Total Motorcycle Community Forums

oldnslo wrote:Ridiculous, indeed. I have never owned a vehicle with such expensive maintenance requirements. I think Toyota quality has slipped, too. I expected better, to be sure. And with this sludge issue hanging over it, it is history.

I'm gonna have to agree with the fact that it probably has more to do with the generation you're driving. My dad and i are all about toyotas....we had a previa for over 10 years, nothing ever went wrong with it. my dads old 92 4runner, only thing that went wrong with it was that my mom took it when she left. i now drive an '86 toyota SR5 p/u that i purchased from my uncle. excellent shape, 'cept he never did anything with it. I've had for three years, and just recently put in a new clutch, headers, and tuned up the engine. my baby will run in superb condition for probably another 5-7 years.

my dad and i also buy and repair old toyota land cruisers. (see site www.cruiserland.com ). if you know you're vehicle, you can maintain it w/o problems, and w/o paying the dealerships outrageous amounts of $$.

The old FJ-40 Land Cruisers had Chevy engines in them LOL. Specificially the 231ci inline 6 that powered chevys 2WD pickups of the day.

I prefer hondas or nissans myself. At least you can work on them. I can do pretty much any work myself on my wifes integra. Nissan is known for hooking really simple engines with incredibly complex transmissions on their sports cars (the skyline comes to mind).

Hondas do seem to be the simplest of japanese cars though, and as well made as their bikes. In my experiences with japanese cars I would take a honda as a daily commuter, and a Nissan if I wanted a screamer

Every one of them is still just another dam cage...........

So true, but the older you get, the more you appreciate a trouble-free cage. I can honestly say I would not want to consider doing without one. It has become a necessity. I just want it to be perfect, requiring no expensive maintenance, and putting out big horsepower and good gas mileage.

oldnslo wrote:So true, but the older you get, the more you appreciate a trouble-free cage. I can honestly say I would not want to consider doing without one. It has become a necessity. I just want it to be perfect, requiring no expensive maintenance, and putting out big horsepower and good gas mileage.

And inexpensive and attractive too - right? Just kidding. Get a Subaru Forester - you can get a new one for 20k, plenty of room in the back, I get over 30 on the highway, mid 20s in the city, can cruise at 80 all day, no problems on snow and ice and it ain't all that ugly for a station wagon. Of course you're gonna pay $700 for that 30k service, unless you go see my guy Andy...

The Toyota's only comfort issue is the seats are a little on the short side front to back. Plenty of room in there, particularly if back seats are removed, and it will cruise at just about any speed you want 210 hp to go. In spite of it's hunger for maintenance, the engine is like a sewing machine at any speed.

Incidentally, how can you stand the traffic up there, CB? Last friday we drove up to Port Townsend, took the ferry to Whidbey, went to I-5 about 50 miles north of Seattle, and spent the next 3 hours either at 65 or a dead stop. It didn't start clearing up till we got south of Olympia. Amazing.

I don't find the traffic all that bad around here compared to some other places I've lived. There are days however, and it sounds like you stumbled into one. If there's road work within 50 miles it can make for a long day. The main way I deal with it, however, is by living close to work. From first to last, here's the length of my commute to work since I moved here almost 15 years ago - 2 miles, 40 blocks, 9 blocks, 1 block, 100 feet! Two years ago I found a duplex across the street so I rent out the basement and live in the top half. It takes me about 15 seconds to get to work on foot in the morning and that's just how I like it. If I'm driving, I'm either on the way to buy something I don't need or going somewhere just for fun. I can walk to the movies, the grocery, the video store, etc. Traffic ain't bad in the city if you can somehow put yourself in a spot where you aren't forced to deal with it on a daily basis - it took me a while to figure that out, but I finally got there.

The last American car I owned was a 1971 Chevy Vega. Only Toyota and Honda since then, for me or the kids. The wife has a 1991 Toyota Previa van with 184,000 miles: only thing besides normal wear & tear parts was some electronic dohickey for the transmission. Bought my first Toyota truck for $5400 and drove it 212,000 miles before it was rear-ended: the insurance company gave me $1200 when it was totaled. I drive stuff til it dies. Haven't had a lemon Toyota or Honda yet, but it looks like John got one.

I guess I should give up on following the maintenance schedule and just drive it until something breaks. Won't work, I just can't be that way.

I really think that the toyo is a good auto, but the dealers just found a way to make more money off of the maintenance. Chances are that most of that work is not even needed.