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Comments
The comment that manufactures such as Nissan mix "clearcoat" into the paint is ridiculous. I know for a fact that Nissan uses a clear coat just like nearly every other major manf. nowadays. The main reason for going to a clearcoat finish is environmental. A very thin color coat is applied followed by the clear coat. This reduces VOC's during the paint process and improves harmful emissions at paint operations. Talk to an experienced body shop, and they'll tell you the same thing.
Dakotas with the 4.7 really get with the program. Oh what fun they can be.Crank the tunes, Infinity sound system,mash the gas and go looking for a TOY with a really high pitched noise coming from under the hood.Fun Fun Fun until the wife took the key away.
2000 Dakota Safety Recalls- 3
2000 Dakota defect investigations -1
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2000 Tacoma Tsb's - 1
2000 Tacoma Safety Recalls- 0
2000 Tacoma Defect Investigations-0
http://www.lieblweb.com/P000513A/P000513Aindex.html
http://www.lieblweb.com/P000513C/P000513Cindex.html
ODI ID: 864549
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure: Thursday, June 29, 2000
Incident: Yes
Fire: No
Number of Injuries: 0
Component: POWER TRAIN:TRANSMISSION:AUTOMATIC:INTERLOCK SYSTEM
Summary: CONSUMER PUT VEHICLE IN PARK, AND VEHICLE ROLLED THIRTY FEET AND STRUCK ANOTHER PARKED VEHICLE. *AK
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ODI ID: 721551
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure: Wednesday, March 15, 2000
Incident: No
Fire: Yes
Number of Injuries: 0
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:WIRING:HARNESS:FRONT:UNDERHOOD
Summary: VEHICLE CAUGHT ON FIRE SITTING IN DRIVEWAY FOR TWO HOURS AFTER LAST USE. FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED WITH EXTINGUISHER. SPORT CITY TOYOTA WOULD NOT TAKE THE VEHICLE O
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ODI ID: 722417
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure: Thursday, February 24, 2000
Incident: No
Fire: No
Number of Injuries:
Component: SUSPENSION:I-BEAM:SOLID:FRONT HUB 1
Summary: MY DRIVER SIDE MIRROR IS HARD TO FOCUS AND I AM WRITING THIS BECAUSE THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND I AM IN DANGER BY DRIVING A TRUCK WITHOUT THE DRIVER SIDE MIRROR
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ODI ID: 719953
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure: Thursday, February 17, 2000
Incident: No
Fire: No
Number of Injuries:
Component: VISUAL SYSTEMS:MIRRORS:REARVIEW:EXTERIOR
Summary: TO: NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION,I BOUGHT A BRAND NEW 2000 TOYOTA TACOMA PRERUNNER A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND I NOTICED THAT THERE IS SOMETHIN
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ODI ID: 551412
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure:
Incident: No
Fire: No
Number of Injuries:
Component: VISUAL SYSTEMS:MIRRORS:REARVIEW:EXTERIOR
Summary: THE DRIVERS SIDE MIRROR IS DEFECTIVE AND MADE IT HARD FOR THE DRIVER TO FOCUS ON WHAT IS IN THE MIRROR RESULTING IN EYE REDNESS AND PAIN. NLM
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ODI ID: 719768
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure:
Incident: No
Fire: No
Number of Injuries:
Component: EXHAUST SYSTEM
Summary: CHEMICAL REACTION OF SULFURIC ACID WITH PLATED METALS OF BRAKE CASING PRODUCED TOXIC FUMES THAT WERE INHALED OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME PRODUCING SEVERE FR
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ODI ID: 719768
Make: TOYOTA TRUCK
Model: TACOMA
Year: 2000
Date of Failure:
Incident: No
Fire: No
Number of Injuries:
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BATTERY:CARRIER:HOLD DWN
Summary: CHEMICAL REACTION OF SULFURIC ACID WITH PLATED METALS OF BRAKE CASING PRODUCED TOXIC FUMES THAT WERE INHALED OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME PRODUCING SEVERE FR
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This does not proove anything. Toyota is still king of rust!!!!!
I posted the OFFICIAL Technical Service Bulletins,
Saftey Recalls, and Defect Investigations fro mthe NHSTA.
