I had a new Camry for a few days...

[rjundi]

quote:

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Originally posted by milwaukee:

Selling cars on perception is much more important that product quality.

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I wholeheartly agree. This is why GM & Ford will likely never rise from the ashes on domestic cars whether a superior product or not.

Gm/Ford do have an excellent and I think deserved reputation on light trucks. The Asian makes have a long way to go to even dent at that market due to the lack of perception.

 

[AstroVic]

quote:

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Originally posted by Audioquest:
Another trade-off to owning the Fusion is that it will depreciate at twice the rate as the Toyota.

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Maybe so, but on the other hand you'll pay dearly for the privilege of owning a Toyota.

They're awful proud of their vehicles at Toyota and Honda, and they don't have any problem making you pay a few (or several) thousand dollars more when you buy one of their vehicles.

Toyota and Honda (and others) do NOT build cars that are any better then most of their American counterparts. That, combined with the depreciation on most American cars, is why I try to buy a good, solid three to five year-old American car. You get an excellent car at an excellent price.

I like to let the "other guy" eat the depreciation while I enjoy the bargain.

 

[The Critic]

Reliability wise, American vehicles seem to be comparable to the rest.

I think the real difference, aside from perception, is that the import offerings have more technological features, better styling, and better interior quality/refinement. The domestic vehicles are very bland and the interiors seem to be a bit lacking compared to the import offerings, which can really turn off many buyers.

 

[drewjp]

Thank you for an honest review. Most Toyota people only tell the good things and leave out any bad areas.

As far as reliability nowadays, Asia's still on top, but not by much. American vehicles are right behind them. If we're going to compare reliability to something, why doesn't anyone speak of British or German vehicles?? They seem to be much less reliable than any American or Asian vehicle, don't they???

As far as the paint quality, it's pretty bad on ALL Japanese vehicles now. Honda and Toyota seem to have equally thin and orange-peeled paint, but Nissan has to be one of the worst painted overall. American vehicles have generally satisfactory paint...my PT Cruiser has very little orange peel and a pretty hard clear coat. The new Jeeps, however, are covered in OP; just look at the doors of a new Jeep sometime...you'll see.

Sorry for the venting...it's just my .02...it's worth as much as you paid for it

 

[badtlc]

After reading this, I'm even more ecstatic with my mazda6i purchase. Not that i wasn't already drooling over the car everyday since i bought it.

 

[GT Mike]

quote:

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Originally posted by The Critic:
The domestic vehicles are very bland and the interiors seem to be a bit lacking compared to the import offerings, which can really turn off many buyers.

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Domestic cars bland? Toyota cars are the epitome of bland! That's the one thing they're really thrown under the bus for. Someone here in another thread mentioned driving a Toyota car is like eating flour. I agree totally.
Transportation appliances is all the majority of them are.

 

[brianl703]

No, no, that awesome 80s "boombox" silvery metallic plastic wrapped center stack adds a ton of excitement!

Especially in the sun!

 

[ekpolk]

quote:

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Originally posted by GT Mike:

quote:

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Originally posted by The Critic:
The domestic vehicles are very bland and the interiors seem to be a bit lacking compared to the import offerings, which can really turn off many buyers.

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Domestic cars bland? Toyota cars are the epitome of bland! That's the one thing they're really thrown under the bus for. Someone here in another thread mentioned driving a Toyota car is like eating flour. I agree totally.
Transportation appliances is all the majority of them are.

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Uh-huh, "someone mentioned", and you totally agree. . . Your ownership experience??? Actually, at 47-48 mpg, I'm finding my Prius-flavored flower pretty delicious right about now. By all means, please point me to the domestic mid-sized five-passenger car that does 0-60 in 10 seconds and would get me 47-48 mpg. Yep, them boys over at Toyota are just fresh out of interesting ideas. . .

 

[drewjp]

quote:

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Originally posted by ekpolk:

quote:

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Originally posted by GT Mike:

quote:

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Originally posted by The Critic:
The domestic vehicles are very bland and the interiors seem to be a bit lacking compared to the import offerings, which can really turn off many buyers.

---

Domestic cars bland? Toyota cars are the epitome of bland! That's the one thing they're really thrown under the bus for. Someone here in another thread mentioned driving a Toyota car is like eating flour. I agree totally.
Transportation appliances is all the majority of them are.

---

Uh-huh, "someone mentioned", and you totally agree. . . Your ownership experience??? Actually, at 47-48 mpg, I'm finding my Prius-flavored flower pretty delicious right about now. By all means, please point me to the domestic mid-sized five-passenger car that does 0-60 in 10 seconds and would get me 47-48 mpg. Yep, them boys over at Toyota are just fresh out of interesting ideas. . .

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Who said they're out of good ideas??

The Prius is a great car for mileage, but an exciting car for someone who likes driving? Not really...

Toyotas are, IMO, inoffensive, reliable appliances...

