http://detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...803260431/1148

user comments at bottom:
http://blog.toyota.com/2008/03/toyot...html?#comments

toyota's response:
http://blog.toyota.com/2008/04/toyota-and-the.html


Toy donating money to a org that wants to limit OHV use. AS is in the middle of a lawsuit against the Nation Park system to limit beach access to vehicles in the Outer Banks. The money is earmarked for certain things and training other conservationists is one of them. Somehow toyota dosent think this will impact OHV users. I guess there is more $ to be made selling prious and corollas than fj cruisers and tacos.

This really hurts as I have owned 20 toy trucks all 4x4 in the last 18 years. I currently own 2, a full built rockcrawler and a tundra. It is a very smart business move on their part as the green sector is growing fast and truck buyers will buy a truck regardless, but it feels like a slap to OHV users. You can check out the pirate4x4 landuse forum for more info about it.

 

"I guess there is more $ to be made selling prious and corollas than fj cruisers and tacos."




"WE HAVE A WINNER"



Sad but true.

 

Damn, that sucks.

I hope that somebody at toyota gets fired for not doing their research. I just hope that this will get enough attention that toyota's sales will drop, and then they will do some research to find out why.

 

i think toyota needs a nice firm kick in the balls lately, they have been screwing up our trucks and making them "road friendly" and forgetting about their roots that were basically made with trucks that were off road capable, idk if i would ever buy a hybrid, wat is the point if i cant rev it at stop lights lol. but seriously they need to do more research there are plenty of ppl that will buy good 4x4 trucks that arent humongous

 

Wow, that is so cool... NOT!!! There are starving children, and there is still no cure for cancer, but for some strange reason, Toyota seems to think they need to spend 20 million dollars on a bunch of birds???

Have they forgotten that birds love to crap on cars?

 

^^^ I swear my truck has a hidden "please crap on me" sign somewhere

 

Bring back solid axles, brute four bangers, rusted bodies made of STEEL and not PLASTIC, I want a truck with a vinyl floor I can put my muddy boots all over, I want reliability, even after having 500,000 miles on an engine! I don't want some turd thats gonna have the tailgate bend when you step on it, wheel fall off, or a truck the size of a Ford F-350 Longbed Double Cab, I want a compact pickup with some balls, big hairy balls made from something more than cheap ass plastic. I want a pickup that I can beat on, and wheel the piss out of it. I don't want an eco-friendly, 45 mpg hybrid, and let me tell you something about birds, they SUCK, they poop all over all my trucks, and fly around and do nothing. BURN!

 

^^well said

 

But when gas prices hit $6 a gallon ($80+ to fillup a Runner!!) most people will be clamoring for 45mpg vehicles and Toyota knows this. America really hasn't had the gas price wakeup call and most of the US thinks prices are going to go back down well under $3 but I don't see it happening.
Our so-so mileage fun trucks may be relegated to weekend warrior status and I know mine will be as soon as I'm in a cheap daily driver.

 

Gas is expensive. PEOPLE NEED TO GET OVER IT! Gas went from like 2.80 to 3.25 and I don't even notice the difference at fill ups, I get like 230 miles out of a tank, I ALWAYS have my foot in it, I'm hard on my truck, especially when I run 31's and I can STILL get 2nd gear scratch. So if you want a badass truck, get an old Yota, if you wanna whine about milage, please get a Civic, then feel free to put a fart cannon on it, and a cold air intake and think your hot $h!t..

 

The point was gas is probably going to continue to climb and the general public will be hunting for better mpg cars, you don't really account for many people. Trustyrusty, we are part of a small sector in Toyota's marketing plan...why do you think they are limiting production of the FJ Cruiser and charging so much for it? MOST people that buy 4x4's never use it anyways. We are an off-road oriented club so it seems to us that there is a big demand for rugged trucks but the fact is that soccer moms, grandparents and city business men out number us exponentially...Toyota probably wouldn't see a dent in their overall revenue if the hard core off road people stopped buying their trucks...theres hundreds or thousands of city families lining up for better mpg family cars than there are people who want pure 4x4 vehicles. There is also a bigger demand for large trucks that can tow big trailers than pure 4x4 vehicles.

 

alot of people here can agree wit me, toyota took a turn for the wrost after 1995.yes they have had some good...look at the 3.4L enige but at the same time they mades some scarofices...look at the the stock capability of a 80s truck vs a 90s. i say bring back the 80s

 

I wouldn't say that my Taco has a 5 speed, powerful V6, and its a short bed single cab (RARE!) but its a DAMN FINE truck, a very quality product, that is a beast offroad. Now a 2005 Tacoma with an automatic and 4.0 V6, what a F'in joke... Take that sorry POS offroad and see what happens...

 

Like stated before Toyota doesn't market anything outside the FJ and Tacoma to be off road worthy since we account for very small percentage that actually off road their Toyotas and I think with the next 4Runner it'll really be leaving it's off road roots behind and Toyota figures the people that really want to off road it will turn to the aftermarket.

Off roading just isn't a factor in overall sales to Toyota so we should enjoy what we've got.

 

if they happen to redesign the 4runner again and it looks stupid and has no offroad capability, ill go throw rocks at all the ones on the toyo lots

i like my 91
but the fact is
there marketing towards the majority of the population, not a hxc group of offroaders

 

No frame rust issues with you Rusty? BTW my neighbor has a 96 short bed single cab with V6, I offered to bye it once but he won't sell.

 

I wish I could go back in time to 1985, and buy a brand new solid axle toyota pickup like my dad used to have.

 

they should have an option with the FJ cruiser to have either IFS for those mall crawler rich guys, and solid axles for those of us who want to wheel! Even if it costs more!

 

This truck has NO rust ANYWHERE! My brother had it since 2000, and he sanded down and repainted the frame and underside of the truck every year, He passed in 2005 and I've been doing the same, there IS a tidbit of rust in the bed under the bedmat near a seam, but I don't really care.