wow. Way to stereotype domestic full size truck buyers, who's vehicles sell orders of magnitude more than any foreign so-called competition. Do we simple minded folks bitterly cling to our guns and religion while we are not playing dueling banjos on our front porches too?

I could make the same characterization about import buyers that you made about domestic buyers - that everyone who buys an import thinks America and its products stink, and would not even look at, much less consider any evidence to the contrary. But, I happen to not believe in stereotyping entire groups of people.

What might I ask by the way is wrong with being patriotic in one's buying decisions anyway?

26th Sep 2008, 11:38

Yes- I am an "import" owner. But I am also patriotic. That means as an American, I have free choice to make a decision regarding the product I buy.

My family owned lots of Fords and GM products over the years. My Uncle was a well respected Ford dealer who gave us deals on cars and trucks. But time and again, these cars and trucks gave us persistent problems, which for a family like mine - a middle class family with a sometimes unemployed Dad, it was prohibitively expensive. This was back in the 80's. Then Dad got the company car - a boring 85' Camry. The thing ran forever. We never had any problems. To us, having a car last 150-200,000 miles without a hitch was amazing. It saved us a lot of money and headache. My story is similar to a lot of Americans who got burned by inferior products.

To be fair, I think all US branded companies have made enormous improvements in their products. GM is probably one of my favorite companies. They have some great management there. Like Bob Lutz and his Chevy Volt program along with the new Malibu, which is perhaps one of the best family sedans out there. I'd be willing to give that car a try.

Then again, I rented a Pontiac two months ago on a trip. The interior was already showing severe wear. The engine made some funny sounds, like the belts were all loose and squealing.

I've also rented a Cobalt. I was equally unimpressed. Typical cookie-cutter plastic cheapness I remember back in the day in the 90's when the driving class car in high school was a 93' Corsica with a cheap plastic interior.

So the problem is that GM and Ford have to convince me that they actually make a good product. I know people with tons of miles on their Chevys. I also know an equal proportion where their Chevys dies premature deaths. Am I willing to bet on a hit and miss product? Well, I'm not made out of money, so no - I'm not.

That's the problem. Perception and actual quality. Until they make good on consistent quality, they are going to continue to have sales problems. It's as simple as that.