2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Off Topic Comments

"For all of the I only buy American built cars. The AE-82 & 84 Corolla was also re-badged and sold as the Chevy Nova / Holden Nova and Geo Prism. That is right GM purchased cars from Toyota and slapped there name on them. Sounds like GM knows that Toyota makes better built cars than they do."

Toyota bought Chevy Cavaliers, slapped their name on and sold them as the "Toyota Cavalier." Your argument is moot.

No, I wouldn't buy a Corolla because they are bland, boring and don't come in any attractive colors. They are also very unreliable compared to domestics.

I WOULD buy (and DO drive) a sporty GM 4-cylinder compact, or the awesome Dodge Caliber SRT-4. These cars are economical, sporty, VERY fast (the SRT will leave many V-8's in the dust) and have a warranty that is really not needed (no new domestic is going to have a problem in less than 100,000 miles) but is a nice indication of the manufacturer's confidence in their product.

You'll notice Toyota still has a VERY poor warranty. That says volumes about their poor reliability.

My 4-cylinder compact with only minor engine upgrades does 0-60 in just over 7 seconds. That is not slow by any means. It also handles very well, gets GREAT fuel mileage and is extremely sporty. It is a very sporty bright red (which imports don't even offer).

I am very pleased with its performance and don't understand how I'd benefit by driving another gas guzzling V-8. My last V-8 muscle car got a whopping 15 mpg highway and did 0-60 ONE SECOND faster than my 4-cylinder GM compact. For ONE SECOND I should buy TWICE as much gas?? What's the point??

Talking economy and mpg is one thing, and performance and mpg is another.

The last thing I would recommend is buying a 6 cylinder Mustang, even convertible. I know 2 owners, one has even added Cobra wheels but why? I had a 75 Vette convertible with only 165 hp due to the wonderful smog requirement, and today with all the engineering advances, the horsepower has more than doubled and 28 mpg on the expressway.

I could move out to the suburbs and do a long commute. But then I am saving energy buying 2 less tanks (275 gallons x 2) fuel oil in my smaller home.

And back to my 75 Vette; even though the HP was the worse of any V8 model I ever owned, I sold it for $3000 more than it cost. The saving grace was it was a convertible that was not available again til mid 80's. Even selling for more than it cost new is not realistic when you factor in interest on a car loan, insurance, but it's nice having zero depreciation.

I question modifying a Datsun 210... the time work and when you sell what is it?

I had a 1982 Datsun 280ZX and it was a very stylish car in its day... I had the white 2 + 2 which looked nice with the dark glass T Tops.

Interesting enough it cost more to insure than our Corvette we owned at the same time. Even with the 2 + 2 (back seat with lower rates) Mine was pre Nissan it was still carrying the Datsun labels on the 280ZX at the time.

Pretty plush, but A/C totally failed at 50,000 miles, and even being only 4 years old at the time had rust!

Not a great performer or even very quick in non turbo form.

Ones I have seen have rusted badly lately, and they certainly depreciated heavily.

The diagnostic display was ahead of its time.

I switch back and forth domestics and imports. If it's stylish and fun I buy...

I drove a pretty bland 210 when my 280ZX was in the shop by the way. A very bland plain sedan but it got you there if that's all you expect. Even my full size truck is fun to drive, it's from coming from the sports cars.

That's a good truck. Of course it is; it's a Toyota, which means it's top of the line in 2002, or 1982, either way, it's a far cry better than any disposable Ford or Chevy.

And the '08 Tundra is Motor Trend's 'truck of the year', as it should be.

If you own a Ford or Chevy, and don't like Toyota's, no one cares. It still doesn't change the fact that Toyota's are better made.

I am using my new full size Silverado almost exclusively for towing my boat only. It's tough and up to the job. If you need a full size truck, use it for its intent and purpose. It somehow gets into small car debates... so buy one and commute empty.

I've owned 7 Mustangs. The last V-8 was a '90 LX 5.0 H.O. It got 15 mpg on the highway and 10-11 in town.

In August of '07 I bought a fully loaded V-6 Mustang. It cost $5000 less than the new V-8, the insurance was about 40% less, and it gets 25 mpg highway and 20-21 in town.

