It appears that Mr. Akio Toyoda paid off Mr. J.D. Power for this one.

Do I need a subscription to acually see all the results, or is that something that they just wont share. Its fine and dandy that the Tacoma has the fewest problems at 2-3 years, but how many less than the competition was it? The Toyota, GM, Honda and Nissan are all about the same time into the current product cycle. Obviously, the Ranger is at the end, so that should help, along with so many Rangers sold w/ hardly anything on them to break.

This all comes down to numbers of truck models and variances of builds. Toyota comparatively has a simply build process, as they don't offer the number of unique builds that Ford, Dodge, and GM do. Toyota doesn't offer any HD model line, no diesels, and only a total of 5 engines for their compact and half ton builds. It's simple math and averages. The number of unique builds will undoubtedly bring to light more issues because of the disparity with the number of unique ways each of these pickups can be optioned, assembled, and unique parts used.

It was round 5 or so years ago, Ford commented that there were over a million unique combinations possible on a Ford SD build. The attempt was to reduce the number of unique ways a truck could be built. Doing so reduces cost, complexity, number of unique parts that need to be developed, engineered, produced and validated.

DM-

A very good point!

Way to go toyota. Shows toyota really is the best compared to the crap the domestic three put out.

I was surprised to see our handyman trade off his old F150 for a new Tundra. I wonder if seeing my 2009 Tundra 5.7 in my driveway had something to do with that.

I just filled out a JD Power questionairre on my six week old Chevy 2500HD. It seemed odd to me. Numerous questions on whether some component or system had failed in the six week that I have owned the truck. I honestly had to give the truck a flawless rating as absolutley has gone wrong. I would expect that any car would pass this "test" at such a young age.

The "Best" is evident by the sales. Nobody can touch Ford! Unless of course, you decide to combine Chevrolet and G.M.C. sales. In that case, nobody can touch General Motors! Bottom line is, Nobody can touch the American trucks!

No suprise here!

This relates to the Kelley Blue Book ratings of the Tacoma being the best pickup period in retaining its value after 5 years!

Toyota has always built the best small pickups and those that hate Toyota so much are just jealous!

@Buy American or say Bye to America!,

"It appears that Mr. Akio Toyoda paid off Mr. J.D. Power for this one."

Sounds like a typical response from a sore loser!

Cannot take the fact the best U.S. made pickups are from Toyota?

@DM,

What? Do you know that Toyota has more than 25 different configurations for its Tacoma! That is wayy more than the competition offers and thus why Toyota can sell to so many different tastes when compared with the competition like the Ranger, Dakota and Colorado.

@Buy American or say Bye to America!

The Tacoma is a U.S. built pickup. The accesscab model I have has Made in U.S.A. proudly on the data stamp!

If you are so brainwashed to not understand that California and Texas are a part of the United States thus the Toyota pickups built there are "American" made, then leave this nation and form your own commie nation to outlaw anything that is foreign named.

I toured a massive Toyota plant in Kentucky. Yeah, Kentucky is part of the UNITED STATES thus those vehicles are "AMERICAN" made. That Kentucky plant is North America's largest auto plant and employs just about 8,000 "Americans" at the plant and the state of Kentucky says another 80,000 "Americans" throughout the state and thousands more around the nation. That's just one Toyota plant.

I do plan to tour the Texas plant someday and again Texas is part of the United States.

I also toured GM's Janesville, WI plant when it was operating likewise, another plant in Wisconsin that is a part of the United States.

You will NO longer find a 100% U.S. built vehicle anymore!

Funny how Toyota Camry's have the highest domestic content of cars and the Toyota Tundra had the highest among pickups (though the Ram took that over last year), it's all in a name buddy.

Just because it has Toyota stamped on it, does mean it is made there.

I always give the stupid Nascar analogy. The Toyota Tundra's and Camry's that compete in Nascar are 100% U.S. built, it's just a Toyota sticker on it and guess what that sticker is made in the U.S.A. anyways.

It's all in a name these days so get off your racist views towards the world and understand we live in a global economy. The next time you visit Wal-Mart, maybe you will understand this!

"Toyota has always built the best small pickups and those that hate Toyota so much are just jealous!" - Ox

Tacoma is in the mid-size truck category.

