Why we buy Toyotas
- Thread starter FJR Colorado
- Start date
Kevin108
Explorer
I'm a person that usually keeps to himself, but you've made me realize I've always had stand-out vehicles, with one exception. I bought a new white Corolla in 05 and drove it for 3 years. It was the kind of car that you had to make sure you put your key in the right one when you came out of a store. I had the dealer put a spoiler on mine without the full body kit just so it would be somewhat different from the others. With about 40,000 miles on it, I sold it to a friend. He put another 100,000 on it over the course of a few years and sold it over transmission problems.
My 87 Chevy was big and loud but didn't stand out too much, at least not amongst other K-trucks.
My 72 Chevelle garnered lots of compliments, but that's another story.
My 00 XJ looked weirder and weirder the whole time I owned it, ending with a roof basket, a trimmed front bumper, light bars recessed into the grille, and grommet-mounted lights in the rear bumper.
I've never gotten more comments and compliments than I have with my FJ. I never really know what to say to people. I love it and I've built it to do what I need it to.
The FJ Cruiser looks bizarre on its own with the bright blue paint, the white roof, and the turn signals bulging out of the body. Add a little lift to square it up some, stick some lights on each corner, pop a snorkel on the fender, bolt on a RTT and awning...
To the average person, it looks you're driving a UFO carrying a coffin. It definitely gets looks, though mostly of the ****** type.
JCMatthews
Tour Guide
I drove a '97 Cherokee for 13 years. I loved the interior, and exterior changes Jeep made. The only things in 153,000 miles that wore out and could be blamed on Chrysler were a wheel bearing, water pump, and the driver door window switch. These are pretty normal wear and tear items. Most of the time I owned it, it was lifted and saw a lot of off road with pretty good rock crawling in Moab, UT. I even drove my Jeep to Alaska, and Mexico. It was a good vehicle, and many days I still wish I had it.
I sold it to buy an '05 Toyota Tundra. When I bought it it had 43,000 miles on it. It had only been used on the highway as a commuter. Within 2 months of ownership I had to replace the steering rack bushings so that it would stop wandering. At 50,000 miles my brakes would not pass inspection and had to be replaced. On my trip to Alaska the right front wheel bearing crapped out needing replacement keeping me from reaching Prudhoe Bay. When the wheel bearing was replaced, it caused my ABS to act up. It actually activated 2/3rds of the time I was stopping. Toyota indicated that this was a regular problem, but not theirs mine. I now have disconnected my abs and risk locking up in slick conditions. Most recently, when my stereo head unit warms up the volume and tuning knobs malfunction. I am only able to turn up the volume, but this is when I' m attempting to turn it down. The tuning knob works in a similar fashion. I contacted my local stealership and they quoted me $1,500 for a new one. $2,800 for the JBL unit which my truck has. My truck has reached 95,000 miles and worries me that I have not yet done the timing belt/water pump replacement and the belt will fail leaving me stranded with scared valves.
I do love my Tundra, and have taken it places a truck of its size should maybe not go. However, you'll never catch me singing negative songs to Chrysler. My experience with my Jeep was great.
I sold it to buy an '05 Toyota Tundra. When I bought it it had 43,000 miles on it. It had only been used on the highway as a commuter. Within 2 months of ownership I had to replace the steering rack bushings so that it would stop wandering. At 50,000 miles my brakes would not pass inspection and had to be replaced. On my trip to Alaska the right front wheel bearing crapped out needing replacement keeping me from reaching Prudhoe Bay. When the wheel bearing was replaced, it caused my ABS to act up. It actually activated 2/3rds of the time I was stopping. Toyota indicated that this was a regular problem, but not theirs mine. I now have disconnected my abs and risk locking up in slick conditions. Most recently, when my stereo head unit warms up the volume and tuning knobs malfunction. I am only able to turn up the volume, but this is when I' m attempting to turn it down. The tuning knob works in a similar fashion. I contacted my local stealership and they quoted me $1,500 for a new one. $2,800 for the JBL unit which my truck has. My truck has reached 95,000 miles and worries me that I have not yet done the timing belt/water pump replacement and the belt will fail leaving me stranded with scared valves.
I do love my Tundra, and have taken it places a truck of its size should maybe not go. However, you'll never catch me singing negative songs to Chrysler. My experience with my Jeep was great.
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Gallowbraid
Where's that road go?
Bought a JK in February of this year, 8 months later electrical problems and transmission concerns with 13,000 miles on the clock saw me trade it in on a 2016 Tacoma. My first Toyota, I hope it was a wise choice.
Best vehicle I've owned? 1987 Ford Ranger. When I was forced to stop driving it she had ~870,000 miles on her. Probably could have kept going had I not rolled her over...and over...and over again in a ditch.
Best vehicle I've owned? 1987 Ford Ranger. When I was forced to stop driving it she had ~870,000 miles on her. Probably could have kept going had I not rolled her over...and over...and over again in a ditch.
SIZZLE
Pro-party
Truth.
Clutch
<---Pass
Yeah, everything will break give it time. But... I dunno, new vehicles are pretty fricken nice, lots of power, efficient, ride nice, makes the old iron seem barbaric. Had 3 engines in our '76 F250 before 100,000 miles...we did work the hell out of that truck though, it liked to eat power steering pumps too. Sure it was easy to work on...not sure if they were any better though.
