I've be working on fords since the 60's and driving them full time since the 70's. My wife's 96 ranger super cab has near 200K miles on it. The engine is still running strong but the other things that go wrong, ie, clutch slave cylinder, tranny case oiler breaking and siezing and now the blend door for the heater all cost $1000 or more to fix and I'm tired of it. She doesn't want a full size pickup but does want at least a supercab style with the 3 rd door for access. I've been reading about the Toyota Tundra. But the more I read, it sounds like they have serious brake problems. Our Ranger also has had funny and mushy brakes since the day we drove it off the dealers lot.
What's your take on this?
I'd love to get her a F150 but I know she really likes the Ranger supercab size.

 

You will not go wrong with the V-8 Tundra!!!

 

My lil bro bought one of the first Tundra Stratospheres I ever saw. That's Toyotas stepside truck. V-8 and all the goodies. It's incredibly quick, might stay with a GT 'Stang. Rides nice, handles well, roomy for a smaller than F-150, but it gets bad gas mileage. His gets 10-12 in town and the best on the road is 16. My Screw does better than that- but I also can't get close to him either. The early Tundras did have a brake problems that have been solved. If you buy one, make sure the first thing you do is air up the tires. Tundras are known for shedding the front tires in an emergency move at factory air pressures.

 

My neighbor always had ford company trucks. He retired and didn't want a fullsize f150, so he was looking at getting a dodge dakota. I told him to at least go look at a tundra. He never heard of it and thought I meant a tacoma which his brother has. I told him "just go to the dealership and tell them you want to drive a tundra, you're looking at dakotas." He came home the next day with a tundra and a big smile on his face. He did have to have the front rotors replaced at 20k under warranty for some reason, but that has been the only problem after 55k. He has driven it from ohio to west coast and all over the southwest without incident.

 

Sure a lot of toyota tundras sitting in the service bays at the local toy dealer, who has only been in our area for a few years.

I would own a chebby long before before I got into a Toyota pop can.

my 2 cents

 

SuperRangerman....THANK YOU.

Toyotas are overpriced junk. Consider this before you buy:

Tundra will cost you much more in fuel than a Ranger.

Toyota will cost you much more in insurance than an American truck.

Toyota will cost you much more to repair than an American truck because parts are more expensive, more labor is required to replace them, and most auto parts stores don't stock them.

And the #1 reason why you shouldn't buy a Toyo....you would be giving your hard earned cash to a Japanese company, and we aren't Japs, we are American...and our economy is hurting bad enough as it is.

Not to mention the fact that the body panels in Toyota trucks are manufactured from recycled soup cans, soda cans, etc.

Don't get a Dodge either...talk about bad gas mileage...the V8 Dakota is HORRIBLE on gas. But I'd get a Dodge over a Toyo any day of the week.

 

Say what you want, but alot pf the foreign car and truck buyers are, for some reason, loyal to the foreign vehicles. At least they are employing american workers instead of shipping most of them overseas. It also woke up the big three about there manufacturing. I have more than a few friends that work at one of the big three and they tell me how over paid alot of the workers are than do crappy work by going in half in the bag.

 

Hey there guys Toyotas are built in the USA and soup cans are steel so you could say that Fords are built out off recycled soup cans. Also foreign vehicles are filling junkyards so parts are vey easy to find and every mass market parts house has every foreign vehicle covered. Get your facts straight. I like the ranger better because they get awesome gas mileage, The have a far better resale value and there 4x4 is dependable, I have seen toyota diffs stripped. Rangers also come in so many different combinations.

 

just because some thing is assembled in the USA does not mean the parts were designed, and manufactured in the USA.

If I remember correctly 80% (It may be a bit lower) of my ranger has parts made and manfactured in the US.

I'm not saying all foreign vehicles are bad, they actually make good cars, but they are lagging way behind in the truck market.

My reply was in reference to the Tundra and nothing more.

 

Even if Toyota trucks are "made in the USA", the profits are still filling a rice bowl somewhere "out way-west" in the far east!!!!!


