So I see Toyota's 4.0 has 235hp and fords is only 207. I guess I'm getting a Toyota Tacoma then and leaving the ranger 2.5l I have behind. Lets face it Toyota is better anyway.

 

they've got a much better off road packge too. the fx4 package is a joke i got three puny *** skidplates that are little more than a novelty.

 

What good is hp? Most of what we feel and use, power wise, is torque. Did you happen to compare that? Also, what's the difference in the power band between the two? Lastly, did you see the tests recently that showed Toyota consistently over-rates their HP numbers? IIRC, it some cases it was by 10% or more. I think it was in Car and Driver or some such.

 

I prefer as much as possible to keep the profits from my business transactions in the US of A and not send them overseas (fuels trade deficit). As a reminder, December 7th, is just around the corner. Then there's the subject of insurance costs. As for better, I would love to expand on that but I'd have to include politics. That's a no-no in this forum. They're not the #1 seller in the catagory for obvious reasons.

 

I read that Toyota's 4.0 requires supreme gas to get that power.

 

OH BOY...here we go again...

 

Well, if horsepower and torque are the only criteria in the selection of your next truck , looks like it will be a Nissan Frontier. The 4.0 Nissan puts out 265 HP and most dyno tests back that up, using 87 octane gas. The Nissan 4.0, which is one of their Q series engines, is also rated in the top ten engines produced world wide. Before you really screw up and buy the Taco, might want to look at the huge amount of problems they are having with the new Taco. Like the cabs coming loose, the plastic bed (yepper, the whole thing is plastic) has been known to break and not a warrantable item, exhaust that runs under the frame only to get ripped off of the truck, loud engine noise from the clacking injectors, to name a few. Might want to read about it over at tundrasolutions.com. The Nissan, has only had one recall and that has to do with the intake runner valve body making noise, otherwise, a pretty impressive debut. But then again, wouldn't you really rather have a Ranger?

 

What's the saying. . .."Don't feed the trolls"?

 

I thought about that, but the guy's been posting here a while. He has 80 some posts. I think it's just a slap on his way out; why he feels the need to slap us, I don't know.

 

Hey, I've got a blue oval hanging in my shop, I love ford but I would take Tacoma over a Ranger any day. To be fair tho they really aren't in the same class. As far as supporting "American" companies, I'd have to call that a joke when you're talking about Ford and GM. These two companies are globally traded and owned, it's not like the old days anymore. The only reason they maintain “domestic” status is because controlling interest is still dominated by the US. All I care is if my vehicle kept an American worker busy and if you buy a Tacoma that's what you did. Toyota has 10 US plants and keep almost 400,000 US workers busy, doesn't sound like a bad deal to me.

 

No one can argue with the fact that many, if not most, Toyotas sold in the US are built here. Facts are facts.

That doesn't at all explain why someone would come to this group, with no connection to Ford Motor Co., and slap us on his way out the door. Did we design the Ranger? Did we contribute to his original decision to purchase a Ranger? Did we do something detrimental to his Ranger? As far as I'm concerned, this group is a godsend. There's nothing but friendly, helpful, knowledgeable people here. The staff is excellent, helpful, and welcoming. Why slap ford-trucks.com folks on your way out?

Purchasing a vehicle is a subjective, personal choice. I do not like the asian vehicles I've driven. They simply do not feel substantial to me. The doors sound light and flimsy when you shut them. The headliners have all been cheezy looking. That's my personal impression. Yours is bound to be different, because we're different.

The insulting part, to me, is that foreign makes have an undeserved reputation for being problem-free. Anyone who reads will know that Toyota, in particular, is having a lot of problems in their factories. According to various sources I've read, both automotive and financial publications, they built more factories than they had the ability to adequately supervise and train. They don't have the supervisory in-plant management to keep up the build quality they once enjoyed.

Not only that, but American made cars have made leaps and bounds in quality over the last 20 years. If you look at the numbers, you'll find VERY little difference in the top tier of car manufacturers, and that includes the American manufacturers.

You know who has terrible quality problems right now? The Germans. Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes, and their owned makes are having a lot of problems. With some companies it's just a couple models. With Volkswagen, it's pretty much across the board.

Moral of the story. Import drivers, get off your high horse. Don't act like jerks, and don't buy into the tripe that Japanese makes are flawless.

 

I don't know the history of the author of this thread so if his intentions are to simply bash this fine group of people here a FTE then I want you to know that I don't support him at all. I was simply responding to a thread in a room designated for voicing opinions about other car makers. Now what you call a high horse is what I call a real world developed opinion. I won't claim anything to be flawless but in the past decade of automotive dealings I've had I would be a fool to say anything but what I do. I support Toyota and Honda cars over GM and Ford purely out of experience based on quality and support and not what I read on message boards. If you want to talk about reports of poor quality I’m afraid I could match the reports for “foreign” makers with reports on “domestic” and probably surpass them.

 

Therein lies the rub. I just realized that this thread had been moved to this forum. It had originally been in the Ranger forum. I was coming back to post in this thread by clicking the link I'd received by email. It would have been helpful to know that you were responding to this thread from the "discussion" viewpoint. If his intention had been a discussion, that would be different. By posting it in the Ranger forum specifically, he seemed to be sticking it to the users here, and not interested in a discussion at all.

As to your experience, I cannot discount that. Interestingly, I know professional technicians who have the exact opposite opinion as you. I'm not saying you're right or wrong. How could I tell you that your experience is not reality? I'm not a mechanic, though I do nearly 100% of my own automotive work. My experience is that I used to sell auto parts at a Federated jobber. I've sold a lot of parts to a lot of professionals, and I know what the volume and price of various parts is.

When I made my comment about people on a "high horse," I was referring to the original poster who seemed very pompous in the original setting of this thread, the Ranger forum. That he has not responded to the thread he started also indicates that he did not want a discussion, but rather wanted to "slap" us on his way out. I asked the original poster a couple of questions that neither he nor anyone has answered. That he didn't respond also indicates that he is not interested in a discussion. I didn't research the answers before I asked, so the Toyota may still compare favorably. A discussion would be much better than an insulting final post before leaving.

On the next subject: Quality numbers and surveys are what they are. You'll always find seemingly conflicting statistics because often the criteria are narrow, or designed to elicit a particular result. I agree with you that numbers aren't always the best indicator of things.

I settled on Ford products because I have always had excellent service from the Ford Motor Company cars/trucks I've owned. My family and I have had numerous other makes, including a couple Japanese products. Fords just work well for me. I know that there have been, and will continue to be, problematic designs. I never claimed perfection or anything close to it for Ford products. It just struck me that the original post was one more nutjob buying into the "all Japanese cars go 300k miles with no repairs or breakdowns" lie. The least durable vehicle I ever owned was a Nissan. My father-in-law's Japanese truck needed a new head at just over 100k. My sister's Toyota needed a transmission rebuilt due to bad bearings at just over 100k. My "real world developed opinion" is simply different from some others.

Having said all that, I want you to know that I have no beef with you whatsoever. I'm sure you're a great American, and I highly respect your opinion and experience.

 

No beef here either and thanks for pointing out where the thread started, I had no idea. LOL, I'm a little less confused now and I respect your opinion too. After all, isn't that half the reason we come to clubs like this, to hear others opinions?

 

Yessir! Glad we're square now.