2007 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - All Comments

"You can keep anything on the road forever if you just keep replacing everything. It's just that with a Toyota, you don't have to, at least not for a long, long time."

What is your definition of a long, long time? Somebody on this thread snapped a camshaft on a inside of 1000 miles. Is 1000 miles a long time?

You say you can keep anything going if you keep replacing components. Well, that guy is replacing an engine on a brand new truck. I've never had to replace an engine on ANY of my vehicles.

The Tundra camshaft woes are just one example of Toyota's slapdash quality lately. Why don't you jump onto the Camry thread and read all of the accounts of Camry's blowing engines in less than 36,000 miles due to engine sludge, or better yet, just go to consumer affairs.

"The Tundra camshaft woes are just one example of Toyota's slapdash quality lately. Why don't you jump onto the Camry thread and read all of the accounts of Camry's blowing engines in less than 36,000 miles due to engine sludge, or better yet, just go to consumer affairs."

Yes... one of the MANY examples of the "slapdash" quality in Toyotas...

Listen- while I'm sure that you and many of the other anti-import crowd would love to believe that Toyotas are poorly made, making lame attempts to inflate a few mechanical mishaps from a very small number of Toyota owners into broad and unfounded statements like toyotas being "slapdash" in their quality is not only overstated, but completely irrelevant to the facts.

The fact is that Toyota earned its reputation for high quality by doing exactly what everyone who hates imports only wishes their Fords and Chevys could do, which is build a reliable, honest, carefully engineered product.

Truth speaks volumes. Trying to dispel the truth with exaggerated and clearly inaccurate opinions has nothing to do with reality.

Now go off and find another person who (gasp) had an engine sludging problem back in 1997 and tell me how ALL toyotas on the planet are horribly unreliable. We'll be here to set the record straight.

19;53 No, I don't want to re-evaluate it, because it's correct. Everyone knows Toyota's are better than Ford's or Chevy's. There's just a handful of them on this site trying every ridiculous angle they can think of to prove that wrong, and failing miserably. Toyota's practically always get far more miles on them than anything else, except maybe Honda's, before any major repairs are necessary. Citing a few examples of bad camshafts that may or may not even be true won't change this fact. Toyota's are simply better, and everybody knows it.

So, anybody who has posted a review about a Toyota Camry with a seized engine due to sludge at less than 100,000 miles, or a Honda or Lexus with a blown transmission at 50,000 miles, or a CR-V with a leaking AC unit must be lying... Because Toyota and Honda are perfect, which you know to be a fact because you believe it. Right. Okay.

Well, maybe it's just the way I take care of vehicles, but my '76 Plymouth Volarè, '77 Dodge Van, '83 Chevy Cavalier, '84 Plymouth Reliant, '85 Dodge Ram, '89 Pontiac 6000, '89 Chevy Van, '94 Cadillac Seville, and '97 Mercury Sable have all passed 200,000 miles. And that doesn't mean they "just made it" to that mark and then died. I've never junked a car; I sold them off when they were still running because I needed something different -- the Cavalier at 208,000 and the Ram at 260,000. Sorry, but you just won't convince me that imports are sooo superior, because I've literally logged millions of trouble-free miles on dependable American cars. Why would I pay a big "import mark-up" for a utilitarian commuter that isn't really any more reliable than the average old Chevy or Ford? Granted, an old Cavalier isn't that great of a car, but it's certainly no worse, and maybe even better, than an old Civic. No sale here, Yo.

So I guess setting the record straight with all the so called phony reviews certainly applies to knocking new domestics as well. I will never pay again for import major mechanical repairs at under 50,000 miles that should be 100,000 miles... why pay for an aftermarket warranty with a high deductible? If they don't break then it will not cost the manufacturer a nickel to back it up. I am a disenchanted former import owner not an enamored domestic owner. I would rather complain and let others know to be cautious. If you have a large out of pocket repair after being a loyal customer you may feel the same. I do not mind paying for wear items...brakes, tires, clutches etc, but not engine/trans repairs. I would like to see more late model import owners in the past few years come out and do the same that drive a lot and just passed their warranty with issues... actually I feel when you read complaints vs. praise on the actual vehicle you own it seems more credible from the current owner.

