say that to EVERYONE who ownes a foreign vehicle in this conutry and a large % of people would move out of america......and that number would contonue to rise due to foreign sales continuing to rise.

 

my buddy has a toyota and frankly its not a bad truck but to me the ranger is way more comfortable than his.. i also find it more ergonomic than the toyota.. it is all about brand loyalty tho i can find 1000 reasons why the ford is better and he could find 1000 for the toyota personally i figure there is a seat for every butt and mine happens to like the ford and that is enough for me

 

That would be awesome! Then they could all be loyal to their new homeland.

 

Whatever makes you feel better......................if that justifies it for you.

Kev

 

I owned an 85 Tacoma. It was one tough hombre that I respect. I would still own it since it ran, but I could not get it to pass CA smog. It had 248k on it. It still got 28mpg on the 4 cyl. It was a good truck for what it did.

On the lighter side, a British car show put a Toyota truck through torture tests. It is funny, but it says a lot about the truck.Here are links to the two movies

Vid 1
Vid 2

Even though I greatly respect Toyota trucks, obviously, I love Fords since I am a member of this site.

 

Agreed on that. THAT is why so mny people buy NEW Tacomas. It's almost not worth getting a used one due to the high value. Why such a high value over the Rangers? (there's a can-o-worms...)

CMOS

 

[long post]

I for one, do not agree with the "buy American, because it's American" mentality. I've been eyeing a new truck for a little while now and a new Ranger is far down on the list. Why? For many reasons. One, my friends 2006 Ranger looks almost like a carbon copy of my 1998. And my 1998 looks a lot like the 1993s. Could Ford seriously not design a brand new model in over a decade? Why didn't they do that? Did they rely on good sales of the truck because they new buying American is patriotic and therefore there was no reason to make a change? If so, I see this as a reason why Toyota is now number one.

To me, the current Ranger is cheap feeling and horribly dated. It's ergonomics really show an early 90's design and the engines lack punch and refinement. If your looking for an inexpensive, essentially do all truck, then by all means buy a used one, they're practically the same as the current ones.

But I say if you want the best small/midsize pickup around get the Tacoma. The 2005+ models are fantastic to drive and are capable of just about everything, including towing (which seems to be the measuring stick on FTE). It has power, refinement, and modern looks which I think make it a winner. Yes it costs more, but the Toyota is to small/midsize trucks what Kimber is to the 1911 handgun. Sure you can buy other, cheaper .45 1911s but with the Kimber you can feel the quality. And quality to me is what counts.

[/long post]

 

Cap, hard to argue with that post. I hope Ford does get off their butt and make the Ranger into something competitive with the Tacos. Gonna be hard to do that [political mode] with them hamstrung by the UAW. [/political mode]

I keep cheering for Ford but they keep making it harder on me to do so.

CMOS

 

But if John Moses Browning hadn't designed the Colt .45 ACP Model 1905 and the follow up .45 ACP Model 1911 and 11-A, there would be no copies or cheap substitutes. There would be no 1911's period.

 

The new Tacomas are no longer "small" trucks. Toyota has moved them into the midsize category to compete with Nissan and Dodge. The Ranger is really the last of the small trucks, and new ones have the fuel economy ratings to show for it. I personally don't get the midsize idea. Most get no better mileage than my F150, but are smaller and cost almost as much, no where near the capability. But they are a lot bigger than the current Ranger but don't tow much more, and don't fit down narrow trails as well, suck too much fuel. Well new styling would be nice, but why mess with the Ranger? All the bugs were worked out long ago, it's reliable as mud, and it's cheap (relatively). Toyota's problem rate has been rising as they keep redesigning their models more frequently (although they are still good, last year was their worst ever for recalls). A new Ranger would take years to get to the reliability of the current model. If it ain't broke...

 

I feel that the reason the Ranger model hasn't changed over the many years is because it was and still is a winner for Ford trucks. They are a good small truck capable of most towing tasks and off -road performance. Ford managed to keep the price reflective of a middle class income while addressing a common small truck need to the consumer. The Ranger is still a good buy for the MONEY! When you start making a truck bigger with more modifications and higher quality, you begin to price the truck into another league.
The reliability of the Ranger is reflective over the fact that you don't see many broken down all the time on the road or in the shop. The engines are bullet proof and the body can take a "hittin and keep on tickin". My 2006 XLT went out the door at 13,895 plus tax,tags, title. If I wanted a $20,000 truck, I would have just stepped up into another winner which is the F-150.
Toyota makes a good truck for a GOOD PRICE TOO!

 

Then why aren't you over on the Toyota forum making friends??

 

Close to a carbon copy, but not quite as nice...

I'd much rather have a new '97 Ranger than a new '07 one. But I'd rather have an '07 Ranger than anything else in it's approximate class.

Why, oh why, do you think they should redesign it? I look at every single redesinged compact pickup, and prefer what preceded it. They get uglier, costlier, more complicated, and less fuel efficient. Options I want are replaced by standard features I hate.

(And yes, I'm perfectly content with crank windows, reaching across the cab to lock the other door, and won't drive an automatic transmission. I've lived with no indoor running water, and I don't have a cell phone. Clearly, what I think is not aligned with what most Americans think. Their loss, IMO.)

 

Now that I've got 2,500 miles on my '07, I can tell you that it rides better than any '97 Ranger. And this 5 speed automatic tranny is awesome.


Kev

 

I dont know why this debate of what to buy stepped in, but the original topic was more of a general debate of problems with the yota for him to use as ammo in casual friendly conversation with his nephew.

I can tell you from personal experience that I've seen a couple Tacos survive some severe brutality. I have also seen Rangers do the same.

I know the owner of a 94 taco with 100K at the time that didnt change his motor oil for about 14k and rod #2 of the dohc 3.0 v6 exited stage right.

I know the owner of a BII that with its 2.9 and 200K when bought never changed its oil in the 5 years and 70k he owned it. He merely added oil every seldom once and a while for good measure. Not a filter ever once.

I also know the owner of a 97 4.0 4x4 with 220K and offroads alot. He's owned it for 2 years and has only needed a clutch in that time.

Both are 4x4's. The taco never traveled off the pavement, when the BII did religiously. Pulling the motor in the Taco was a ROYAL PITA to yank and replace with a $1800 junkyard motor that had unknown miles and physically looked worse than the motor pulled.

I watched those vids that were posted. Sure I can definately see how that truck survived. Within probably 1000 miles that thing got abused, AND it was a diesel. Diesel trucks are stronger to begin with due to the weight and torque capability of the motor. I would want to see them take that truck from england where they were, travel through the chunnel, and drive to the taco's hometown of tokyo. (or close enough, china) All in a straight shot only stoping for fuel and sleep. THEN lets talk about durability.

Food for thought: Toyota just had a TSB that effected something over 300,000 suv's from like 2000-2006 for something bad in the motor. That suv (i forget the name) is related to the Taco like Exploder is to Ranger. A friend of my parents had one, took it to the Yota dealer, and was more than willing to pay the nearly $10,000 for a new motor to be put in. The dealer/mechanic refused to do it due to the difficulty. He promptly sold it and bought an Explorer as a matter of fact.

This is just my 2 cents.