20th Sep 2013, 22:52

I remember that "weird economic vacuum" effect from my last Toyota. Trying to repair everything that went wrong with it, caused a lot of money to disappear from my bank account.

I think most of it was vacuumed straight to Japan.

21st Sep 2013, 10:40

American Made is not American Owned. New vehicles are the second largest purchase made after a home. The birdhouse analogy and/or toasters are a $20-30, barely considered buy.

Also, the Tundra has been out for some time. I have bought many new vehicles that did not exist prior under a completely new model. I usually buy 2nd year in vs a 1st year new design, to make sure it's designed properly. No one's picking on Toyota, but we do test the specific model on the review. I see over and over again Toyota car comments on a full size review. This is full size trucks.

We started buying trucks after we bought homes in our family. We just bought a new Xterra with a Ford F150 full size. The Xterra is cool; good for outdoor activities. Time will tell if it holds up. The Ford is excellent. I would buy a new Tacoma if I had small truck needs.

I can work for a foreign corporation and pull a worker's salary. The tax breaks and big income goes to the bosses at corporate. They own the asset, not us.

Lastly, people do know what's popular. Tundras sales dropped last year; still around the 100,000 mark in America. It's been around a long time. If you are comparing car sales to this model, you are off. It's not a significant or a growing option here. Not everyone sees your vision on the Tundra. If you have an old one that has 300,000 miles on it, so do the new models from the big 3.

22nd Sep 2013, 06:24

I simply look at what primary bank they use.

I would also say that anyone seeing any Toyota nameplate on any vehicle knows it's absolutely not American, and is foreign owned. You can work for someone, but the corporation gets the big money sent back to the country of origin. They hold the strings.

Personally our favorite Toyota (and it was quite popular on my college campus) was the late 70s Celica GT. Outstanding styling, taken off the Ford Mustang. Design excellence, and they sold well. I do not think even the Supra that came out shortly thereafter looked anywhere near as nice. After that, the styling went downhill.

I went to Datsun 280ZX in 1982, and its nameplate changed to Nissan. A very nice car that Toyota could have hopefully followed.

I am loyal to no one, as the money comes from me. If it's a sharp great import, I will buy. It may not be the badge you prefer. And we do the same with domestics. They have to be on their toes to get my money, as they well should be with 2014 models out. Brand loyalty with so many offerings today is out the window with each new buy.

It's not just price, it's features, benefits, and being fun to drive and own.

24th Sep 2013, 15:10

Let me just cut to the chase here: If there are those whom actually believe that all Americans should only ever buy American-brand products, then the overall global economy would instantly and dramatically collapse. If you don't believe this, then crack open your basic history books and see just what happened in the 30's, when in an attempt to protect the economy, we decided to throw up steep tarfifs on imports. Of course all that did was cause all the other countries to do the same. The end result was that the depression became far, far worse than it would have been had these tariffs not been determined.

Secondly, and as mentioned countless, innumerable times, we are talking about products that are NO DIFFERENT from any other manufactured good. The coffee maker comment is totally dead-on, because these days it doesn't matter what you buy: The PCs, cell phones, TV sets, and yes - cars and trucks that we all buy are made out of American, Japanese, European, Chinese, and other parts from all over the world. So that means that the comment that "I only care where the money goes because it's an American company" falls flat, mainly because if - let's say you happen to drive an American truck, but the entire transmission is from a Japanese company and perhaps the AC system, and much of the semiconductors are also all imported, then where does the money go in regards to those items? Why they go to the "foreign" companies that made those. Furthermore, I suppose people have quickly forgotten that when the tsunami hit Japan a few years back; a number of American truck lines had to be halted because the parts that were used in them from Japan suddenly became unavailable due to damage to those factories... in Japan.

But lastly, even if we were to try a strictly domestic-only policy, where only domestically produced items were bought and sold, well that idea has been tried before, mainly in former communist countries. As we know, those policies did not work simply because that idea in and of itself is one that works against rational economics.

I guess in the end I'm puzzled as to why there is such a huge amount of patriotism surrounding cars and trucks - which as mentioned are assembled from global resources - just like cell phones, and yet you don't see those same people making these non-stop comments about cell phones, do you? Why not? It's the same thing.

25th Sep 2013, 08:47

With only 100000 Tundras sold here annually, it must go beyond free trade. It's confidence level and proven durability over 100 years. You cannot diminish that fact. The world economy is not going to collapse. Every one of us on here are fully able to buy a Tundra today. It's allowed, but an opinion will not thwart a sale. Personally I spend my cash without politics or Economics 1 and 2.

26th Sep 2013, 09:18

Vehicles are far different than an incidental purchase such as a 30 dollar toaster, can opener or a 2 year phone free with a cell phone contract. The people that buy full size trucks are not shopping for a Camry. The sticker price is up to and over 50k on full sizes, depending on how they are purchased. I don't bat an eye going to a store, buying items like a pencil. But new vehicles are the second largest purchase, other than a new home, that a typical consumer purchases. If Ford sells 6 times as many Tundras alone each year, it must be for a very valid reason.

I tow a boat nearly the cost of my truck. I evaluate everything out there, and am not restricting free trade. With all this said and done, do you actually own one, and have been a part of this specific buying process? Be aware there are those on here those who do not part with our dollars without extensively testing them. I have yet to discuss global economies with a dealership salesperson ever.