Are Toyota SUV's different?

L

Larry

New member
I've owned my 03 4Runner since August. After listening to friends with new SUV's about their recalls and problems and I wonder. I don't here about too many problems with Toyota SUV. They do well in crash test, have good brakes and are screwed and welded together well.

Are Toyota's that much better or am I just wearing rose colored glasses?
 
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A Tahoe, a Surburan, a Durango and several Exploders, an Expidition and a Nissan X-Terra.

It's incredible, the problems and recalls.

Here's an example. A guy down the street has a Durango with a 4.7V8. The engine got plugged up with sludge and tossed a rod, just outside the regular warranty and into the 100k extended warrenty he purchased when new. They did not accept his oil change records and receipts for 3k oil changes because he did them himself. They in effect called him a liar. He now has an attorney and it's a mess.

I hope the Toyota 4.7 engine is a good engine, not like tese domestic engines.
 
X-Terra...I'll see him this week at work and ask. I know that little hardware items have been a headache, as well as trim and it's a gutless wonder for having a V6. But it keeps running.
 
Did a survey at work, a fabrication shop, 45 employees, 10 own SUV's. 3 4Runner owners plan on buying another 4Runner. Owners of all other brands say they will probably not buy another of the brand they are driving. Of the seven non 4Runner owners, several said they planned on looking at 4Runners, especially now with the V8 engine and larger size.

Are problems typical with SUV's. Do they defeat their tough image by breaking down more than regular cars?
 
I think you get what you pay for. At least thats what I'm hoping.
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In 10 years I don't expect my 4R to run like a bucket of bolts like a domestic SUV. But let's not kid ourselves the upfront cost (purchase price) is much higher for a 4R.
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All you need to see is all the flippen incentive programs manufacturers are trippen over themselves to push a domestic SUV.
 
Larry said:
Are problems typical with SUV's. Do they defeat their tough image by breaking down more than regular cars?
Click to expand...

I don't see tough and reliable as going hand in hand, although they can. Problems are typical for Jeep, Ford, Dodge, GM, and Mercedes SUVs. I would not call problems typical for Toyota and Nissan SUVs, although compared to a car they may have a somewhat higher breakdown rate. That could be attributed to what some are used for, or just the fact that they are bigger and heavier.

SUVs are designed to handle tougher conditions. Even a Jeep Grand Cherokee is more reliable than a Toyota Camry if you are going off-road or pulling a decent sized boat.

It's nice to have uses for your SUV (besides groceries). Otherwise, they are a waste of money IMO.
 
I drove that Xterra once: it drives like a diesel truck. I get the feeling when I drive it that it would not have a problem climbing hills or pulling stumps out of the ground, but in a race it would lose.
 
Boy i'm glad i didn't even bother with the BMW.... I heard from an owner the thing falls apart while your driving...
 
HOK said:
Boy i'm glad i didn't even bother with the BMW.... I heard from an owner the thing falls apart while your driving...
Click to expand...

Hey, hey, damn, you guys are mean! All this BMW-bashings! :(

It's ONLY partially true!:D
 
I asked a guy, that works next door and drives a Durango, if he'd buy another. He burst out laughing. What does that mean?
 
Yup, it's rose colored glasses you're wearing. I can't wait to dump my 4Runner and will never buy another Toyota, as I've been to the dealer six times already and there's a whole bunch of things that still aren't right, or aren't designed right because Toyotas are designed by the marketing department, not the engineering department :(. In a year and 13k miles, I really can't say the 4Runner (when it runs) does anything better than our old '95 Explorer did, and it's a lot less comfortable, convenient, economical and FUN. Plus, the older 4Runners apparently killed more people than the older Explorers, but I don't know how that works with the '03s. (See Figure 3 in http://www.aceee.org/pubs/t021full.pdf )

Anyway, weren't there some recent Ford ads that claim the Explorer has the most repeat buyers of any SUV (I can't remember the exact claim)?? What about that?
 