It seems like the overall position of the anti-import crowd here is to cherry pick a few rather uncommon problems, like instances of sludging engines in Toyota Siennas from the mid 90's, or using "proof" from a single instance of someone with a broken camshaft. Then they inflate and exaggerate and basically generalize the entire brand.

I find this funny given the fact that I can sit here all day and rattle off a laundry list of serious mechanical issues Ford and GM has had over the years and even today. One of the best of the worst is with GM's ability to gunk up their engines with their "recommended" coolant-Dexcool. Pretty amazing that a car manufacture could not realize early on that there's no better way to clog up an engine then by using Dexcool, which has the incredible ability to produce heavy scale and corrosion. Just look on this site at all the people who suddenly had heaters that stopped working. Oh ya, and how about Ford with their Explorers? As I recall, that almost bankrupted them. What about their Crown Victorias and their gas tanks that had an issue with the rear brackets rupturing the gas tanks in accidents? What about the Taurus? That car is a rolling nightmare. Speed sensors, planetary gears, head gaskets, electronics, and brakes are ALL common problems with this car right up to the last version before the new 500 based version came out. Take a look at the reviews for that car on this very site. You want to talk about complaints- the whole car is defective. I actually frequent a local junk yard for parts for my classic car. There is literally a whole section of the yard full of Tauruses. The Toyota section is the smallest in the yard and of the cars there, most have hundreds of thousands of miles on them. That or they're totaled. If the Taurus is Ford's best attempt at taking on the Camry, then the car is a joke. Talking engine sludge- Chrysler has a serious problem with this right now, and primarily on their Jeep Libertys.

Now we can discuss the various 1990's Toyota engines that had the sludge problem- which was not really a problem, but usually caused by serious neglect on part of the owner if they refused to change the oil- and keep using this example as somehow indicative of how Toyota must surely make ALL their cars and trucks, which would be silly since the "problem" was remedied years ago, or we can talk about the fact that pretty much every single GM product rolling off the assembly line comes with a coolant system full of Dexcool. You take your pick. The fact is that if you think that a few sludging engines on a few old toyota minivans means that ALL Toyotas muct be bad, then I think that pales in comparison to what GM or Ford has managed to puke out over the years and even today.

My son didn't listen to his old Dad and bought a Tundra... now he deeply regrets his decision. Maybe next time he will listen to the old man and buy a Chevy!

I write on here to defend the imports. I have owned many domestics and have been fed up by all of the repairs that they need. Sometimes the same part over and over again. Sure you might have a nice V8 or 3800 under the hood, but the truth of the matter is that the car is poorly built and I cannot put anymore money into fixing them.

I have never heard of any problems with newer imports other than Acura TL and Odyssey transmission's, which fail no different than a Dodge caravan or similar domestic van. But now those woes are gone on the new ones. You might say, but what about Toyota sludge problems? Or what about japanese A/C compressors? Well my Toyota's have never had sludge problems. They are 1997 and newer... have over 100k...one has almost 300,000 miles. I have had a CRV before. No a/c problems in that SUV in the 100k miles we owned it.

To sum it all up, there is no way of knowing who is telling the truth or not. If someone wants to, they can believe that all Japanese cars are a conspiracy theory that fail at 50,000 miles. And the domestic cars are the best little secret that are built out of gold and can achieve 200,000 miles without repairs.

I am just here to warn people of domestic cars, but it is a no brainer that they are fleet orientated and designed with no thought about quality like a Japanese car. Sorry... yes I know I would be angry too if my job on the domestic assembly line was at risk... but don't bring it into the Toyota section!

"My son didn't listen to his old Dad and bought a Tundra... now he deeply regrets his decision. Maybe next time he will listen to the old man and buy a Chevy!"

