My Tacoma bumper

[TR6BILL]

I need to replace the rear bumper on my Tacoma Prerunner, for the second time! First, a hit-and-run in a parking lot cost me a grand ($2800.00, a grand deductible) then I backed into a concrete light pole base, at a snail's crawl. Dang bumper folded like a cheap suit. Tired of crappy bumpers. I ordered a custom-welded, 3/16" steel custom rear bumper that will hold up. How dreadful the new truck bumpers are so flimsy.....

 

[Banjo]

Yup... Round here we were replacing them because they were rusting within months of purchase.. especially in the winter when exposed to road salt. Crappy, thin, Chrome. Very lightweight metal. But that really is now the norm across the board of most manufacturers. It helps them meet the impact standards. Think F1/Indy cars. designed to take more damage to protect the passengers.

 

[AngliaGT]

That's what you get for buying those foreign vehicles.If you'd bought
American,you'd have gotten a well built product.

- Doug

 

[TR6BILL]

That's what you get for buying those foreign vehicles.If you'd bought
American,you'd have gotten a well built product.

- Doug

Actually, the Tacoma is designed and built (70%) in California, more than most American brands.

 

[AngliaGT]

Bill,

Sorry,but I'm tired of people buying Japanese,etc.,because they
think it will be "perfect",because it's Japanese,etc.But thank you for being
honest enough to point out that they're not perfect.


- Doug

 

[Banjo]

Doug,
I hated working at a Toyota dealer for the same reason... People had such a high opinion of how perfect their car was supposed to be, that every tiny glitch or hiccup needed to be repaired under warranty. even when it was just part of the way that car worked normally (which was a lot of the time).
It's a complex electro- mechanical device made up of thousands of parts subjected to extreme environment and demanding use, built by a company trying to keep costs low, and profits up. I don't care who made it, it's gonna need to be repaired.
Now in the grand overview of thins, I do believe that Toyotas do seem to be about as trouble free as they come, but are far from perfect.

 

[Nunyas]

I think for more experienced car buyers (i.e. people that have owned more than 1 new car), the expectation of perfection doesn't exist, and they look more to how the respective companies respond to legitimate faults in the vehicle. Then again, I could be looking at the world through rose colored glasses and thinking that experienced owners have better expectations...

I know from reading the Evolutionm.net forums, that there are ~a lot~ of new car owners out there that have no idea what a legitimate fault is on a car. I read a post where one guy thought the soot in the exhaust tips (on a turbo charged car mind you) was abnormal, the ticking of the injectors (normal) meant they were about to go, and the flash rust on the cast iron brake rotors was a major fault...