2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Off Topic Comments

Please refer to comment 18:21. Owner surveys and 20-minute test drives by magazine writers DO NOT constitute a shred of proof that a vehicle is or is not reliable. Only the never-produced frequency-of-repair records can determine that.

I had 3 trans in just one Acura alone... I agree we were naive for years, walked into the same Honda dealership without comparing. Spending over $30k at a time is pretty dumb, but we did and it's the past.

I am all about quality and performance, and now drive more much more reliable domestics. Miss the VTECS, and it takes a V8 now to have the performance, but it was a great move.

Go to consumeraffairs.com, listen to others specific engine,trans problems... it seems to be the smartest way to select new vehicles. I love complaints more so than praises. Next time you are waiting in a dealer repair lounge, ask what problems they have. If it's a major repair and even some was a warranty, its all over your Carfax when you sell. Then discuss your great resale in 2008.

You're welcome 11:32

To 18:21, OK let's say what you're saying is true, some Toyota owners no matter what happens to their Toyota car, they say its perfect, don't domestic owners do that too? I am sure they do, and if it was like what you're saying, and domestic owners also did the same, won't domestics also be in the top 5?... hmmm see what I am saying?..

Well I live in Jamaica and the roads, hmm let's just keep it at "bad" to say the least, and well mostly Japanese cars are here... there are even more Korean cars and or Chinese cars in Jamaica than domestics hmm wonder why?

And well my father has owned mostly Toyota like Corolla, Camry, Tercel, and well the Corolla I don't know about it, he sold it before I was born.

Now the Camry; he still has it, and had it from 1998. He changed master cylinder, water pump and CV joints. Oh and the rack and pinion just started to leak at 200,000 miles; I think that's good.

The Tercel; well my sister drove that without coolant and it overheated, so had to change the engine... can't blame Toyota for that, and we changed the engine and also the CV joints, and we have owned that car from 2000, and now it has 180,000 miles on it.

He currently also has a Mitsubishi Pajero (not a big fan of Mitsubishi) from 2003. It has done 100,000 miles, and well we just found out yesterday that the A/C compressor went. That's the only fault.

I know he owned a Mustang like in 1980 or something, but don't have any info on that. The only thing my father told me about it that it was fast!

I trying to be honest as you can see.

We also own a 2003 Ford Escape, which my father bought on April of this year. Well when he bought it, he never knew the parts were so expensive. I guess they are so expensive because only 1 store in Jamaica sells the parts. It wanted 2 engine mounts, each costing 300 dollars US. I guess we can't blame Ford cause the parts are just limited in Jamaica, that's why they are so expensive.

Oh, and a problem with the Escape was it had a hose leak at the front where trans fluid was gushing out, but it is now fixed.

So my experience, I don't really know about domestics other than what I've heard, and most my family living in America has had many problems (don't think my family would be lying now), but overall look on consumer comments, even though some may be lies both on Toyota and Fords, Toyota is still at the top. If they were giving as many problems as you are saying, Toyota would not be at number 1.

Look at Sony?... they're making crappy products and selling them at high prices, that's why they are losing so much and may even soon become bankrupt, and although you have some die hard Sony fans it's still going down.. but I don't need to argue, I know Toyota are better and won't be wasting my money on domestics, if you want to go right ahead.

Oh and me again, 18:21 the jamaican guy:-)... Here is a web site stating Japanese cars are more reliable in the order as follows: Honda, Toyota, Daihatsu, Lexus, Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki, and here is the website http://www.shiotsu-used-car.com/blog/japanese-cars-most-reliable-uk-survey.htm

Now so many websites can't be giving misleading information. I have some home work for you find ONE, that's all I ask; one site which states clearly that domestic are better than Japanese. I found what 5 websites stating Toyota is better, now you find 1 please :-)

After repeated requests to find FACTS dealing with reliability, we are still dealing with OPINION. There is no factual data ANYWHERE that supports the claim that imports are any more reliable than domestics. Please provide FACTUAL DATA, not opinion surveys if you want your claims to be taken seriously.

14:02 Frequency of repair records DO get released, and as stated in about 5 comments on here, the domestics visit the garage more often. Plain and true.

And, GOD FORBID we actually believe people that OWN imports, or automotive magazines who test them every day, that imports are the better cars.

By the way, it isn't the writer that tests these cars. These are mechanics, professional drivers, and so forth. They may ALSO write the articles, but they are qualified to pass judgement on them. And the imports, especially all of the Japanese ones, come out ahead.

Like the last commenter stated, we can show you numerous magazines, (all the most reputable ones too) that clearly show imports being more reliable and higher quality. PLEASE try and come up with ONE article from a major magazine that says that the reverse is true; that domestics are more reliable. You can't do it, and won't find it because it's not true and that's that.

20:56 exhibits the classic pro-import bias. He presents a laundry list of problems that have had to be repaired, and yet states that the Toyota has been "pretty good" and yet if a Ford had only 1/3rd of those problems (like the single leaking transmission cooler line) it's a "domestic piece of junk!" Maybe US cars are not as popular in Jamaica for the reason he states, that parts are expensive and people are too poor to buy anything other than cheap Korean knock-offs.

