Why we drive Toyotas

We're still driving our 95 Previa that we bought used at 90,000 miles, we now have 146,000 on it 3 years later, and it's getting used quite a bit. We like that S/C, even if the dealer thought it stood for Swivel Chairs! We're going to keep her as long as we can. Needs someone that really knows how to tune her. The Toyota dealer didn't know how to deal with the S/C and tuned her down to 16 mpg. She got about 22 before her first tuning.

Charles

Sure. Perform preventative maintenance and replace worn out parts. But on a Ford, the chances of parts wearing out faster are a LOT greater.

BUT! When we used to sell cars (er, *I*; my boss still does...) we'd sell a Corolla or a Civic for a few thousand more than an Escort. Good for us, bad for you, since I really LIKE the Escorts, and they are mostly a Mazda, anyway. A real bargain that a lot of people walk right by for the others...

Nice...a Toyota Dealer who deosn't know the vehicles...

There are a LOT of good mecahnics where I work who can answer questions just from a description, BUT...

the dealer in my home town has people that have been there, it seems, for EONS. These guys know the old ones as well ans the new ones. They are great, even if Jim isn't there anymore, right, Ray?

Absolutely! There used to be a young guy, very sharp. I think his name was Mike. I used to hate it when he'd ask for help because it would only be tough ones!

They had a bunch of good ones. I took my hachi there and explained it had a leak, and he TOLD me what to do to fix it, which took all of 5 minutes and a can of penetrating oil, instead of charging me $100 to do it!

They are all pretty nice there...

Which is why the owner doesn't have a huge yacht, private jet, ranch in Montana...

That was perhaps the old owner...things have changed slightly. If you remember the Ford dealer there, when the Petrin's decided to sell the owner of the Ford dealership bought it. Might have just as well set up a printing press in his cellar.

He lives about 2 miles from me. What a BIG difference 2 miles can make...

If it is the same owner since Petrin's sold, he seemed like a decent guy, although I didn't call on him as long as I did on Jim. Unfortunately, Jim was almost too nice to compete with other dealers.

He is a pretty nice guy, but he IS a car dealer. Nowhere NEAR as bad as the guy who owns the place where I work. Like you read about...

No one can match Jim and his brother..or their Dad, either...

All is not lost... There are some pretty good guys on the Cape and in NH & VT.

I was going to go to work for Roundtree but they sold off the Toyota division...

And I bought my 1980 from, at that time, a 'new' dealer in NH, Nashua or Salem (Salem, I believe...)

Don't know Roundtree. Are they in CT? If so, that is the NY Region's territory.

The dealer in Nashua sold Volvos and Toyotas and had been in business for a fairly long time in 1980.

The dealer in Salem had just changed hands about that time. The buyer was my old boss who left wholesale to go to retail.

Putney or Bellow Falls, VT. BF, I think... They had a Ford dealership in Brattleboro...still do. Wanted me for a salesman, but when I heard they sold the Toyota dealership, I thought twice.

Why would anyone SELL a Toyota dealership??? Isn't that like having a license to print money???

Must have been your old boos then! I bought mine in Salem and the dealership said they were the NEW Toyta Dealership in Salem NH.

Got a good deal, too...I paid JUST sticker (no ADMU). This was actually pretty rare around this time, because Toyotas were REALLY taking off. I had to wait 8 days for my car to come up from Jersey. I almost bought a Corona Hatch they had sitting on the lot. Believe it or not, it was REDUCED because it was the FIRST car on the lot after the changeover and they wanted to move it. Know why I didn't? It had bigger tires, and that meant it would be more expensive to replace the tires!!! I wonder how that car would have been and think about it every now and then.

But then I remember I got 224,000 out of the Corolls with hardly ANY repairs AT ALL!!!

Bellows Falls used to have Fall Mountain Ford/Toyota, right on the river. The owners were getting up there in years, they probably took the money and ran.

Some owners did make enough money to retire...

By the time my boss bought the dealership, Coronas were history, they were replaced with Camrys. The Camry hatchback was a decent car, my sister bought one of my demos. The only thing was that the huge rear hatch had a tendency to rattle if not adjusted just right.