Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Chevy or Tundra ?

Tundra, no question about it. I try to buy American made, but chevys are junk IMO.

What's odd is that there are "Americans" who would rather believe we already have been defeated in a trade and commerce sense than stand tall and proud and support one another. Personally I use a Gateway Computer.





Gateway Opens Configure-to-Order Assembly Facility in Nashville
New Nashville-Based Assembly Facility Will Enable Gateway to Increase Its Responsiveness to Its Configure-to-Order Customers


IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gateway, Inc., the nation's third largest PC maker and fastest growing PC company in the U.S., according to IDC, today announced the opening of its configure-to-order assembly facility in Nashville, Tenn. Together with its new Best Practices Tech Support Center in North Sioux City, S.D., which opened last month, Gateway is expanding its U.S.-based operations to improve overall customer satisfaction.

The dedicated assembly plant will improve the sales and delivery experience for its Professional and Direct customers. The company's new line-up of configure-to-order servers, also announced today, will be assembled in Nashville. Gateway also plans to build configure-to-order desktops and notebooks as well as provide custom integration and software imaging services at this facility.

"The opening of the Gateway Configuration Center is a milestone in our mission to grow our Professional and Consumer Direct business by best fulfilling our customer's needs for exceptional product quality and delivery," said Bruce Riggs, Gateway's senior vice president -- operations and customer care. "Coupled with the certainty that all tech support calls are answered in North America, this facility will help us best service existing customers and attract new ones."

First-year employment in the new configuration center is expected to grow to more than 300 people with an annual payroll of about $8 million.

"I'm proud of our state's growing reputation as a center for diverse and innovative businesses and extremely pleased to welcome Gateway's Configuration Center facility to Tennessee," said Gov. Phil Bredesen. "I am committed to continuing to attract forward-thinking organizations that create higher-skilled jobs with better pay for Tennessee workers. The addition of this facility by a respected and successful company like Gateway is another important step towards that goal."

In addition to the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce were key partners in attracting this important project.

Interested Applicants

Gateway is recruiting for the Nashville, Tenn. facility in conjunction with the State of Tennessee's recruiting and staff development organizations. Qualified candidates in the areas of manufacturing; production planning, scheduling and procurement; production process engineering and staff development can obtain more information by visiting: http://www.state.tn.us/labor-wfd/mainfindajob.html.

About Gateway

Since its founding in 1985, Irvine, Calif.-based Gateway (NYSE: GTW) has been a technology pioneer, offering award-winning PCs and related products to consumers, businesses, government agencies and schools. Gateway is the third largest PC company in the U.S. and among the top ten worldwide. The company's value-based eMachines brand is sold exclusively by leading retailers worldwide, while the premium Gateway line is available at major retailers, over the web and phone, and through its direct and indirect sales force. See http://www.gateway.com/ for more information.

Tundra is the way to go. Used is an even better value. Much more reliable.

There are few, if any purely "Made in USA" vehicles anymore. They may be American companies but they are assembled outside the USA and/or most of the parts are made in other countries like Canada and Mexico. Nothing wrong with that other than don't sell me a line that it is Made in USA. As far as where the money ends up - Japan or USA - I would rather have a vehicle assembled here by a Japanese company than assembled in Mexico by an American company. The logic behind it is that I am partially funding some middle class American family along with a Japanese corporate fat cat vice a foreigner and a crooked American corporate fat cat.

Same goes for computers. Most of the parts are manufactured overseas.

RH

Buy what makes you happy! I will never put a Korean or Japanese vehicle in my driveway, but that is just me. I have had GM vehicles since I was 16 and have very good luck. Dodge was my only mistake to date. It is only a personal descision for me. I have 3-Sony TV's though with no other options.

I do have a Sony TV but I also have a VIZIO which is outstanding, cost less and is a California based company.

Tundra, hands down. No Brainer. I've driven Ford, Dodge, and Chevy, and then went to Nissan, Madza, and Toyota. No comparison. Oversea brands much better. More reliable by far. Owner satisfaction better too. US auto makers getting better, but still far behind Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Madza. Read the reports. Reports from the owners, not the auto makers. Owners are the ones who use and drive them. Look at resale value of Toyota, and others compared to US brands.
And where is the money going? To the tens of thousands of U.S. citizens who have jobs working in the car and truck factory making Honda, Nissan, Madza and Toyota. These models are made IN AMERICA, and have created tons of jobs for U.S. workers. Actually you'll find more foreign parts from Canada and Mexico in Ford, Dodges, and Chevy, than with Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Madza. There are a lot of people in the U.S. putting bread on the table because of the jobs they have working for Toyota, Madza, Honda, and Nissan. So, get over it!!!!! The war is over and has been for 60 years. These car are better. Instead of crying 'rice burner', we need to get off our duff and try to compete by making better U.S. cars and trucks. Remove the the Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Madza auto factorys from U. S., and look at the tens of thousands of people you'd have out of work. Look with your eyes and not you heart folks. Some say, 'buy American'. I say, 'but the best, and if it happens to be American, then great.' But fact is, U.S. cars and trucks aren't the best. When they are, I'll buy them. I'll buy whatever is the best out there. Right now it is Toyota, etc. I own a Tundra. Beats all the other American trucks I've ever owned by a mile.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, OK, I feel better now. Have a great day folks.
Hunter01