Oh ya? well I heard about this here guy that bought himself a Ford. I told him he ought to listen to me and buy a Toyota. Boy is he sorry he didn't listen to me and buy a Toyota!

100% American... made by a Japanese company... but hey let's praise import companies that can get away with paying their workers far less than the domestic companies with unions can... it's fine to convince yourself you'rw perfect for buying an import... but I'll buy my domestics even if they break... have fun.

"My son didn't listen to his old Dad and bought a Tundra... now he deeply regrets his decision. Maybe next time he will listen to the old man and buy a Chevy!"

'Oh ya? well I heard about this here guy that bought himself a Ford. I told him he ought to listen to me and buy a Toyota. Boy is he sorry he didn't listen to me and buy a Toyota!'

EXACTLY!!!

That's what this whole argument is about! People believing in different things!

Neither side of this debate is going to win. Both sides are wrong, both sides are right.

But I will say this, the domestic end has bundles of evidence and facts over the import crowd here, I can see that clear as day. The people who argue in this only see their side of things, therefore "everyone else is wrong." I will also say that the amount of bias and the magical opinion-to-facts statements leans HEAVILY towards the import crowd.

It is my belief that, from experience and zillions of horror stories, the Toyota brand name is nothing more than exactly that, a name. One that does not back or deliver it's product the way it's made out to be.

10:43 has summed it up correctly. Thank you for being one of the few here that make sense.

16:55; Wrong. It has nothing to do with beliefs.

The domestic crowd believes that the Big 3 build higher quality vehicles than Toyota. They are incorrect.

The import crowd believes that Toyota builds higher quality vehicles than the Big 3. They are correct.

You can type all day about who 'believes' what, or who has more facts, or whatever. Fine with me. Whatever answer you come up with at the end of it all, Toyota still makes far better vehicles than the Big 3. That fact will still remain.

I won't bother going through the mechanics of 'why' for the 5 millionth time, because when I do, the domestic crowd simply tells me my fact is wrong, when it clearly isn't.

One sentence: read this and weep, Toyota fanboys.

From Edmunds.com Insideline:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=123049

I lied. Not just one sentence. This validation of Ford's reliability and a humbling for Toyota is sweet ambrosia for all of the posters who fought with facts, data and genuine experience. Before you guys say that Consumer Reports is full of it, don't forget that for years upon years, this was the magazine Toyota fans pointed to when domestic car drivers made their cases.

That is all.

I watched the tv evening news 10/16 and just saw that Toyota has slipped quite dramatically on reliability lists compared to other brands. And check out how great new Ford's quality is doing across the board.

Apparently, people are still buying (many basing on the better import reliability perception of 5 or more years ago)... according to the news. I have commented myself that I have seen this exact problem in our household directly having bought many imports, until recently, every 2-3 years. Some people are commenting on high mileage imports they bought on this survey and are still driving early to late 90's without owning newer ones.

The engine sludging issue is real and not made up on this forum. Look at www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_engine.html

I seriously doubt someone has their head far in the sand to believe otherwise, but until they personally get burned on a late model purchase they will keep saying its impossible as their old import has been great or domestics don't sound good.

I would take a strong look at the Ford lineup as tonight's news was very impressed with their mechanical quality and not so with Toyota.

By the way, just blaming sludging on owner neglect is not necessarily accurate regardless of overchanging oil/filters. Could it possibly be, as some feel, due to Toyota changing their engines' top end design several years ago relative to an emission requirement?... raising the operational temperature in which the engine cools quickly after engine shutdown, in which sludge can form quickly, especially in colder climates which can cause catastrophic engine failure.

I guess there will always be one import diehard that never believes there can be a serious flaw until it potentially affects them directly. Everyone has an opinion including myself mine being formed from premature import mechanical issues more than anything else.

I still plan on reading the latest issue of Consumer Reports to compare with tonight's news. I suspect the import diehard will say its untrue.....I agree everyone can have the freedom of an opinion if its relative to recent vehicles being commented on, not ancient history.