Toyota Loyalty - Caused by which domestic(s)

What domestic vehicle(s) that you have owned caused you to become loyal to Yota? For me, it was a trifecta: (1) Jeep Cherokee (All-American car) with a water pump out at 39,000 miles and a three week delay for a new one to be delivered from England; (2) GMC (Gotta Mechanic Coming) 3/4 ton Suburban on its third $1200 radiator (not mentioning brake rotor turning or replacement every 20,000 miles); and (3) Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily) Bronco on its fourth transmission in two years. I love the reliability, durability and longevity of Toyota. Now the only brand I buy (including Lexus).

 

I am a car/truck/motorcycle guy. And I have owned A Lot of vehicles probably 40?. Had the big 3 along with Oldsmobile, Buick, Mazda, Jeep, VW, Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Honda, Acura. Was a Jeep guy for years when I was doing a bunch of off roading.

Finally had the opportunity to purchase a good used 4Runner many years ago and it was awesome (still have it) so I knew when it was time for a truck a Tundra was likely. I did look at others but Toyotas are so much more solid than the others.

Had an awful experience with the VW, will never own another but I do like the GTI but will never give VW my $. Overall most I owned were ok, had some crappy Fords, the Hyundai was so so, wife drives a maxed out Kia Sorrento and likes it, I feel the opposite.

Other than Toyota, I love Mazda and would purchase another without reservation. I had a 2010 Mazda 3 GT with every option and it was the 2nd best vehicle I have owned. (4Runner wins, not raking my current Tundra which has also been great). When the wife is ready for something new she will get 2 choices- Mazda and Toyota.

 

Ford also stands for “Found on Road Dead” or “F*cked Over Rebuilt Dodge.”

Ironically I’ve had a Lexus RX350 and Toyota Sienna that both have had oil leaks. My old 2008 Chevy Impala never leaked a drop of oil for 245k miles!

 

Had a few bangers in my time, FIAT, Renault, VW (lady has one now) awful electrics. BMW back when they were OK and didn’t break down. Audi was OK as were Mercedes. Only domestic I had moving here was a Ford Explorer which cost a fortune every time it went in for a service

On my second Toyota Tundra and so far have had no issues

 

Ford made me a converter. My favorite is explaining to anyone loyal to the Big 3 that my truck has a higher percentage of American made parts (almost 75 percent) and was actually made in America. The looks on their faces when they look it up in front of me and realize the Tundra is made in Texas is priceless.

 

Back when I started driving the Domestic cars were not as bad as they seem today?
My 1st car was a 1970 Olds 98 and was dead reliable really as were most cars that I had before the 80's.
I had a 1970 Cutlass that was solid too.
I had a 1968 BMW 1600 that was amazing and a few VW Bugs that were as well.

There was a '70s Fiat that was the biggest piece of shit on earth literally and more of an aberration overall and a 1980 Rabbit 5 speed that I loved but was very bad too.

The first Toyota I had was a 1976 FJ40 and yeah I wish I had never gotten rid of it for sure! It was not too refined but was bulletproof for to say the least.

Once I tasted Japan,even back then there was a level of quality in every area down to the feel of the switches and the way the body fit together that I just never forgot.

I have had a lot of cars since then and the last Domestic was an '01 F150 RCSB V6 5-Speed that was great but not too feature rich but I never had any troubles either and then they started crapping them up it seems!

There was a Suburban that had just bizarre problems,what is a Pinion gear and why did they keep breaking?

Then I bought the Previa AWD and life was good again!
I had 4 of them all built in Japan and weird as they were they were unstoppable and I really have had Toyota and Honda ever since.

I also have a T1N Sprinter which is a Commercial Mercedes Truck and it has been amazing too.It also gets the best MPG by far of anything else that I have and is the biggest and heaviest too!