Buy American.

I agree, the "blind fold 'em with dental floss" trucks just don't match up.

Have a friend who spent $$$ on a Tundra. Every time he looks at my 250SD he turns every color of the spectrum.

He gets REALLY pissed when I tell him we spent about the same. I told him to wait until he has a repair and what it'll cost him..

I WILL admit however, the local Toy dealer does treat you better than the local Ford "lot lizard" dealer. THAT's where the domestics can still learn a little more.

 

It seems that some of the comments here are a little biased and that the authors of some of these posts are a little misinformed maybe?

I own a Toyota Tundra and a lot of my friends are loyal Ford fans. They are both excellent trucks with very different approaches in design. As far as reliability according to Consumer Reports they are very close with Toyota and Ford being better than Chevy and Dodge. The Tundra however did far better in the offset crash tests than the Ford F-150 did. Hopefully Ford fixed that with the 2004 model. See here http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_rat.../html/0110.htm and here http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_rat.../html/0108.htm

Ford and Toyota are really international companies now. Your Ford may actually have just as many foreign parts in it as my Toyota does. Some Dodges are made in Mexico and some Chevy's are made in Canada. The Toyota Tundra is made in Princeton Indiana and Toyota is building a plant in San Antonio Texas too. Toyota employs a lot of Americans and that is very good for our economy.

The Toyota Tundra with its 4.7-liter 32-valve v8 isn't really faster than a Ford F-150 with the Triton 5.4-liter v8. They are actually very comparable in power with both reaching 60 mph in about 8 seconds. The Tundra is slightly smaller than an F-150 but it's more nimble and lighter on its feet than the Ford. The Ford has a larger deeper bed and almost limitless options and being the best selling truck in the world has a lot to say!.

My Tundra averages 15.5 MPG in the winter and 17.5 MPG in the summer mixed driving with a best ever 21 MPG on the highway going 68 mph with cruise control. My worst to date is 14.5 MPG. Toyota did have a Brake TSB on the 2000 and 2001 Tundra’s and fixed that problem on some of the 2002 and 2003 Tundra’s. I myself have had good luck with my brakes.

I have driven 99-2002 Silverado’s 4.8 and 5.3, a 2001 and 2002 Dodge four door with the 5.9, and a Ford supercrew and my favorite of those has been the Ford supercrew. The Harley Davidson edition is just an awesome looking and performing truck and who can argue with the fact that the Lightening is the Kind of performance Trucks. I’ve seen those things run 12’s all day long at the drag strip and pass me by on the highway.

 

My best friend owns a 2000 Tundra, bought one of the first in the county (Oct '99) and thought he was getting a deal to get out of an Isuzu Rodeo w/ a bad tranny. After being jipped by the local dealer (so much for customer satisfaction) for $33K, he's had it back for numerous recalls, service work, and recalibrations. His driving habits may be part of it, but it's a truck and he treats it like a mule.... the way trucks should be treated.

He would always brag about how he had 4 doors (access cab SR5)and what a nice ride it was, never about the power of the engine. I've ridden in the front and back of it. Nice ride up front. 60 miles in the back seat... it was like riding in a compact truck, with a little more leg room. I've ridden in the back of supercab Fords and they feel more comfortable (I'm 6-4 so I know comfort in a supercab/x-tra cab is a real good comparison). The engine was good without a load, but hook up a trailer and you knew it was there.

He used that truck to pull several trailers for work and play, one of which was a 25 foot, 6000lb travel trailer (which is a bit bigger than what Toyota said was allowable, I think). It performs decent on the flats, but it wasn't designed to tow that large of a trailer in the hills. It's his business truck and daily driver. He really beats the crap out of it and has put over 80K miles on it since it was new. He's had his share of brake problems and often asks me why he's got them... go figure.

He's been a Toyota lover since he bought his '82 x-tra cab 4x in '89. He's got a Camry he's let relatives beat into the ground, and a lifted '84 4Runner his wife drives. Sounds like the guy really loves his Toys.