To each his own. I completely fail to see the logic in the math but it certainly depends on the price range and what you are buying. For me the price was several thousand less on my last purchase Vs the Jap comparable. Add to that I was able to get 0% financing for five years saving another several thousand. Deduct for repairs and I'm still ahead a solid 10k. So my trade in is worth less, that's because I paid less. Now when you can come back and show me a better vehicle, apples to apples for LESS money I'll look again.

If they offered the tundra crew cab in a manual tranny I'd have one,,,,getting a tacoma 4 door instead,,,have had toyota trucks for 20 years now, unbeatable

Personally my time is worth more than $, so having to waste it at a dealership over piddly crap would pizz me off bigtime. I also won't abide something that has a good chance of leaving me on the side of road when I have to deal with sub zero temps in remote locations.

If you factor in retained value and resale, you'll likely find the toys are cheaper in the long run.

As to having higher quality for less $, yeah right. Quality costs, yet it's worth it over the long haul.

I've got a 04 Tundra 4x4 V8 and haven't had any problems. It rides like a car and has enough power to pull a decent size trailer. I get 20 mpg running 70-75 on the hwy and average 17 city/hwy. I don't think you can go wrong with the Toyota.

So Gateway employing Americans to assemble computers with guts made in Asia is commendable but Toyota employing Americans to assemble trucks with guts made in Asia is not?

I am not trying to bust your nutz but trying to understand your logic.

As to the money thing -- well you feel like you are getting a deal and thats ok but like other's said my time is money - I can't afford to sit in a dealer's shop even if repairs over the 15-20 year life of a truck are less than the price diff when buying the truck new American vs Toy.

Lets take the last 2 trucks I can think of:

2006 F150 ex cab, v8 4x4 26k
2006 Tundra ex cab v8 4x4 29k (not counting the recent 3 grand cash back and 1.9% financing)

3k in differnce --- I bet when both trucks have 120,000 miles on them and you want to sell both - you will get more than a 3k difference in price on the Tundra over the Ford and that doesn't count repairs.

I say this as a family that is a Ford family - my grandfather won't even consider another vehicle - pick-up, car, tractor or class 8 semi - Ford.

I ain't bashing domestic stuff but reality is odds are more in your favor if you buy a Toy or other Japanese vehicle. Some people don't care - fine but if someone is gonna ask - I have to recomend Toy based on owning (or family) Ford, Chev, Dodge, Nissan, Jeep, Honda, and Toyota. I ain't gonna bs some guy based on a percieved phobia or un-informed "buy USAFirst" mentality.

Reality is Toy and the others employ AMERICANS and are investing in AMERICAN infrastructure. Ford, Chev and Dodge do too but that isn't reason enough to throw money away on them.

This isn't the 50's anymore and big GM isn't what it was.... Things have changed .....

Tundra...less complicated even when all options are selected for vehicle compared to Sierra/Silverado. Granted no On-Star, DIC, true 350-size V8, stability ride control etc. But, the Tundra doesn't have issues with the intermediate steering shaft clunk, recall on seat belt loop, burning out fuel pumps, 4WD shifter switch/encoder malfunctions and I could go on for hours.

Yes, the GM trucks are nice and if you buy a GMC it is "Made in the USA" thought I can't say the same for the Silverado. With a Tundra it's made in Indiana and soon in Texas and that's it. Engines and cylinder heads are also made in Indiana. Yes, the parts for Toyota are made by vendors typically out of the US, namely Nippon Denso for factory parts in Japan. But the GM parts are typically made in Mexico and other far reaches of the globe.

There is no true clear cut winner, frankly, both will serve you well as long as you stay on top of the maintenance. It'll boil down to the pocketbook and personal preference.

Just my pennies for thought.

I have no idea where you come up with "phobia". LOL
For comparison I went to both Ford and Toyota web sites to price those models. The 2007 F-150 XLT 4x4 with the bigger V8 is $31,090 minus the $1500 rebate until the end of the year. So the price is $28,754. The rub is I would easily expect to negotiate at least 3k off that leaving the price a lot more like 26k. Interst rate is 3.9% for 60 months. OTOH The comprable 2007 Toyota with the bigger V8 is $30,245 and I think it would be hard to do better than 29k. Toyota is not offering any financing deals and the current bank rate here at 60 months is 7.5%. So add the 3k in extra price with 3k in extra interest minus 2k for parts on my domestic junk and the Ford is 4k less.
All I can say is your time must be worth a LOT more than mine.