Do you REALLY want me to post the consumer complaints for the Dodge Dakota? I don't think you do...............
truck is a great off roader great but don't become
the "Vince" of Toyota. You should go ahead and
accept the fact that there are pieces of [non-permissible content removed] of
each brand...not everybody has luck with the same
brand."
Come on man. I report the facts, nothing more. Vince has nothing to offer whatsoever.
As for your other comment, there are varying degress of quality for each truck. So ones chances of getting a lemon with a higher quality manufacturer are LESS.
But I can say this as a stock vehicle the Toyota is a Thoroughbred of an offroad vehicle. As a pick up it is probably the Best, I'll challenge anyone to that one even the punks with the full size trucks. I'm not talking about engine size, interior room rather, stock offroad ability. Toyota designs their trucks around offroading just an example look at where the shock mounts are on the rear axle. Thay don't hang down the leaf springs are mounted on top of the axle, not even the wrangler can say that. The list goes on and on. My Nissan's shock mounts don't hang that far down at all(still I think they are lower than the Taco). The worst I've seen has been the S-10's it's even with the diff. But anyway I agree with you that the Taco is the best offroader. Structural-wise the Nissan would make the most sense to 'build' as an alternative to the Taco. To me if you didn't want to spend the $ on the Taco but wanted to build a truck the Nissan would be a good platform to start. I am leaving out the Dodge because I don't know anything about it's frame structure. The bad thing about the Nissan is the aftermarket toys to improve it or to 'build' it. This last reason would be why the Ranger or GM would be easier to do.
spoog,enjoy your Toyota,and most of us will enjoy our trucks,which in each individuals eyes is the best truck.
Spoog will probably hunt up a TSB describing skid plate problems on the Dakota and remind us all how "very, very, very, poorly" this truck is built. Even though he previously referred to the Dakota as "formidable." Hmmm, he seems a tad inconsistent to me. Go figure...
It's that *&^^%**(!! spare tire contraption. You use the jack handle to crank down the spare tire from underneath the bed. I had to crank my spare down when installing my cat-back, and the damn jack handle got stuck in it. I tried just about everything to get it out (hammer, vice grips, whatever I could think of). I ended up having to take it in and have the service deptarment pull it and replace the jack handle. Why not just a simple swing-down frame to bolt the tire to?
Another thing I don't like is the design of the sliding rear window. Waaaay too easy to break into. But, from what I've seen all trucks are like this. About all you'd need is either a coat hanger or a stanley knife.
Good point about it being easy to break in,but I know in my CC,that if I locked my keys inside,I could not get my fat butt through that rear window.I could reachin and maybe reach the door.
I have had safety recalls on virtually ALL vehicles I have owned including Honda, Nissan and VW. I do not consider this a reflection of 'quality' in any way.
Anyone that has been involved in engineering a complex machine such as an automobile will attest to the myriad of little niggling problems that arise. ALL complex machines have room for improvement.
It is the manufacturer with integrity that will publicize the problems
in an effort to improve their product.
I'm not saying that they won't stand behind their product and fix it up to 100K miles, but come on! They should have at least made the people who bought those vehicles aware of a possible problem, so they could bring in the vehicle and check it out. I'd sure be mad as hell blowing an engine and being stuck somewhere just because of a "reputation".
Anybody know the point where the manufacturers will actually recognize the problem and step forward to correct it? What's the best mfgr in this regard that you guys have experienced?
Another little point of Toyota's marketing is the ground clearance thing. They measure from the ground to the highest point on the bottom of the chassis. Wouldn't the ground clearance be the distance between the lowest point of the chassis to the ground? Go fig. I guess they just like putting that stuff in their ads. But, I guess all manufacturers do some "puffing" in some way or another. I just haven't noticed.
Later
-C
lol!!!!!!
Yeah, Jd Powers, Consumer reports, the NHSTA, and every consumer rating publication are all conspiring to make Toyota the most reliable trucks.
What a joke. Like I said, Cthomp has NOTHING to offer in these forums. He's an uneducated dude.
This is too funny.
I think this might be it:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/
And yes TSB's are nothing more than suggestions by owners,tech's and dealers just because there is a tsb on a vehicle doesn't mean there's something wrong with it.
I'd question the same about you. You're just a parrot who posts some 2yr old magazine article over and over and over.
Now take your eyes off that article (which you've probably photocopied and used as wallpaper in every room of your house) and try real, real hard to actually form an opinion of your own.
Good luck. You'll need it.
