2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - All Comments

I tilted back the hood on my sons Viper RT/V10 and admired the engineering technology. And it brought back memories of doing the same with a 63 split Vette. The 12 year old you are describing must have been a genius. What magnificent engine am I missing on Toyota's lot? Getting bored again.

That was kinda funny about the caliper just hanging by the brake lines. What happens when you press the brake? Do you find the brake lines wrapped around the axle? Or perhaps they are 2" steel reinforced brake lines? :) Whatever... check your facts dude. Some brakes ARE easier to change, but not for that reason -- thank goodness.

We are a multiple car family and have had 3 or 4 vehicles at the same time for the past 25 years. We've bought 10 new domestic vehicles since 1985. We've had 2 Chrysler products, 2 GM products and 6 Fords. The TOTAL repairs for ALL TEN has been a measly $170 (Front brake rotors on an '88 Dodge). I'm not counting brake pads, batteries or tires, just items that were not due to normal wear. The rotors on the Dodge were warped. I normally go at least 75,000-100,000 miles before having to replace the brake pads on any of my domestics.

We've never had one single mechanical failure on ANY of these vehicles, so I always get a bit of a chuckle out of all these remarks about how "crappy" and "unreliable" domestic vehicles are. In fact, I laugh all the way to the bank!

22:01 Try and read/comprehend the original comment again. I said I CHANGED brakes. That involves taking out caliper bolts to remove the brake pads, dude!... on my previous domestics, when both caliper bolts were removed, there is nothing left keeping the caliper from falling out onto the ground other than the brake lines. The Honda, of the same year, earlier in fact, had the assembly I described; top caliper bolt is fixed so it swivels up with the bottom one removed.

Go in your home, get a metal coat hangar, simply cut a hook instead of hanging it from your brake line. Big deal.

12:41 Well, I 'laugh all the way to the bank' too by NOT buying domestics. My imports always last longer, break down less... (read 'never'), and I get more money out of them when I finally decide to trade them or sell them outright.

Funny how all domestics described here on a Toyota site run forever, but if you go read the Ford and Chevy threads, you find out the truth: they're substandard, cheaply made, and break down often.

I guess it's only the people that can't stand the fact that Toyota has outclassed them since day 1 that claim that domestics run well and don't break down. Simply false.

I have no idea what kind of "domestics" 14:33 is referring to, but in the entire time since disc brakes came out, I've never seen ANY on ANY car that the "caliper was left hanging" on. Did it ever occur to the commenter to leave ONE of the bolts IN so the caliper could simply be rotated up??

Toyota does not outclass in full size trucks vs. domestics. Limited lineup, towing capability, load carrying, people carrying, ride, comfort and handling. Are we talking about empty or pulling and towing ever? And the warranty is weak.

Go to consumeraffairs.com and read on late model Toyotas/Hondas. The older ones (cars) were durable, but not newer ones we have owned.

I guess 22:02 hasn't read the CAMRY reviews!!

The truest measure of a car or truck is long term resale value.

Short term resale value is an unreliable indicator because of the whims and vagaries of the marketplace. Find an old car price guide (such as NADA) and compare prices of ANY American car from the 60's, and compare it to ANY Japanese car from the same era, and you will see that over time, American cars and trucks are a better value and investment than any of the Japanese rivals!!!

I agree the right classic domestic musclecars are better than chancing the stock market, real estate market, and are always there any time you want to drive on a nice day. And classic insurance is low. Other than a very few Toyotas, and keeping in mind their original sale price, what appreciates? Just the appliance picture comes to mind again. It's all just MPG. I liked the 70's Celicas and later Supras, but overpriced in my opinion.

As we've had pointed out before, the higher resale value of a car is pretty much offset by the much higher price paid up front to purchase it. Besides, the Chevy Silverado HAS a higher resale than the Tundra, so I really don't see the argument on that point on a Tundra review. It is pretty much an accepted fact that Tundra does not compete with domestic trucks, or that is as reliable.

"Domestics do not have any thought put in their engines. They just put a big V8 and make it fast and suck gas."

Really? Well you better tell the EPA that they made a mistake on their new fuel economy ratings, because the V8 powered Corvette gets better mileage (26 vs. 23 respectively) than your beloved 4 cylinder compact Subaru Impreza.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorCompareSideBySide.jsp?Column=1&id=23469

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorCompareSideBySide.jsp?column=1&id=23151

I would say in response to your argument that anyone can arbitrarily put a turbo or supercharger on a small engine and have it make power, but it is much more of an engineering accomplishment to design a torquey V8 in a large performance car and have it get better fuel economy than a 4 cylinder compact. Wouldn't you?

Comment 09:18 is correct. It takes much more in the way of efficient design and engineering to get a high powered V-8 to deliver the same mileage as the Subaru (or Camry) 4 than it does to just stick a basic, underpowered engine in a small car and call economical. The Corvette (whose sales have increased 300% in Europe since 2000) is a great example. However, since this is a Tundra review we might also point out that the Tundra mileage is not as good as its domestic competition either, so obviously someone dropped the ball on engineering its engine too.

A big V-8 does not get better mileage than any 4 cylinder compact car. Period. First, if you do anything other than baby it (which means NOT driving it like a V-8, and making any horsepower), it's going to suck gas just like all v-8's do.

Second, show me one that gets 38 mpg (or even CLOSE to that), under any driving conditions, like my 1.6 liter Hyundai does. You can't, because there aren't any. V-8's are a waste of money and material in a car. Period. If you NEED a truck with towing capacity, buy one if you must. Otherwise, exercise common sense and buy a 4-cylinder. It'll go anywhere a car with a V-8 will, and will get you close to if not double the gas mileage doing so.

Sure, I'd love 8 cylinders and 300 horsepower all the time too. I just don't think it's a good idea to buy one.