2006 Toyota Tundra SR5 from North America - Comments

Jul 2009, 10:55 - Thank You! Finally a voice of reason.

Does the Nissan example have any lacking details? Is he management or an hourly assembly worker? Does his wife work and possibly make 3 times as much? Is he an investor besides an auto worker? You may not know all their financial details. I had an inheritance which affected or supplemented my job. My neighbors do not know and why should they.

To the guy who said the Ford Fusion is the best selling car in America: The only place I've ever seen a Ford Fusion is on the dealer lot. I seen tons of Camry's and Accords though. I don't think you have your facts right. If they're so popular, why do we never see them?

"With people thinking like this, it is no wonder our economy is in dire straights. REGARDLESS of WHERE a car is built"

Well, I am going to keep thinking like this -

Stop trying to tell me what I can and cannot buy.

And I guess you will keep repeating the 91 vs 9%, or I guess now the 86 vs. 14% argument ad nauseam.

"The family next to us had their own house, 2 cars, and 2 kids in school. The wages he made at Nissan paid for their living expenses. So the opposite of what you're saying is true: When we bought a Nissan, it helped our literal next door neighbors. Somehow your argument doesn't really work."

My best friend works (in the U.S.) for a Norwegian company. That hardly means we help the MAJORITY of U.S. citzens by buying from Norway. Buying Japanese cars helps only 9% of our people in auto-related jobs. Buying domestic helps 91%. It is odd that that is such a hard concept to understand.

I'll give you a list of cars my parents owned, you make the decision.

My dad has a 1996 Bonneville. It's been a great car, after we replaced the blown engine at 30,000 miles. It now has 130,000 miles and is going well except for intake gasket leak starting.

The Bonneville replaced the 1986 Chevy Celebrity he had... it got wrecked by a Thunderbird running a red light at 186k miles.. We got it with a blown engine at 50k miles. We put a junkyard engine in it (2.8), which lasted 30k miles. We then put a new GM 2.8 into it, 50k miles later it cracked a head.

We replaced the head, and 10k later the other head cracked. Once we fixed this the engine was fine.. but we had problems with the brakes and axles up until the car got wrecked.

My mother has a 1999 Yukon. It has 102k miles on it... it's been reliable except for the 4L60E going out at 85k.

The Yukon replaced an 85 Suburban, which for its credit was trouble free (but was a complete rustbucket... even though it was garage kept.)

I owned a 2006 Chevy Silverado for about half a year. It was trouble free except for the cheap interior falling apart. I sold it at 26k miles.

My grandfather has a 1996 Pontiac Transport van. He bought it new and takes it to the dealer faithfully for service. He currently has about 165k on it. It's been trouble free but it's completely worn out. The intake gaskets leak, it rattles and squeaks, and the trans shifts soft. It will never see 200k, no way in hell.

My friend has a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. He bought it new, it has 38k on it now. So far the only problems he has had with it are rear brakes constantly warping and the shifter assembly broke (the button wouldn't release) (Go GM!)

My Grandfather had a Pontiac Parisienne Brougham, that he bought new. It had 265k on it when we sold it for $500. The original 305 blew up at 220k.

My mother leased a 2000 Grand Am for 3 years. Never had a problem with it.

So as you can see the domestics make a good product, but all you haters out there gotta realize that the imports are good, too, as these examples can attest to.

My mother bought a 1983 Sentra new. It held up to us growing up in it, my brother and I learning to drive in it, getting into a severe accident, and we never had a problem with it, ever. Yes the body and interior were shot, the car was abused hard. It was rear-ended in 1997, it had 128k on it. It never took anything other than normal stuff like tires and brake pads.

My brother had a 1987 Pulsar, which he took to college, and which I drove to great lakes, after my basic training. That car in all the years we owned it, had one problem in 240k miles... the alternator went out.

My friend who has the Cobalt also has a 1989 Nissan Sentra. It has 244k on it and counting, it doesn't use a drop of oil, it doesn't rattle, it doesn't squeak. Everything in it still works, it drives like a new car (but doesn't look like one... damn Japanese tin metal... LOL) It so far has needed one repair item... a clutch.

