8th Oct 2010, 16:03
Excellent point. Besides, Toyota ranks 21st out of 33 car makers in build quality and Ford ranks 5th, so there is no real comparison. Our Ford cars have proven far more durable than most import trucks. Our office security force switched to the higher-ranked Ford Ranger for service vehicles, and my friend's company uses only the bullet-proof Crown Vic. No import can handle really severe driving. We drive hard and aggressively and our imports lasted less than 100,000 miles. No domestic we've owned has ever even required a repair in 100,000 miles.
I've heard of the frames sagging just from the weight of the car on imports, and this happened with one of ours. They are just not very solidly built.
7th Oct 2010, 12:17
Funny... since just about every single delivery truck I see around here happens to be small econo-Tacomas. Two of our local newspaper delivery people drive Toyota vans. Lastly, whenever you see TV shows about some 3rd world country where the roads are almost non-existent and full of pot holes, what are you likely going to see? Well you aren't going to see any Crown Vics. More than likely all you're going to see are Land Rovers and Toyota Hilux trucks.
I seriously doubt the average American car, which was made for smooth as glass freeways, would ever make it anywhere that had even remotely rough terrain. The argument that a product made somewhere else besides the US is "flimsy" is a moot point.