2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - All Comments

The back and forth will never end. Everybody has their preference.

Look, the fact is, Toyota and Honda build better vehicles than the big 3 do. That's all there is to it. They didn't gain the reputation for being top of the line by building disposable, cheaply made cars and trucks like Ford and GM always have. And those imports DO have the reputation for high quality, whether or not you Ford/GM people believe it. It's there for good reason

And people did not come up with jokes like F.O.R.D. (F.ound O. n R.oad D.ead) for no reason either. Citing countless examples of high mileage Fords will prove nothing.

Why do you guys think it is that every Ford and Chevy car commercial advertise their cars as a 'competitor to the Accord and Camry'? It's because they are in the top spot, due to being the best cars on the road, and therefore the top sellers. It's simply a case of people refusing to believe what is true. There is no Ford or Chevy vehicle that can compare to the kind of consistent reliability of an old Tercel, Civic, or Corolla for example. It just ain't true.

I'm sure this will be followed by some story about a Corolla blowing up at 30,000 miles and an Escort going for 300,000. No one cares. I don't at least, and neither do the majority of people who go out and buy cars, because they have made the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry the best selling cars in the U.S. for over a decade.

"Citing countless examples of high mileage Fords will prove nothing."

Nor will going on and on about a 17-year-old Tacoma when you haven't driven a domestic since 1992.

21:48 and yet another "opinion" cover the badge and buy. I had both imports and domestics. I now drive new GM full sizes. What good is cars and small pickups comments on a full size review?

I did not like Tundra after driving one, and bought more capability, features, room, better ride, towing, load carrying... spend more for gas, it better have benefits.

As both a car lover and avid reader, I pretty much stay up on what is going on in the auto industry.

Today USA Today carried a story headlined "Toyota resorts to 0% financing to draw in buyers". The story said Toyota's sales have plummeted 32.3% this year. That pretty much mirrors domestic sales losses.

In our area we just had both a large Chevy dealership and a large Toyota dealership go belly up. The current economy is to blame, and the sales declines have absolutely nothing to do with build quality or reliability. Domestic makers were caught by the $4 a gallon gasoline and simply didn't have enough fuel efficient cars to meet demand.

In our area the Tundra, Sequoia and Land Cruiser are just gathering dust on dealer's lots too, as are the gas hog domestics.

Although several of my car-savvy friend's have commented on Toyota's drop in build quality, I think all the current drops in car sales are purely economically driven.

20:12 I drive domestics every day at work, but decided never to buy another one after my last Dodge, which I owned just into 2000. I drive them all the time, I just wised up enough to know never to buy another one.

Our Ford vans at work for example. Now, if I were a Ford owner, I'd no doubt be bragging about the 198,000 miles on the van. And then I'd fail to mention that this is the van's second engine and third transmission. That's the kind of stuff Ford and Chevy owners fail to mention because it's embarrassing.

Anyone I ever knew who kept a Toyota long enough before trading for a new one had that kind of mileage, plus another 100,000 or so on the original drivetrain. I don't lie about what I have and haven't repaired when it comes to vehicles. I've owned three Toyota's; total ownership of all three adds up to around 11 years, and I spent exactly $98 in repairs on all 3 combined. That's a starter in the last one at around 100,000 miles, the other two were perfect.

I've owned 4 domestics, for a combined timeframe of around 15 years. If I were to sit here all night, and list things that I had to repair, I probably still wouldn't remember all of it. Thousands of dollars.

Which is why I laugh when someone tries to tell me domestics are even close to comparable to Toyota's. Not even close.

I laugh reading about vans, small pickups like Tacomas on a full size truck review. What is hard to fathom is any relevance.

I disagree that Toyota has better full size pickups that even begin to have the capability, towing, load carrying that is why I am not driving the teeny trucks as they cannot handle most of the applications. Reminds me of trying to bring a knife to a gunfight... too small and underpowered.

Toyota may make a decent small truck as the other commenter claims... but I wholeheartedly disagree that they have anywhere near the breadth of line that domestics have. Take into account issues, less warranty and load, carrying capabilities the domestics are far superior. If it's not even available in a limited lineup, how anyone can state superiority is beyond the imagination.

I would suggest drive some new full sizes instead of lamenting over vehicles owned long ago. At least comment on late model full sizes with applicable comments.

I work in the home construction industry, as well as having family that owns two companies that use vans. The vans used are Ford, Dodge and GM (both Chevy and GMC) full size vans. There are also a fleet of Ford Ranger service trucks for the lighter hauling and transporting equipment. I don't know of ANY of these vehicles requiring a new motor or transmission in their normal period of use, which ranges up to 300,000 miles except for one Dodge that was accidentally rear ended by a semi while parked. The impact tore out the park gear and due to other damage it was written off as a business loss.

We would NEVER go to the expense of engine or transmission replacement on any service van or truck, nor would most businesses. It is cheaper just to write the vehicle off on taxes as a loss. I don't know of any companies that have ever replaced an engine or transmission in a service vehicle. It wouldn't make a great deal of sense. Buying a new vehicle allows the company to start depreciation deductions over again on the new vehicle.