His father has a Toyota pickup with 240k on it... still has the original clutch, original everything. By the way, my friend used to have that "Japanese Scrap" attitude, not anymore.

I'm sorry to say that in my personal auto experience, so far in my life, that the imports won this round. Sorry to rain on your parade. They were all good cars, in case you're wondering, the domestics as well as the imports I've owned.

"2006 Silverado drove 26,000 miles in less than 6 months then sold"... that's more than my company cars I drive all day long. What did you replace it with in 2 years so you drive over 100,000 miles in 2 years... hope you didn't go for a 36,000 mile warranty on your next one. I drive mine a lot too, but all my components work, power options, no loss of trim or interior components.

Again, We've all heard the rather vague and unsupported claim that somehow, 91% of we who live in the US work for automotive related industries. Interesting because not a single person I know works in any industry or business that has anything to do with automotive manufacturing, sales, engineering, suppliers. Nothing. But I digress. Again - why does it matter where someone works in this country as long as they are getting a salary in which to buy things like houses, TV sets and cars?

The family I mentioned who worked for Nissan did just fine. I don't know the exact details of their finances, but the fact that they owned their own house and had relatively new cars and all the other comforts of the middle class tells me that working for Nissan was doing its job to enable one US family to lead comfortable lives. Again - what's the difference between this family and one who works for GM?

It's called competition and it's what this country was founded on. If one company either makes shoddy or unpopular products or is poorly managed, then a company that makes more better and more desirable products will logically become successful at the expense of the former. Likewise, a family who might have worked for one company has the choice to work for another. So it's not like someone working for Ford is forced to stay there. They could easily work for Toyota and do just as well, if not better given that most Toyota plants are in lower cost Southern states with better living standards than up North.

The bottom line is that a job is a job. If it puts food on the table, then who really cares what the names of the company is and where its headquarters are located? The problem with the argument against buying imports because they are imported is that this isn't the case. They're mostly foreign brands produced in the US with US labor. The argument is completely moot. I get a feeling the argument is more about protective patriotism, which in itself is actually destructive to the US economy at large.

Secondly, if you want to place some blame, why not blame GM, Ford, and Chrysler. For decades they have unscrupulously shut plants in the US and Canada - even when they were making record profits - so they could make MORE money producing cheaper cars in Mexico. In addition, they've increasingly used more and more foreign parts producers. Again - to save and make more money. It is their right. They are capitalist companies. But if this argument is about jobs, then you can't exactly blame consumers for their choices. On the other hand Toyota just announced the closure of their first plant... EVER in their 70 year history. It's the California NUMMI plant. They are only doing so because it was a joint venture between GM and Toyota. After GM pulled out the venture was unprofitable. One plant closed in 70 years versus the dozens and dozens closed by GM. Entire cities in the Midwest have been devastated with these closures.

So don't blame the consumer or blame the progress of capitalism. We all benefit in the end.

Our mailman is complaining that he is losing a days pay... it trickles throughout the entire system.

Our library is cutting hours (turn electric off etc).

Our quality of life, services is dropping. I maintain it matters that employers prosper. The problem is somehow rationalized that a job that now exists compares to the past. I see hours cut, furloughs (that's a pay decrease), less benefit contributions from employers, matching going away etc as employers are doing their best to stay afloat.

When you retire someday, it may matter then... personally. It is not just loss of the car industry and the much lower pay/benefits with other car manufacturers. How about the foreign industry that gets years of no tax or tax concessions to open a plant in the USA? Are they replacing the higher standard of living wages or offering a pittance?

A lot of people I work with are now called consultants, which means they still work at the same company with no benefits... I have relatives working 3 day weeks reduced hours. I guess they can buy a cheap economy car today in place of what they may truly prefer driving. Is that quality?

I like domestic full size trucks and hope to not be forced into small cars if my employer cuts back. It's important to employers in your town to prosper...if not it may trickle down to members of your family.