He likes the older ones, but not that Tundra. He's had more problems with it than with any Toy he's had. Could be the 1st year jinx. I show up with my truck (look at the sig below) or his dad with his '96 F350 4X (they are in business together so his dad drives that 1 ton around alot) and he tells us how much he wishes he'd bought a Ford. I think he knows he made a mistake by getting a lighter duty truck than what he needed, but it was dealer pressure, Toyota brand loyalty, and not talking to friends that leads to this.

Sounds confusing, the guy talked up a storm about the Tundra until my Ford showed up. I let him hop in we towed his travel trailer.... Nothing to do with construction of the Tundra, just the lack of capability of a small V-8 and only the half-ton offering.

Moral: If you need a truck don't buy it undersized, and research it well.

-Kerry

 

One thing I noticed when I had my Ranger, parts were more for the Ranger and so was labor when copared to the Japanese makes. Don't know why. The safety, reliability, and resale values are all better with the Toyota Tundra. Verify insurance with your agent. My Ranger was a poor quality piece of crap that was always giving me problems. And it was very well maintained and used mostly for commuting on the freeway. I was very happy when I got rid of it. Are all Rangers like that? No, mine was probably made on a Friday. Go with what makes you happy. If you don't like Toyota, don't buy it.

Reggie

 

Listen up peeps-I'm bout to tell it like it is. Like it or not!

This whole"made in America" thing is TOTAL BS!!!...lol.

Many of you know this already but will still argue it as a weapon of propaganda against "foreign" auto makers.
For what?
To make yourself feel better bout what YOU own? Or is it to make others feel worse about what THEY own?

Can you say "MAZDA"?
I've never owned a Toyota-and I can HONESTLY say I don't think I ever will-BUT -it's got nothin to do with it being a "foreign" brand.
It's just a personal thing.

I certainly would not knock one without having experience with it for myself though.

I have owned CHEVY'S(ooh-bad word!) and DODGE'S(oh my God!)-BOTH were GREAT trucks! (And unlike most here-I really work mine-I cant afford a decked out,crew cab,diesel,status symbol-so the wife can go grocery shopping in style)

I have owned several Ford's-some real bad dogs-and some GREAT trucks -like the one I currently own.(Thank God)

As far as being made in America exclusively anymore....lol-that's a joke-and the fact is that the "foreign" makers do in fact manufacture their products right here baby!

My opinion with Ford/Chevy/Dodge come from real - world experiences I've had and continue to have with them.

I cannot offer a resonably intelligent recommendation on the quality or usefulness of Toyota products-I'll leave that to the guy's who have owned them...

Any idiot can be led to a conclusion as a result of brand bias and a quick look at some spec' sheets from a competitor's product-not what I'd call qualifications...lol.

To those of you who own the Tundra-best wishes!

Again, I wouldint own one-but that dosen't even come close to meaning that it's any worse than something I would own.


Regards.

 

Thanks for all the feedback on the Toyota vs Ford. I should also mention we live in the high country of Colorado. The current Ranger is 4x4, 4.0 L. She uses it for her daily drive to do town business. We do need 4x4 just to get up our driveway in the winter. We use it for sports, ie, mtn biking, kayaking and occasionally to pull the dirt bike trailer. So her vehicle is not used for heavy duty stuff at all.
It gets a lot of highway miles.
Plus the reason, I'm looking at the Tundra Access cab is because of it's larger back seat. When she wants to go somewhere with her girlfriends ( more than 1 other) they always drive. She wants the ability to move more than 1 friend. If you've ever been a passenger in the jump seat of a Ranger, you'll understand what discomfort is all about.
We're looking for something more economical and smaller than a real (american) full size pickup. I already have a f150 for the bigger stuff I do. At some point, I'm going to upgrade to a f250, I am in construction and do haul a trailer.
So what are other options, short of the f150. She needs cab room and bed room for sports toys.