2002 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Off Topic Comments

12:15, I agree with you 100%! Everybody driving their Toyota down to the County Building to sign up for welfare can contemplate why they got laid off, and why industry is rapidly disappearing in this country.

Maybe it will actually start to filter home that buying things made in Japan or China means somebody here is not working, like them.

It was clear that McCain was the wrong person for the job when he told autoworkers in Michigan that their jobs were gone and never coming back, and then last week there was a shot of him driving a Toyota Sequoia. That's not the guy we need. At least Obama drives a Chrysler 300.

"If I'm the guy that owns Toyota, I'm offering a 36,000 mile warranty, and STILL outselling GM, why am I going to spend more money offering a longer warranty when I don't have to? It's common sense."

Gee, sure SOUNDS like it would cost Toyota more to have a longer warranty to me. If not, how would just changing the numbers on the warranty papers cause Toyota to "spend more money"?? Printing costs are minuscule. No, if it would cause them to "spend more money" it would be on repairing all the flaws listed on the numerous consumer sites that the public is now having to foot the bill for.

What it still boils down to is simple: GM, Ford and Chrysler are not afraid that their cars will require major repairs in the first 100,000 miles or so. Toyota and Honda ARE. Otherwise, why NOT extend their warranties too?? If Japanese makers have so much confidence in their cars, why do they STILL have the worst warranties in the automotive business??

But again, if Toyota's were so superior and never broke down, why would it be an issue for Toyota to offer the longer warranty?

Could it be because of problems like these:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_engine.html

New engines are going for 5K+ a pop these days. I am guessing Toyota does not want to pay to replace all its engines that have been failing. The problems Toyota is having is not a fairy tale.

I have never had these types of problems with my domestics.

This message is for all the Ford and GM guys making unfavorable comments about Toyota on here...

GM and Ford would kill to be Toyota right now, or to have made the decision to build good cars like Toyota does, 30 years ago. If the government doesn't bail out those mismanaged sub-par automakers, neither of them will be in business next year.

I follow this stuff closely, and I just watched another story on CNN about it. Basically, what got said was that GM has been mismanaged, hasn't kept up with technology (until too late at least), and makes unfavorable, unappealing cars, has gained a reputation for cheaply made vehicles, and are on their way out. ALL TRUE.

I actually hope GM does pull through, and this is the wake up call they need to stop building garbage and make something that can at least be called comparable to a Toyota or a Honda. I seriously doubt that that will happen, and if it does, it will still take years for them to shed the poor reputation they've earned. I don't want to see them go under, I have friends that work there. Too bad they work for a company that doesn't know how to do it right. You domestic fans don't have a leg to stand on when criticizing Toyota.

Heres another view.

The majority of the time, my comfortable new GM SUV is the vehicle of choice to inevitably drive more than 2 adults or my family on a variety of activities. The small sedans, and also including friend's 2 seater sport cars, are parked and I typically always drive.

Smooth, quiet, comfortable and certainly very safe.

I do not know where you get your late model reliability statistics on my latest vehicle, but it has had absolutely zero issues. Maybe you haven't been in a fully loaded full size late model GM large SUV, but they are great.

I hate sitting in the back seat of small cramped sedans with my legs spread. I am thin, over 6 foot, and also hate cramped shoulder confinement. I drive my longest distances on weekends and add family, friends, and it's just a rough way to travel distance. Maybe if you are a solo commuter focused on the gas gauge.

Some are looking for overall quality, pleasure of the ride and driving, comfort, features. I typically buy very loaded vehicles with leather and many amenities. I stopped buying imports due to lack of warranty, or more so the rapid accumulation of mileage I attain in a short time of ownership.

I am not seeing any of the issues you mentioned with late model ownership, in fact my vehicles are extremely reliable, smooth, handle well and are a joy to drive.

Again, take a look at Toyota owners comments on consumeraffairs.com. The comments you are making seem more applicable in your direction.

A weak warranty does not instill faith... all car manufacturers warranties in my mind should be on an even field. All identical. Manufacturers should back them 100,000 miles standard. Maybe I would consider a return to new imports again.

In the interim I have zero complaints. Maybe you can take a long trip in one sometime rather than walk around one to see why everyone rides in mine instead of crammed up.

To the person using the consumeraffairs.com as "proof" of how bad Toyotas are: Have you looked at the section for GM or Ford? Yes, Toyota has some cars listed. But if you look at the threads for say - the Chevy Malibu - there's well over 100 posts about the car. Take a look at some of them:

http://consumeraffairs.com/automotive/gm_chev_malibu.html

We're talking cars with under 50,000 miles blowing head gaskets.

Toyota has a few, but for example, the Avalon only has TWO complaints. Thus you've helped me prove my point: Toyota makes a better product.

It has long been quite obvious that the domestic-bashing comments are based on the commenter's anger over owning a used, 20-year-old domestic with 200,000 miles on it that had minor problems.

This has no bearing whatsoever on new vehicles. All new domestics are as reliable, if not more reliable, than any imports.

If the commenter would take the time to drive a NEW domestic, (ANY new domestic), he would find that they all now have fuel injection, air bags, overhead cams, and all the same technical features imports have. If he actually LOOKED at new domestics, he would discover that the build quality is actually superior to most comparable imports, as is the interior quality.

I drive lots of cars, both foreign and domestic, and belong to 2 domestic car clubs. The Toyotas I've driven have not had any obvious edge over domestics. The feel is pretty similar, though imports tend to have a lighter, flimsier overall feel to me.

For performance and comfort, the domestics take it hands down.

