Should the Japanese get out of the full-size pickup truck business?

The same was probably said of their cars when they first appeared in the North American market. You don't eventually become a Worldwide #1 automaker (Toyota) by throwing in the towel. Were I shopping in that segment (I don't have anything to haul on a consistent enough basis) I'd check out the GM, Ford and Toyota offerings for sure, as I've driven them and liked them.

The Toyota and Nissen have to get rid of the present gas gussler engines they are using in thier trucks to be competive

Turdyoda and Datsun do not have enough horsepower, torque, styling, suspension, and most importantly no diesel engines are offered, to be even considered as useful trucks. Towing anything remotely heavy for these two brands is a stretch at best.

And the fact they have had their fair share of defects and safelty issues which turned a lot of people off. The Tiatn was so bad at launch (engineering flaws) they had to postpone the launch for several months. Turdyoda had engines failing right after installation, major front suspension issues, etc. It's a wonder they made it to production at all.

Lastly, true North American truck owners are loyal to their brand. It would take an act of God to get them to change brands, or al least a far superior truck and these two don't stack up.

Fuel mileage is secondary to real truck owners.

Why so much attention is paid to the "Big 3" I don't know....let's pull the JD Power reliability ratings and everyone will know why Toyata's Tundra should stay around!

My Dad has a Toyota Tundra with the 5.7L engine.

Power? Lots, as much as the 360 Dodge, and 350 GM he had prior.

Gas mileage? Better than both of the previous trucks he had as well.

Don't know what people are talking about when they say the Toyota Tundra has no power and crappy gas mileage, simply not true!

To Scott,

There's an old saying " never take a knife to a gun fight" kid, and guess what?. your dad is holding the knife.

Your dad's Turdyoda (380 h.p) 5.7 is no match for a 5.7 Hemi (395 h.p) or the 6.1 (425 h.p) Hemi Ram or a 6.1 GM (403 h.p) or the Ford 6.0 (405 h.p) . Real world tests prove that time and time again. The domestic diesels are far beyond what ever the foreign trucks put out in H.P. and torque. I invite your pop to hitch up to my new 3500 Ram 4X4 dually and I'll drag him around the block a few thousand times. Better yet, my wife's new 392 Ram Sport would like a go at the Turdyoda too.

Ask you dad if his Turdyoda 5.7 can pull and safely stop with 22,000 lbs (40 ft. enclosed car trailer, two 2700 lb race cars, tools, 2 spare motors and 2 spare trans, and a 4 seat golf cart) . My 3500 Ram can and does, daily. The little 392 Ram has pulled the trailer but the stopping is poor.

Fuel mileage is not an issue with real truck owners. I think I said this in my previous post. Gas mileage for for wanna -be truck owners.

I was at both assembly plants when they were launching those POS trucks and it was very sad. The assembly lines were down for months while they were trying to sort out all the design flaws and cheap materials. Neither the Toyota or Nissan truck is no competition for the true domestic trucks and never will be.

Check with JD Power and Polk for warranty data. Better yet, ask Turdyoda truck owners about the frames rusting so bad they broke in half. Or the suspensions failing while the truck was on the highway. It'll be an eye opener

I'm sick to death hearing about how good the quality is with Asian vehicles. Stop drinking the kool-aide folks. It's all marketing hype and journalistic B.S.

I thought about buying a Crapysler one time and I'm glad it was only a thought. My father and brothers bought the crapsysler and a few transmissions later realized the mistake, now they are buying rice burners and loving it. I have to laugh at the last post by 655Hemi, like the saying goes
" the bigger the truck the smaller the dick.

I went to the auto show and looked at them all. The Toyota doors slammed like a 78 Honda Civic. Not a truck. The Ram cab wasn't big enough (till the new one) I just didn't like the GM that left Ford. Next time I'd buy a Toyota or a Nissan. I'd also buy a domestic after all I'm Canadian and lets face it they are all imports.

I can't believe after the last 5 years of constant recalls and deaths there is still ANYONE left that thinks Toyota's 'perception" of quality wasn't false. Maybe at one time, 15 years ago, they were built better ( still boring, bland and overpriced) but while Toyota stayed the same everyone else got way better! Now Toyota is no longer anywhere near the top for fuel economy or quality- but still boring and bland!

Huh. IF your claims of Toyota and Nissan trucks falling apart are true, 655Hemi, (which they aren't, as both Toyota and Nissan are right up there in quality with the domestic brands, Toyota beating the Cadillac Escalade for a quick example) it would most likely be because both are built in the States.

By the way, pretty sure the Toyota wouldn't have trouble pulling a trailer with your hobby cars on it. It pulled the FREAKING SPACE SHUTTLE at 106000 pounds.
Maybe you should ask MY friends about the front ends on their Dodges falling off, and needing major suspension work within six months. Or transmissions.
For 2013, the Tundra gets a 4/5 rating for predicted reliability, the Ram only gets 2.5/5, GM gets a 4/5 and Ford doesn't have a reliability rating yet. (Neither does the Nissan). Long story short, once again you've demonstrated your ignorance by spouting decade old "data" or simply spouting tired old rhetoric which has been repeatedly proven wrong.

Why does everyone think that American trucks are good let alone better? If you want to drive a truck for a few hours and then throw it away, get an American truck. If you don't mind having to keep replacing your transmission everyday, get an American truck.
If you want a truck with power, reliability, and fuel efficiency, there is only one truck, the Toyota Tundra. Don't question Toyota's reliability, period. Don't question Japanese fuel efficiency, period. In both of those aspects, your American vehicles are dirt. Not even dirt, less than dirt.

@655Hemi: What is the point of having power if your truck breaks down before driving out of the showroom? A knife is betterthan your gun if it can't shoot.
@knightrider: So what about recalls? My '07 Corolla runs just fine, other than 1 recall, and I haven't spent any money on major repairs.

Way to go Howie, spoken like someone who knows absolutely nothing about trucks.And stubbornly brainwashed as well, to think the massive recalls, deaths, injuries and court settlements happening right now- don't mean anything? Perception of quality and reliability for Toyota is tarnished forever. As far as American trucks- these vehicles are the best selling platforms on the planet, so the manufacturers make sure these things are built right. Toyota and Nissan have not passed them in quality, nor do they build a HD that could handle the capacities of an American truck, and probably never will, as they wouldn't sell enough to make it worthwhile. Heck, if it weren't for so many confused people out there paying too much for that god awful corolla they wouldn't be able to afford to keep building the tundra! One of the farm trucks I had was a 2000 Dodge I kept for 12 years and never did a thing to it- and no recalls to boot!

By the way Howie, your are missing a few recalls on that '07 corolla- some are pretty serious- you should look into that. Just because Toyota doesn't notify you doesn't mean the recalls aren't already issued.