When did you choose Toyota as your make?

[94yotarunner]

I was just wondering what some poeples' stories were about choosing Toyota as their brand of choice. For me it was an embarassing story.

I was doing offroading in a 97 Chevy Blazer 4x4 in Venezuela, I rented the truck. It seemed to be in great condition; normal road handling, good tires, good weather. So I headed up the mountain with my girlfriend for a lunch cause there was this incredible restaurant on top of the mountain. It was quite steep but mostly paved and it took about twenty minutes to make it up at an average of 40 mph in high 4wd. Anyways, the way up was easy cause it was well paved, and then we started coming down to the lunch spot. When we got there it started to rain a bit, nothing serious. We ate lunch, everything was great, the view was incredible, the date couldn't have gone any better and I was happy with the trip. Then I started up the dirt road to get back over and down the mountain to the city; Caracas. The dirt track had gotten a little wet but it wasn't anything troubling, it was just a little wet. So I started up this one will. If I had to imagine the grade I couldn't say it was more than 30-40 degrees, I mean, its not a picnic with wet dirt but it isn't something challenging. Then I start spinning and going down. I tried everything from lining the road with nice big rocks to getting a head start to get up to pushing while my gf drove (believe it or not it does help a bit) to changing 4wd modes. NOTHING at all would get me over the hill. Some of the kids from the houses around had started watching me halfway through this cause I guess it was funny for an out of towner to get stuck there, it was probably common. Finally, an 89 4Runner starts down the slope and he stops. He gets out and starts laughing at me in a friendly sense, I guess he saw this often. He turns his runner around and sets right in front of mine. It was some old gentleman from India, about fourty years old. We tie my car to his and he pulls me out three more hills to make sure I'd get out alright. Coming out of the first hill I hear the kids yell in spanish, "Buy Toyota." Since then, I've been set in my ways, lol.

 

[kglueck]

hehe, nice story. Mine's not that interesting. My grandpa bought a bottom of the line, barebones 1984 4x4 pickup because he had always wanted one. Well, when he died, he had left it to my father. My father drove that thing for quite a few years...I loved it. even learned to drive in it. great truck, very smooth manual tranny...4 cyl, it did have some trouble on some of the larger hills, but a downshift would take care of it. I really wanted to buy that truck from my father, but he ended up selling it to a friend (yes, I still hound that friend to get him to sell it to me and put it back in the family)...but my own first toyota was the one I drive now...

I guess you can say I sealed my choice on toyotas the moment I drove my 4runner. I love it! I actually really like driving onto dealers lots and letting the sales guys come over and ask me if I want to trade it in and I laugh and tell them, "Hell no! I'm never getting rid of this beauty!"

Kev

 

[Mark86]

Mine is also pretty boring. My dad had a 1996 4Runner Limited. At the time he had it, my family was in the process of moving from NY to NJ. The development that we were moving too was brand new and not paved at all. There was only deep mud piles and the only way to see your house benig built was to travel through this mud road. This road could have been an offroad course itself! I remember how well the 4Runner did and how we were able to make it over all of these obstacles. Since then, I always loved a 4Runner. Then when the 03's came out, that was a no brainer for me.

 

[SteveM]

"Old" Indian guy about forty years old eh?

I've owned Toyotas off and on since 1979 or so. We settled on this one after the first test drive.

 

[Guest]

My first car was a 1990 Taurus with about 80k miles on it (when I first turned 16). It wasn't the best of cars but I guess at that point I didn't really care because I was just looking to have a good time and my parents paid for things when they broke anyhow.

Well then around 17 I bought a 94 Chevy Camaro Z28 with about 60k miles on it. It had t-tops and the whole works. I loved that car and still to this day miss some things about it, but wow I don't miss a lot of things about it either. Like paying an average of $800/month in repair bills for random stupid stuff breaking without any idea if this month was going to be a 200 dollar month or a 2000 dollar month. I don't miss even the simplest DIY repairs/maintenance taking 10 times longer with 5 times the number of cuts and bruises as you would get from any other car (reference changing spark plugs on any 93+ V8 camaro or firebird... even their super-fans joke about setting aside a full day for this as well as a box of band-aids). Then of course you the terrible build quality with random things just falling off or breaking, more rattles, squeeks, and shimmies inside and outside of the car that even closing the door softly sounded like somebody just dropped a bucket of bolts off a roof.

Then you've got the 200 miles to a tank issue and the ultra-high insurance. But that's just the name of the game, I wasn't bitter about that. Still... that $800 a month in repairs alone would have paid for a really really nice brand new car payment.