Best small/compact pickup is the Ranger. Ranger can't win because it is the only truck in the category. JD Power states that there must be at least 3 compact trucks for them to make a compact truck category.

Winner: small truck category
Ford Ranger

And if you guys are going to use the childish "where the profits go" rant, here is something to ponder:

Are you a SHAREHOLDER? If you answered no, then you have no business discussing where the profits go. Become a SHAREHOLDER and then you can vote. Until then, shut up about it!

These companies are private and publically traded, they are not public sector thus HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE U.S. OR JAPAN! The big 3 are not part of the Constitution! Nor is Toyota in Japan!

Do you question what you buy at the grocery store, hardware store or clothing store of where the profits go? Do you question your neighbors about where their money goes after they pay their bills? Probably not.

It's not your profits, its the SHAREHOLDERS! And you can buy shares you know!

By the way Japan holds roughly $875 billion of our debt!

So the next time you hear of a federal budget deficit, guess who fills the gaps to keep our government rolling? Countries like Japan that invest in our federal budget shortcomings.

So in reality Japan is keeping our government from collapsing from the massive debt we have accumulated! Think about that...

Would love to see what the actual numbers are.

It lists the top 3 for full-size: Tundra, F-150, Ram LD.

But without the actual #'s you can't tell if they are close or farther apart.

Notice the GM twins are nowhere to be found. The Silvy, Sierra, Colorado and Canyon not reliable.

Guess what I just dont like Toyota

They probably rank as reliable because 99.99% of them never do any real work. (not that they could do much work).

Where's Bob at?...He should be all over this since it is Ford related and basically says Ford is more reliable than GM which I know he will never beleave.

I have a 2010 Tacoma 4x4 double cab TRD Sport and cant say the "quality" is any better than my 2001 dakota I just let go. They all have their issues and I think Toyota is just maintaining a resale value based on the trucks ruggedness from previous generations and worldwide models (hilux and mid 80's to 2000's pickups). This vehicle never overimpressed me but I bought it because it was the lesser of two evils.

If one of the "Big 3" offer a 4 door compact truck with better reliability than the Colorado/Canyon I will trade it in.

Well, I think this is not the time for these kinds of hate comments. Both Ford and Dodge are close behined, they make great truks. By the way I see a lot of 15-20 year-old GM pickup trucks (Israel - only new Fords are sold here from 2006 and one of the toughest places for a car/truck), and their owners beat the crap out of them, but they still going!

wait the minute! wasn't the 2008 Toyota Tundra breaking down like crazy? i think that i saw that on JD power rankings that that year had a faulty trany and chassis - JD Power is full of bs - the domestic 3 are the best and that is all i will say about that!!!!!

The only table I can find on PP100 (problems per 100) is by nameplate. Perhaps JD Power hasn't released the vehicle specific ratings.
2011
http://www.jdpower.com/Autos/ratings/dependability-ratings-by-brand/
2010
http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/23494/JD-Power-vehicle-dependability-study

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/JD-Power-and-Associates-prnews-363559379.html?x=0

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/03/17/3482767/jd-power-and-associates-reports.html

I'd say the ratings are probably pretty close for the top 3 full sized pickups. There wasn't a huge statistical difference last year between the Tundra and F150.
Kudos to Ram.
They went from having the poorest ratings in the segment to being among the best.
I think that Fiat's involvement in Chrysler will be a good thing.
All of the Toyota bashing has predictably started. Too bad.

If you look at name plate (brand) ratings :
Brand - 2010............2011

Ford 141.............140
GMC 165.............184
Chev 176.............156
Dodge 190.............206
Toyota 128............122

Toyota rating improved slightly. Interesting in context of all the negative publicity.

GMC dropped but Chevrolet improved.
WHY?
Aren't they the same vehicle made on the same assembly line but with a different badge?
Lends credance to the argument that you cannot combine the two- for example :Sierra and Silverado.

Ratings are like statistics, you can twist them and gleen what you want out of them. They could say that Toyota, Ford and Dodge are superior to GM and it still wouldn't make me buy a jap, ford or dodge over a Chevy.

Truck buyers are very brand loyal and I am one of them. No different in the snowmobile world, most people buy what they grew up on and rarely do they switch brands.

