I go with what ever doesn't let me down. In the past 18 years I have owned 5 Toyotas (92 Camry, 98 Tacoma, 01 Camry, 06 Rav4 and 07 Tundra) and with the exception of my 92 Camry that my nephew totalled they are ALL on the road still and running strong! I have driven over a million miles in Toyotas and I was NEVER once stranded on the side of the road! The only repairs that I ever had to do to any of them were replacing clutches, brake pads, whiney alternators and batteries-all of which I consider standard maintenance/repairs. Put it this way, if I can diagnose the problem and fix it in my garage at home within 2 hours, then it isn't considered a major problem to me.
I bought a 2004 Ford 150 and within 2 years (18,000 miles) I managed to get a cracked head that the dealership somehow blamed on a faulty distributor cap and had numerous electrical problems that often left me without exterior lights! At that time, I decided to abandon Ford for good and traded it in for a 2006 Chevy Silverado 1500 that was nothing by problems from the day I bought it-from transfer case problems to faulty electronics to transmission failure to broken valves and more-you name it, it broke!! It was in the shop for 63 days of the 267 days I owned the truck; however keep in mind that I quit driving the truck completely after Day 147 (that was when I bought my 07 Tundra)! After my lawyer and I battled Chevrolet for several months, I was awarded a full refund of the original vehicle purchase price plus interest on my loan, taxes, title fees, lawyer fees and an additional $6,500 for inconveniences under Maryland's lemon law. My total settlement was to the tune of $45,700! Chevy would have saved about $16,000 had the dealership simply agreed to take the vehicle back when I initially requested. Out of my 20+ years of driving, the only times I had problems with my vehicles were the 3 years that I owned a domestic vehicle! Also, I tend to sell or give my vehicles to family members, but I would never consider passing my problems on to them! When I transferred my Toyotas to my brother, niece and nephew I knew that I was passing on a good, reliable quality vehicle to them.
My 07 Tundra has 98,000 miles on it. I have done absolutely no maintenance more than changing the oil, using STP fuel injection cleaner when I fill up, and giving it a good washing and waxing now and then! It has yet to go to the shop for repairs at all! My truck is, however, subject to the current gas pedal recall and let me tell you this, I HAD NO CLUE that there was a pedal malfunction! After getting notice of the recall I was able to recognize that the gas pedal does not rebound as quickly as probably should. Had it not been pointed out to me, I probably wouldn't have noticed. I'm sure that it could be more severe in other vehicles, but I certainly don't see it as a safety issue in my truck especially since there is a pedal to the left call a BRAKE PEDAL-I'm still driving it every day!
Oh and by-the-way, SCREW THE DEMOCRATIC MEDIA! The only reason they are making a big deal out of this is because they are trying to boost domestic sales. If I were on the market to buy a vehicle, I would buy another Toyota this afternoon-even if it had a faulty brake pedal so their tactics aren't working on this American!
Remember these:
GM recalls 1.5 million cars due to fire risk
Ford recalls 4.5 million
Ford Firestone Tire Recall
Flaming Fords
Remember Tucker? Anyone remember what our government did to him and his company? Our government now has a vested interest in 2 American car companies. is this why they are attacking Toyota as they are?
ReplyDeleteI have to say, my 2001 Ford F150 has been a great vehicle. It has 168K on the clock right now and it has never let me down. This is the fourth Ford I've owned since 1990, and I'd buy another one if I needed a new truck. One recall, on a cruise control switch, Ford handleed it quickly and professionally. Buy a 'Yoda if you want, but I'm sticking with Ford.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post last night said you were in the market and were going to be buying a Toyota.
ReplyDeletePlease stay off my street,
ReplyDeletethere are children present
and we don't need your Toyota coming thru at 118 mph
And by the way, of course you don't recognize the problem, duh !!!
If it were noticable it'd be a non-issue at this point.
I know I would buy nothing but a Ford at this point,
they somehow are thriving financially and just got the best truck and car awards in the same year. Are the dems responsible for that too?
I just wish they'd come out with an F150 XLTea package ...
I bought a 1994 Ford Ranger new. It has 202,000 miles on it, and I'm still driving it. So don't knock Ford.
ReplyDeleteI had a 1999 Toyota Takoma. Did maintanance and blew the engine in 2002 with about 75,000 miles. I had a 2003 Ford Focus and put 140000 miles and no problem.
ReplyDeleteYou could google any manufacturer and get a long list of recalls. No company is immune. Automobiles are complex machines that operate out in the elements. For every story of my blah blah that has a zillion trouble free miles there is someone else claiming they had one that blew up as they left the dealers lot. In the end I am a firm believer that buying American is to buy Whatever you want!!
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I own a '66 Mustang with 225,0000 miles and an '05 Mustang GT with 118,000. I traded in a Saturn with 170,000 miles for the GT. Prior to the Saturn, I had an Oldsmobile with close to 200,000 before it got stolen.
