I saw a chart listing cost of ownership by brand over the first five and the next five years. Toyota was lowest cost by far, Porsche the worst. Made me think of this thread.

I bought a Tundra in 2002. I went to a Dodge dealership first, then a Ford, but the salespeople there were intolerable and I refused to give them any of my hard-earned money. Just BS games, attempted psych-outs, TONS of time wasting, and condescension even. I went to the Toyota dealership fully armed with dealer cost, flooring allowance, rebates and incentives, average sale price for the area, etc., and I walked in and told the sales rep what I wanted. He said what do you want to pay for it (he saw all my paperwork) and I told him. He said OK and that was it. Paid cash, spent 3 minutes listening to financing and extended warranty options which I declined with no pushback, left with the truck. Still have it, runs great. Paint got funny but at least now it looks like a real truck. I might have been happier with a different truck but the way they ran their dealership is why I bought there.

Its best not to cloud a thread like this with reality. There are people who really want to drive the lowest cost of ownership vehicles and there are people that are still stuck on the theory that they are somehow "buying American"..even though they are not. No use clouding the issue with facts.

You mean like an Italian automaker that sells cars built in Canada with engines from Mexico?

My only interest in Toyota is the location of the red batphone button that when pushed every Toyota will simultaneously self destruct. I loathe, despise them.

My only interest in Toyota is the location of the red batphone button that when pushed every Toyota will simultaneously self destruct. I loathe, despise them.

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Similar to that, yea. You know, where ALL the profits head to a foreign country. Yea...something like that.

Not quite there but close lol. 3-1/2 hours just pulling timing chain cover off, 22 thousand bolts, water pump hoses behind alternator, motor mount center bolt hidden up under mount, oil and water all over ground, every conceivable bracket, wire, clip is connected to that front cover plus valve cover. The intake will have to come off to replace the heater hose that I had cut with a knife, broke the bypass nipple on radiator (maybe I can fix) glad I took pics! Chain from Toyota was $325, the whole package from auto zone (both chains, tensioner, followers and oil pump sprockets) $219. I can see the 11 hours flat rate to fix now I’m beat and still got to put it all back tomorrow. I watched a vid on changing the chain, looked like a piece of cake, NOT!! Ya need midget hands and good back to work on it.

It's interesting when a person is loyal to a domestic company and shows that loyalty by hating that company's foreign competitors...... All the while that domestic company DOES NOT hate the foreign competition and in fact has had a business partnership with said Japanese competing company since the late 1970s. Chrysler partnered with Mitsubishi in the late 70s. They even used VW made engines in their early Ominis. Ford partnered with Mazda and GM partnered with Isuzu and even at times with Toyota, Suzuki and Korean car manufacturers. If I had the disposable income Id drive new every 2 and not have a care in the world concerning long term reliability. But the days of the GM 3.8 V6 and the Ford pushrod 302/351 are long gone and the current offerings are fragile, too reliant on tech and expensive- unreliable shadows of their predecessors.

Sounds like it might have been easier to pull the motor 🤔

But the days of the GM 3.8 V6 and the Ford pushrod 302/351 are long gone and the current offerings are fragile, too reliant on tech and expensive. All are unreliable shadows of their predecessors.