And the final clincher is the warranty. A manufacturer that is afraid to put a decent warranty on their product is a manufacturer that lacks confidence in their product, pure and simple.

11th Nov 2008, 15:03.

"What it still boils down to is simple: GM, Ford and Chrysler are not afraid that their cars will require major repairs in the first 100,000 miles or so. Toyota and Honda ARE. Otherwise, why NOT extend their warranties too?? If Japanese makers have so much confidence in their cars, why do they STILL have the worst warranties in the automotive business??"

I love comments like this, I find them very funny. Cause if you look back a few years, these same people praising the new GM, Ford, and Dodge 100,000 mile warranty, are the same ones that said Hyundai's 100,000 mile warranty was just a marketing ploy aimed to increase sales numbers and you should never buy a car because of warranty. But the Hyundai still has the best warranty.

I also get a kick out of how these domestic owners think that because they have a 100,000 mile warranty, they have a better car.

Listen up domestic owners: GM makes junk. So does Ford. And by the look of things, NEITHER of them will even be around in a couple years to honor your warranty on that piece of junk. Good luck with your new GM car when the transmission scatters at 60,000 miles and they aren't even in business anymore or have declared bankruptcy, which looks like it's about a week away.

I'll obviously take the GOOD car (Toyota), not worry about it breaking down like a crappy GM, and know that if it does, at least they'll be there to back me up, as they already have.

"If the commenter would take the time to drive a NEW domestic, (ANY new domestic),"

Ahh yes... the much touted theory that even though old domestic car were unreliable, that magically, the newer ones are 'much better'. We've been hearing this for years now.

I do a lot of traveling for my company. Most of the cars I rent on these trips are GM and Ford products. Of all of them, the majority were hardly acceptable. I had a brand-new 2007 Malibu that had the parking brake cable come loose. The materials inside and out were shoddy and cheap. This goes for the others I rented.

I rented a 2008 Cobalt with less than 10,000 miles on it. The "chrome" plating on the door handles was already peeling off. The plastic pieces on the door and the dash had lots of scratches where the silver paint was coming off, exposing the black plastic underneath. The seats were already showing excessive wear, and the engine made an awful squealing sound when started.

So if you're trying to convince me that the "New" domestic cars are better... Good luck. I've already seen them for myself. I am not at all convinced.

Cheering on a major economic crisis is strange. If Ford, and especially GM, fail, the economic consequences are too dire to imagine. GM is not JUST a car maker. They have HUGE investments in finance, insurance and many sectors of the economy. When the statement "What's good for GM is good for the country" was made, it was (and still is) totally true. If the U.S. allows GM to go under it will affect every citizen of the country (yes, even import owners). It will affect the cost of your health insurance, your food, your ability to purchase many things, and your taxes.

I typically trade up every 2-3 years at 80,000 miles plus without any replacement GM transmissions, unlike my wifes Honda that had 3. I would think you could make it on one transmission on a $34,000 import. Plus I tow a large boat in intense heat, often in bumper to bumper beach traffic, on our way to our summer home nearly every weekend. I am mentioning vehicles made in this decade, meaning late model vehicles. No warranty is no warranty... I have not had the misfortune to be stranded along the road in my GM. In fact it was my GM going to pickup my wife again and again with blown transmissions. I guess that's acceptable, after all it has an import nameplate. All maintenance 100% performed at dealerships, so the neglect aspect does not pertain.

10:40 A manufacturer that needs to put a 100,000 mile warranty on a car (GM) just to sell them is pathetic. Especially when the company that offers a SHORTER warranty (Toyota) outsells them.

The funny part is, people have still chosen Toyota as the best selling car in the country for over a decade, despite GM's warranty. That just means that the majority of car buyers buy a car with proven reliability instead of a piece of garbage with a longer warranty (that they probably won't even have the money to back up).

Maybe GM needs to offer a million mile warranty. A GM owner has just about the same chance of them standing behind that as they do a 100,000 mile warranty, which is to say next to no chance.

GM has chosen to build cheap, over-priced crap for decades, and it has driven people away from them, as it should be. And Toyota has consistently offered a better product, for decades. Deal with it. If they'd kept up with technology and built a decent car, they wouldn't be in the position they are today. A warranty won't solve any of this. GM's time is over.

No, GM has definitely NOT built "crap". Having cars that have been chosen Car of the Year, American Car of the Year, Best large sedan, Truck of the Year, biggest sales increase in international markets in a 3-year period, and 1st and 2nd place in owner satisfaction in a 3-year period hardly indicates "crap".

The only problem GM has had is a public that wants to own huge, gas guzzling vehicles to impress their neighbors. As long as people were clamoring to purchase these glorified pickup trucks with roofs welded over the bed and the price doubled, GM wisely continued to supply the demand. When gas hit $4 a gallon keeping up with the Joneses became less important than eating and paying the mortgage, so people stopped buying them. Toyota isn't selling their 15mpg monsters either.

I'm not especially worried about being "stuck" with a GM or Ford vehicle if GM and Ford go under. My dad bought a Pontiac in 1956. It was driven by him until he went into a nursing home in 1989. It has been driven by my nephew ever since.

I bought a new Ford last year, and at my current age it will easily outlast me, just as the Pontiac outlasted my father (who died at 101 in 2004).

I like a new car occasionally just for change, but no one in my family has ever had a car that didn't run great until they finally got tired of it and just decided they wanted something new.

If all I have to choose from are boring and unreliable Japanese cars, I'll just drive my Ford until I die and pass it on to someone in the family.