Toyota ownership is dark side and/or cult-like? Please...
Went to the dark side - bought a Toyota
- Thread starter KrisZ
- Start date
Guessing why it barely sells in New England. CrossTrek is sales winner here.
Say anything remotely negative about a Toyota on this board - even if you own one - and get back to me on that thought.
There used to be a guy here - I won't mention him (maybe he's still around?) - who would point-by-point argue with everyone any time they said something bad about a Toyota. Example: "Oh, the seats in the Camry I rented were so uncomfortable!" ----- "Oh yeah? Well, the Ford Taurus in your signature weighs 800 more pounds than it should, and it has the worst brakes in its segment!"
I yell at myself if I bad rap my Tundra or RX. Not to mention my old 93 4WD PU with over 500K on the clock...
Now the newer Camrys might be long runners, but they seriously hurt my eyes!
While Toyota makes the best hybrids, they suck at EV drivetrains.
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
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There is also a cultural aspect to Japanese cars. Toyotas mainly, but Hondas are very popular among Indian people (India), especially the immigrants and 1st generation. As an auto damage adjuster I constantly write estimates on these vehicles and interact with the owners all the time. I had one customer go so far as to refuse an American car from Enterprise because he "doesn't want that unreliable American junk"
. That was pretty brutal, I hope he got a Hyundai. Go to an Indian temple or festival and you will see rows of Camrys, Odysseys and Sienna's.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
At first glance from my screen, it looked like painter's tape to me!
Nice car though.
Wish I'd said that... Ha!“You just wait till the big guys get in the EV market”.
My understanding is their non hybrid CVT has an actual first gear and switch to CVT after 1st gear. This dramatically reduce the start from stop stress typical CVT faces and therefore much more reliable.
Nice vehicle
Did the first oil change. Toyota got few things right, but few could be improved. Overall though, it was a pretty easy oil change.
What I liked:
- there is a cover in the under tray for the drain plug and filer, so the under tray can stay on.
- there is a good amount of room for your hands and tools in there once the cover is removed.
- the drain plug and oil filter are in the same spot, you can catch the oil from both at the same time into one pan.
What I disliked:
- the small tray for the drain plug is held by four metal screws. It would've been nice if it slid inside the tray with tabs and was held by one screw.
- the screws are not retained in the tray, if at least they were retained, it would be better.
- Also I can see these screws rusting in the rust belt and be difficult to remove after few winters.
- the drain plug and filter are located in the back, so you need to go way under the car to reach them.
- the plug is using a soft type washer, I re-used it but will get an aluminum one for the next change.
What I liked:
- there is a cover in the under tray for the drain plug and filer, so the under tray can stay on.
- there is a good amount of room for your hands and tools in there once the cover is removed.
- the drain plug and oil filter are in the same spot, you can catch the oil from both at the same time into one pan.
What I disliked:
- the small tray for the drain plug is held by four metal screws. It would've been nice if it slid inside the tray with tabs and was held by one screw.
- the screws are not retained in the tray, if at least they were retained, it would be better.
- Also I can see these screws rusting in the rust belt and be difficult to remove after few winters.
- the drain plug and filter are located in the back, so you need to go way under the car to reach them.
- the plug is using a soft type washer, I re-used it but will get an aluminum one for the next change.
Toyota oil drain plug washers are aluminum sandwiched. Pretty good IMO.
They are Teflon coated aluminum. The genuine Toyota ones are blue and will stick to the pan.
Oh I see, that’s exactly what it looked like and it did stick to the pan. I tried removing it with my fingers but couldn’t and I didn’t want to use a tool because I thought it would tear and I didn’t have a replacement.
Good to know they are coated aluminum.
I don't know about the OEM Toyota washer, I just got a bag of 100 aluminum washers from rockauto for $15 and use a new one every time.
About the screw rusting, they are probably pretty cheap and if they started to have surface rust I guess I would just replace it. Maybe an identical thread one made of stainless steel from Home Depot.
About the screw rusting, they are probably pretty cheap and if they started to have surface rust I guess I would just replace it. Maybe an identical thread one made of stainless steel from Home Depot.
The genuine Toyota ones can last a few oil changes, but are supposed to be replaced every time.
The aftermarket ones have a black coating and tend to be extremely soft; they really need to be replaced every time.
