# Dear Mr TOYota salesman . . .



## ISeeDeadBTUs (Dec 2, 2007)

because you seemed like a nice guy, I thought I'd clarify what I meant. A few days after our test drive of your Tundra, you called to follow up. That was when I told you we were so-far very happy with the Nissan Titan we bought after visiting your lot. You called and indicated I should have called you back, that we could have worked on the price. At the time I was probably a little blunt with you on the phone, telling you that the TOYota at any price was no comparison to the Nissan Titan. You see, price was not the issue. Yes, I have friends with TOYotas, and I know they are probably a good truck. But ya see - my wife needs to get where shes going during the week. But she also wants the house warm. So, maybe when your boss builds a truck designed for our needs, you could consider giving me another call.

Thanks,
Jimbo






















PS. Yes I know the short box won't alow me to get as much wood as my old F250 plow truck, nor any Chev I may own next, but a face cord of red oak, uphill on a non-existant woods road covered in snow??? Definitely not a place for a Tundra ;-)


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## ozarkjeep (Dec 3, 2007)

Nice pics!

im not sure why you think a toyota truck wouldn't do that though?

My old 4runner would get in and out of there pulling your truck and a trailer.
haha

My buddy priced toyota trucks, and passed in favor of a NIssan frontier ( I know smaller truck line)

and it has been a TOTAL lemon POS.
every time it goes to the shop, another freind and I do the " Oh what a feeling Toyota" commercial for him, he is sick of it!

I sincerely hope your luck is better than his, I have a relative with a Titan, and he absolutely LOVEs it, he came from full sized GM trucks.


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## myzamboni (Dec 3, 2007)

Out here Tundras are outselling Titans at close to 10:1.  So Mr. Toyota Dealer isn't fretting that you didn't buy from him.

Enjoy the truck.


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## hookspacken (Dec 3, 2007)

Should I post a picture of my Ford F250 holding 3 times that amount of wood? Not to flame or start a brand blahh blahh is better than brand blahh blahh, but in MY opinion, there are no better trucks than domestic, U.S. pick up trucks.


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## Metal (Dec 3, 2007)

Are these pictures actual size?

P.S.  You kind of made a bad comparison, the Toyota has more HP (381 vs. 317), more payload (1,395 vs. 1,105), and more towing capacity (10,300 vs. 9,400).  You might regret your decision in the future also as the Toy is much more reliable than the Nissan.  

By the way, I don't currently own a Toyota or a Nissan, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express!


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## rdrcr56 (Dec 3, 2007)

My 3/4 ton Dodge will haul a little more wood :lol: with a set of different injectors  and a chip it would be close to 600 H.P. and 900 Ft. lbs. of torque


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## MrGriz (Dec 4, 2007)

Nissan, Toyota, Some people just don't get it.


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## Gunner (Dec 4, 2007)

Nissan makes trucks  :question:


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Dec 4, 2007)

Metal said:
			
		

> P.S.  You kind of made a bad comparison, the Toyota has more HP (381 vs. 317), more payload (1,395 vs. 1,105), and more towing capacity (10,300 vs. 9,400).  You might regret your decision in the future also as the Toy is much more reliable than the Nissan.



Actually, MetalDude, your stats are off. The Nissan is a 2004, which is when I bought it and compared it to what was available at the time. Since then, TOYota has seen the need to 'get big'!

Amen whoever said American trucks . . . but I recently retired a Nissan Maxima that had over 300k miles with NO major repairs.

Though I'm a Chevy guy, I did own an F250 that you could put a couple of ton of sand on and it would go ANYWHERE. Unfortunatly, I don't realistically expect over 300,000 from  Chevy nor Ford nor Mopar. No question, the consumer mindset is that TOYotas hold their value much better than Nissans, but when I'm plowing 30" of snow (remember Valentines'?) or getting a weeks worth of wood in one trip, I don't give a rats be-hind about consumers' perceptions.

