2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - All Comments

"Having never owned an import that ever made it to 100,000 miles without a major engine or transmission failure, domestics look VERY good to me."

Hmm... an "Import". Well, in that case, it could've been a VW, Yugo, Fiat, MG, Hyundai, Land Rover, Volvo, Citroen, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mazda, BMW, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, or whatever other "Import" brands exist out there versus the "Domestic" brands like Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, or what not.

If you're going to use blanket generic statements to add to an argument, it generally helps to mention specific brands and models. If you have owned 2 Fiats, 2 Hyundais, 1 Honda, and 1 Nissan, then yes - these are "Imports", but the quality between each is drastically different as is the same with domestic brands. Saying that all the imports you've owned were inferior to the domestics you've owned isn't making a point. We're talking about specific brands here.

The only cars in my circle of friends that has ever required a transmission before 100,000 miles were a Toyota and 2 Hondas. None of our domestics has ever had a problem with either the engines or transmissions before 100,000 miles (which is why domestic car makers have no problem putting a 100,000 mile warranty on their vehicles).

All of my friends who have ever owned domestic brand cars and trucks have had major engine and transmission failures well before 50,000 miles.

The imports mentioned in comment 12:36 were Mazda, Toyota, Honda and VW.

"3th Jun 2008, 09:45.

All of my friends who have ever owned domestic brand cars and trucks have had major engine and transmission failures well before 50,000 miles."

Oh? No domestic vehicle that my family has ever owned had any engine or transmission failure of any kind, and the minimum that we have driven them is 200,000 miles.

11:22 No, GM puts a 100,000 mile warranty on their cars, because nobody will buy them otherwise, knowing that because it's a GM, it most likely WILL fall apart before then, and at least they're covered. Maybe.

They can't offer a better car, so they offer a longer warranty as a substitute for quality.

In 30+ years of driving, working on cars and talking to other car enthusiasts I know of exactly ONE who had a transmission or engine failure before 100,000 miles in a domestic vehicle. It was a Pontiac Grand Prix and was caused by an oil change shop messing up a transmission flush job, not the car's "poor build quality". On the other hand, NO import we have had has EVER made 100,000 miles without a major repair of some kind. I will never purchase another import.

I also prefer to keep my money in American industry rather than shipping it to Japan. That's why the dollar is dropping in value and we are paying more for everything.

I had 2 transmissions prior to 50,000 miles in a 2002 Honda purchased new. However, not one single domestic vehicle in my family has ever required an engine/trans ever. Trust me, I heard about my stupidity buying a import.

"GM puts a 100,000 mile warranty on their cars because no one will buy them otherwise". Oh really?? What about the millions of us who bought them BEFORE they instituted the 100,000 mile warranty just a couple of years ago??

Both of my GM vehicles had a 36,000 mile warranty. I gladly bought them anyway. At well over 70,000 miles I've never once NEEDED a warranty. I can't say that about our previous imports.

No more imports here. My friend's 2003 Tundra spent most of it's little 36,000 mile warranty in the dealer service department being repaired. I have better things to do with my time than read magazines in a Toyota service department waiting room waiting for my truck to be fixed for the 15th time.

I'm only 33, and I've seen several domestics, owned by friends and family, that needed engines and/or transmissions well before 100,000 miles. Usually it seems around 80-90,000.

However, my friends and I grew up beating the hell out of Toyota trucks for the whole 17 years or so we've been driving, and never once did one of them break down.

We replaced a head gasket in a '91 Toyota truck a few years ago, with God knows how many miles on it. The odometer stopped working somewhere around 225,000 several years ago.

My friends and family have owned several Toyota's, and I make a point of talking to other Toyota owners, nobody EVER has major trouble like the domestics do. I've owned three consecutively over a 13 year span, and have never changed a single part outside of regular maintenance.

The Lexus dealer in my town automatically offers a 100,000 mile warranty so that people buy their cars. Seems common sense that it would be instituted on all Toyotas across the board. Maybe they do not have to, but it seems like going the extra mile would be a proper gesture.

I feel glad that the domestics do not cater only to the top. I have had no issues on my 2 new domestics, and the service I have been receiving has been much better. Especially the nice phone follow up. I use to get a call "Your car is ready"; in my mind that's minimal, but the bill was not.

It sure seems odd that import owners seem to know so many people who own domestics that require repairs every other day, while as a member of two car clubs and a driver of both import and domestic vehicles for nearly 40 years, I've NEVER ONCE ran across a single domestic car owner that had ANY major problems before 100,000 miles.

Well said 17:14. My experience has been comparable.

Unfortunately, the import lovers will never get it. The grass is always greener on the other side... until we have no country left.

I don't understand how you are making a case that Toyotas are so great when you have owned three in only 13 years. That is only an average of slightly over four years each. That is hardly enough time to say anything about long-term reliability. I'm sure they were reliable for you during that time, and that's great.

However, I'm 39, and can tell the same story as you, except with the nouns all reversed. My friends and I grew up beating the hell out of Dodges, Chevies, and Fords, and they never broke. And I mean sedans, not just trucks. Driving through cornfields, through ditches, through the woods, jumping off rock piles, doing reverse drops at 30 mph, and that's just the cars! The trucks saw mud bogging, hauling feed wagons through sticky barnyard mud 18 inches deep, hauling a bed load of oak piled 6 feet high out of the woods, hauling farm equipment like a tractor, pulling stumps, driving over tree falls. Not this wussy stuff about doing donuts in the mud. These were vehicles that already had over 150,000 miles on them.

My friend is still using his '87 Dodge Ram with 220,000 miles to haul scrap, and my '85 Dodge Ram with 250,000 miles is still doing duty hauling wood and plowing, and we've had these for 10 years.

The small Tacoma may be a tough little truck for off roading. However, how many people do so on here... and this is about full size trucks.

I tow and carry large loads, and the Tundra is too small.

As far as transmission replacements; I have had my quota attained with imports, namely Acura.

I have seen high repairs at the 100,000 mile mark with new Hondas... heater cores, A/C going out, timing belts going in spite of religious maintenance.

I drove company cars for many years and never had a single major mechanical issues with large American sedans with V8 engines. I believe in spite of driving an average 200 miles daily, they had an easy life having a V8 not over-revving, overworking running the AC in hot weather, stopping and starting many times daily. I never had a trans or major engine failure. Overheat a small aluminum engine and it's cooked with plastic radiator parts.

The company cars I am referring to have been Crown Victorias, and Impalas, which were always outstanding. I cannot emphasize that enough; they are tough, reliable, long distance vehicles. I have idled in hot weather doing paperwork and they run smooth as silk. Certainly a lot of room and very comfortable. They must be tough, as they are used a lot by Police, Taxis etc.

I do not know how many people are going to sell their Tundras and other full size trucks to buy an off road Tacoma, but apparently you have had good luck with that application. If you need a full size truck, I recommend a domestic with a V8. I also like comfort and room; something I have not seen in import trucks. Especially the ride and handling in the new full size trucks I have driven lately.

I have yet to ever have a major mechanical issue with a domestic. I see import quality on new vehicles dropping, and I am sure I am not alone on here as far as new evaluations by others as well.