The interior (which is leather) is identical to the V-8, and the ride is much less harsh. It is actually FASTER than my '90 5.0, especially from 0-100. The only modification on it is a cold-air system.

In this day and age I can't imagine why anyone would want to pay 5 grand more, 40% more insurance, and get much worse fuel mileage just so they can boast about having a V-8. You can't even fully use the full potential of a Chevy Aveo legally, so why pay out the wazoo for bragging rights? I'd rather use my hard earned money for something a little more tangible.

In 2007 Motor Trend picked the Camry as Car of the Year because Toyota finally put a V-6 in it capable of better than a 10-second 0-60 time. However as it became obvious that very few Camrys were even remotely reliable (it is one of the most unreliable cars ever made) Motor Trend wisely chose a DOMESTIC for the 2008 Car of the Year. No doubt the very bad reliability of the Tundra will again embarrass them and a domestic truck will (AGAIN) be Truck of the Year in 2009 (probably the world's best selling F-150).

Some of the comments insist that instead of buying those "imports" that we should be buying "exciting" cars like the Aveo, Focus, or Caliber. All of those were designed overseas, and use imported components or made entirely in another country. I fail to see the difference in buying a non-domestic brand and a domestic brand put together somewhere else.

If you spent another grand on your old Mustang Fox body instead, you would up the HP from the slow 215 hp or so. Not a real dramatic claim. Don't forget you don't have to limit yourself to just remaining stock.

Funny experience, today I saw a Toyota truck pulling a Dodge truck. The Toyota was much smaller than the Dodge truck. I don't know if it was an older Toyota Tundra or what.

Cosmetically both looked terrible. But I guess Toyota trucks aren't as crappy as people make them. I do think dodges are crap though.

I also saw a Ford pulling a Chevy truck one time. That was a surprise. I don't much care for Fords either.

Before I get labeled as an import fan, I have to let you know I'm a GM person. But I'm not biased toward car reliabilities. Toyota's are very reliable cars, but they come with their faults; my mom owns a corolla, I know.

Domestics aren't as bad as people make them out either, period.

The world is a global market and car manufacturers are going to make cars wherever they are cheaper to make. Face it, almost everything we buy is made from China. If they were made in the USA, we wouldn't be able to afford many things.

People should respect other people's opinion to buy what they want and like what they want.

"The world is a global market and car manufacturers are going to make cars wherever they are cheaper to make. Face it, almost everything we buy is made from China. If they were made in the USA, we wouldn't be able to afford many things.

People should respect other people's opinion to buy what they want and like what they want."

First and foremost, I agree we should respect other people's opinion, and it is good that you provided that reminder on this sometimes contentious thread.

However, I have a huge problem with the "global market" concept you mention. That whole idea is a neocon sceme (not saying this applies to you), pushed by industry groups under the craftily worded (as all neocon schemes are) guise of so-called "free trade," simply to give them access to cheap labor. As a result, American industry is falling apart because nobody here wants to work for less than third world wages. In fact, they cannot even legally do it, because it would amount to people having to work for less than minimum wage.

But, that is what it would take for companies to operate here under current circumstances. Or we could just continue to get illegal aliens to do all the work for those wages, while the government looks the other way. Either way, America suffers and the third world benefits in neocon fantasyland.

If our government would put a protective tariffs on imported goods - which is largely how we used to survive before the income tax was unconstitutionally implemented - and stop taxing/regulating them to death, this would no longer be a problem. We could keep our industry here and maintain our standard of living. But then the neocons would have to admit there whole "free trade" scheme was misguided, and it is obvious they would rather see our whole economy collapse than do that.

I could not agree MORE with comment 07:42. It is so well written I can think of little to add except "THANK YOU!!"

7:42 sure beats the import total generalization tirade "It's the best, simple as that, and I said so and that makes it true"

18:45 Well, despite the 'world market' economics lesson, when it comes to automobiles, the imports generally are better made than anything the Big 3 put together. Practically all of them, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan without a doubt.

Not because I said so, but because they put more thought and effort into the materials they use, the design of those materials, the way they assemble them, and quality control in general. Heck, even my new Hyundai Accent is a better built car than any Ford or Chevy. My Toyota's were all much, MUCH better.

I don't even factor in Dodge anymore; their lineup is so ridiculous that they barely deserve mentioning.