Smokum' if ya gotum'
Jimbo


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## hookspacken (Dec 4, 2007)

Gunner said:
			
		

> Nissan makes trucks  :question:


 Well..not really.....


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## jqgs214 (Dec 4, 2007)

Looks like 4 photos of the same wood trip.  Is that how may times you had you unload it each time it got stuck??  (j/k)


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## Codeman812 (Dec 6, 2007)

My 2cents, from a Toyota dealer employee. The new Tundra makes whatever Nisso is putting out look like a TOY. Reliability, google the older Yota pickups, maybe you will come across a video of made by Top Speed on a "TOYota" Really hard to argue anything after that. I know of some farmers that have been using small pickups, T100's Taco's and Tundra's with great results. Then I have heard of some burbanites that hate them. Personally for a work horse I like Ford. As far as the American argument, some research would show that the Camry is the most USA built vehicle. Of course some would say that there are more American built cars, but That would mean all of North America, ya know like Canada and Mexico. More research on the Tundra would show that it is also built in America, more specifically the USA. The other argument is that I want my money going to an American company because the profits would, theoretically be spent in America. I think more money would be spent by the thousands of blue collar workers of the factories, regardless of brand name. But hey what do I know, I work at a "TOYota" dealership.


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## cbrodsky (Dec 6, 2007)

I have a 98 Tacoma that I've been happy with - but I see that the new Tundra is so bad for reliability that Consumer Reports is no longer giving an automatic green-light to Toyota models as they have been doing for some time.  By all accounts, it is a bit of a black eye for Toyota even if it does help them gain some market share.

The Tacoma ride quality/handling is less than impressive, but it has been incredibly dependable - a marked contrast to a friends mid-90s F-150 that blew out clutch slave cylinders every 2 years due to a design flaw.  What was interesting is that behavior showed up in the segmented ratings from CR as well for his model year.  I bought it used a few years old and even then, I had to was still tempted by how much I could save going w/a Ford - you pay a premium for the Toyota.  But the late 90s ratings differences were so compelling that it was worth it, and my experience has made me glad I spent the extra thousand or two used.

If I was buying new today, however, I'd take a much closer look at the domestics - they have been improving steadily while Toyota is slipping up.  I'd have a hard time paying thousands more for a Toyota at the moment.

-Colin


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## Codeman812 (Dec 6, 2007)

I agree with Toyota slipping in quality, and "domestics", or the Ole Big 3 I like to call them, improving. I think Ford is improving the most and GM the least, IMHO. The tundra issue is mainly the black mark from the BJ recall. Not a big issue but it does look bad. Still we are a low-middle class family and Ford offers the best bang for the buck and can withstand a certain amount of abuse, 170,000 on our 98 Windstar. Just the popular Ford front coil spring, steering line and rack replacement. 
Alright now nobody tell the dealership I said this stuff 



			
				NY Soapstone said:
			
		

> I have a 98 Tacoma that I've been happy with - but I see that the new Tundra is so bad for reliability that Consumer Reports is no longer giving an automatic green-light to Toyota models as they have been doing for some time.  By all accounts, it is a bit of a black eye for Toyota even if it does help them gain some market share.
> 
> The Tacoma ride quality/handling is less than impressive, but it has been incredibly dependable - a marked contrast to a friends mid-90s F-150 that blew out clutch slave cylinders every 2 years due to a design flaw.  What was interesting is that behavior showed up in the segmented ratings from CR as well for his model year.  I bought it used a few years old and even then, I had to was still tempted by how much I could save going w/a Ford - you pay a premium for the Toyota.  But the late 90s ratings differences were so compelling that it was worth it, and my experience has made me glad I spent the extra thousand or two used.
> 
> ...