I realize there are good trucks out there that aren't a GM product, I just prefer the GM trucks and I would rather push a Chevy than drive a ford. Call it, Chevy truck DNA in my blood. If you like some other brand, good for you, this is a great country and you can buy what brand you like.

So let it be written, so let it be done!

"GMC dropped"

@Lou,

So much for it being "Professional Grade."

Pay no attention to the 19 MILLION vehicles Toyota has had to recall since 2009.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-toyota-recall-idUSTRE7262WS20110307?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

Oh.. and being king of a dying (midsize truck) segment aint much to brag about when you sell only 100K vehicles. Fact is 10 years ago both Ford and Chevy were selling in excess of 300K light duty trucks per year and Toyota was a distant 3rd or 4th. Now that Ford and GM have given up the segment what do you expect.

Congrats on being king of nothing

wow, u all fightin like it's ur creator???? say u lost ur job n became homeless, i bet u anything, none of those manufacturers r gonna give a hoot about u. they'll just sell it to the next joe who's still working...

bottom line, it is a consumer product, nothing more, nothing less. shiny when new, dirty when old. it's perishable, so quit crying...

Most truck buyers are brand loyal.

The weak ones (truck buyers), that do not really work a truck very hard, manage to get suckered into something light-duty like a Honda, Nissan, or Toyota.

Real truck, and car, guys always stick with F-Series, Ram, Sierra, or Silverado trucks. All of the trucks that helped build this great nation for the past 100-plus years.

@Bob - quote" I would rather push a Chevy than drive a ford "
You must have a huge set of pythons.
I'd rather buy the most reliable brand regardless of who makes it and drive to where I want to exercise. LOL.

@ Buy American or say Bye to America!

just bcuz someone buys a truck doesn't mean they have to work it hard. everyday, cars r driven by peeps n 90% of the time it's just the driver. they rn't being use to it's potentials as they ride around empty pretty much with no passengers.

by ur anology, the only vehicles that should be in service would be buses, trains, semi's n tow, plow trucks.

btw, real peeps buy what they want n can, not bcuz of the name on it.

@ Buy American - to some degree I agree with the brand loyalty comment. Truck guys are more conservative and therefore more prone to falling into the trap of brand loyalty.

As far as real work truck buyers - I don't see many compact or 1/2 ton trucks. The vast majority are 3/4 to 1 ton trucks. That automatically rules out Toyota, Nissan or Honda. I do see commercially used Toyota Tacoma's and the occasional Tundra. I know a bridge construction supervisor/project bidder who owned a Tundra for 2 years and 80,000 miles. He said all he ever did was change tires and do oil changes. The only reason he did not buy another one was because he needed a 3/4 ton capacity truck.

Ratings are like statistics, you can twist them and gleen what you want out of them. They could say that Toyota, Ford and Dodge are superior to GM and it still wouldn't make me buy a jap, ford or dodge over a Chevy.

"Truck buyers are very brand loyal and I am one of them. No different in the snowmobile world, most people buy what they grew up on and rarely do they switch brands.

I realize there are good trucks out there that aren't a GM product, I just prefer the GM trucks and I would rather push a Chevy than drive a ford. Call it, Chevy truck DNA in my blood. If you like some other brand, good for you, this is a great country and you can buy what brand you like.

So let it be written, so let it be done!" I was reading this while eating and nearly spit a mouthful of Raisin Bran all over my screen when I seen who wrote it. Bob? Making a half-way mature comment? Excuse me while I look out my window, I do believe I honestly WILL see a pig fly by

@Benchimus - we better get out shelters ready for 12/12/2012. LMFAO

@lou- I was thinking the same thing. If your headed to hell on 12/13/12 youd better wear a sweater as its gunna be cold as...well, hell. lol

@Lou,

It is actually 12/21/12. The Earth's crust will destabilize.

Boy Mike you sure got them riled up with this one!
Disclaimer: I own a Toyota Tacoma, I used to own a Ford F-150.

@oxi Tacomas used to be made in Cali in the NUMMI plant. But when GM backed out of the plant stopping production there (Pontiac Vibe) Toyota moved those jobs to other plants. Tacomas are made in Texas, and Mexico. Toyota Tacoma is considered an import because only 70% of the truck is USA parts. Tundra is considered a domestic truck with 80% of the parts made in USA. But either way, it's still putting Americans to work.