So next I start looking at getting a small size truck. And also by this time I start to become more weary of the different quality and reliability specs of one brand compared to the other. My reserach kept pointing toward the Tacoma or Tundra. But I didn't like the Tacoma because it was a little too much money for the size. I liked the Tundra pretty well but I wanted the V8 and that was out of my price range and the dealers wouldn't negotiate at all. Not to mention I though the interior was very bland (although well-made).

So I ended up buying a Silverado instead since I had a 3,000 dollar GM card cash rebate, plus the standard 2,500 rebate they were giving from the factory to any old person who wanted one, plus you could demand invoice price from any dealer and they'd just say "sure thing". So I only ended up paying like 15k for a pretty nice brand new 2000 Silverado. And to this day I was always impressed with how smooth it rode, especially after swapping the stock tires with Michelin Cross Terrain SUV tires. Still though, eventually quality issues started to pop up all over the place. I only had one catestrophic failure: my ignition catching fire because of a twisted cable combined with a faulty fuse. The firemen got a good laugh out of that one... I didn't. The rest of the quality issues were just with the generally fischer-price quality interior (and they have the nerve to put the same basic dash in even the 60k dollar Cadillac SUVs to this day!!), strange noises, a slowly failing power steering pump, and an odd-shifting transmission. I ended up selling it at 36,000 miles because the warranty was about to go out and I didn't trust the truck enough.

Parallel to my truck experience somewhere around 20k miles on my truck, I bought a 95 Nissan Maxima SE V6 5-speed with about 90k miles on it. That was definitely the best all-around car I've owned for the money. I only paid 6 grand for it, it was very practical yet had great performance, got great gas milage, and was very comfortable especially compared to my truck. I ended up having both vehicles until I sold my truck at 36k. I ended up selling my Maxima about a year after my truck with 110k miles on it for nearly what I paid for it. The motor in the Maxima was excellent, and I thought the interior was pretty nice too. Bose sound system sounded awesome too. Still, lots of little things went wrong like the cassette player, some lights, a slow leak in the clutch master cylinder and a slow oil leak in the oil sender unit. Plus it developed this low-RPM hesitation but now that I'm a little wiser I think if I'd run some BG 44K or ISC and/or auto-rx through it, it would have gone away.

All though this I had a couple of friends with Toyotas and they just stayed rock-solid the whole time. I was very impressed, but always turned off by how bland they were.

So finally I decided I wanted to have the reliability of a Camry, but I was only 20 years old and felt I was too young to be driving an 'appliance' like that. I needed the same reliability with a little more spunk. I ended up buying the 99 GS400 in my sig a year and a half ago used with 30k miles for about the same price as I would have paid for a new fully loaded V6 Camry w/ nav... so I figured it was not like I was over-spending. I just sacrafised a 30k mile car in order to get something with twice the get-up and go and luxury.

My GS4 has been pretty darned solid. There are a couple of barely audible creeks and pops when going over some rougher road... but this car is so quiet it makes it easier to hear little noises. Beside, I'm happy just as long as nothing breaks, and so far I'm at 60k miles and everything still works like it's off the show-room floor!

My parents just got an 04 Camry which I was actually a little bit disappointed in a couple of small initial quality defects, one small spot in the paint on the hood and one on the center console leather, plus a couple of little popping sounds going over small bumps. But none-the-less, the rest of the car should hold up well for years to come, and the issues I've seen and had thus far with my experience with Toyota has made even Nissan look like junk and GM look like a flat-out joke.

And I'm happy to support their cause even further with the 05 4Runner we've got on the way for my fiance. I think it will be in the family for many years to come, and for once I can say I look forward to the high-miles years instead of them stressing me out.

 

[C5Guy]

I bought my 89 SR5 V6 4x4 new in November of 1988. Not too many SUVs on the market then but I wanted something to tow the boat up steep ramps and go up to the ski resorts. It finally died last month (broken head)with over 250,000 miles. Rather than fix it I donated it to charity and purchased an 04 V8 Sport (AWD). Love those Toyotas!

 

[thunderpaw]

wow, well my first car was my '81 Toyota Celica (still have it) bought it in '84 from my mom. After a couple years I put TRD racing shocks/struts and started taking it on road courses for fun. Spanking mustangs was a blast ;-) . Just this year I finally put on a 20R head and weber 38 carb and nicer cam - the thing will spin the tires in 3rd gear now. I always get a smile driving that car (and enjoy setting off car alarms as I drive by). Only 2 more years and I don't have to sneak it past emissions testing anymore (the EGR and such is there but plugged off due to the header and carb)

Driven many many cars since then, and nothing compares to Toyota quality. Rented many cars that broke down or were making funny noises after very little driving. Everyone I know who's got a jeep has gone through at least 2 motors and my 4runner chugs away at 230,000 miles....