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## struggle (Dec 6, 2007)

rdrcr56 said:
			
		

> My 3/4 ton Dodge will haul a little more wood :lol: with a set of different injectors  and a chip it would be close to 600 H.P. and 900 Ft. lbs. of torque



Hey mine rattles too :lol:


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Dec 6, 2007)

Now that's too funny - not flamin' Mopar here or anything - but concrete driveways?? Obviously they don't use salt on the roads half the year in your neck of the woods Dude :lol: 

But seriously . . . Yup, TOYota has been synonymous with quality for a while, and thus costs more. Going with something new - Titan was in 04 - is taking a chance, but after nearly 60,000 miles and no repairs, so far, so good. And since the days I actually got paid to repair whatever came through the door - back when subarus, DATSUNS, toyotas and Yugos all rusted apart in two years - I've been Chevy. Unfortunately, when I left the business, GM was only good for about 85,000. And I'd tend to agree that both Ford and Mopar have made improvements that were things people actually wanted, while Chevy was pulling boners, aka 'dropping production of the Camaro while foisting the SSR'

Flame on


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## argus66 (Dec 15, 2007)

i love the tacoma and im a nissian guy, next truck all the way.


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## jtb51b (Dec 27, 2007)

I too have a little 3/4T ram. Seems to do well for me. I've pulled junk all over the country and never had a bit of trouble even on the biggest of hill (you guys call mountains!).. I will admit that while some folks are still waiting on those sticks and such to get to 600/900 I am there NOW. I love it. I can dial in a great MPG trip empty (BTW I call empty the truck (7800lbs) towing the trailer (2500lbs)..) and get 17MPG or I can turn the fuel up and pull 20K on the big boy (7800 lb trailer with dual tandems) and roll up anything. I love it.. My wife drives a Nissan and its fine for her. I want TORQUE!

Jason


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## Corie (Dec 27, 2007)

Those pictures are so big its like being there


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## woodconvert (Dec 28, 2007)

"Unfortunately, when I left the business, GM was only good for about 85,000."

Having never owned nor will I never own a Toyota/Nissan/Fujidinky vehicle I can assure you that I've gotten well over 85,000 out of every GM product i've owned. I've never had a Ford truck but i've got a 94' Ram wood truck with 178K on the odometer and a 97' Ram the wife drives with 287k on the odometer and it purrs like a kitten. All three domestic automakers still have the burden to deal with that their quality isn't on par with the foreign automakers. That is so far in the past. 

Gotta be honest....seeing/talking about non domestic vehicles makes me ill.


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## Shane (Dec 28, 2007)

There was a time when the big three were my only choice for brands of vehicles.  Not any more.  What changed that?  The Hecho en Mexico sticker on my Dodge 1/2 ton truck is what changed that.  Not knocking the quality, been very satisfied with the truck.  I'd rather buy a Toyota that is really made in America over another vehicle that touts an American brand name that is wholly assembled elsewhere.


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## woodconvert (Dec 28, 2007)

> There was a time when the big three were my only choice for brands of vehicles.  Not any more.  What changed that?  The Hecho en Mexico sticker on my Dodge 1/2 ton truck is what changed that.



I can't speak for new Dodges but I believe they are assembled in Mexico. GM and Ford have multiple assembly plants throughout the US and one each in Canada I believe.



> Not knocking the quality, been very satisfied with the truck.  I'd rather buy a Toyota that is really made in America over another vehicle that touts an American brand name that is wholly assembled elsewhere.



If that's truly the case then buy a Ford or GM truck then. 
Yeah, we get a piece of the pie here when something is assembled/sold here....but follow the rest of the pie.


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## Shane (Dec 28, 2007)

All these auto makers are multi-national corporations, the pie is split all over the place.  Who owns all them stocks?  I would venture to guess that stock ownership by americans is close to equal between Toyota and any of the big three.  I haven't bothered to do the research but I would assume that both GM and Ford probably have a plant in Mexico right down the street from Dodge and I'm sure some Dodges are still made right down the street from GM & Ford in Detroit.  BTW my truck is not new it's 12 years old.


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## olive wood (Dec 29, 2007)

'89 HJ62 c/w Garrett t3 and intercooler. It's OK , I understand if you people don't.

http://www.ih8mud.com/


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