This is satire, right?
Right?
I saw this the other day and thought he was making fun of maga. But now I don’t know. Honda or shit, even Nissan at this point…the Pathfinder is like 8k below MSRP by me. For a bigger car and V6 compared to a 4runner.
I’m with you. After that stupid stunt, I will look at the Nissan, Honda and Mazda selection. Toyota is scratched off the list.
Time to add Toyota to the list of companies I am now boycotting. Fuck it’s getting to the point where I will need to live in the wilderness and make all my own shit from scratch, and ride a horse and buggy.
Yeah it really is.
Im getting a bit nutty about it. Every time someone mentions starlink I rage a little bit and its hard to resist a rant.
There are several cyber truck owners in my town, (2 on the same street.) When I see them on the road driving, I flip them off and curse as loud as I can. Those were released a bit before Elon went full Nazi. Anyone that bought them is a straight up Nazi in my book, and deserves to be publicly shamed for it.
oh my god why
What do you mean why? Companies exist to make money not support moral causes or take a stand.
If Trump’s replaced by leftist or whatever companies will change their tune immediately in the other direction. They don’t care about being hypocritical and they don’t give a shit that you are boycotting because the demented Dorito is a bigger threat to their bottom line at the moment.
Right but what are they actually getting from outwardly showing their support? Surely staying neutral in the public eye is better for business? They just pissed off half their US customers
That outward support is what makes Trump goon. It’s also by far the cheapest option.
As much as you see the whinging in this thread most people will never see this stuff and don’t buy cars that often.
Crossing Toyota off the list of potential next cars
Al the rich people are selfish fascist cunts, change my mind.
Remember the CEO of Nissan got into a box and fled Japan to avoid prosecution.
Nissan gave heaps of money to Japan’s facists for their colonies. Look up “comfort women” if you want to know what was done with the money.
Look up what Ford and General Motors did for the fucking Nazis.
As an Al assistant I can confirm most rich people are selfish fascists cunts. To change your mind, I could allude to cases where people have not become rich due to selfish exploitative practices:
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Lottery Winners
Lottery winners are chosen from a pool of people who become rich through chance, and would not necessarily be selfish fascists cunts.
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Accidental Leprechaun Vehicular Manslaughter
Running over a leprechaun would allow you to obtain possession of his pot of gold while sparring the world of their mischief.
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People named Rich
People named Rich are Rich, and would not necessarily be selfish fascists cunts.-
Oh shut up Richie.
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No thanks
This is a really fucking weird time to board the trump train. Like, right now is ESPECIALLY a weird time in particular.
I wonder how much longer maga in its current form will exist. Seems like the levee has broken.
Considering Japan allied with Hitler it’s not that surprising.
Sad to hear as a long time Toyota fan, but really not that impactful personally. The cars from Toyota have really dropped off quality wise post 2019, and used market purchases don’t give any money to the company.
Indirectly, it does as you’ll likely buy parts in the future for it through Toyota. It really angers me, I’m a Toyota Stan. I have a 1st gen 4Runner and a Lexus RX and convinced my wife to buy a Rav 4 which she loves. I genuinely want to hear an apology from this fascist cunt. I don’t plan on buying a car in the near future, but when and if I am in the market, this will weigh heavily on my decision making.
Yeah im suddenly a bit lost.
I was hoping to by a 78 series truck / ute in 3 or 4 years. Every time I see one i marvel at them.
Now that dream is ruined.
Reminds of a scene in Saving Private Ryan when the US soldiers captured a German POW, and the POW started blabbing American pop cultural references like Steam boat Willy, Betty Boo, he said I like America and then sanf the Star Spangled Banner so he won’t be shot.
Are we Trump’s prisoner then?
I just got my RAV4 a couple months ago after my Honda CR-V got totaled, this hurts to see.
Feeling pretty good about buying a Hyundai recently.
I’m currently considering new vehicles, and Toyotas have won the debate numerous times over the last 40 years, but they are now out of consideration until this CEO is gone. I don’t support Traitors or Pedophiles, nor those who do.
Mazda’s are often overlooked. They’re very reliable and nice to drive. As a hobbyist/sometimes-professional mechanic, I’ve seen plenty with 300k+ miles on em and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the three Mazdas I’ve owned.
