Ford vs. Toyota Trucks

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"spaminator"? not something to call yourself if you want a serious answer.

HOWEVER... I would point back, historically, to C.R.'s reviews of other imports...and conclude that I would NEVER buy a car based on what they think of it.

Same with Car and Driver.... "Audi" comes to mind, nuff said.

I had a 1999 Tacoma, love it. When we traded in the Toy for the F-150 my neighboor RAN to the Ford dealer and bought my Tacoma. I mean he really did run down there. He was mad that I didn't offer him my truck before trading it in. The Toyota was a great truck but it couldn't do the job of towing our horse trailer. Didn't want to buy another Toy cause they cost to much. Our F150 is fantastic and really does the job. Plus its an amercian truck made in america by americans and the money stayed here not over in Jap ville

Jake

a lot of these magazines are biased. I have to trust in consumer reports whatsoever. the BEST people to ask an opinion on, are the people who own and drive the cars every single day. I deal with people every day coming in for parts for their toyota's, honda's, ford's and chevy's. the toyota's have problems too, they just don't get the advertisement that the American manufacturers get.

Your first mistake is trusting Consumer Reports data. It is virtually meaningless. It is more a reflection of advertising than reality. I just went through the exercise of trying to select a new crew cab pickup to replace my 2003 Expedition and also partially replace my 13 year old F150. I decided on three possible vehicles - Chevrolet Colorado Crew Cab, Toyota Tundra Double Cab, and Ford F250 Crew Cab. We could call these small, medium, and large. I ruled out the Ranger, Frontier, and Tacoma as being too small. I ruled out the Silverado because it is too unreliable (at least based on other local farmer's experiences). I ruled out the new F150 because it cost almost as much as an F250 and I just don't find it appealing. I ruled out the Titan because it is rolling piece of overpriced junk. It seems like they combined the worst feature of all the other 1/2 tom pick-ups, made it look incredibly cheap, and then slapped on a ridiculous price. I ruled out any Dodge product because I already made that mistake once.

I test drove my three finalist:

Colorado Crew - Too small, bed way to small, cheap looking, over priced. The salesman told me he could sell me a Silverado for the same price or less.

Tundra Double Cab - Limited head room. The slowest steering I have ever seen. Nice finish. The "perfect" size. Nicest cleanest engine compartment of the bunch. I tried three different ones and they all made piston slap noises when the salesman started them (I though Ford an an exclusive on this). The Tundra was only about 1000 more than the Colorado. The dealer low balled me on my trade (a 2003 Expedition).

Ford F250 Screw Cab - Nice Truck. Lots of room. Drove nicely. Cool Tow Command System. Well finished. The 5.4L in the F250 I drove did not make the piston slap noise (Wow!). Best transmission. I could have bought this truck for about the same as the Tundra because Ford would give me a reasonable amount for my Expedition. However, it actually too big.

In the end I decided my old F150 can make it at least 2 more years and that the Expedition will just have to make it to

200,000 miles.

My Father has owned nothing but Ford trucks since 1955. Over that time I can only remember one serious failure - I burned the clutch out of a 1967 F100 with a three speed. Other than that I don't think he has ever had one in the shop overnight. In fact I doubt if he has paid much over $1000 total in repairs over the last 50 years on all of the Ford Trucks he has owned. And he is not someone who just rides around town in his tuck. Until recently he worked the trucks hard in really nasty conditions. The 1992 F150 I own is my second Ford Truck. I previously had a hand me down Ranger from my Father. My F150 has about 94,000 miles. Over the past 13 years I have had to replace one alternator, one starter, a couple of mufflers, one fuel pump, and had the A/C recharged once. Most of these item were in the last 2 years. Given the age of the truck this does not seem excessive. And since my truck is only used as a farm vehicle, the miles have all been hard, often very dirty miles.

I really liked the Tundra. It was the best size. If the dealer had given me a reasonable price, I'd probably own one today. However, I have no illusions about it being the equal of a Ford as a work truck. For my projected use which was going to involve a lot of highway miles (it was primarily replacing my Expedition, not the F150 directly) so the second rate durability was not much of a concern. However, I have seen a couple of Tundra that were used like my old F150. It is not a pretty sight. If you are buying a ride around truck, or something to tow a small boat, then Tundra is probably a really good choice (if you can get it at a reasonable price). However, if you are buying a real work truck, get a Ford F250. Unfortunately I think the F150 is moving toward the Chevrolet/Toyota end of the scale (i.e., "cars" with frames disguised to look like trucks).

Ed

Actually I believe almost the worst source of information is car owners. In the past, the CR reliability rating were a joke. I can remember when Buicks used to get great rating, while similar Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs got mediocre or terrible marks. In many cases the cars were built on the same assembly lines, by the same workers, using mostly the same parts. In many cases I think car owners just repeat what the advertising (which includes most US magazine road "tests") has told them. I've owned a Toyota, my SO has owned a Toyota, and I have several friends who still own Toyotas. The Toyota I owned was a rancid piece of crap, but I know it may not have been typical of all Toyotas. However, I don't know anyone who has owned a Toyota that I though was particularly outstanding. I can assure you that Customers were lined up at the Toyota service facility this AM, just like they were at the Ford dealer. Just this morning I had to pick-up a friend at the BMW service facility. This is a mega dealer, and he sells Hondas, Mercedes, and BMWs from the same row of dealerships. Plus there is a Saturn and Lexus dealership on either side. So, I rode by all 5 this morning. Before the stores opened there were about 6 cars waiting at the Honda store, only two at the Mercedes store,

12 at the Lexus store, 4 at the Saturn store, and at least 10 at the BMW store. However, while I was waiting for my friend, the BMW store opened and they started moving cars out of the overnight area. At about this time, the BMWs started pouring into the lot. In fact they were coming in so fast at the BMW store, I got trapped in the line (I was driving one of those crappy unreliable Saturns). I was in shock. They had three guys moving the BMWs to the back lot and they were coming in as fast as they could move them out of the way. All seemed quiet at the other service locations when I was leaving, so I have to wonder about BMWs. Guess who will never ever buy a BMW.

Ed

My Contour was C&D ten best. And , after only 112,000 mi it is still going. The only thing I had to pay for are oil and filter changes, a couple of wheel bearings, some brakes and a few light bulbs.

However, C&D ratings have to be taken with shaker-full of salt.

Jeff