But hey, if you wanna walk around like a blind, little Toyota worshiper, go right ahead.
I don't know I guess you could find sources saying something is reliable and sources that say that it isn't. The thing I tell my customers when they but a boat from me and they are getting ready to put up $40K is: "Like IT...like every aspect of it now, before you buy it. Because you are going to have a problem or two with it. If you like it and you feel comfortable with the "deal" you got, the little problems will seem like no big deal. But if you end up not getting what you want or get talked into it by somebody then it seems like every little thing or problem is a big deal!". It's really like that with almost everything people buy. Trucks aren't any different, in fact(you guys think what you want), I think that eventhough most all Americans have felt that "American Quality" has gone up and it might even be on par with the foreign products, people still buy on the notion that the Japanese products are better in reliability. So, buying a Toyota or Nissan and what the hell a Honda, part of the price or "package" of the vehicle is going to be an "perceived" better reliability than the domestic counterpart. So much that some are willing to pay more for it. Now here's what I'm getting at, if this Japanese product has a problem or two whether minor or major, we as consumers look at the problem as if in astonishment and think "that must have just been a fluke, no big deal". When I worked for a local dealership I used to see Toyota Service writers come out to the driveway with a customer and look even more astonished than the customer and say stuff like "I've never seen that happen" or "That's not common at all" when all the time cars and trucks not passing emissions right off the truck for the same damn thing. This even more instills that reliability in foreign vehicles. So my point to all this is that owners of Foreign vehicles hold back a little. They aren't about to admit to any problems because if they did then they too would have to accept that they paid 'X' amount more just for name and import costs. The perceived reliability is really the only edge that the foreign manufactures can use to justify the higher prices. This is why the reliability wasn't such a BIG factor for me when I bought my truck. My BIGGEST factor was the design or style. Of course I could afford to let reliability not be as big a factor because I was leasing this next vehicle which meant I wasn't going to have this truck out of it's warranty period. But even so I think no matter what TSB's are posted they are all pretty close.
But good luck with your battles on this issue, I think it's going to come down to YOUR own experiences of certain brands and those experiences of the people closest to you.
Even the "Psychological" approach seems to explain why some vehicles 'seem' more reliable. In college, I seem to recall this phenomena had an actual name.
You hit the nail on the head saying that humans will tend recommend what they themselves have purchased. If they spent that much money on something, then they will tend to deny if they had problems with it. This would make it appear that they made the wrong decision.
But Hey! There is NO wrong decesion here. We have allready decided that BEST is a PERSONAL decesion.
My decesion is right for ME and I respect that somone elses BEST is for THEM.
oh and I think for it to be called clear 'coat' wouldn't it have to 'cover' the paint in order to be a 'coating'?
as for those unbreakable, beat all Toyotas, just wait 'till Honda gets some trucks on the road! man every other truck will quit running out of embarrassment! too bad wild rice (Minnesota brand of course) don't burn so well in those Asian trucks. (that oughta stoke the fire!) LOL
For one, Toyota builds their 4x4's with offroading in mind.
offroading features and capabilities are not part of Fords design philosophy, plain and simple. The highway suspension on their trucks echoes that point CLEARLY.
I just kind of wonder if there are other issues out there like this, either Toyota or other manufacturers.
There's one thing you've got to admit, though. The general public hasn't got a clue there was ever a Tacoma head gasket problem. I actually told a friend of mine who owns a '95 or '96 Taco with the 3L about it and to go have the Toyota service department check his truck. I'm sure that pleanty of potential Tacoma buyers might have second thoughts about the Taco if they knew this problem existed (I know it's not an issue on current Tacos, but most people look at a vehicle's record over the past few years). Toyota has got to keep reliability a top factor in the purchase decision with the 2-3K premium they charge over similarly equipped compacts.
My uncle (who owns a body shop) has actually had complaints because the panels he painted didn't have orange peel. He sprays them and then wet sands and buffs them. So, he'd go back and respray them to create the orange peel. Kind of screwy, huh?
Another funny complaint he had with a recent customer (a total mooch by the way) is that the panel gaps on his Expedition were too big. He actually drove him to the Ford dealer a mile down the road and compared the customer's SUV to the ones on the lot. The truck the shop had fixed (which really should have been totalled with damage in excess of 30K) had smaller and more uniform panel gaps than the SUV's sitting in the lot. There are just some customers that the profit you make is just not worth dealing with them.