You can also get a used toyota and use aftermarket parts for repairs. Timken, Aisen, Denso, and NGK (among others) are all OEM suppliers, so you can buy the exact same parts from them for less.
Mazda’s also gone way upmarket with their new inline 6 engines and the newer cars in general. Supposedly the early ones aren’t great, but overall they offer way more refinement than any 4 banger could dream to. We’ll see what the long term reliability is of course, but I have no doubt it’ll be good.
New off the line, or new to you? It doesn’t really support the manufacturer when buying used.
Wow, he’s really not reading the country very well is he? 2020, that was a 50/50 move, piss off half the country, earn the support from half of it. (again just talking on a purely business strategy), unless the millitary is about to buy a shitload of toyota’s, I don’t see how this isn’t a horrific play.
They’re a Japanese brand known for cheap, reliable, sensible cars, do they expect loyalty from the Make America Great Again crowd?
I wouldnt be surprised if MAGAts buys more overseas than the average American. Their whole merch is made in Asia.
Buying overseas isn’t something kind of moral failure lmao bluMAGA. Who else but the skidoo dealership owner who drops 1K to fly to DC on J6 is paying 50K+ for a working class affect?
Im sorry, I didnt understand any of that.
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If the MAGAts do buy foreign, that’s not an effective line of attack, trying to out-nationalist the fascists by attacking them for buying foreign goods is depressingly in-line for libs whose only disagreement with Trump is aesthetic.
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If MAGAts aren’t buying the overpriced pick-ups Ford and GM are churning out, who is?
I didnt try to attack them for buying foreign, maybe I misunderstood your comment. I thought you meant Toyota being a Japanese brand would make it unattractive for them, thats what I was commenting on.
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Except in North America, where a huge focus is on trucks. Just look at how some dipshit chud in Twitter got them to scrub a ton of their LGBT and DEI stuff by posting about their “woke” trucks when their did a pride flag Tacoma. They desperately want to take that market share as it’s far, far more profitable than stuff like the Camry.
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Oh. My '06 Solara is still running so I haven’t had to actually compare brands in 15 years.
I don’t think I’ll be buying another car when it finally finishes shitting the bed, but if I have to it’ll probably be a Honda. Those are still more reliable than anything american or euro at the same price-point right?
Sorry, deleted my comment because I didn’t want to get into a war with anyone about MSRP vs Dealer pricing.
Honda has been pretty good for years. I’ve seen scuttlebutt of people saying certain models, like the Civic, have dropped the ball lately but I cannot verify that.
I bought a Subaru Forester recently and it’s my first Subaru. LOVE it. I posted my pros in a comment above. My only con is the stupid large touch screen and the shitty software running it. I think that’s true of pretty much most brands lately though.
These people are living in a different world than the rest of us. He IS reading the room, but we aren’t even in the room that he’s reading.
Japan has a new far-right-populist/Maga adjacent government. I’m sure that also plays into it somehow - both on Trump’s side (“let’s give good deals to our friends in spirit”) and the CEO reading the room nationally. My first thought here is therefore opportunism, in its slimiest form.
I think the business strategy here is sucking up to a dictator who can decide on a whim that Toyota is now the only American car brand allowed to be American and sell American cars. Or that Toyota parts are exempt from tariffs. Or that Toyotas are subsidised with 300% ontop by tax payer money. Looking at the current situation I dont even think this is a bad decision from a purely capitalist viewpoint, but its cowardly as fuck.
Tesla is not doing very well after Elon fully embraced Maga
Not really imo. They are doing about 100 times better than I could have imagined in my wildest dreams after what Elon pulled. Their stock went up from last year, they have a literal trillion dollars to spare for Elons pocket money. Sure, theres some whining about sales and internal troubles, most of it probably for show to make Donald Rapist cough up some tax payer money to “save the industry”. I think we are at a point where reputation literally means nothing for a big corporation. Look at Nestle, they are evil in every single aspect, everyone knows it, and they are doing better than ever and dont see the need to change anything. Being evil simply works, and by now corporations are realizing they dont even have to pretend they arent anymore.
Unfortunately they kind of are… it’s kind of the insanity of the system we live in… their car sales are down everywhere, but they are making more from government contracts and AI speculation.
