Why buy a Toyota?

RobRoy said:
My first new car purchase was a 1977 Subaru DL. I fell in love with that boxer engine thanks to that car. This is going to be hard for anyone to believe, but I drove that thing for 135k miles and when I sold it I subtracted the sale price from the total cost of owning the car and added up everything from gas, to insurance, brake jobs, tires, etc. Total cost per mile: Six cents.
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my 1996 Jeep Cherokee was $1200 used, put an additional 175,000 on the odo, only cost was gas, oil changes, and tires.

as a new car also needs these things they don't figure into my equation

So purchase price vs miles driven $.0068, so less than a penny

a new Jeep Cherokee conservatively priced at $50,000? For the same miles to dollars ratio, 7,292,666 miles, ya I would say I got my money's worth lol.
 
Grenadeslio said:
my 1996 Jeep Cherokee was $1200 used, put an additional 175,000 on the odo, only cost was gas, oil changes, and tires.

as a new car also needs these things they don't figure into my equation

So purchase price vs miles driven $.0068, so less than a penny

a new Jeep Cherokee conservatively priced at $50,000? For the same miles to dollars ratio, 7,292,666 miles, ya I would say I got my money's worth lol.
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My brother had a friend that ran a "corporate" leasing company and would sell my brother lease returns. Via this method, He was able to purchase a two year old early Lexus. He put a LOT of miles on that thing and just couldn't bring himself to replace it because most repairs were less than what one month's car payment would be. He did finally replace it with another lexus via the same method. And now that one is getting "long in the tooth" but still saving him a ton of money. The thing is beautiful, has a very nice light colored interior and, frankly, there is no need to move on for him.

FWIW, I have not sold a car used in quite a while. They are either traded in for $500 or taken to the junk yard. I use 'em up. It does mean that sometimes I'm seen in a very nice brand new car and other times I'm seen in a "crack addict's beater".

i.e. be careful about judging a driver by the car they drive.
 
Shadowdog said:
Great thanks! I assume the truck is a V6 as they sold more of them , but you never know!

So the best thing is to swap in the old big 727 based (hydraulic) OD trans while they still are around.
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Maybe, but with the little V6 and passenger use the little factory trans may need only one good rebuild. My understanding is that everybody now knows the weaknesses and what to upgrade in them. About $1500.
 
Wont get anywhere close to 30 mpg either.
Eats electronics like I eat potato chips.
Dodges are the other end of the truck spectrum. Build quality is atrocious.
 
Dodges mostly have problems with poor sealing on the electrical connections so they get dirty, My 1987 has had a few of those problems , but actually only the $5 ballast resitor has died. The truck has many miles on it also. I also have a 93 & 95 3/4T Cummins 4X4 trucks purchased used and the owners I knew said they had had no electrical problems. .

The AT in the 95 should be rebuilt at 100K miles and heavy duty clutches used along with a cooler added and has been rebuilt now with 200K miles/325KM The Gretag 5sp std. in the 93 is weak behind the Cummins and does need rebuilding though i does have 170K miles/275K KM.

Body rust is an issue of course in my climate! The steering linkage (between the box and the column) is weak and wears and can be replaced with a much better setup from Borgeson. The steering box on 94+ should also be braced up and a better track rod installed which the aftermarket makes affordably. The 93 and earlier 4x4 has king pins so they last but the 94 and up Ball Joints don't so the aftermarket takes care of that from 2 sources with rebuildable ones.

They say the headlight switches don't last and haven't had that problem, but relays at the headlights added will make them last along with the floor mounted dimmer switch on my 1987 D-150 I had to replace. The connector burned up also from getting hot so I had to replace it. On that truck the connector at the firewall mounted voltage regulator heated up, thus loosing the connection and I just re3connected it and all is fine. I will buy a new connector and use dielectric grease!. That 87 also just developed a turn signal switch problem, maybe just in the connectors, but the truck does have probably 200K miles or more!

Id say the the 70's Chev/GM trucks in my experience had 0 electrical or other problems except maybe the small block V8 engines weren't as durable. BB 454 was tough , but used the fuel!

Road salt use largely here this century verse just sand earlier I think makes the difference also!

As mentioned at least you can haul/tow decent loads safely and reliably.

Late model Dodges seem to be very abundant around here along with more Fords. Less GM than either as the nearest dealer is almost 100 miles/155KM away.

I'd say the build quality looks great on late model Dodges to me and all makes have improved!
 
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Shadowdog said:
Dodges mostly have problems with poor sealing on the electrical connections so they get dirty, My 1987 has had a few of those problems , but actually only the $5 ballast resitor has died. The truck has many miles on it also. I also have a 93 & 95 3/4T Cummins 4X4 trucks purchased used and the owners I knew said they had had no electrical problems. .

The AT in the 95 should be rebuilt at 100K miles and heavy duty clutches used along with a cooler added and has been rebuilt now with 200K miles/325KM The Gretag 5sp std. in the 93 is weak behind the Cummins and does need rebuilding though i does have 170K miles/275K KM.

Body rust is an issue of course in my climate! The steering linkage (between the box and the column) is weak and wears and can be replaced with a much better setup from Borgeson. The steering box on 94+ should also be braced up and a better track rod installed which the aftermarket makes affordably. The 93 and earlier 4x4 has king pins so they last but the 94 and up Ball Joints don't so the aftermarket takes care of that from 2 sources with rebuildable ones.

They say the headlight switches don't last and haven't had that problem, but relays at the headlights added will make them last along with the floor mounted dimmer switch on my 1987 D-150 I had to replace. The connector burned up also from getting hot so I had to replace it. On that truck the connector at the firewall mounted voltage regulator heated up, thus loosing the connection and I just re3connected it and all is fine. I will buy a new connector and use dielectric grease!. That 87 also just developed a turn signal switch problem, maybe just in the connectors, but the truck does have probably 200K miles or more!

Id say the the 70's Chev/GM trucks in my experience had 0 electrical or other problems except maybe the small block V8 engines weren't as durable. BB 454 was tough , but used the fuel!

Road salt use largely here this century verse just sand earlier I think makes the difference also!

As mentioned at least you can haul/tow decent loads safely and reliably.

Late model Dodges seem to be very abundant around here along with more Fords. Less GM than either as the nearest dealer is almost 100 miles/155KM away.

I'd say the build quality looks great on late model Dodges to me and all makes have improved!
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The “family farm” on my dads side since the 1840’s has been using only IH (other family built them) or Dodge since the 1940’s, in my lifetime my grandfather then my uncle ran it and now a 1st cousins does. They have quite a few Dodges from the 60’s thru 2015ish including a couple Dakotas chugging away without any major issues that I am aware of (being gearheads we discuss often). Being Ohio rust is the biggest killer. Not saying they don’t have issues (all brands do) just that most peoples car opinions (even from personnel experience) have a lot of bias built in…
 
Had a Toyota in today with 297k on the clock.
The original Alternator was on the way out, and during the process I replaced the original radiator.
The original serpentine belt looks good enough I could not justify selling him a new one.
One idler was also noisy.
Bill came to 1200, but its probably his first major service on the truck.
At 300,000
Why buy a Toyota?
That's why.

Only complaint I have is that it pays 5 hours to put an alternator on the truck, and I spent every minute of that doing it.
Frankly I'd rather work on a quality truck like this Toyota than the Chrysler products that have plagued me lately.
 
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@trainbuftony Lemme get this straight..

Replaced Alternator which necessitates taking off belt....
Replaced Radiator..
bill was 1200.00 and didnt sell him a new belt????

If I were customer I would have told you to replace belt while installing new alternator...Seems pennywise and pound foolish IMO
 
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