Camry is the car most frequently traded in for Malibu

I bought a first year Corolla in 1980; my other choice was a three year old design, the Chevy Citation...

The fact that they are buying an American car is evidence that they aren't better educated.

What about the Pinto and Pacer? Two of the best cars America ever made! ;-)

And Toyota left in 1958 and didn't return until 1960 or so.

I think the person that suggested selling the Toyopet in the US committed Hari Kari...

I second that. Been burned by the big three too many times (new 'big three' purchases: six). Got three Toyota's in the driveway now. Never ever going back to ripoff city...

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My whole family has changed to Toyota and we are not going back.

Glad you like the brand you buy but have you priced new cars lately? One of my sons recently priced '08 models of the Fusion, Milan, Malibu, Accord and a Camry. All were V6 models similarly well equipped.

Approximate MSRP Fusion 26K, Milan 27K, Malibu 26K, Accord 29K and a Camry

32K. Drive home price with his Rav4 trade Fusion 9K, Milan 9.5K, Malibu 10.6K, Accord 14K and a Camry 16K.

Guess which dealer offered the lowest price for his Rav4? Guess which two dealerships have the highest shop rates. He loves his Milan ;)

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Ford is running an ad campaign now that says they have caught up to Toyota for quality. One of the American Big Three is admitting in a national advertising campaign that Toyota is the benchmark. I thought I'd never see that day ...

I'm sure he does for now, most troll relatives do.

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Why? Toyotas have a higher resale value than the Michigan 3 (they're not the big 3 anymore - Toyota is the biggest in the world; and they're not all based in Detroit) cars as a percentages of the original price, in part, because people perceive that they are more reliable.

Jeff

Thank g-d no one pays MSRP. Also thankfully you got the Camry MSRP out of thin air. The Camry LE V6 has an MSRP of $24,450, with a street price of well under $22K.

Also, unless you are doing almost exclusively mountain driving, the I4 Camry is more powerful than you'd need.

Where the Camry really makes sense is in the longevity. Buying one car in ten years versus two in ten years is a huge savings.

Thank you Captain Obvious.

There are people in this newsgroup who don't seem to understand this. What might be obvious to thinking people like you and I is not obvious to others.

jeff

In this case, I think you have the answer to that question! ;P

I can't imagine a company admitting that they were matching a quality level that mediocre. I think it is a very poor claim. Sort of like claiming your hamburger is just as good as the Big Mac.

Ed

Why do people assume that Toyotas last so much longer than domestic cars? I'll admit I rarely keep a car for 10 years, but in the two cases recently where I did, I had no significant problems (F150 - 14 years, 1986 Mercury Sable -10 years). My SO's old Camry was a smoking, oil dripping, heap of crap in less than 10 years. Not that either case proves anything. How and where the vehicle is driven and how it is maintained probably have a lot more to do with how long it lasts than who built it. Right how we have a 9 year old Ranger on my farm - the worst thing that happened to it in 9 years was my son - he managed to rip off the front air deflector and rear mud flap driving it around in fields. Otherwise it runs fine. I think the only non-teenager related repair needed in the last nine years was an IAC ($55). I can point out plenty of 10 to 15 year old F150s running around with no serious problems. The world is full of 20 year old Tarui. The taxi fleet in Raleigh, NC is mostly made up of 10 year old or older Ford Crown Victorias that were purchased from the state surplus lot (old highway patrol cars). Unless you can factor out the who, where, how driven, and how maintained for different vehicles, I don't think you can support a claim that Toyotas will last twice as long as domestic cars.

Ed

I am not so sure this is true. I fact the cars I have kept the longest were 1 or 2 year old models:

1986 Mercury Sable - 10 years, 147,000 miles - great car 1997 Expedition - only kept 5 years, but 150,000 miles, really happy with the vehicle, bought another 2003 Expedition (new model) - only kept 5 years, but 100k miles (happy with it except for the 14 mpg) 2007 Fusion - currently has 30K miles, never been back to the dealer 2001 Escape (my Sisters vehicle - nice vehicle, minimal problems (brake booster was only significant repair) 2005 Freestyle (my Mother's car) - only repair was broken third seat cover (jammed the cover and broke a clip) 2007 RAV4 (SO's car) - two minor problems - wacky cruise control and rear seat latches not connected, otherwise perfect

In fact I can only think of one "new" model I ever was sorry I bought - a 1981 Plymouth Reliant K. It definitely needed the bugs worked out. I think I visited the dealer at least once a month for the

10 months I owned the car. On the other hand, because of the runaway inflation of the early 1980's I got a great deal when I traded it in on an Audi.

Ed

"Jeff" wrote in message news:AOtQj.1879$Zs1.1212@trndny07...

My family owned two Pinto. I personally considered them two of the best vehicles we ever owned. I purchased a new 1972 hatchback in August of 1972 and drove it until I completed college in 1975. While in college I autocrossed the Pinto at least twice a month. When I graduated from college I sold the Pinto to my Sister who drove it to college for 3 more years. When she graduated, I bought it back and autocrossed if for a few more months, but decided I really did not want a 7 year old car without A/C. I sold it for $600. In the 7 or so years "we" owned it, it had two failures - I burned up the starter because I bought a tank of gas that was 25% water, and a broken throttle cable which broke because I had shortened it to raise the gas pedal for autocrossing. The car was basically indestructible. My older Sister also had a Pinto - a 1973 hatchback. She drove it for 7 years. It did have a transmission problem (probably because she never had the fluid changed or the bands adjusted). When she got a new car, I purchase her old Pinto to use temporarily while my car was undergoing repairs because of an accident. When I got my "regular" car back, I sold that Pinto to a co-worker. His children used it while they were in college. He never had any problems with it, and although he was definitely not a Ford person, he would tell you it was one of the toughest cars ever made. After all his kids were through college, he sold the car for as much as he gave me for it.

Most people who say bad things about Pintos, never owned one, or if they did, it was used one that had been beat to death and/or poorly maintained.

Ed

And now they sold the plastics division to the Chinese....

Ed