Everything's a mixed bag. There's no perfect mouse trap. One reason you see so many old Chevy & Ford trucks today is that back then they were soooo much more popular than the imports. Also, to a great extent, the imports were cheaper, and often people bought them and drove them flat into the ground. In general, cheaper vehicles are not maintained as well as more expensive ones. The imports are pretty darn good, if not fabulous; they're different, though. For some folks, it's exactly what they need. The Tundra rides like a car. It is the most solid and smooth feeling truck I've ever driven. But if you're looking for gross room and towing ability, I doubt if ANYTHING imported will ever hold a candle to a domestic.
The comment about the starter is well taken. But look at the maintenance record of the 4.7 I-Force engine while it was only available in the Land Cruiser. Chances are you won't need a starter for decades!
My biggest gripe with the Tundra, which may sound silly to a lot of truck purists, is that you can't get nearly the equipment, at least from the factory, that you can on a domestic. No keyless or keypad entry; no posi; no 4-wheel disks; no signal mirrors; etc., etc.
I'll say this, though, that when you get a leather interior on a Tundra, as opposed to Ford & GM, the back seat is leather, too!
As far as the Chrysler products, you couldn't give me one. I used to be a Chrysler man. Owned a '69 Newport, '69 New Yorker, '70 Newport, and '66 Polara. I worked at Star Chrysler and Gentilly Dodge here in town for years (new car prep as a 20-something year old and service dispatcher as a 30-something). In my opinion, the current Pentastars are worthless. They have the worst drive train (especially transmissions and rear ends); worst initial quality in general; and worst gas mileage. The new Dakota 4.7 OHC gets worse city EPA mileage than a 5.4 F-150 SC!
Still on the fence!


[This message has been edited by Big Easy John (edited 01-28-2000).]

 

FoMoCo,
Whom should I tell him to get in touch with, and exactly how, Kimosabe?

 

I'm starting to feel like Jim Carey in The Truman Show!
rmarietta, I got my leg pulled. I don't think this guy has has anything more to do with Ford than I do. Ford is in Dearborn. But hey, it's all in fun, right?
Regardless, thanks for your help. The new vehicle sales manager at the dealership and I have been very good friends for over 25 years and he's doing all in his power to get me in the F-150 of my choice. It's quite another matter to get Ford to pull any strings!
I should know something after this week, though.
BTW, my truck was wholesaled and will be auctioned either in Houston (TX) or Hattiesburg (MS).
Thanks again,
B.E.John

 

BIG JOHN,
When I was looking for my 2000, one of the dealers told me he would modify the order of one of his floor planned trucks being built to accommodate me. Thus shortening the wait time. Thought maybe your dealer could work with you in that way.
Good Luck, and keep us posted.

------------------
'00 WHITE/GOLD F150 LARIAT FlareSide SC 5.4 Auto 3.55 LS
Black Westin Nerfs, White Prime Design BugShield,
White Vtech Taillight Covers, K&N Air Filter,
Leather Captain's Chairs (like a screen door in a submarine!),
and all the Lariat goodies
SOME SHOW and a LOTTA TOW
My am E, Fl *** Member of ??? Ford Group

 

That's what he did to get me the now-hail-damaged one! It was great, almost. All I had to do is wait one month. He already had the VIN of the truck; I changed the color, deleted the tube steps and two-tone, and voila, it was exactly what I wanted!
There are none now that he can do that with now, though.
I did get some news today that the Toyophobes out there will be happy about, though. We ordered a carbon copy of the truck on Friday. When Glenn saw how gorgeous that Deep Wedgewood Blue Lariat was, he said he would order it whether I wanted it or not. They had never ordered a solid one before.

Here are both sides of the latest deal:

Negative:
o Ford raised the invoice price $81, effective immediately on trucks being ordered.
o The $450 dealer cash AND 3.9% was replaced by $500 customer cash OR 3.9%.
o Normal delivery time is over 8 weeks these days.
o My $500 customer cash certificate that Ford sent my wife as the owner of a Toyota truck expired today. (We had a '93 DX we traded in last summer.)
o According to the Ford Production Dispatcher in Memphis, Ford is not currently accepting orders for the 5.4 in F-150s due to a shortage of the engine in other lines. (I'd like somebody else to confirm or deny this. FoMoCo, are you listening?)

Positive:
o There's a new deal for commercial customers with $300 dealer cash AND 3.9%. If I can qualify as a commercial owner (I do own a business), I'll "only" be out $150 here.
o The Production Dispatcher said he could advance our order and have the truck to us in 7 weeks instead of 8. Every day counts!
o Ford will honor my expired certificate for this truck!
o The dispatcher said he would see to it that we got the 5.4 some kind of way.

Now folks, I'm not swearing that every bullet above is beyond question. But I do know this is what the dispatcher told my friend. Plus, I ain't looking a gift horse in the mouth!
To top off the deal, he's loaning me a 150 from the used trucks dept. until mine arrives!
So I'll be paying an extra $231, but at least I can drive starting tomorrow!
No Tundra in my immediate future!

 

Big John,
I think what FORD MOTOR is trying to say, is just talk to your dealer and see if they will make some concessions for you. Like maybe pull a stock order from a dealership that could be used to fill yours. Or replace an order ready to be processed with yours.

------------------
'00 WHITE/GOLD F150 LARIAT FlareSide SC 5.4 Auto 3.55 LS
Black Westin Nerfs, White Prime Design BugShield,
White Vtech Taillight Covers, K&N Air Filter,
Leather Captain's Chairs (like a screen door in a submarine!),
and all the Lariat goodies
SOME SHOW and a LOTTA TOW
My am E, Fl *** Member of ??? Ford Group

 

BIG JOHN,
That's great news, and welcome to FORD country!

------------------
'00 WHITE/GOLD F150 LARIAT FlareSide SC 5.4 Auto 3.55 LS
Black Westin Nerfs, White Prime Design BugShield,
White Vtech Taillight Covers, K&N Air Filter,
Leather Captain's Chairs (like a screen door in a submarine!),
and all the Lariat goodies
SOME SHOW and a LOTTA TOW
My am E, Fl *** Member of ??? Ford Group

 

All I had to provide was a business card to prove I owned a business.

 

Sad tale, but happy ending! I picked up my new truck yesterday and have been riding high ever since. It came in almost two weeks early. When we picked it up at the rail head, it had 3.4 miles on it. I've racked up another 50 since then.
I thank everybody for the encouragement in the mean time, but I did get a chance to drive about 4 "loaner" F-150s during the wait, and that was kinda' fun in itself. But there's no substitute for having your own!

------------------
BEJ.
Y2K Lariat Flareside, Deep Wedgewood Blue monotone, med. graphite leather, tow package, 3.55 posi, 5.4.

 

All's well that ends well. Congrats!

------------------
97 F-150 SC Lariat, Styleside, White over Gold, 4.6L (Windsor), Automatic, 3.55 rear end, electronic 4X4, w/ every option of Lariat and ORP packages except the 17" wheels (I even got the OR decals now!) MOD's so far: K&N air box mod, Gibson Super Truck, clear Bugflector II, Leer TSC 600 hard cover, Bridgestone Dueler OWL ATP 265/75 R-16's, TrailMaster Invader N7 shocks, Smittybilt step bars, Ford moulded mud guards, "White-white" head lamps, Cloud Rider Design's SS Grill and bumper opening, Bosch Platinum + 4's, Hayden 30K+ Tranny Cooler,Class III Reece load distributing hitch system, full wiring including trailer battery charging system, Escort Sensor II Brake controller, Superchip