Here's what the stable looks like right now (8 Toyotas):
'81 Toyota Celica (street car)
'86 Toyota Mr2 (street car)
'97 Toyota 4runner (street car)
'86 Toyota Mr2 (race car)
'85, '86, '89 mr2s (parts cars)
'85 mr2 (street car minus motor)

 

[mtnrunner]

Good story except the "Old" Indian guy about forty years old eh?" 40 is young and you'll eventually find out life does indeed begin at 40! You have experience, youth and wealth all at the same time!

Anyway, did the research after having a few other makes, VW, Dodge, Ford. Since then I've had a 96 4runner, 2000 Tundra, 2002 Sequoia and now an 04 4R LTD with Nav. All of them have been great cars and where I live, @ 9k', going up and down the mountain daily and hitting some severe off-road grit to get to my climbing, biking, hiking activities I've given these vehicles a beating and they keep asking for more. I expect my next one will be a Land Cruiser once they update it. Another thing is my dealer experience with Toyota and their tendency to bend over backwards to please me. Yea, it may get boring but Toyotas will be in my future for a long time...

 

[Good Times]

i wanted a reliable offroading machine that can take me to the far end of the world

didn't want used so i had to base my research on new vehicles and the 4runner was just off the chart on my standards so what can i say.

 

[94yotarunner]

Good story except the "Old" Indian guy about forty years old eh?" 40 is young and you'll eventually find out life does indeed begin at 40! [\B]

I meant old as in old looking. You know what I mean? Grey haired, well spoken, wise, well mannered, easy going. I meant in the best sense, not in age.

 

[toybox]

40 is young and you'll eventually find out life does indeed begin at 40! You have experience, youth and wealth all at the same time!

Apparantly from some of the posts on this forum wealth comes alot earlier than 40 for some.

 

[mtnrunner]

Toybox, I'm not talking about daddy's money!

 

[Iman74]

I guess the true answer is the day I decided to purchase my vehicle which was about a few days before (view date in my signature).

But through the years as far back as I can remember I always took notice the longevity that Toyota owners had with their vehicles. But what always kept me from getting one is that I was limited in funds; hell I could barely support my smoking habit I once had. So all I could afford at the time was used Camaro and Blazer. When I could afford something new it was Jeep, then two kinds of Hondas, and then finally I got my Toyota. But hindsight is 20/20 for if I look back at it now, if I cut out some of the vehicles I bought in the past, I could have owned my 4 Runner earlier. But you know what, I would not change a thing (except for all the mods I did).

 

[toybox]

Toybox, I'm not talking about daddy's money!

I know. I was just poking fun. At least you got what I was talking about.

 

[bluewolf]

I know. I was just poking fun. At least you got what I was talking about.

I understood your statement perfectly, and completely agree! Wealth is wealth, despite where it comes from or who earned it, and the percentage of lucky little rich bastards on this forum DOES seem high...

I'm no different from them... if I had a cash-cow I'd tap it too!! Why is everyone so defensive of these people?

 

[toybox]

Why is everyone so defensive of these people?

I'm not sure if you were talking about me but again I was just joking. I'll admit, I am a little jealous. I wish I had it like that when I was young. But I didn't, life goes on.

 

[mtnrunner]

Not defensive, just damn jealous!

I think we're all just poking fun anyways. Wealth is relative and does not guarantee happiness and, besides, everyone here has a 4Runner so, relatively speaking, we're all wealthy right? (cept mine is more loaded than most! )

 

[bluewolf]

I'm not sure if you were talking about me but again I was just joking. I'll admit, I am a little jealous. I wish I had it like that when I was young. But I didn't, life goes on.

No, actually I was chiming in with you!


And... on the subject of the thread... I've loved Toyota 4X4s all of my driving life. Had an '82 pickup with the 22R 4-banger (woo hooo), traded it for my '93 xtra-cab with a V6 (which I still drive currently). It took me a while to be able to purchase a BRAND new 4Runner... they're a bit pricey for my meager budget! Thank God for credit unions!!

 

[toybox]

When I first graduated high school I worked at delivering auto parts to local repair shops and I did it in a toyota pickup with no a/c and vinyl seats and I still loved banging that little truck around the city. Since then I've owned many different Toyota's and the love affair continues.

 

[Iman74]

I heard about this kid in my karate class when I was a teenager that his parents were so wealthy he had is own section to the house, and a TV that lowered out of the ceiling. I wonder what his first vehicle was.