2007 Toyota Tundra from North America - Off Topic Comments

Even Consumer Reports now refers to Toyota as having "uncharacteristic lapses" in quality. That's putting it very mildly. No domestic truck has ever had the number of problems that Toyota has had with the Tundra, Camry and Highlander.

8:08 what is better a "probably OK" former out of warranty import warranty at 51,000 miles directly out of your own pocket... or a written mechanical warranty at 99,999 with one mile left with a new domestic covered by the manufacturer?

If the import engine is so superior why half? If it's never needed and absolute pure perfection ,what does the import manufacturer have to lose? Quit skirting this... it's half the warranty.

What's with the sludging and Tundra engine recalls... shouldn't be any at all based on your comments. If domestics have an issue then the warranty is there... try that at 60,000 miles on your import; oops you do not need any warranty... quite a few have had opposite surprises; go peruse the Consumer Affairs site.

"18th Feb 2008, 14:09

8:11 Wrong. Ford engineers consulted engineers at Toyota about hybrid technology. Toyota would not need to stoop low enough to use any Ford parts or ideas."

Maybe that attitude explains why Toyota quality is dropping like a stone. They have become arrogant and insular, based on success in the 1990's. Meanwhile, Ford learned a lot through their ownership of Land Rover, Jaguar, and Volvo.

Also, there is no "Ford" part. Ford does the design and assembly, but contracts out for parts.

14:14 what are the years of your domestics and imports you have owned? Any in the past 5 years?

06:19: I've driven, but not owned several newer models of Toyota and various domestics. Nothing has changed. Toyota still beats them hands down.

I don't need to own a new domestic to know that they're junk. I see the problems other people have had with theirs.

A good friend of mine traded off an '07 Dodge Ram because he got tired of all of the downtime with recalls; SIX of them I believe. Three times for seat belts and airbags, some problem or another with the wheel bearings that Dodge said could potentially cause the wheel to fall OFF the truck, and there were a couple others.

Their 2 year old Dodge car (can't remember the model), failed inspection because it needed about $900 dollars in work on the suspension in the front end. It had 30,000 miles and is his wife's daily driver. All highway miles and the front end fell apart in two years. That one got traded too.

Now he has a brand new F-150. An '08. It had hesitation problems in the acceleration from day one and Ford can't seem to fix it. Not to mention he bought it to tow a camper; the tow rating is 10,000 lbs, his camper, loaded, weighs under 8000, and the truck can barely handle it. The engine screams, it overheats and will barely pull up the hills. How long before the engine or transmission blow up on that one? Not long.

And he knows how to pull a camper. He's not trying to run in overdrive. I'm talking about 55 or 60 on the highway. Ford claims he's trying to pull too much with it, yet they guaranteed that it would pull it the day he bought it. Another unhappy Ford owner who will be switching to a Tundra shortly. Not to mention the severe loss he took on trade-in with the Dodge car and truck.

Meanwhile, my uncle has an '05 Tacoma that he pulls a boat with; not a single issue. Another uncle of mine bought an '06 Corolla; runs perfectly with no issues.

My 10 year old Tacoma just turned 85,000 and short of changing fluids and putting gasoline in it, I've done nothing to it. And it gets a lot of off-road use, sometimes pretty rough.

I'm not buying another domestic. Not until they start making something that lasts like my Toyota does. Which means they'll have to basically change everything about them, inside and out, front to back.

17:22 No domestic truck has ever had problems like the Tundra? Please.

The Tundra's problems had nothing to do with Toyota and are long since remedied. I could name a long list of trucks from any of the Big 3 that have had many more issues than any Toyota ever had.

"The Tundra problems had nothing to do with TOYOTA???" Uhhh... just who BUILT the thing?? Santa Clause??

630 again what new domestic (s) have you owned... year and make? Adds tremendous credibility to your comments. Tundras troubles have nothing to do with Toyota? This is the present 2008...new imports we have owned have had a lot of mechanical problems... new domestics are better mechanically. I am basing that on 2000-2004 imports 2004-2008 domestics...10 years ago was 1998 is that what your comments are based on?

"18th Feb 2008, 14:14.

14:20 Well, as a proud Toyota owner,..."

I find it interesting that you are so "proud" to be a Toyota owner. It sounds like you have some sort of militant anti-domestic or anti-American agenda.

I've always driven domestic vehicles, and just take it for granted that they always get me where I want to go, because they always have. I don't feel the need to be particularly "proud" of that because it's just the routine, everyday reliability that I've come to expect from my American cars.

The fact that you are so "proud" of your Toyota seems to suggest that you consider it an extraordinary event when it makes it to its destination.