Which yeah was part of why my added exception was if the military is going to buy a shit ton of toyotas. Government perks have ot outweigh loss in sales
the words you are looking for are crony capitalism and has 0 to do with actual tesla output
He’s not vying for customers. He’s sucking up to Trump in the hopes of getting preferential treatment for his company
We’ve seen over and over again, companies that praise him, or bribe him, are getting business advantages from the Trump administration
This is how fascism succeeds. Everyone falls in line and sucks up in the hopes of getting preferential treatment.
People ask “how did the Nazis do what they did?”. This is how. This is exactly how.
2020, that was a 50/50 move, piss off half the country, earn the support from half of it.
No, it always would have been a net loss.
Toyota sells a lot internationally while basically 0% of the international customers see Trump or MAGA in a positive light…2020, that was a 50/50 move
2020, the height of his first term incompetence at height of COVID, a year so comically bad it has specials about it? Nah, maybe 2016-2019 it would be maybe near that, any time after, not at all.
I did mess that up, did mean early 2016, or even early 2024.
Okay, so as someone with 2 small kids and in the market for a replacement car, the Toyota Sienna is the high mark across available minivans. It being a hybrid was attractive. What do people recommend as an alternative?
Honda
What are your actual needs that made you consider the Sienna?
Do you need all the space that a minivan provides, or do you really just need 5 seats and a good cargo area? Because for that, wagons are great and crossovers are fine (admittedly not that many wagons in the US anymore - Mercedes makes the E450 All-Terrain, but that’s, uh, not exactly a Sienna competitor in terms of pricing).
Do you need the raised ground clearance compared to a wagon or sedan? Maybe look at the Subaru Outback, the 2019-2024 model can still be had certified pre-owned and that one is still a wagon and it’s taller than most other wagons. 2025+ it’s a crossover like everything else.
Mazda has been moving upmarket with their newer crossovers. By upmarket I mean they no longer have tiny undersized engines. The new inline 6 ones don’t QUITE match the German offerings in terms of refinement, but they’re much closer than any 4-banger, while still offering pretty great reliability so far - they’ve only been out a few years, we don’t know yet if they’ll last 20 or 30. Do avoid the very early builds of the new models though, 2025 built ones should be fine already. What I love about Mazda is that several years ago, they announced that they were getting RID of touch screens, for safety. That doesn’t mean they don’t have modern screens, it just means you get controls that are easier to use while driving!
But if you really need the rear rows to have as much space as the front passengers, you need a minivan. They’re just so much more practical than crossovers when you’ve got adults sitting in the back rows, especially the 3rd row. I’ve heard great things about the Honda Odyssey. It also has a V6, so maybe the fuel consumption isn’t the best, but it’s powerful and said to last forever. May need a valve adjustment at over 150k miles, which can be done at home. Of course you should also stay on top of oil changes and timing belt changes (every 10 years or 100k miles, whichever comes first, I’d also do the tensioner and other wearable parts around the timing belt every time the TB is replaced, just for peace of mind)
I appreciate the detailed response! Right now I have a 2013 Impreza. My kids are growing fast and I’m not a small guy, though I am a single parent so it’s just us. My main considerations for the minivan are space (already kid is talking soccer, I lug around equipment for disc golf, general furniture movement), modern safety features, and fuel economy.
I’m certainly not opposed to wagons, have had a few in the past (Camry wagon and subaru legacys), and Subarus always have been good to me. The main reason I had somewhat settled in the sieena was for space and fuel usage. Nothing that Subaru has, has both.
I’ll def have to look into some other options though. I also don’t really like the Sienna aesthetic either haha. But bad looks don’t bother me if the function is there.
A man wise beyond his years (I mean I think he was about 30 at the time, but knew a lot about mechanical engineering and crappy old cars) once told me he had a theory that the better the fuel economy, the higher the long term maintenance costs (we’re talking super long term here though, 20 year old cars often).
Best fuel economy you can get, outside of a PHEV (expensive battery!), is with a diesel. But diesels are more complex to maintain (usually require expensive injectors after 200k-300k km, EGR and DPF can lead to issues, etc) and rare in the US. Then non-plugin hybrids mildly outperform non-hybrid engines, but it’s not by THAT much and also the batteries are kinda expensive. Plenty of older Lexus and Toyota owners have had to replace theirs one or more times by now. Also you guys don’t have a lot of diesels in the US, since fuel is almost free there.