@Frank EVERY manufacture has recalls, some have so many people stop listening. Ask Ford about the recall for the Air Bag, of 1.3 M Trucks not to mention the whole Explorer debacle. Or the Ranger Fire hazard. Its' just a matter of time before a company has a recall. There are always an issue. BUT what does matter is that all of these companies step up and take care of the issues. A recall means they are.

There have been three recalls on my Tacoma.
1) Gas Pedal entrapment - Taken care of
2) 4x4 front drive propeller shaft - Taken care of
3) TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) Still waiting, but I check my tire pressure regularly anyway.

My Ford I stopped counting the recalls... BUT Ford took care of all of them.

Would I buy a Ford again, maybe, I liked the feel of the Tacoma over the Ranger and didn't want another big F150.

I think of the Detroit Big Three this way
Good Chrysler
Better GM
Best Ford

@Dave Ranger is NOT a "Small" Truck. It is only 5 inches shorter than a comparable Tacoma only 3 inches narrower. They just don't make the good old SMALL trucks any more. Remember the Courier? Now there was a small truck you could beat the crap out of.

Good news for Oxi, it still doesn't make me like Toyotas though.

Bob - They could say that Toyota, Ford and Dodge are superior to GM and it still wouldn't make me buy a "jap", ford or dodge over a Chevy.

Watch your mouth buddy, show a little more respect to others you ignorant moron.

As for my opinion, tacomas are great trucks but I find a little tipsy on corners. Never driven a tundra.

HAHA oxi is soooo happy

@ bluetacoman - good points. I recall the very first Ranger I bought in 1994 being called midsized.

By The Way, The front drive propeller shaft was a US Part Mfg DANA issue. The same exact part was used in Ford/Merc and Nissan. ONLY Toyota did a recall for the defect.

@BlueTacoMan - if you really want to stir the pot = all the gas pedals that were recalled were made by CTS a USA company.
The Denso pedals of the same design were not recalled.
The only difference between the 2 was the plug in on the harness.(and one made in Japan).
Ford recalled CTS pedals for Transit vans sold in China.
Chrysler recalled CTS pedals used in IIRC a Neon.

this is bs, based on what hauling groceries, look at all the old ford dodge and chev trucks still on the road, my f-250 has over, 200,000 all original, and it acyully hauls unliek these toyota drivers, this is a joke, mr toyota paid into this.

@OXI

GM Ford and Dodge offer a full line-up of trucks and compact/mid size, 1/2 ton, and heavy duty.

Toyota only participates in two of the three. Toyota doesn't have any heavy duty pickup line. Then another breakdown comes as one looks at total truck volume in concert with the number of unique build possibilities.

So again a Ford SD has more options, packages, engines and parts combinations that substantially add to build complexity. Ford along with the other domestic manufacturers service a greater number of total truck customers, with more variety of product than Toyota.

Without a doubt Ford has more ways to built all the trucks in it's portfolio many times over the entire Toyota truck line.

It really is that simple.

A Ford SD a few years back had over a million ways it could be optioned and equipped. Since Toyota doesn't produce a HD truck at all, Toyota's number of unique truck builds pales in comparison.l

@OXI

Shareholders of a publicly traded company are not directly distributed profits from the company's earnings. These profits are held and maintained by the company.

There are two fundamental ways a public share holder might receive a financial benefit from a company he or she has purchased stock. They might receive a dividend for each share, if the company pays one and is profitable.

The other way a shareholder might see a profit on their investment would be for the price per share to increase. But make no mistakes company profits are not distributed to the share holders. Exception being a small percentage set aside to pay dividends.

Toyota's last dividend payment was $.047 a share. So in one had 300 shares of Toyota at $28.07 (investment $24,618) the shareholder would have been paid a whopping $141 dollars.

Where the money life-cycle goes does matter. If no one in the USA spend a dollar with a company that reports earnings in USD's, our economy would simply cease to exist.

Go tell the people who have had their job leave US shores or outsourced that it doesn't matter where the profits go.

When Toyota starts announcing quarterly earnings in US Dollars and not Japanese Yen, get back with us.

DM-

Good stuff! Keep fighting the good fight!!!

