They indeed are not subject to the chicken tax directly, but the only way they could eventually make a business case for selling Japanese trucks here was to build factories in North America- long after the domestic trucks had been established. Toyota’s and Nissan’s market penetration was hindered due to this.

I can't wait to see how many of these get stuck in Joshua Tree. I probably won't get a chance to see before the next shutdown though. 

This was such a fun read. 

Is there a chance the track could bend? 

Nope. It’s your Jeep now, FCA.

You should see the Jeep apologists on the same forum. I saw one thread about gas tanks pouring out onto the ground. One guy swore up and down that it was because the Wrangler was being towed on a dolly and you’d never catch him dead on anything other than a flatbed.

The only justification for this price increase is that they’re riding the hype wave. A $4K price bump for switching from Bilsteins to Fox shocks? WOW, let me get out my checkbook. Other than the suspension it is the exact same truck as the base model. There is zero reason to buy this thing over a Raptor, (and this is…

The Tacoma gets all of those goodies. The Tundra gets no locker or crawl control. There really is no reason to buy this truck. 

Sorry, don’t have room in my truck for a come-along. These two big poles take up a ton of space. 

I’ve witnessed this exact thing several times. Often times, they start altering processes or products in ways they insist are “improving” them, but often bypass quality control or are otherwise unapproved. Then, they get fired and angrily insist that they’re acting in the company’s best interest. These are usually the…

Yes you’re right. I had an OR Tacoma before my 4Runner and the suspension is unique over SR5 and Sport. The coilovers and shocks are still unique on the Pro Tacoma as well though.

Close but not quite. The Offroad trim level (both standard and premium) includes only a rear locking differential and various terrain/crawl modes. However, the suspension is the exact same as the SR5. In fact, the suspension is nearly identical across the lineup- the coils and shocks are all the same with two…

We lose the Fiesta ST but this thing wants to hang around? I’m outta here.

You’re never going to get a free boulder with that attitude.

At least on the Rubicon, the options actually contribute to significant capability. 4:1 low range, disconnecting swaybar, etc. The TRD Pro is literally a set of $1500 shocks and coils and an appearance package. I know because I bought the suspension takeoffs for cheap from a Pro guy, and swapped them onto my 4Runner…

I’d look into one of these solely because they still offer a stick which the 4Runner does not. But then I remind myself that I’d rather just drive my truck instead of fixing it all the time. Some of the problems cropping up on the JL boards are downright terrifying.

COTD

We’ve been seeing this consolidation happen in all sorts of industries. “If it doesn’t move the needle, lose it.” It’s why we’ve been watching the same movies for the past decade. Sequels, prequels and reboots are surefire ways to get blockbuster money- even at the cost of making the movies any good. We’ll get fed up…

Thanks for the ride.