As far as resale, Carfax reports are great bargaining chips both for the dealer and the private buyers when they see the issues pop up. Every little detail has popped up on mine and my worse resale ever was a 2002 Honda/Acura TL Type S. If you trade the dealer says he can buy your vehicles wholesale all day at auctions. The only vehicles I have bought and continue to rapidly escalate are domestic musclecars/convertibles. There are literally thousands of domestics going up and the values have now rapidly picked up again after a drop last year. I have owned models now valued in the 6 figures yet purchased new for under $4k at the time. I would not buy a Honda/Toyota and expect it to be a goldmine investment.

13:44 go to consumeraffairs.com at least once and review Toyota owners issues. It's easy to forget us that have had a number of imports over the years.

Another issue is to consider that saying all are bad is a broad sweep of the brush. If you were specific comparing exact model to exact model, it goes both ways. Unless you are personally going to buy all models, I fail to see the comparison.

I would love to show you my bills.

Again, an automotive "expert" who test drives a car for 20 minutes for a magazine article has absolutely NO way of projecting how "reliable" it will be. It is a purely objective view based on how many cute little gimmicks the car has.

ONLY frequency of repair records can indicate reliability, and no one has provided them.

A Camry owner who has had two transmission failures and part of the bumper falling off in less than 8,000 miles, but who feels the car is "great" is hardly objective. Neither is a Corolla owner who had to replace the engine in the first 20,000 miles but "loves the car and would buy another".

And of course let's not forget the thousands of Tundra owners who had engine failures due to all those bad cams that were mysteriously installed by evil elves without Toyota's knowledge.

Lastly, we even have testimony on this very review from a Tacoma owner whose truck broke in half due to a defective frame, but rants that "Toyota is the best".

Sorry. I've owned dozens of domestics that never had a single problem, and 3 imports that were all total garbage. Car's that fall apart in less than 100,000 miles don't deserve to get rave reviews, and every one of our imports did just that. You won't find a "yes" on any of our import reviews beside "Would you buy another car from this company", unlike most import reviews.

OK yes I agree they are websites that provide opinions. I have showed you 5 websites based on opinions that say imports are better. Can you just tell me ONE website that gives an opinion that domestics are better!?... bet you can't.

And for whoever information that was telling me Jamaicans can't afford American cars... we bought the 2003 Ford Escape for 1.1 million Jamaican dollars, and a 2003 CRV is going for 1.7 million, which is like a 10,000 dollar US difference... hmmm but still people buy the CRV because it's better :-) and you're saying we can't afford better... Come to Jamaica and see how many BMW X5s are here, Mercedes even, many Range Rovers, and the most common SUV in Jamaica is the Toyota Prado, which if you buy brand new in Jamaica is 80,000 US!... but people know they are worth it so they buy it.

Why do any of you care what someone else's opinion of different makes of cars is? Can't you just be happy owning what you like, and letting others like what they have? What exactly is the point of your debating? To convince someone else to like what you like? Why?

You like Ford, buy one. You like Hyundai, buy one. Who cares.

Still waiting for those articles about how domestics are more reliable. All I've read so far is opinion that adds up to nothing.

I can show years and years of reviews that place Toyota and Honda on top, year after year.

Still waiting for a valid argument from a domestic owner.

I won't hold my breath though, because there aren't any.

In reviewing some of my past issues of Motor Trend and Car and Driver, I find not one single instance of ANY domestic being shown in any objective way to be more reliable than an import. What I DO see is a lot of "oh, gosh, it has more gadgets" and "the 4-speed GM transmission (or 3.8 V-6) is antiquated". I see NOT A SHRED of evidence supporting RELIABILITY, only gushing over electronic gadgets and 6-speed automatics in "sophisticated" (read that "expensive and complicated") imports.

My family currently has 4 GM vehicles with the "antiquated" 4-speed automatic. 2 of these have over 250,000 miles on them, and those "antiquated" 4-speeds are still working perfectly with never a repair.

As for the 3.8 V-6 (as well as Ford's 3.0 V-6), car magazine writers are far more impressed with the fact that the imports are more complicated and loaded with gimmicks, and ignore the fact that in terms of reliability, the GM and Ford "outmoded design" is still going strong and has proven INCREDIBLY reliable.

I hear this "repair records prove that imports are more reliable", but I'm still waiting to SEE them.

12:43 More stories..."my family's domestics have 900,000 miles and no repairs". And more of YOUR OPINIONS about GM and domestics in general.

Well, you certainly are entitled to your opinions, the problem still remains that you are incorrect about reliability concerning imports and domestics.

Need I be specific AGAIN? Pick up ANY issue of Consumer Reports, Edmunds, etc. over the last... (ohh, I'll be conservative here)... let's say 10 years, in which they give overall ratings of auto manufacturers in terms of quality or reliability. Whether they give it a number, assign it a rating of 'stars' 1-5, or whatever, you WILL read that Japanese-manufactured automobiles have ALWAYS topped the lists. Consistently.

Let me make this clear again: YOUR STORIES about your family's domestics, their non-existent repair records, etc., don't mean anything.

So, I'll ask again, as another commenter did: show me ONE article, anywhere credible in a major publication, that rates ANY domestic automaker as higher in quality than Toyota or Honda overall. (This doesn't mean picking out ONE vehicle by Ford/GM that received a higher rating than ONE particular Toyota).

You will find that Toyota and Honda, overall, are rated, by experts, as being higher in quality than Ford, GM, or Dodge every time. Period. No more stories about Ford mileages and repair records that are impossible to prove. Show me ONE article to the contrary.