No matter how many "stats" the Toyota fan club throws out I just dont care. I dont like Toyota there for I dont care. I like Ford, Ram, and sometimes GM trucks. I like what I like and I think everyone else already has there mind made up what they like. So a small novel about how awesome Toyota is isn't gonna change anything.

Here's an idea, let's discontinue the ranger so we can say we didn't have a horse in the race! Lord help us if they bring diesel.

Compact trucks sold in the US market include:

* Chevrolet Colorado
* GMC Canyon
* Ford Ranger
* Mazda B-Series

The Ranger is the leader in dependability for the compact/small truck market.

The Tacoma is a mid-size and has increased in size so much that according to Mike, "a long box Tacoma crew cab almost as big as a full-size pickup."

Mid-size models include:

* Dodge Dakota/Mitsubishi Raider
* Hummer H3T
* Nissan Frontier
* Suzuki Equator
* Toyota Tacoma

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickup_truck#Compact_pickups

@ DM

Buddy your lost. ever heard of a term called a "global economy"? You speak of toyota like they are the only company that has plants outside the USA. Here's a news flash genius, ALL manufacturers have plants ALL over the world. Are you naive enough or for a lack of a better term stupid enough to think all the profits from Ford, GM, and Chrysler end up on US soil? tell me your not that blind please. Fact is That Toyota DIRECTLY employs 40,000 people in the USA, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS indirectly, including myself. their injection of money into OUR society is feeding me and my family, and the company treats people GREAT. no need to argue or fight for anything, they just MAKE IT HAPPEN. The detroit 3 have been sending jobs OUT of the US for 30 years, and unfortunately with ZERO facts you still defend them. That sir is more of the same old same that got them all in dire straits a couple years ago.

YES, I AGREE TELL THAT TO THE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS THAT LOST THEIR JOBS WHEN THE DETROIT 3 MOVED PRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE US TO SAVE A BOTTOM LINE. MEANWHILE TOYOTA BUILTa 2 MILLION Square foot plant, started ANOTHER, built a 500 MILLION dollar R&D facility in michigan, and DESPITE GM backing out of NUMMI Toyota OPENED IT BACK UP! OH, this is JUST THE LAST 5 or 6 YEARS!!!!

Meanwhile Toyota works WITH their suppliers to HELP them produce a product with profit for them that will cost the company less instead of cutting corners so they build you a sh*t product to meet a bottom line.

While your at it, go look at the stocks. Toyota's trading at $82.00 a share, GM at $31.00 (only because of restructuring), ford at $16.00. Where is your money safest with stocks? DESPITE an 8.9 earthquake and tsunami's AND a nuclear power plant on edge Toyota STILL trades at 5 TIMES what ford does, GM doesnt even count and chrysler is owned by someone different every year now. YOU BROUGHT UP STOCKS, something you obviously arent too great with.

Furthermore DIRECTLY DISTRIBUTED Toyota has injected and ivested BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS into this country every year, get your head out of your REAR END.

I'm puzzled. How is a F150 with 55% domestic parts content is worse for the USA ecomomy than a Tundra with 80% domestic parts?
I would think that difference alone would negate the whole "profits leaving the country" argument.

Experts say that the USA economy is diverse enough and its population diverse enough to do well in the global economy.Currently the top 3 countries based on GDP are:
1. USA
2. China
3. Japan
In 2020 (ten years from now):
1.China
2.USA
3.India
exerpt:
Since the 1990s, advanced economies have experienced much slower growth compared to the developing world due to the rapid rise of emerging economies including China and India. The declining trend of advanced economies has been accelerated by the global financial crisis in 2008-2009

Intersting how they mention the financial meltdown and not the axis of evil - Toyota, Honda, Subaru etc.

The USA shot itself in the foot with its poor banking practices.

Exerpt:
With a huge population and rising household incomes, the consumer goods and service markets in emerging economies will provide enormous opportunities for businesses.
http://blog.euromonitor.com/2010/07/special-report-top-10-largest-economies-in-2020.html
I do not think it is all doom and gloom.
BUT if the USA choses to wall itself off and engage in a cold war with Asia - it is readily apparent to anyone with an open mind who would win that confrontation.
The Chinese middle class is as large as the whole population of the USA.