 

89 Volvo 740 5speed turbo intercooled... yes, a station wagon and it only cost me $100 and was a lot of fun. It was dooky brown, because the paint had pretty much corroded off... It was a hand me down base vehicle where I learned how to drive a manual doing shaddy things with a mentor, who showed me the way life worked... lol... Sold it when I transfered for $200, LOL...

'89 Ford Aerostar Eddie Bauer edition... What a POS, lol speed governor was at 86. Leaked oil, coolant, and transmission fluid constantly, It was the main reason my high school gf and I broke up.. It would just drop us off anywhere it wanted... I got it down to jiggling the alternator wire and it would start back up... the embarrassment was too much to bare for her... One day on my way to work it blew a head gasket and I was stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone coverage, that wasn't the last straw though, I got the motor rebuilt by some peeps I knew and she was good as "new" LOL... 200 miles into the rebuild it literally blew 2 sparks out and left me stranded once again.. I got it to a service station and it stripped 2 spark plug which they repaired for a reasonable amount, like $60 in the early 2000s... drove it home and traded it in sight unseen for a 2000 Toyota Celica GTS... Got a whole $1000 for it...

My ex's parents had a 2000 Chevy Venture, yes a van, and my ex literally sheared the harmonic balancer while emergency braking, because she didn't see a double parked car with emergency flashers on.... I didn't say anything since she was already mad we were late... I remember, because I had to push this bitch down the street...

91 Toyota MR2 Turbo, had an electrical fire near my left thigh while depressing the clutch, because someone Mickey Moused the wiring and the live contacts slid out of a connector and touched sparking a fire that scared the living shit out of me... Fortunately it put itself out.. Ended up losing this one to a technicality, Smog techs would refuse to smog it, because it was impossible for Toyota to make turbo cars... Still love this car. Still my all time favorite, even going sideways on a right hand turn...

02 Toyota Celica GT, Glendale Toyota yanked my chain on the last one, so I bought this one, either way insurance was high AF for both of them, still have it.. Leaks oil and managing an engine swap.. will be with me forever...

07 Toyota Tundra SR5, had some growing pains at the start wasn't the smoothest new car relationship, but it'll be with me till the end...

93 Lexus SC400 New addition leaks oil and experimenting shit with it, but still hauls ass will keep this one forever too, until something changes...

 

Had a 99 F150 that was a good truck, but not 4wd. So when I got hired on with the fire department, I traded it in on a 2003 Dodge Dakota V8 Crew Cab. I don’t remember how many miles it had on it, but mind you it was only a year old when I bought it. Nothing but problems from the get go. The famous Dodge transmission issues, cutting off randomly, vibrations in the steering wheel. Owned it for maybe 2 months and traded it for an 02 Tacoma. Been in Toyota’s ever since, so going on 17 years.

 

Only drove old Fords mainly, when I finally wanted a newer truck it was either a tacoma or a tundra, I went with the tundra. I like reliability. Now my fords were definitely bulletproof, 2 had the 4.9.inline 6 with the granny 4 speed. One was an 83 4wd, other was a 91 2wd. Both great trucks, nothing wrong except accessory replacements.

Well.... I did manage to blow the 4.9 in my 83, but I literally drove it 8 hrs straight at 75 mph with zero oil pressure. And yes the gauge did work. More or less wanted to see how long it would last. Had a spare engine I paid 300 for waiting. Made it from lousiana to Georgia in the summer heat till it slung a rod. Damn impressive if you ask me. Had my buddy trailer me back and after we put the spare engine in it I had zero problems. I wanna get another 80-86 RCSB f150 4wd with the 4.9, just waiting to come across one

 

I've had friends at work who only ass-ume the nameplate on their vehicle means everything as to how "American" it is. Like the guy who told me he'd NEVER by a foreign built vehicle, as he climbed into his new Buick Envision....built in CHINA!

 

Not my experience but my dad's:

74 Firebird - loved it
80 Firebird - hated it
84 S10 Jimmy - had nothing but problems

Since then, he's owned 2 Suzukis, a Toyota and a Hyundai.

