Last year I was shopping for a new pick-up. Initially I was primarily
interested in a Tundra. I liked the size. I test drove three different
Tundras. All three sounded like rock crushers when they were initially
started. Two of the salesmen said it was perfectly normal and that they all
did that. The third salesman more or less ignored my question. Now maybe the
noise was not piston slap, but it sure sounded like piston slap, and it was
worse than any GM vehicle I have personal experience with. Now maybe it
wasn't a problem (it did clear up with in a 20 seconds in all three cases),
but it certainly was not the sort of happy noise that you expect from a
Toyota (at least based on all the BS you read about Toyotas). I also think
it is unconscionable that Toyota still requires routine valve inspection /
adjustment on many of their engines. In the end I bought a Nissan Frontier
instead of a Toyota. This was primarily due to cost. With similar equipment,
the Nissan was 3k less than a  Toyota. So far the Nissan is fine.

Ed

Toyotas are nothing special in the JD Powers rating, yet Toyota owners
constantly cite this as proof of Toyota superiority. You need to actually
read the stuff you are citing. For instance, in the 2005 Initial Quality
Study, Toyotas had 105 problems per 100 vehicles. Buicks only had 100. The
industry average was 118. In the 2005 Vehicle Dependability Study, Toyotas
had 194 problems per 100 vehicles, Bucks only 163. The industry average was
237. If you put so much faith in JD Powers results, you should be buying a
Buick. I put no faith in Consumer Reports rankings. Their methodology is
non-scientific. In recent years they have cleaned up the result to remove
really horrible inconsistencies (like Buicks scoring much better than
Oldsmobiles), however it is still a flawed survey. I just filled out my 2006
CR Survey. The amount of information they collected is insufficient to prove
anything. Given the attitude of most Toyota owners it is not surprising that
they do well in the Consumer Reports popularity survey.

Ed

Who needs solid and unbiased evidence for auto quality issues...
eventually they all break down, peroid.

It is very seldom that something goes wrong on my cars that I wasn't
already aware of or expected due to wear and tear or age.

Therefore I drive what I think to be the make that is easiest to
maintain and fix.  This is a combination of the engineering but more
importantly what kind of support I can find on my own.  And it helps to
be a tool collector.

In my case I base my purchase on how much I will be at the mercy of the
dealership for maintenance and repair issues.  Ford has not let me down
in this regard.

Toyota, GM, Ford, Honda, Nissan... get over it.  They all require TLC
and then just break down.

How is this screwing Toyota owners?
1. To me, it's good business. They have 90 out of 5800 vehicles
reporting problems. That's about 2%. How many people get recall
notices, never do anything, and never have problems? This isn't
something that would strand you or cause harm. You can drive the car
still and probably pretty well.
2. Toyota is known for its quality. This is not a common problem.

American manufacturers use lesser quality, then pay millions on the
backend trying to fix it all.

BTW, I own a Ford product, but I think this is smart business.

baldguy13
-not adverse to Toyota