15th Dec 2008, 10:42

"Now Toyota has embarrassed the 'big' 3 with the Tundra in the full size truck market"

Gosh, maybe they'll "embarrass" the big three back into a high-profit situation. With "competition" like the Tundra, that is a very real possibility!!

15th Dec 2008, 15:14

21:46 I would not consider the Tundra as a highly successful launch vehicle, and should have stayed in the small truck segment only.

The recent annual sales less than 200,000 is embarrassing to whom? There are far superior choices and the full size truck segment is very savvy... it's not just like a small car to get A to B. If the vehicle is the truck of your dreams, why not buy a new one rather than drive an old small Tacoma truck? It seems like your time could focus on trucks you own in the same class vs. Rangers and the like.

Full size truck owners have utility and function aspects that prompt their buying decisions as well as great service, warranty, features and performance. I certainly hope others throughly test drive all and make the best personal decision that meets all their applications, and add each up accordingly. Then buy.

15th Dec 2008, 19:22

How many people run their new larger Tundras through the mud and swamps? It seems like something for a small empty pickup driver that drives alone. I'll have to ask the dealer next time this question when he sells a new full size truck again to me. I like 4WD, a trans cooler and a powerful V8 for heavy towing,steep inclines, bad weather conditions and especially slick ramps however. Long distance towing at turnpike speeds barely loping down the interstate with comfort and room is fine too. Not breaking axles as described.

16th Dec 2008, 10:37

Due to its lagging sales there is a good chance Toyota will cease production of the Tundra. Some of its plants are already in the process of switching from the big, gas guzzling vehicles (Tundra gets worse mileage than most domestics) to smaller vehicles. The quality did go up on the new generation Tundra due to its copying many features from the super-successful F-150, but it is still a very long way from being serious competition for an domestic truck.

16th Dec 2008, 21:51

10:42, Well, gosh! Too bad for you that your wishes don't translate into fact. The Big 3 (again, laughable to call them "Big" at this point) AREN'T in a high profit situation, they're a government bailout-shy of being out of business completely!

Meanwhile, Toyota is worth a lot more than all 3 of them combined, and billions on top of that. See what making quality vehicles does for a company? Even when the economy is tough, they do well and people buy them. Maybe if GM and Ford had decided to make anything worth half what they charge for it, people wouldn't have turned to a foreign company for a good, quality automobile. Too late.

18th Dec 2008, 21:56

"Even when the economy is tough, they do well and people buy them".

Really? Then explain why Toyota and Honda sales are down MORE than Ford's.

19th Dec 2008, 16:14

I find it wholeheartedly HILARIOUS that Toyota fans bash domestic followers who cite the new Fusion as a great car, ahead of Toyota and Nissan, saying "wow only one car did it!" And how it's "crap" and what not, where's the proof for this?

But then, it's the exact opposite when it comes to the new Tundra. The import followers swear by this ONE new Toyota truck saying its better than the competition because, well, it's a "Toyota and therefore its new and better."

Ironic, really.

The Fusion has been PROVEN better than the imports from many auto-review magazines, journalists, and current owners. But, Toyota enthusiasts blow it off as it's nothing.

The Tundra has been denoted off of Consumer Reports' recommended list, and has had numerous issues so far, and the Toyota followers STILL blow this denotation off as if it's nothing, and still claim it's the better truck hands down.

I'm sorry, but that's seriously faulted logic.

I spent a good majority of last week driving to dealerships of different makes. Chrysler, Ford, GM, Buick, Toyota, Nissan, Cadillac, Honda.

The Chrysler interior quality was dismal.

Almost all of the GM and Ford interior qualities of the interior were awesome, nice sturdy structure, soft touch surfaces, and excellent fit and finish. The new CTS blew my mind in this segment. That, is truly an amazing car and sets the benchmark for the segment in my opinion. The ones that were not so great were the GM small cars, particularly the Cobalt, Focus, Sebring, and the small Jeep SUVs.

The Toyota interior quality was quite bad, compared to the new domestics not including Chrysler. Seriously, seas of hard grainy plastics, and the inside of the Tundra was a horrible sight. They really aren't that great. I spotted a few misaligned panels on the inside of the Camry, Rav 4, and Sequoia.

The Honda cars were hit and miss. Odyssey had very good interior quality, the Accord did as well. The seats though they looked pleasant, sucked.

19th Dec 2008, 20:36

21:56, Sure, I'll explain it. Right after you explain why each of the Big 3 just finished begging for money to avoid bankruptcy...ha. You can say sales are down, but it stands to reason that you'd consider: down from where?? If Toyota sold a million cars last week and half a million the week, and GM sold 6 vehicles in the first week, and 5 the week after; yes, Toyota sales are down a higher percentage, but they're still in far better shape than GM.

That's the point you've obviously missed. Toyota sales may be down due to the economy, but they're still in perfect shape compared to Ford, GM, or Dodge. Because they make better vehicles. If not for GM begging for money, they wouldn't even be here next week. I'm only quoting from the CEO of their company, by the way.

20th Dec 2008, 11:53

Nope. GM sells more vehicles world-wide than Toyota, and also sells more in the US. Also, Ford was not asking for money. If the rest of your "facts" are as reliable as these, then you can't expect to convince anybody that Japanese is better than American.

20th Dec 2008, 21:22

The list of best selling vehicles for 2008, including both cars and trucks, was just published.

The highest selling vehicle was the Ford F-150 (for the 27th year in a row I believe); the second highest selling vehicle was the Chevy Silverado; and, the ninth highest selling vehicle was the Dodge Ram.

Neither the Toyota Tundra nor any other Toyota "truck" was on the list.

21st Dec 2008, 13:03

It isn't any surprise to see the F-150 make the number 1 slot in sales again, nor was the second place Silverado any surprise either. Businesses, both large and small, have long bought large domestic trucks that have proven themselves for decades as reliable work vehicles. Our companies use the F-150, the Chevy trucks, the Ranger and full size vans from all of the Big Three. It's important to have vehicles that can not only perform the required tasks, but do it without constant repairs.

The 100,000 mile warranty has made GM vehicles even more attractive to business men because of less concerns about repairs. Also, a great majority of company owners prefer to support American industries by purchasing American products. I know we do. I just can't see Tundra becoming an accepted company vehicle for a very long time if ever among the average American business owners.