Quote:
Originally Posted by slice
I never said that Toyota doesn't have a great reputation for quality, they most certainly do. What I find ironic is how people want to brag that the Tundra is American made and so forth, but then turn right around and dog out American manufacturing and other American products. Am I the only one who sees this?
I would have to agree that in general that Toyotas are more reliable then their American counterparts, however, that gap is far more narrow then it was 10 years ago, and it's getting more narrow every year IMO. Both of the Toyotas I have owned in the last 2 years have been far less impressive then ones I owned from the 80's and early 90's. I have had more trouble with my 05 Scion TC and my 04 4runner than I have with my previous 8 Toyotas combined.
As Toyota continues to grow, and they build vehicles like the new Tundra that are actually capable of being worked hard, you will see more problems. Just because it's a Toyota doesn't mean it's going to go 300k w/out a problem, and just because it's a GM or Dodge doesn't mean it was only designed to last 100k miles. Every vehicle is different.
There was a time when I was the most diehard Toyota fan there was, but I have since branched out although I still own a Toyota. I can tell you the thinking that all domestics are junk compared to Toyotas is an outdated concept from what I have seen. Since the number was brought up by the original poster, would you not agree that probably less than 1% of all cars every hit the 300K mark? And of those, probably less than 20% of them are all original owners. Most people probably only keep a vehicle for 50k to 75k miles on average, so what's the point?
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I don't disagree with you, but if Toyota's quality and reliability takes a nosedive only after moving their operations to America and using a majority of American-made parts...what would you say? I don't think it's too much of a leap to see a cause and effect if that really is what happens. It's way too early to be saying that now, however, with only 20 cam failures out of 30,000 trucks.
You see American vs. Japan. I see it as what works vs. what doesn't. I don't really care where it is made or put together, as long as it runs as designed and keeps running as designed. Thus far, Toyota has come closer to that goal than the domestics.
That quality gap between Toyota and the domestics may well be narrowing, but I just cannot bring myself to believe it. I have a friend who bought a brand new Chevy truck, and he has had it in the shop for approximately 30 different issues. He thinks he has had it in the shop more weeks than he's had it. When you consider cases like that, 20 broken camshafts out of 30,000 doesn't seem too bad. Maybe we'll see 2,000 broken camshafts before all is said and done. Who knows.
Thus far, my Tundra has run very well and I now have about 3,000 miles on it after some fairly easy "break-in" driving. It may break tomorrow, and keep breaking after that. Or it might go for 150,000 miles without so much as a loose radio knob. Time will tell.