Is this only around me or its real

What's the issue 22,000. in today's money is roughly 45,000.

 

Unless you need to tow something that needs a real truck.

 

And even fewer actually need a truck. Or a lift. Or lots of stuff.

 

If someone needs an F150 or Tundra but buys a Ranger or Tacoma instead, that's their problem.

 

45% of this forum is people buying a Tacoma when they should be buying an F-150 or Prius. "Guys, I want to tow my 9000lbs camper and haul railroad ties and lead ingots. What kind of coilovers should I get?" "Anyone else not happy with their MPG? I am only getting 21. Thought the 4 cylinder hybrid would get 37mpg."

 

It's amazing how many sources have different numbers for household income, here's another one:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/200838/median-household-income-in-the-united-states/

This shows much flatter growth, by the way.

 

The figures you're citing are already adjusted for inflation, the others I've seen in this thread are not.

 

Good catch, that explains it.

 

As this sounds like an argument concocted out of thin air by a 5 year old, I'll say there are a million trillion bajillion reasons this is just silliness.

 

He did say 45%. Just read it that you're a 55% majority owner.

The post you quoted was probably one of the funniest posts I've seen in a while!!!

 

Back in my day, most people kept a vehicle 6-10 years, Fu$& the Jone’s . Of course we had gravity back then , been to McDonalds lately

 

Tacoma always hold there value over any ford. I don't hate fords. I do own a 2023 bronco and not bad at all.

 

Toyotas also cost more when buying previously owned the only negative to their holding value.

 

The XL and STX have more standard features that the SR including a 2.7 tt v6 36 gallon tank and 12" display screen the XL and STX can also be optioned with a rear locker for additional cost. You will probably be paying $70k to get a heated steering wheel in an Fseries. If you want an Expedition Ford only offers 3/4 of a steering wheel for 2025

 

Not to get off topic, just wanted to point out something I have observed in my 68 years. The big 3 mostly made crappy cars because they had no competition and maximized profits. Until companies like Toyota started cutting into their profits they refused to change. Manufacturers have extremely high competition rates in today’s market and pressure for profit, who the hell owns GM , Jeep ?

 

So the story of this is really interesting. What you said is truth.

The story of Toyota is as much an american story as Japanese. But it should have been an American story.

Edwards Deming was an American statistician and physicist who worked for the US Govt in the 30s and 40s to improve military products. His philosophy was really simple: good companies have good management. Good management leads to good products. Shit companies have shit management and make shit products. Shit companies blame their employees for the sins of management. In a shit company, when things go wrong, the rank and file get blamed. If a company is making shitty products, blaming the lowest paid guy on the line will never fix it. Production problems are leadership problems.

American businesses post WWII didn't have to make good products. While the rest of the world lost much of its factory and industrial base post WWII, the USA didn't. Consumers were fat and happy, and they spent accordingly. Businesses DGAF about making anything lasting or quality because there was no competition. What's the incentive to spend more to make good items when even the crap products sell?

Car makers were no exception. The goal wasn't to make good things. It was to make as many things as possible. Who cares if the cars roll off the line with defects? That's the customer's problem. That's the dealership's problem. Fix it later. Workers were just flesh robots that served the factory. Deming hated this. Why should a company ruin its reputation with crappy products? Do it right the first time. Quit forcing the problem on to customers. It damages your reputation.

Deming, who had just done this work with factories in WWII to make military products as good as possible, appealed to US manufacturers to stop being such dirtbags. They didn't care. It was going to cost them money in the short term to make good things. He knew it would cost them in the end, but the manufacturers were only looking short and medium term. They ignored him. On a business trip to Japan, he ends up having some chance encounters with Japanese scientists, engineers and business people. Their country was literally decimated. They needed his advice. He told them of his philosophy. They loved it. The Japanese invited him back, and he spent several years evangelizing his ideas which were adopted in the early 50s.

People joked that Made in Japan meant something cheap that wasn't built to last in those days. The Japanese wanted to change that. Deming ends up creating this entire thing called total quality management. Basically:

• focus on limiting variations in your entire process. Little tolerance errors one at a time don't mean much. But when you're building complex things, tolerance stacking adds up. You start with .002 off, and 10,000 parts later, you've got a car door that can't close without scraping the paint off the frame. The way to prevent this is inspecting everything.
• get good suppliers, not cheap suppliers, that will listen to your needs.
• sample every product for quality and reject what doesn't meet the spec.
• managers need to help people do better work, coach them, not act like taskmasters or hall monitors. The workers aren't to blame if the products don't function. Mangers need to hire better people, train them, and grow the workforce.
• reward people who do good work. Recognize exceptional performers, and honor people who take pride in their work.
• Every person, every day, contributes something to the end product. The janitor mopping piss off the floor in the head should take pride in his work because nobody wants to get off the line to go stand in a piss reeking bathroom on one of 2 15 minute breaks you get a day.

So this seems super straightforward. But it's not cheap.

Toyota decides to go balls to the wall on this. They create the Toyota Production System aka "lean" manufacturing. Limited inventory on hand to reduce cost and overhead, common core products to allow for reuse of assemblies and parts. For instance, how a 1982 Tercel uses the same oil filter as a 2025 Grand Highlander. Or how a Tacoma uses the same window wipers as a Tundra. This was the beginning of the end for American automakers dominance.

The products Toyota and Honda built were better, cheaper, and longer-lasting than anything the big 3 made. The american automakers cried rivers to get government protections in import taxes and levies so they could continue making crap products without competition. This helped some. But consumers were waking up. It wasn't just automakers. It was Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Yaesu, etc

But the 70s and 80s, American auto makers were really worried. If you lived in the 80s, you remember all the stories about Japan taking over the world. NBC ran this documentary in the 80s that was a huge wakeup call for industry. "If Japan can do it, why can't we?"

If Japan Can, Why Can't We?

And here we are today.

The Miracle at Toyota — Profound - Having intellectual depth and insight

W. Edwards Deming - Wikipedia

History - Why the American Automotive Industry Failed, and Continues to Fail: W. Edwards Deming | The H.A.M.B.

Finally, if you work in any management or leadership role at your work, consider the Red Bead Experiment compulsory. It's a brilliant philosophy.

Deming's Red Bead Experiment

Dr. Deming's 14 Points for Management - The W. Edwards Deming Institute

 

The triple S system, prime example, or now the 5 S system

 

Some of us still do.

 

At the same time, give Toyota credit, the Tacoma is the #1 selling mid size truck still isn't it?
Lotta suckers out there...

 

Yup, here in NH and the 150 and Ram's Chebby's are same price as the Tacoma's. Also, these "crappy" trucks will out perform and tow the little Tacos all over the place. Tacoma is not a work truck, it is now a lifestyle/IG Bro vehicle. Tacoma folks or at least at TW, seem to want all the nanny shit, heated steering wheel, and ball cooler, etc..... I love my 2017 and will drive it till it can't go anymore, but I see 150's, 1500's daily with hundreds of thousands of miles in the lumber industry. The obviously sell and perform for their owners.