Can Anything Stop Toyota?

Debating which is better is kid stuff, they ALL build some that are not up to snuff. If total sales count for quality and reliability then that would indicate GM builds the best quality and offers the best value. Toyota indeed outsold Ford worldwide by few thousand vehicles in the third quarter. What the Toyota fanatics don't tell you is Ford outsells Toyota nearly three to one in the US. The one bad Toyota one once owned does not make all Toyotas bad anymore than does one bad GM or Ford one owned make all GM's Fords bad. For some reason a hand full of Toyota owners that hang in the NG's seem paranoid or have an inferiority complex and try to justify their preference by denigrating anything else. From what I see in our business all manufactures are building good vehicles today, the only real difference is style and price. I would suggest one drive and get a total drive home price, then buy the style and brand that best suit their needs and budget and get on with their life.

mike hunt

Vuarra wrote:

Mike,

I just got rid of my 2003 cadillac cts, traded it in for a 2004 Lexus ES330. There was this burning smell (extremely strong) in the caddy that 5 trips to the dealer did not cure. That was my last attempt with GM... no matter the incentive...

Dan

Toyota makes good vehicle but that IS their problem, they are way overpriced compared to their competitors. My one son was looking for a new car and didn't want another Accord because he had problems with his '01. He ended up buying a loaded 2003 Sable because it cost him over $9,000 LESS to drive home than a loaded V6 Camry. Many buy them anyway because they believe they are getting a better vehicle. To each his own I guess, but nearly $250 more a month on a three year loan makes a big difference to a lot of people.. As too the so-called superior trade value of Japanese cars, dealers were offering him $3,000 below wholesale for his '01. He decided to keep it for his daughter rather than give it away in trade.

mike hunt

"" wrote:

MSRP is meaningless by itself. Go get yourself a total drive home price and find out which actually costs less before you buy, would be my advice. There are incentives, rebates, dealer discounts on one hand. ADM's, different equipment and option that dealers require you to buy on the other, that add to the MSRP as well as differences in interest rates. The true drive home price is the actual amount of your check or the total of your monthly payments to drive home that vehicle. My one son recently bought a fully loaded 2003 V6 family sedan. The three different brands he looked at had MSRP's that were only a bit over $4,000 apart. The one he bought had a total drive home price $8,600 LESS than one brand and $9,400 LESS than the other brand at which the dealers were willing to sell the cars to him.

mike hunt

snipped-for-privacy@mac.com.nospam wrote:

The reason it seems is the same as yours, he didn't want to keep spend anymore of his money on Toyota parts. I can see why you would go to a Ford dealer for your parts. A hell of lot cheaper than Toyota parts that's for sure. LOL

mike hunt

"Philip" wrote:

I had several Lexus V8's, great cars but they became way overpriced and the dealers were gougers. I have been driving Lincoln LS V8's, don't like under powered V6's, since I bought a 2000 in '99. No problems with any of the Toyotas or the Fords, all good vehicles. I like saving the money rather than a preference for any manufacture, except I do prefer to buy vehicles made in the US of US parts by US corporate tax paying American manufactures. ;)

mike hunt

"Dan JCS." wrote:

Hogwash!

What if I said I had a brother that owned a Toyota dealership and he gave me a price that no-one else could match, way under MSRP. Or maybe I "knew" someone in the Ford dealership and they shot me a price that no-one else could match. Or maybe I'm just better at whistling a deal than everybody else.

Let's compare apples to apples not apples to spoiled tomatos.

Dale

Then I suppose you would get a Toyota or a Ford at price that no-one else could match. But the post said;

$30205. I betcha I got more standard stuff on my 04 >Sienna LE than that Caravan SXT.

And that my friend was the purpose of my reply. OK?

mike hunt

snipped-for-privacy@mac.com.nospam wrote:

Bob, sour grape juice on you too? :-D

Suck it up, get over it!

Mike... are you drinking again... still? What are you talking about? Have another go at it!

LOL...you are jokeing are you not??

You own a 1995 Escort and didn't like the Celica?

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...quality is important to me...and I buy a Ford Escort????????

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scott in Florida

Ha!

We can only hope!

Mike, hogwash. We are in an area full of dealers and its the usual mix of used cars. Heck, we have gobs of domestics, wonder what stories that would tell?

Exactly. $9000 buys a whole new engine and transmission, plus a few thousand left over to put in the bank. I can't imagine any car needing more than $9K in maintainence over its lifetime(figure

10 years after the warranty expires), and that would break even with the Toyota's base purchase price.

Then there's the extra you pay in taxes and registration for a $9K sales price difference. Oh - and don't forget that $9K is a lot of interest over three years. That $9K grows to close to $12K over the life, so even if the Ford costs four times to maintain, you are going to end up several thousand ahead.

FWIW, let's take Edmunds' "true market value":

Grand Caravan SE 3.3: $23,328 Sienna LE 3.3: $24,260

Moreover, according to the site's estimates on cost of ownership over

5 years, due mostly to lower depreciation and even with higher insurance costs, the Sienna edges the Caravan out by about $3,000.

It seems that it comes down to paying up front more and along the way (insurance) but then collecting proportionately even more at the end, which may actually cheapen the deal on the replacement (better trade in value).

These numbers suggest that the Sienna is a better deal than the Caravan, at least money-wise. It's up to the buyers to decide if the cars that both are meet their preferences and priorities.

To some people the Sienna is going to be more apealing, to others, the Caravan is, and not necessarily for the same reasons.

It's just great to be in the most competitive car market on the planet!

This is based on the results for the third quarter only. For the model year Ford is still ahead. It is possible that Toyota might overtake Ford for the model year if Toyota has a very strong fourth quarter, but it doesn't seem likely given the strong sales of the new F150. Third qurter truck sales for Ford were somewhat depressed becasue a lot of people were waiting to see the new F150. The biggest thing hurting Ford car sales is the lack of new models. They won't start appearing until next year. Toyota may finish #2 for the year or they may not. If this happens the Ford execs only need to look in the mirror to understand why. Instead of spending money to develop new vehicles thye bought Volvo. t wasn't profitiable before Ford bought it, and probaly never will be.

Ed

that's why i hate my subaru. i thought i was buying a good japanese car, and then after i started having a number of problems, i found out that fugi heavy industries is 20% gm. i bet that 20% of cost cutting crap is what made my subaru suck.

mike

Naw Subaru made your Subaru suck, they always did suck with their

1950's technology. Subaru almost went out of business in the US until they put bigger wheels, lights, and wheel well flares on their station wagons and started calling them SUV's. Brilliant marking move on their part that saved their ass ;)

mike bunt

Mike Deskevich wrote: