10th Sep 2007, 18:16

"I guess Toyota has it's own steel mill on site and pours casts or machines their own camshafts now?"

Just keep making excuses for Toyota. The fact remains that other manufacturers are not having this problem, but Toyota is. Whether they have a supplier or not, is that any excuse? I guess if any car has a problem now, we should not hold the manufacturer accountable, just blame it on any suppliers they might have used. Would you be that forgiving to a domestic brand?

By the way, not everybody is as clueless as you think they are. I have a masters degree in engineering, and a large amount of professional experience is in Industrial Engineering, so I know a little bit about manufacturing. Clearly, there are separate facilities where components are manufactured/cast and where they are finally assembled. I do not know, nor ever claimed to know, every single aspect of how Toyota conducts their operations, and neither do you. But, it is a well known fact that Toyota casts its own engines, so it is not unreasonable to assume that they might just cast their own camshafts as well. That is not far fetched.

I ask you again, why won't Toyota name their supplier (if there is one)? Could it be that, if the problem is a metallurgy problem, as Toyota claims, then it could potentially effect camshafts from other model Toyota's, not just the Tundra. Naturally, that is assuming Toyota is telling the truth about it even being a metallurgy problem. But it could also be (and my guess is this may very likely be the case) a mechanical design problem, wherein the metal is fine, but not engineered in the proper proportions to withstand the loads it is subjected to. There is a lot more than just a foul up in alloying the metal of the camshafts that can cause them to fail. Toyota has been having major mechanical issues across its product line (engine sludge, suspension component failures, brake system design flaws), so they do not inspire confidence.

Speaking from experience, I know for a fact that I can buy a domestic truck, as I have done several times, and have it give me several hundred thousand miles of trouble free driving. And, as an added bonus, I can do real work with it. Yet the people I know who have Toyota trucks all have problems with them. Every single person I know who has ever had compact Toyota trucks, including both four and six cylinder models, has had head gasket failures.

So far, I have only known two people who have had Tundra's, because they are still relatively new. The first person I know bought his Tundra new, and then almost immediately it started making loud upper engine valve train noises. You always knew when he was coming down the road; you could hear that pile of pot metal coming a block away. That truck was sold within two years, and replaced by another Ford, which is the type of truck the person had owned previously - I guess the grass isn't always greener... Then, the second person I know who has a Tundra (and so far still has it), is fortunately not having engine problems, but has to take it back to the dealership constantly for suspension problems.

With all of these problems I see everybody around me having with Toyota's, while I have never had a problem with any of my domestic vehicles, what is my opinion of Toyota supposed to be? I have not even mentioned (nor do I care to because I am sick of writing all of this, and we are talking about trucks anyway), all of the disastrous problems I have seen with Toyota cars. I have had to personally pick up the pieces, both financially, and with my repair labor, on several of them. Based on my direct real world observations, I just think this myth of Toyota's being superior, or even good vehicles for that matter, is absolutely preposterous, and I simply cannot believe so many people are so enamored in it.