Today's engines will easily go 200,000 miles + without flinching.
dman93
Adventurer
+1. A while back I read an interesting article in one of the print 4wd magazines, maybe Jp. It compared their long term experiences with a new JK and an older YJ. The older Jeep obviously has far fewer creature comforts (though those YJ's seemed pretty new-fangled compared to the CJ). Anyway, the old Wrangler was far more reliable and durable than the JK. The JK had serious mechanical issues at very low miles. And it does seem that there are more issues, both vehicle and service/warranty customer care, with newer Toyotas as well. My 185K mile T100 and 105K mile Prius are pretty solid, as was our 140K mile FZJ80 and 100K mile Corolla before the present Toy fleet. By contrast, my '86 Ranger, bought new, definitely didn't feel like a keeper by 75K miles.
I bought my Jeep Grand Cherokee new back in 1998. I still own it. It's been a very robust, reliable vehicle. I towed a 2 ton travel trailer with it a lot, used and abused it while four-wheeling in Arizona desert. I love it.
The worst vehicle I ever owned was a new 2004 Honda Accord. It was a POS rattle box with crappy transmission and constantly failing brake rotors. I was happy to sell it at a loss.
So far I've had decent luck with Toyotas although my 2010 Tacoma had clutch throw out bearing replaced twice while it was still on 60k miles warranty.
The worst vehicle I ever owned was a new 2004 Honda Accord. It was a POS rattle box with crappy transmission and constantly failing brake rotors. I was happy to sell it at a loss.
So far I've had decent luck with Toyotas although my 2010 Tacoma had clutch throw out bearing replaced twice while it was still on 60k miles warranty.
Bluegrass Taco
Adventurer
2 Jeeps in my past. Not far enough in the past to suit me. They were BOTH junk. Between electrical problems, rear axles that would break just driving down the highway, and a pathetic dealer I had to work with....NEVER AGAIN.
Worst vehicle I ever owned, bar none, was a 1988 Chevy 3/4-ton 4wd. I don't have the time to go in to what all was wrong with it. I parked it for 6 months until I could afford to trade it in.
Best vehicle I've ever owned is a toss up between a 1984 Toyota SR5 pick up and my current 2011 Tacoma. Both have a history of high reliability, great fuel economy, great off road performance, and a pleasure to drive. There's been 4 other Toyota 4wd's in the driveway over the years. They rank high on my list, every one of them.
I had "OK luck" with several Fords, but nothing stands out as exceptional with them.
Oh....And a Dodge 3/4-ton (2004) that used gas while it was parked and not running.....Decent truck just used WAY too much gas.
Worst vehicle I ever owned, bar none, was a 1988 Chevy 3/4-ton 4wd. I don't have the time to go in to what all was wrong with it. I parked it for 6 months until I could afford to trade it in.
Best vehicle I've ever owned is a toss up between a 1984 Toyota SR5 pick up and my current 2011 Tacoma. Both have a history of high reliability, great fuel economy, great off road performance, and a pleasure to drive. There's been 4 other Toyota 4wd's in the driveway over the years. They rank high on my list, every one of them.
I had "OK luck" with several Fords, but nothing stands out as exceptional with them.
Oh....And a Dodge 3/4-ton (2004) that used gas while it was parked and not running.....Decent truck just used WAY too much gas.
toylandcruiser
Expedition Leader
Nope. New cars are far more reliable than older. Really wish that myth would die off.
Bluegrass Taco
Adventurer
MOST new cars are FAR more reliable than cars were in "the old days". BTDT, got the tee shirt. When I first started driving, it was considered an insult for someone to call attention to your car having more than 100,000 miles. Now days that's just about "broke in", but a LONG way from being worn out. The 2 past trucks I've owned had well over 250,000 miles when I decided I'd had enough....and BOTH are still on the road with their new owners.
Where the problem crops up is when you do have a problem with todays cars/trucks. It's incredibly expensive to fix 'em, and most people who deem themselves "decent mechanics", have no flippin' clue how to work on most components. But....Give me a NEW truck. You can have your old school stuff. I've got a '69 Z28 Camaro in my garage. I ADORE that car. But, I drive it maybe 1000 miles a year at the most. I would NOT drive it back and forth to work every day.
I used to go out on weekends with the local Jeep club. I have not been asked to go out again after I commented that on every trip one of the Jeeps breaks down while the two Taco's in the group keep coming back. So far for the Jeeps they have had a busted clutch cabe (x3), busted clutch plate, blew a hole in the transmission (still not sure how a dime sized whole got blown outwards), busted an axel casing (the shaft was fine), dropped dive line (x2) and one just died for no apparent reason (Grand Cherokee). This all happened over the course of several trips from around early June to mid October. The other Taco has not been invited back either.
I am not sure how much of these breakdowns is due to modifications, driver error, bad maintenance, or who knows what. All I know is that my '13 Taco and a friends '12 Taco kept up with the Jeeps and never once let us down.
I am not sure how much of these breakdowns is due to modifications, driver error, bad maintenance, or who knows what. All I know is that my '13 Taco and a friends '12 Taco kept up with the Jeeps and never once let us down.