6:30... I have lots of friends that have had problems with new Toyotas. I have had to just rescue a co-worker in her late model broken down Camry. She cannot afford to get rid of it and is not loving imports right now.

I have never missed a day of work... my wife did running into import dealer lounges with hers as well. Maybe if we all turned back the clock to the 80-90's, we could reiterate over and over the reliability of imports of old, which I am not seeing the quality in place anymore.

The new domestics are much more reliable and I am not buying anymore imports until the situation improves. The mechanical reliability has done a complete reversal the past 5 years as we are seeing it. Maybe hold onto your old import, but one day you may replace it and join the current disgruntled import ranks.

TO 14:09 :

You are actually wrong. Ford didn't consult with Toyota engineers. What actually happened was this:

From Wiki.

"Ford engineers realized their technology may conflict with patents held by Toyota, which led to a 2004 patent-sharing accord between the companies, licensing Ford's use of some of Toyota's hybrid technology in exchange for Toyota's use of some of Ford's diesel and direct-injection engine technology. (7) Both Ford and Toyota state that Ford received no technical assistance from Toyota in developing the hybrid powertrain."

Expecting everyone to be satisfied with a Tacoma is a stretch. Would never last on my applications or towing especially. Gave the Tundra a shot; still not as good.

Need a 3/4 ton domestic that easily performs on all applications with no compromises. Better warranty as well.

17:51 You state my point for me. Ford engineers 'realized' they were basically using patented ideas and designs created and licensed to Toyota. Do you believe that it was just a fluke that Ford had to consult with Toyota before go ahead with using their patented designs? Or that Ford just happened, without looking at how Toyota did it, to come up with ideas so close to Toyota's in design that they were in violation of Toyota's patents?

Ford looked at how Toyota does things to see if they could manage to get something right for once. I don't blame them actually, they need all the help they can get. If they tried more often to build their cars the same way Toyota does, they'd be putting out better cars.

Here we go again... more comments about how bad the new Tundra is as well as generalized statements about "domestics versus imports". Doesn't anyone think it is rather silly to group entirely different companies under a single umbrella? I understand why people do, which is basically just another way to say that American-made stuff is better than Imported stuff.

The problem is that the truth is more detailed than that and I don't think the nationalistic sentiment really helps to resolve anything since that for the most part, the Tundra and many other Toyota products were developed and engineered in the US, in some cases using former GM engineers. The truck is made in Texas and Indiana with parts sourced from American and offshore sources - just like most products produced by Ford, Chrysler, and GM.

The defect for the Tundra has been discussed numerous times and for some reason this problem gets blown out of proportion by the anti-import anything crowd. The problem were defective camshafts with faulty machining. These were installed on a small number of trucks in the early stages of manufacture for the new model. The problem has since been remedied long ago. Yet the cat calls about how "Toyota made a dud" persists despite the fact that all carmakers have had teething problems on many newly redesigned models. My 12 year old Tacoma had a recall in fact which involved replacing suspension components. 12 years later, it still runs without a problem and 220,000 miles.

Whether "domestics" are better or worse than "Imports" is almost impossible to gauge using such broad generalizations. If that be the case, then Mitsubishi, VW, BMW, Kia, and all the rest I assume are included. The quality of some of these like VW, Mitsubishi, and Kia is outright terrible. Some like Honda, Toyota, and even Nissan have fantastic reliability and reputable quality track records. Thus if we're talking this versus that, then you might as well be more specific.

All I'll say is that a few weeks ago I walked down to the local Chevy dealership near the diner I eat at. Out front was a 2007 Silverado on their used lot. Despite being of the generation of Chevy product that some of you all claim as being so vastly superior, the gas door, passenger door handle, and tailgate were misaligned. The gas door in particular was actually sunk into the body a good half inch. The lower portion of the body had serious orange peel. The truck was black, so it was highly noticeable. This is absolutely unacceptable on any vehicle of any age. The manufacturing quality was simply sub-par and not anything that you will find on the Toyota lot.

I don't suppose it ever occurred to commenter 12:58 that the less-than-perfect Silverado he saw on a dealer's lot had been WRECKED. And YES, new vehicles ARE sometimes heavily damaged in transit to dealers or on the lots.

I've looked at the new Silverados and find the fit, finish and build quality better than most imports. In addition, after reading so many "poor fit and finish" comments from import fans about the Buick LaCrosse (which I considered buying before settling on Ford) I did a comparison of tolerances on the bodypanels of the LaCrosse with the 2007 Camry and found the Buick's to be tighter and more precise.

It seems a lot of "off the cuff" remarks are posted on this site with no basis in fact. Just like urging us to look at the Ford Taurus reviews if we "want to see a bad review", when the Toyota Camry reviews are some of the WORST on this site.