built ford tough ?

[AntleredRuin]

power steering that whines early on,

Oh that power steering whine...talk about a swing and a miss there. I'm still seeing newer Fords that whine like crazy.

Complete forgetful neglect on my part, but I just did a siphon and fill on the power steering pump my 4Runner over the weekend and it was tar black, but the pump was completely silent and I had no steering problems (I realized I'd flushed everything else since I bought it 80k ago, but never touched the power steering. Remedying that now with a few more siphon and fills soon).

And to directly compare my '96 Exploder. The speedo and mechanical ODO died around 160k and I estimate I babied it to 180k before finally just junking it. When it was all said and done, the tranny was slipping something fierce, the AC was completely dead, the radio was dead, the rear folding seats were rusted up (even though I live in Houston), the steering wheel was literally melting in my hands, there was a head gasket leak, etc, etc, etc.

None of that on the 4Runner. Yeah, Toyota is built better.

 

[4restGump]

And don't forget: Fu...reaking Oil Ruins Driveways

My BIL bought an F250 years ago. It had only 30+k miles on it (not 130k, 230k or 330k). Very soon thereafter, he had to have the transmission completely rebuilt.

I have heard too many horror stories about incredibly stupid things going wrong with "American" vehicles (which so happens, most are made in Canada or Mexico now, if I understand correctly), that I doubt I will ever buy an "American" vehicle. Stories about transmissions actually falling out on the road, etc.

I like my Toyotas, Mazdas and Nissans, many of which happen to have actually been built in the USA.

What I like about Japanese vehicles is that in their design, they look ahead many years. American vehicle designs look ahead a few short years or maybe even just months ("Let's just worry about what the shareholders think this month").

To learn from one's mistakes is smart. To learn from other's mistakes is wise.

You know, those oil leaks are their “active rust prevention”. May be that’s why the new 5th gen 4runner leaking like crazy

 

[96RedRunner]

Is it a cultural thing or a corporate thing?

Cultural for sure, When I said that I was speaking of people that worked on production lines, 90%+ care about the job they do.
Here +- 80% care based on the amount of rework needed.