But my wife's 2013 Corolla (which she bought on her dad's advice before we were together) needed a new water pump at 50k miles and now my stealership tells me the timing cover is "sweating".

 

Someone at our corporate office in NY seems to think RAM ProMaster vans are great. They are not great. They suck. Our delivery driver uses one and the calibration techs use them for going on site. Typical RAM/Fiat crap. We just got rid of one after not quite 3 years. Multiple issues but mainly the transmissions. They need to buy Sprinters and junk the Fiat Van's. Build quality is way below par.

 

Made the leap to Toyota after many issues with a 2010 Chevy Silverado and the Active Fuel Management issues where it shuts off cylinders to save fuel. My problems began at 34,000 miles on that truck. You never knew when it was going to go into limp mode, where it seemed to run on only three cylinders. It would barely get itself off the road on level ground when it went into limp mode. Tried replacing several sensors in order to fix it. Replaced throttle position sensor and that had it better for awhile, but it always came back. So--after consulting with a Toyota mechanic, I went to Toyota and have never looked back. Was a loyal GM buyer my entire life. Now, I wouldn't have anything but Toyota. Count me as a satisfied Toyota owner now! Even have my wife's car as a Toyota Highlander too!

 

'03 Dodge Durango, lotsa power but a freakin' water pump at 30K! '01 Ford Ranger, who puts cracked plugs in a brand new truck! '08 Chevy HHR, oops my mistake!

 

Started with domestic’s, Chevrolet, Ford etc. only real lemon was a Mercury LN7. Then my first Toyota 1997 T-100 started it all, 178k trouble free. Since then, 2004 Sequoia(best snow vehicle I’ve owned), 1996 Avalon 180k/T-boned, 2006 Avalon 218k sold, 2008 Tundra 180k, 2016 Lexus ES 350, 2017 Highlander. Meh, call me a fanboy but I’m pretty simple & just like reliable vehicles.

 

I’ve never owned a domestic. Reliability was always important to my family when I was growing up so domestic vehicles were never considered. By the time I was old enough to buy my own cars I realized the metric system is far superior than fractions. The only domestic I’ll ever consider buying is a Tesla.

 

We came to Toyota through the back door. We found a slightly used Lexus and bought it at the right price ~ drove it for many years without a major issue.
When I wanted an upgrade on my Ford pickup my brother said I'd be making a big mistake if I didn't buy a Tundra.
I found a cream puff used Tundra that I still drive to this day. We've had really good luck with our Toyota products over the years.

 

More of a anti union thing than anything else.

Well screw gm with a covid/aids/herpes infected cactus, but ya other than that its more of a not a union fan thing.

 

How on Earth can you use those words in the same sentence?

 

First Toyota (truck, of course) was in 1985 after graduating from college. I've had nothing but Toyota since then.

 

Well, as they used to say in the funny papers;



The truth be known, it was the perfect storm. Gasoline prices were at an all time high and everyone wanted fuel economy from their next vehicle.
The original owner was a Toyota parts man and got a fabulous employee discount when he bought the truck new and passed that savings on to me.
He had the vehicle for sale for some time with no one even coming to look. His neighbor said;
"The first guy that comes to look at this truck's gonna buy it !"
And that's exactly what happened . . .

 

I've never had a vehicle, foreign or domestic, that I would classify as bad. They've all done pretty well. My wife's 08 Acadia was kinda disappointing. Complete AC system replacement, major transmission work, and throttle body replacement before 100k miles. We traded it at 99k. That said, it's her favorite vehicle thus far.

My foreign vehicles have been an 05 Sonata, 07 Tacoma and the 19 Tundra. All of them have felt well-built. They just feel more solid than some others I've had. I traded a 16 Mustang GT last year for the Tundra and I have no complaints. It did have an AC compressor bearing go bad twice, but the car overall was just a complete blast to own and drive and the engine felt so solid it could probably run on roofing nails and ether.