I got into an interesting conversation at work yesterday regarding build quality and reliability of domestic (Big-3) vs foreign trucks.

There is an impression that foreign-made trucks have fewer repairs and reliability problems than domestic. I had a new(-to-me) thought wondering if demographics played a role.

If you take the "red-blooded american man" demographic that won't buy foreign and beats the crap out of the truck because "it's a truck!" vs "I need a truck but I want something that's comfortable and efficient" do you get a self-fulfilling prophecy that quality (based on number of repairs) is lower on domestic trucks?

 

Of course this poll is going to be pointless since you're on a site full of domestic trucks lol. I don't think all domestics are nothing but trouble, but foreign cars are built better.

That's is pretty much the rams selling point, comfort, power, and style. Bringing it up again, i think it was in the 80%+ of ram owners didn't buy their trucks with the purpose of hauling/towing. I mean hell the 09 has a heated steering wheel. How many red-blooded american men look for a heated steering wheel when deciding on a truck?

 

If I had known about that it would've been, but I also suffer from a condition where my fingers go numb in cold weather rather easily and it's annoying as hell.

 

Domestic cars are made of equal build quality compared to Foreign cars of the same. This isn't the 80's and 90's anymore. Domestic cars will last just as long as foreign and have the same amount of issu'es as one another. It's one of those things nowadays, where the tag means everything...It's called customer biased based opinions on brand names. Like saying Hilfiger clothing is better than Sean John brand.

I didn't vote in the poll because there was no equal option.

 

I have owned nothing but toyota for the past 3 cars and decided to give dodge a shot even though i have heard they were trouble for many people... needless to say i love my truck and have not really had a problem yet aside from the stupid foam issue with the drivers seat that many seem to have but that doesn't bother me as long as the thing runs fine which it does. Anyone can pick out a minute detail about any company they don't like or car they have owned and bash it. Every Toyota i had ran great but there were little problems here and there that were annoying. Everyone seems to love Honda and the new Fit but there is no grille guard in the lower dam and everyone is getting their a/c condenser destroyed while driving and Honda is not covering it. I believe its a $1500 fix... Anyway I guess i'm going on but what im trying to say is I only owned Jap cars/trucks and now have a domestic and love it.

 

I agree with 'dog. The foreign vehicles are living off the reputation they built when they first made an appearance over here, when they were still built overseas and the quality was top notch. They are now built here, for the most part, using the same automated machines and american workforce, although mostly less expensive, non-labor workers.

I believe ALL manufacturers are trying to cut costs to make a profit in these harder times and as a result, the quality across the board has suffered, both foreign and domestic.

I have two friends with Toyota Tundras and both have had issues, major issues with not many miles on them! One had his camshaft go and it took the engine with it. The other had his rear differential fail.

Both have stated they will not buy a Toyota truck again.

 

if this was five years ago, i would have said foreign automakers for the win. but domestic manufacturers have come a long way, though in large part because they are following the Toyota way. Whatever the reason for righting their wrongs, domestic automakers are doing better, and all that's left is perception and past.

 

I think there should be an equal option in the voting as well.
I will tell you when I was researching all the makes of full size trucks out there I was not impressed with anything until I came across the 2009 Ram. I researched for months and found that GM trucks seem to have the worst reputation among owners that I have ever seen. I owned a brand new GMC once and had serious issues within months of ownership. I kept it 2 years then traded it in. I would then say that Nissan has the worst on the foreign side of it. I was on the brink of buying a Titan until I got on one of the Titan forums and began to read. Those trucks appear to be plagued with issues having some of those issues without resolution. On the GM side the Avalanche appeared to have the best reliability based on the owners comments and reviews. To me Ford seemed to have their share of problems as well with many disgusted owners but equally pleased on the other hand. To my surprise, I found that Toyota Tundra owners main issues were electrical. In my opinion, I believe that most trucks nowadays are pretty equal to each other in terms of reliability. I believe there are bad ones out there in all makes and models. Before owning my Toyota FJ Cruiser I owned a Subaru Forester that was plagued with drivetrain problems. Within the first two years I had to have the tranny worked on for gear grinding issues. To this day it was never completely resolved even though it was torn down and rebuilt. It has since had to have the rear diff replaced. This was a car completely built in Japan and imported here. If you visit any car or truck forums you will find a fare share of reliability issues.

 

call me a red blooded American, i don't buy trucks for comfort, and i won't drive a jap rig. when i bought my dodge, the main reason was the fact that mine doesn't have carpet, doesn't have electronic locks windows, or that thing that tells ya the temperature, which mean less crap to break. I bought it because my dad has one, so i know how they drive and know they can take a beating. the engine may be a bit sparse, but compared to a gutless foreign rig, i can mob when i need to. i watch toyotas blow up all the time, and they can't go where i can go in my dodge. my first rig was a big block '69 ford truck, so you can probably see why my opinions are that of a 60 year old guy. i was raised hating foreign rigs and i always have, just don't think they're good quality.

 

Are you reading the same forum I am? How many "blend-door" and "my friend's Toyota is so much better" posts have you seen?