I ran the blue book on a 2002 Tundra vs F150, both 4 door 4wd's w/ 50k on the odo's

The toy had a high blue book of $18,700, the Ford had a high of $14,000. Hmm, even if the Ford is $4k cheaper at purchase minus extra repairs, you're $700 ahead when you sell the Toy.

To me my time is worth more than money, as I have an ever decreasing supply of it. Most folks place little or no value on their time. I would gladly trade $4k for a 1/2 dozen agrivating days of my life better spent in productive persuits.

3k cash back on all Tundras here - that automaticaly puts it at 27,245 before negotiations.

458 - run those numbers at 100k miles and see the disparity.

Now I understand your confusion. It helps to read and understand the offers. The 3k Cash back is ONLY for '06 models. IF you can find an '06 Dodge, Ford or GMC still on the lot you can probably get it under dealer invoice.....LMAO <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Back to the real world. I ran two comparisons at a bit more realistic end value for me. I compared Trade in Value since that's what the vast majority do with a used vehicle. I compared 2002 models same cab configuration 4x4 with all the goodies. This is based on Zip code off the Kelly Blue Book web site.
2002 Tundra Limited Loaded 70k Good condition
value $10,865

2002 F-150 KR super cab 4x4, loaded 70k good condition
Value $11,530

Dang I just hate it when facts get in the way. I noticed that you both danced all the way around the fact that you will have to pay twice as much or more in interest as well. That buys a lot of parts. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Back to your question about TV's and computers. Yes for me ot's ok if GateWay and Vizio build here with foreign parts. They are American companies and many of their components are made here. Add to that they are both an outstanding value and top quality. Why not trucks then? Come to Detroit for a day. I'll buy lunch. We'll take a drive and for a good two hours or so we will be able to drive by shop after shop after business after business that supply the big three with engineers, performance parts, nuts, bolts, steel etc. The people that work in those plants and businesses are my friends, family, neighbors and fellow Americans. While I think it's just ducky those rice grinders are assembled here almost all of the components are brought from over seas. That's the REAL difference. Not assembly plants or marketing hype.
Some one previously said you can not get higher quality at a lower price. I hate to break the bad news to them but that's EXACTLY what the japs did in the motor cycle segment. By a wide margain. Harley Davidson is the only company I know of in history that managed to loose over 85% of it's market share and still survive. The Japs operate virtually tax free, Have lower labor and operating costs and yet their product is more expensive. It has nothing to do with quality and every thing to do with shipping every last nut, bolt and piece of steel half way around the world. If it works for you enjoy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> The great thing about America is that we have a choice. Did you know the AVERAGE Japaneese customer will pay up to 20% more for a given product as long as it's made in Japan? They are pride driven, not value driven. Wouldn't it be great if we had the same pride in our country?

I will look into the VIZIO thing!

They are really great TV's. I have a 57" rear projection Sony Trinitron XBR. I'm not even gonna say how much I paid for that bad boy four years ago. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> I have a 37" LCD HD Vizio. The picture blows the Sony away but remember one is LCD and one is projection. LCD is the way to go. They are making larger Vizios now. The price is a fraction of the majors. I am VERY happy with mine.


http://www.vinc.com/Default.aspx

Every one seems to be forgetting about Pearl Harbor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto on 'you get what you pay for.' I traded my 97 T100 in on my 2001 Tundra and got $18,000 in trade. Not bad for a 4 year old truck. Who can say that about their trade on a Ford, Dodge or Chevy??? I also don't agree about the prices of Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Madza being so expensive. In most cases equally equiped vehicles are close to the same price. Manufactures have to keep them close to the same price becasue of the competition. For the ones that are a little more expensive, again, you get what you pay for, especially when you trade it in. Many of you have said that. As far as the difference in prices 'buying lots of parts.' Well if you'd buy something reliable like a Toyota, you wouldn't need to worry about buying parts. Our family has had 6 Nissans, 1 Madza, 1 Honda, and 4 Toyotas. I'm on my 2nd Toyota truck, and my wife is on her 2nd Camry. I can count on one hand the problems we've had with all of those vehicles combined, none of them major. Face it, they are built better. The Tundra has been the top rated truck the past 5 out of 6 years. Tied one year. These aren't opinions, these are facts. These are reports from the people who own and drive them. Reliability and owner satisfaction highest in the foreign models over U.S. Won't go into a 'new book' as to why, but they are, like it or not. Ford, Dodge and Chevy die hards can't/don't like to admit it but they are all behind in quality and dependability. I like the looks of some of the new Chevy, Ford and Dodge trucks. Look sharpe, but won't buy them because of their records on reliability, service, dependability, and owner satisfaction. Dodge, by the way, at the very bottom of the list in reliability. "You get what you pay for."
Hunter01