From: Vic Smith on
On Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:32:38 -0400, "C. E. White"
<cewhite3(a)mindspring.com> wrote:

>

>
>> The problem I see is that those rankings don't list the actual
>> percentages. They could be closely grouped together. No one argues that
>> Toyotas and Hondas have greater longevity and reliability than Fords or
>> Chevys, the debate is over how much greater longevity and how much greater
>> reliability.
>
>This is a ridiculous claim. If you said, "I believe" Toyota and Hondas have
>greater reliability, then I coudn't argue about what you believe. If you
>said many people believe that Toyotas and Hondas have greater reliability
>that Fords and Chevies, then I'd actually agree with you. But I certainly
>can argue about the corretness of this belief. It is my personal experince
>that Toyotas and particualrly Hondas, are not as durable as American cars.

You have to specify a model/engine.
What Toyota and Honda have done is concentrate on putting quality and
engineering in what they want to sell.
The domestic brands seldom do that.
That's why Camry/Corolla/Accord/Civic have done well.
Although I believe the general public holds onto certain myths,
there's a basis in the Toyota/Honda myths.
With domestics you have to pick well, and if you're a new car buyer
hope it works out.
I'm a Chevy fan, but I buy used and know what I'm getting.
Spend very little per mile driven.
I'm sure the same can be done with Fords, but I don't know them.
But if I were to buy new, I might go for a Toyota or Honda.
Probably feel more secure about getting good engineering and a company
that stands behind their cars, and also because the Chevys are
foreign-built. I don't like sending money over the border.

--Vic




From: dsi1 on
Nate Nagel wrote:
>
> At the time that I had them, aftermarket support for the A1 chassis cars
> was very good. I was able to keep them going on a shoestring budget.
> Didn't have most of the "typical" failures either. I did rebuild the
> suspensions on several of them but they had enough miles that I didn't
> consider it a failure of the car and the parts were cheap (well, except
> for the Koni struts - I did one car with cheap Boges and learned that
> sometimes you only get what you pay for and no more) and it was an easy
> job.

My experience was similar for my Rabbit and Scirroco. They used to sell
a spark plugs and point set at K-mart on the rack in a bubble package.
That's nice! OTOH, my guess is that most folks had a tougher time at it.

>
> Of course if you're not a DIY type that changes radically... paying
> someone to do that stuff can add up.
>
> nate
>
From: mark hoffman on
Hachiroku ハチロク wrote:
> C. E. White wrote:
>> A Toyota commercial they are running in my area claims that 80% of
>> all Toyota sold in the last 20 years are still on the road.
>
> And I personally own about half of them...


I have driven my 98 Toyota Avalon more this week, than my almost new 09 Kia.

But the Kia is probably going on a road trip to SC in November.

The Avalon, I just bought last Saturday... hopped in it, and proceeded to
drive it 30 some odd miles from SE OK to SW AR where I live. Stereo, cruise,
a/c all work, and its only got 163,000 miles on it.

Its status will be a daily driver/errand runner to keep miles off the new
Kia.

From: SMS on
dr_jeff wrote:
> Mike Hunter wrote:
>> How smart is a buyer that will pay 20% to 30% more to buy a Toyota,
>> that they think is "better," when there are plenty of cars that are
>> just as good, have bigger engines and get fuel mileage that is as
>> good, or better than, a comparable Toyota?
>
> They are real smart, because the Toyotas give then better service for a
> longer time at a lower overall price. And they like their cars.

That's the bottom line. They are smart enough to understand that
spending $20K every 15 years is more cost effective than spending $18K
every seven years. It's not hard math, and that explains the sales
trends of Toyota versus Ford or GM. Fortunately for Ford and GM there
are still enough buyers out there that are bad at math.
From: Jules on
On Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:37:57 -0600, Vic Smith wrote:
> I'm a Chevy fan, but I buy used and know what I'm getting.
> Spend very little per mile driven.
> I'm sure the same can be done with Fords, but I don't know them.
> But if I were to buy new, I might go for a Toyota or Honda.
> Probably feel more secure about getting good engineering and a company
> that stands behind their cars, and also because the Chevys are
> foreign-built. I don't like sending money over the border.

If you always buy used it's not sending money over the border, regardless
of what you get - or at least that's how I look at it.