That's funny C44me, my 2000 4Runner does just about everything better than my 98 Explorer did, including comfort, economy, crash worthiness, stability, handling, reliability, and resale. I may never buy another Ford.
 
....c44me, the report you cite really proves the obvious. It shows general trends and even their own comments about twins warns the reader about statistics. Some data on twins puts them out of standard variations for acceptible analysis.

The Corvette's numbers are shifted because the average age of a Corvette owner is as much as 10 years higher than other sports cars. Another example is Porsche. Toyota claims the average age of a 4Runner is the lowest of any SUV. Could that put 4Runners into a more risky category?

My comments were directed at new vehicles. The 4Runner is rated 1st in the IIHS crash tests. The report cited does not cover mny of these designs. Then there is the issue of recalls. Look at some of the others, wheels falling off, engines failing and other major problems. For some domestic vehicles it's a way of life.

Try this one if you want a example of problems with other vehicles

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/dodge_dur_oil.html

Jeeps have a recall becuase of accidents caused by the transmission shifting itself from part to reverse, without warning.

http://wkyc.com/news/recalls/020215jeep.asp

This is the kind of stuff that catches my attention and promped the thread.
 
Greg, why do you even post here anymore? I mean, it's obvious it's become your mission to badmouth the 4Runner and Toyota in general because you hate your 4Runner so much.

For others, awhile back c44me listed all his defects with his 4Runner. It stands out in my mind because one of his complaints was the door panel was too hard and uncomfortable to lean his leg on... Uh, ok.

His other big complaint was how ugly the grey cladding was and that they hated looking at it- as if the paint magically disappeared after he bought it.
If you didn't like it, why did you buy it?

I had an Xterra and it was fine. Not the greatest quality but it was reliable and workmanlike. It's a good $20,000 SUV but not worth more that that.


c44me said:
Yup, it's rose colored glasses you're wearing. I can't wait to dump my 4Runner and will never buy another Toyota, as I've been to the dealer six times already and there's a whole bunch of things that still aren't right, or aren't designed right because Toyotas are designed by the marketing department, not the engineering department :(. In a year and 13k miles, I really can't say the 4Runner (when it runs) does anything better than our old '95 Explorer did, and it's a lot less comfortable, convenient, economical and FUN. Plus, the older 4Runners apparently killed more people than the older Explorers, but I don't know how that works with the '03s. (See Figure 3 in http://www.aceee.org/pubs/t021full.pdf )

Anyway, weren't there some recent Ford ads that claim the Explorer has the most repeat buyers of any SUV (I can't remember the exact claim)?? What about that?
Click to expand...
 
Larry said:
A Tahoe, a Surburan, a Durango and several Exploders, an Expidition and a Nissan X-Terra.

It's incredible, the problems and recalls.

Here's an example. A guy down the street has a Durango with a 4.7V8. The engine got plugged up with sludge and tossed a rod, just outside the regular warranty and into the 100k extended warrenty he purchased when new. They did not accept his oil change records and receipts for 3k oil changes because he did them himself. They in effect called him a liar. He now has an attorney and it's a mess.

I hope the Toyota 4.7 engine is a good engine, not like tese domestic engines.
Click to expand...

LMAO all american, never buy american :50cal:
 
History

Are Toyota SUV's different? I think we should look at two things. Toyota came out with a SUV that would considered the best in the world. It came out with the Land Crusier. I drove some the the Land Crusiers from the 60's and I loved them. They were sold all over the world and had a great reputation.

Toyota also is known for building vehicles that value durability over flash or new trends. The result is a SUV that may not be with the newest trends and may even be a bit boring in some aspects. The result is a vehicle that doesn't have the biggest engine in it's class, most towing, largest space, but it does have what I call a sensible vehicle that is "built for the long haul".

"Built for the long haul", hey I've heard that before.
 
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