I like my job and want to remain and afford a nice standard of living... my employer is not a charity ward, I am there to produce and make money.

Buying new high ticket imports isn't the direction I see as making the community prosper. I have many customers in town and they need jobs to buy from us. Maybe it's looking at the big picture...... my unemployment could likely make a small import car payment however, so I shouldn't care or worry about paying for one.

American car companies are in trouble because they over expanded by making more cars than will ever be needed. So to catch up they had to make crappy cars for a lil bit (later 90's earlier 2000's)... so they lost credibility, domestic brands pay their workers double what Honda pays theirs... and lastly they aren't very good at consumer relations... their dealers aren't always very helpful...

This idea the foreign cars are somehow more dependable is ridiculous.. it's all about how you take car of your car.. and GM has 3 of the greatest engines ever made. 2.8L V6, 3.8L V6 and 4.3L V6... none of those engines will ever give you a problem.. I think the 2.8 and 3.8 are in the top 10 most reliable engines of the 20th century.. and the 4.3L is the biggest (in liters) V6 that has ever been made, it is actually a Chevy 350 missing two cylinders.

Wow, with 700000 jobs lost monthly this year, we can walk down the street and grab another 38 dollar an hour job... oops its 14 if we're lucky in manufacturing. But then a lot is made in China, Taiwan, Japan cheaper yet. Our standard of living keeps dropping, high debt, high credit cards, but we have our Nissan in the drive right?

24th Jul 2009, 12:15 - Thank you for being a voice of reason.

12:15...I never ever especially in 2009 base any persons worth on what is parked in the driveway or a home anymore. Many people borrowed 100% plus and did adjustables barely getting into homes they shouldn't have bought. Or lease cars to go bigger on less. I see credit reports, scores and the reality of it all. People have issues on their scores even with late cell phone bills and want to refinance with a low rate.

I have had one tenant with far better new vehicles than my own, yet with no savings. I set up a lease purchase and they will have issues. You drive by their nice rented single family home (which is actually mine) and nice new cars. Some people transfer and it's different.

I also had a friend who had a driver delivering new furniture sold in new high end custom homes. The first floors in many were beautiful and hardly any furnishing upstairs that few would ever see. I attribute it to being max'ed out.

There is a lot of fear and stress with the current economy. I find it nearly impossible that absolutely nothing is affecting the import commenters on here. You may be in a completely recession proof industry, but I suspect someone close to you, family etc is being affected today. I worry that my employer could have a closed door meeting and I am gone. I worry that my tenants may lose their job and I still pay if they do not. I cannot sell without a hit so I rent and cannot flip easily. I think buy whatever I want, who cares, have my head in the sand attitude is not going to help the rest of us still working pulling up the slack. People are working longer, for less and with less co workers in many companies, and some are afraid to go on vacation worrying they may be making a mistake going.

Time will tell if sending profits overseas is far better than profits here. I am not seeing it. Whatever past experience you had, at least compare in 2009 and get a great warranty. Repairs far exceed fuel; I found that out first hand, and flimsy weak warranties are painful to the wallet.

"Again, We've all heard the rather vague and unsupported claim that somehow, 91% of we who live in the US work for automotive related industries."

EVERY major newspaper, as well as MSNBC, CNN and most other TV news network, and the internet have published or reported these numbers repeatedly. They are HARDLY "vague and unsupported". One source often cited is USA Today, which published these numbers in May of 2009. I am sure that with the destruction of thousands more U.S. jobs since then the percentage now stands at about 88% versus 12%. So rest easy import buyers. Now instead of hurting 91% of your neighbors, you're only hurting 88% of them.

"I find it nearly impossible that absolutely nothing is affecting the import commenters on here"

I totally agree, and I find this very frightening indeed. Once a person has been brainwashed by years of ad hype and mental manipulation, even starving children and neighbors being thrown into the streets don't seem to have any effect.

Any injustice done to our fellow man seems justifiable as long as we can have our Toyotas and Hondas. No one seems to be even remotely capable of understanding that we are sawing off the limb we are sitting on.