 

[ekpolk]

The car (Prius) is actually quite light on its feet, and well balanced. It's no sports car, that's for sure, but yes, I like driving, and I like driving this car. I've owned it for 10 days, and it's already like comfortable shoes, made all the more comfortable by that omnipresent mileage readout. Call it an appliance, call it anything you want. I'm very satisfied with it and like it more every time I drive it somewhere.

EDIT: OK, maybe I should have said, "...fresh out of interesting cars."

 

[GT Mike]

quote:

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Originally posted by ekpolk:
By all means, please point me to the domestic mid-sized five-passenger car that does 0-60 in 10 seconds and would get me 47-48 mpg. Yep, them boys over at Toyota are just fresh out of interesting ideas. . .

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We'll see how well that Prius pulls our race car. I'm sick of all this hype about gas mileage. I burn up $5/gallon leaded gasoline to drive around in a circle three times a week in the summer.

The vehicle of choice to haul the race car, and all its gear also can seat 7 and get nearly 20 MPG on the highway (unloaded and driven nicely of course). I'm plenty happy with my Durango.

Don't throw the Toyota reliability thing at me either...I've got 114,000 miles on the Durango, and nothing, absolutely nothing, has failed on it. Well, I take that back...I had to replace a $4 EVAP canister hose that cracked last weekend. Darn unreliable American junk!

 

[ScottB]

GT Mike: All I can say is that you're a REAL MAN.
That post proves it.
Yep.

Wow.

 

[javacontour]

For me, the $300/month I'm not spending on a more expensive SUV is added to my investments.

Does that make my choice right? Well, for me. It may not be right for you.

I like my Toyota experience. I recall my mom's Mopar experience and my own GM and Ford experiences.

So far, given my personal experience, the Toyota experience has been far more favorable.

I don't need to defend my choice, as I'm not trying to please anyone other than myself.

I would hope those who make other choices feel the same way, that they don't need to defend those choices. Simply say what works for them and leave the sarcasm at home.

 

[ekpolk]

GTM:

I really don't care about pulling a race car. I don't have a race car, not part of my transportation mission.

I'm sure you are sick of the hype about gas mileage. I'm not. I don't really worry much about gas mileage any more. I'll leave that to you. Last week, I spent about $10 on gas driving to and from work (10 miles each way) and doing all the errands I had, almost 200 miles worth. Nope, I'm back to positively enjoying driving around once again.

My vehicle seats five, but rarely ever more than one (me, of course). Since my family consists of five of us, there are about zero situations where I'll need more space. And, though I'm not obsessing over it, I am going at least 27 miles further than you are on each $3.00 (and climbing) gallon of gas.

I'm not throwing Toyota anything at you, I'm keeping it for myself. But hey, it was you who felt the need to characterize the Toyota. So to recycle the old ad slogan, "you asked for it, you got it -- Toyota". You brought up the "eating flour" thing, you should expect an appropriate, toe-to-toe rebuttal. . .

 

[Terry]

ekpolk, did you get rid of the near perfect G35 ?!

My 84 F150 302 gets 13.6 MPG and I wish I could afford a Prius! Off course I have about $1500 in the F150 so maybe I am not that bad off...

BTW in the F150 I am running a MIX of Walmart 10w30 and 1 qt of VP racing fuels company oils ( all ester formula). Post Auto-RX cleansing.

 

[ekpolk]

Terry:

Long story, but yes is the short answer. I need to shoot you an email re the initial plan, and will tell you about it. I found a loaded 04, Toyota Cert used, with only 15k miles (and a clean looking oil filler). More later.

 

[Terry]

OMG, that was a poster child for Dyson Analysis,GC,LC,FP,K&N,USMC,TSA,Katrina,..I am crushed...........

 

[ekpolk]

Well look at the bright side, now you can add "MPG" to the list. . .

Just shot you an email.

 

[jsharp]

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Critic:
Reliability wise, American vehicles seem to be comparable to the rest.

I think the real difference, aside from perception, is that the import offerings have more technological features, better styling, and better interior quality/refinement. The domestic vehicles are very bland and the interiors seem to be a bit lacking compared to the import offerings, which can really turn off many buyers.

---

This is one of the things we haven't seen in our family. The Japanese vehicles have been substantially more reliable.

Comparing my 4Runner to my daughters 1 year newer Grand Cherokee at the same miles was laughable. My Toyota needs the radio mast replaced and the rear hatch handle sticks because it's starting to rust. The Jeep needed over $1000 worth of work done had she kept it, and that's not including the way the transmission was starting to act or the stuff they'd had to fix along the way.

Same with her Camry vs. her Taurus. At 5K miles the Taurus had already been in the shop a couple of times to have electrical items replaced and she was probably sitting on a couple of recalls she hadn't gotten done yet. They've done nothing to the Camry but change the oil and drive it.

One thing I forgot - When she stopped at the local Toyota dealer to get an oil filter they told her to run 5w30 in the car and not 5W-20. They said it's what they use in all of them. She asked me and I told her since she was going to use M1 and change it every 5K it would be fine either way but to make sure it was documented for warranty.

 

[lght1]

Hi

The problem with the Prius is that it is ugly as sin.

Then there are those batteries to contend with....