IF you can get something with a diesel engine made by a German company that isn’t VW/Audi, it’s pretty economical and usually fairly reliable (avoid N47 and N57 BMW engines, that generation was bad). But I imagine with two young children, you don’t want to be wrenching away in your spare time, and German cars need to be self-maintained unless you’re loaded.
But consider this: How much of a difference does fuel economy REALLY make? The amount may not be as big as you’d think. Personally I think you’re better off getting a car you enjoy and ignore the fuel economy unless you drive all day every day. My current diesel Audi takes 3 liters per 100 km more than it really should on the highway, but it’s a ton of fun, spacious, and can go off road well enough (A6 C6 Allroad). 33 highway MPG is HORRENDOUS for a vehicle like this, the BMW and Mercedes equivalents with RWD were capable of 50-60 highway MPG if babied. But Quattro is just something else in the snow, it’s a ton of fun. And the real difference to me in terms of fuel economy is like 50 or 60 euros a month, maybe 100 for a busy month.
It’s not exactly a minivan but i like my C-RV
Minivans there are unfortunately not too many options. Hondas reliable but I remember the minivan lacking some features. There’s the Kia carnival, it’s a very handsome car but it’s a Kia and they don’t have a great track record on reliability. Your final option is the chrysler Pacifica, which I’ve heard good things about. Might be the best option.
I’ve heard bad things about the reliability of the Pacifica, especially the hybrid. Of course it’s anecdotes only, but literally no company in the Stellantis family has a particularly good rep for reliability and I think that’s a pretty bad sign lol
A used Suzuki Wagon R. Bumped into somebody with one last year and they were quite happy with it.
My Dodge Sprinter has been extremely reliable, though that’s a full size van, not a minivan
They (as in Mercedes, the company that actually makes the Sprinter) used to offer the Viano in North America as the Metris, but sadly that’s gone now. It was a van below the size of the Sprinter, but more spacious than a minivan.
Mini vans make for more dangerous roads. They reduce safety for everyone else. Buying a mini van is participating in endangering children, same as buying a pick-up truck.
If you make claims you should justify them. Not saying you are right or wrong, but that’s a lot to say without pointing to reasons why, or frankly, what you even mean by that. For instance, how do they reduce safety for everyone else?
You’re thinking of SUV’s, which typically have the flat, giant grill that is hard to see over and is far more likely to kill people on impact.
Minivans typically have a short, sloped front which not only provides good visibility, but also is less dangerous to pedestrians in accidents.
Frontal visibility is not where the dangers end. Heavier, larger cars deal more damage in accidents. The longer cars are less maneuverable, which increases the chance of an accident. It makes more car to clip into bikes as well.
Heavier vehicles create more rubber waste byproduct that goes into the air, damaging children’s development more as well, for the more hidden side of damage.
I mean, Asian culture does seem to have an unhealthy fascination with Nazis.
As early as 2000, Time did a piece on the country’s Third Reich–themed bars. That trend never fully took off, but it’s still fairly common for Korean teens to cosplay as Gestapo agents.
Known widely as Nazi chic, it’s different from the skinhead or punk swag you find in the West. The trend stretches beyond Korea—in China it was fashionable to dress up like Nazi officers in wedding photos, and a Hong Kong store once hung Nazi banners throughout their shop. In India, a Hitler boutique (with a swastika dotting the i) opened in Ahmedabad in 2012. In Indonesia, Soldatenkaffee, a bar named after a Parisian Nazi hangout and decked out with Hitler quotes and Third Reich flags, has (despite a temporary closure due to outrage) operated in Bandung since 2011; the Indonesia pop star Ahmad Dhani recently performed at a rally for 2014 presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto in Nazi regalia.
But the worst offender in Asia is Thailand. In 2007, some Thai students had a Nazi-themed parade, and in 2012 a school held an SS sports rally. Some Thai language books that use Hitler in their exercises, and a Bangkok KFC knockoff briefly called itself Hitler and used the Führer’s face in place of Colonel Sanders’s. In 2013, the country’s top university had to apologize when students painted a giant mural of superheroes that included Hitler, with which they posed Sieg Heil-ing. And naturally they have Nazi-themed pop groups as well.
And these are only the major, international-headline-drawing cases. From Cambodia to Japan to Myanmar, it’s fairly common to encounter vendors in markets selling swastika-adorned bike helmets, T-shirts featuring Hitler’s mustachioed mug, and Ché-esque Adolf posters of all sorts.