We don't "fail to mention" engine or transmission replacements on our domestic service vehicles for the simple reason that there are none TO mention. Check out the Ford Ranger in the October '07 Consumer Reports. 488,000 miles with no engine or transmission problems. That is only about 200,000 miles more than what is typical of well cared for domestic vehicles.

17:05 Wow. ONE Ford Ranger in the world that got the kind of mileage that you can find in THOUSANDS of old Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas. Not impressed.

OK Ford and Chevy fans; read this:

J.D. Power's 2009 "Most Dependable Vehicles" study, based on number of problems per hundred vehicles experienced by original owners of 3 year old vehicles:

Opening line - "Can anyone dethrone Lexus?"... after Lexus (a Toyota of course) won for the 14th straight year.

And relevant to this thread: BEST LARGE PICKUP: TOYOTA TUNDRA. Obviously. Period.

There are 19 other categories of vehicles. Toyota won ELEVEN OF THEM. Honda won two. Hyundai won one. That makes 14. The 'Big 3' what a laugh... won only FIVE. Five versus 14. As an import owner, I'm happy with that. The Toyota Tundra is the best large pickup available. Period.

"There are 19 other categories of vehicles. Toyota won ELEVEN OF THEM. Honda won two. Hyundai won one. That makes 14. The 'Big 3' what a laugh... won only FIVE. Five versus 14. As an import owner, I'm happy with that. The Toyota Tundra is the best large pickup available. Period."

I can accept that you would be happy with that, if you want to let automotive editors do your thinking for you. If that is the case, you might want to reconsider your assertion that the Tundra is the best pickup available. Consumer reports rated its reliability at much worse than average.

I think it is safe to say that by any objective account, Consumer Reports has hardly been an enemy, but rather a devoted propaganda machine for Toyota in the past, so this rating is thus all the more significant. Even Consumer Reports cannot cover for the garbage Toyota is producing anymore.

As far as Rangers achieving in excess of 400,000 miles, my brother drives one with well over 400,000 miles on the original engine and transmission to work every day. Your statement about Rangers not providing long term durability is just a notion; my brother's experience with his Ranger and that of the one (among many prospective examples) documented in Consumer Reports are facts. You have to distinguish those from what you hear on the news or read in magazines.

One of the previous commentators had it right. The decline in sales is universal. The local near us Toyota dealership is doing very badly. The local Chevy dealer - a dealership that has been around for 60 years closed last week. The Chrysler dealership went 6 months ago.

Basically, the US economy is in DIRE condition. GM was heavily involved with credit related business such as GMAC, which was involved in real estate transactions. The local Chevy dealership closed as a result of GM's requirement of all current dealers to carry at least $200,000 of new inventory, which they can't because they're small. Hence the small dealer is getting pummeled.

Interesting times we live in. The argument over whether you own a car from Japan or the US is going to become less important as we deal with simply staying afloat.

Best large pickup? Find me a 3/4 or 1 Ton Diesel. Or our we recommending that I destroy a smaller truck towing my boat?

You cannot make 1 or 2 models fit all... there's far too many applications. And some of us are successful enough to afford larger toys and not compromise safety and capability issues.

"17:05 Wow. ONE Ford Ranger in the world that got the kind of mileage that you can find in THOUSANDS of old Honda Civics and Toyota Corollas. Not impressed"

The Honda Civic featured in the very same (Oct. '07) article made less than HALF of the miles the Ranger made with no problems. Please state precise examples of ONE Toyota or Honda going half a million miles with no trouble... we're waiting.

Not everyone on here is content with comments "Its obvious" "period". It's not possible to condense all applications and requirements with 1 or 2 small trucks and 1 larger model. I find debating applications as more suitable than claiming that a limited import truck line up suits every possible individual. Maybe that has relevance on small cars, but certainly not in larger trucks. And although gas mileage has importance, it's less important than actual capability. I know quite a few such as myself that cannot work within the confines or limitations with narrow import offerings. Maybe at some point in time this relevance may sink in, and why not everyone can make small trucks do the tasks that we buy and not armchair comment these vehicles for. That want a full size truck, and may buy a smaller car in time, but not going backwards and regretting having a small truck that is not going to perform many applications.

Coming from a family of both car enthusiasts and truck owners (both business use and personal use), my personal experience has not only shown the full size domestic trucks to be better in all respects to any import, but also our experience with the Ford Ranger has shown it to be a far better buy for business use than the smaller Toyota. It is far less expensive to purchase, and is every bit as reliable in the long run.

The Ranger design is old, but often products that have been mildly refined over the years prove to be far more reliable than new editions that often come with "first year bugs".

For business use the Ranger, F-150, Dodge Ram and big Chevy trucks have no competition.

09:17 You're using the same tired, old argument that domestic owners keep using on this site. And it is ineffective.

Here's what I keep seeing over and again... when a FORD gets a decent rating, for once, the Ford guys rant and rave about how it's the best car ever created, like that crappy Ford Fusion they love to keep talking about. BUT, when an import gets a decent rating, like they almost always do, those SAME people claim that the source isn't credible. Pick one. Either they are or are NOT credible.

I do my own thinking, and one thing I know, that gets proven over and over again in reality, is that Toyota makes better and FAR more reliable vehicles than any so-called 'domestic' auto manufacturer. There proof is evident, it's there in reality, and the reviews and ratings reflect that truth.