ReplyDeleteDetroit getting embarrassed for years by the Japanese has raised the standard in American cars. I get the point about the MSM making a bigger deal than necessary about this, but if I were an exec at one of the big 3, I'd be trying to take advantage of the situation (without looking like I'm doing so). If you haven't had an American car in a while, it's probably time to look into them again.
anonymous 1:03, you clearly have had some excellent luck with American cars. However, they don't achieve the gas mileage they claim they're supposed to and maintenance is far more frequent a problem with American cars.
ReplyDeleteYou can't knock it if you've never tried it. I have had both and I believe I'll stick with the foreign products.
I would like to add something as the author of this post. Of course there are going to be domestics that rack up miles w/o problems otherwise those companies would be long since out of business. Likewise, there will be Toyotas & other imports that have their fair share of issues. There are also preferences as well-some people simply prefer one make over another for other various reasons whether it is durability, horsepower, torque, fuel economy, comfort, etc. I prefer Toyotas simply because they offer me everything I need in a vehicle & have proven to be highly dependable vehicles for me. As with most people, it only takes one incident to get on my s-list. Ford & Chevy have put a very bad taste in my mouth. I expect vehicles to have problems & if I bought a new Toyota lemon tomorrow then I would be rather upset & disappointed; however, since I've owned 5 prior Toyotas with high mileage with no problems I would be less likely to deviate from the brand. If your domestics work for you then by all means stick with them.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, what bothers me the most is that the democratic media has pounced on this error like none other! It is completely ridiculous that they are badgering Toyota especially while GM & Chrysler has been the nuisance on the American economy. GM & Chrysler have cost American tax payers billions! We, the American people, bailed out the domestic auto industry's poor practices & management-MY OPINION HERE is that a portion of the American auto makers' failures are a direct result of their production of inferior automobiles. Detriot lacked the cutting edge innovation, quality & fuel economy that foreign manufactures had been & still are producing-domestic cars are failing because Americans desire & can afford foreign cars. This can't necessarily be denied either-just like elections, the majority wins. When the majority of America chooses to drive imports then domestics lose...basically that is saying that for every domestic auto support there are at least 1 import auto supporters. During this bailout time, you didn't see imports suffering as badly, did you? No. This, coupled with the dominance & power of labor unions is a bad combination! When uneducated assembly line workers are being paid $30-60+ per an hour ($62,400-124,800+/year) we have a problem! They make more than I do with a Master's degree! When you go to your Ford or Chevy dealership, you pay for that on your MSRP. After import taxes on foreign cars, there shouldn't be a single comparable domestic car on the market with a higher sticker price but somehow Detroit has managed to do it! I must say, I do respect Ford for declining the bailout money that GM & Chrysler took-class act in my book. It just goes to show that with some restructuring, the others could have rebound the same.
I'd like to respond to a few of the comments here:
Anon 11:34,
1. You shouldn't let your kids play in the street.
2. Unless somebody removed it, my truck has what's call a "brake pedal" on it. It's to the left of the gas pedal. If my truck would to suddenly accelerate due to malfunction I would simply press the brake pedal it will magically come to a stop. There is no vehicle manufactured that has more accelerating power than braking power. Try it sometime, put the gas pedal to the floor & press the brake with your left foot-I bet you come to a stop quicker than you think...
3. Yes Toyota is thriving financially & yes they got the best car & truck of the year awards. Know why? It’s because they don't have ridiculously powerful labor unions, consumer companies like Motor Trend & JD Power don't belly up to democratic views and they are simply quality vehicles. Imagine that-actually EARNING an award? That's unheard of!
Anon 11:48,
I have a hard time believing that you even had a Toyota, especially since you can't spell TACOMA! Maybe your truck was just pissed at you because you kept spelling its name wrong!
11:34 you are without a doubt a total idiot!
ReplyDelete11:48 you are full of crap!
ReplyDelete2:20, what validation do you have for your non-sensical insults. I know of plenty Jap-crap cars that have gone long before they should have.
ReplyDeleteTrue Americans by American made
Joe, I thought I remember both you and Grandad having Dodge Rams with nothing but trouble?
ReplyDeleteI could repeat the same story, only replacing "Toyota" with "Honda."
ReplyDeleteI'm on my third Honda now, have 110,000 on it, and have never put a cent into it except regular oil changes and one set of tires. My previous Honda had 218,000 on it when I traded it in over 3 years ago and I still see someone driving it around Salisbury now and then.
I've had a few Chevys and had nothing but trouble with them, and trouble with the dealers.
As to 3:02's comment: "True Americans by American made"
I say, True Americans know that it's spelled "buy" (unless they were edgekated by the Dept of Edgeekashun)