What a horrible year for Toyota in general, in the US at least.

 

You can't sell what you can't build and you can't build what you can't source

 

This 100%. We’ve bought 2 Toyotas, one this past March and about to finalize a deal on a Sienna. We got super lucky with the Sienna, there’s nothing but low trim levels and we wanted a AWD Platty. 20 min after emailing with my 10th sales person she emails me with an allocation of a AWD Platinum… it’s 1 of 7 that was allocated this cycle.

 

Well my stock portfolio is doing crappy too. I think things are just expensive plus supply chain issues. Also the younger generation of kids seem to love ugly cars like the NX, Mach e, etc. I don't see myself ever buying one of those things. I'd rather be in a Station Wagon tbh. They should bring back the AMC Eagle too. It would make a killing. Lol.

 

Pretty bad numbers overall, and you can see the focus is on pumping out their bread-and-butter RAV4's (the NX is also basically a RAV4, from the same factory here in Ontario). Also interesting that the Highlander Hybrid numbers from the same plant are lower than the Sienna, although of course with the Highlander they can pump out more non-hybrid ones to make up for sales. Here is Canada I heard it's basically impossible now to find a Highlander Hybrid, almost as bad as the Sienna, the sales guys just push you to buy a gas one instead.

 

For myself, after driving my Sienna hybrid and it's amazing gas mileage, I am not going back to a 100% ice vehicle if a hybrid is available.....a Sienna or otherwise.

 

Me too...But I'm falling in love with the new GR Corolla.

 

After the 9000lb EV Hummer, I must say I have very little good things to say about the taste of cars in the US. I mean the Volt was a great car and then they cancelled it.

 

The Hummer EV, apart from being an affront to the environmentally-sensitive people, is not particularly good-looking either. And I continue to lament the Volt, or, more accurately, the Voltec powertrain which IMO could have been scaled up by 30-50% to power the Equinox and Colorado, respectively.

 

This is why I do not believe there is a recession. We've got another chat with 1-2 years of buyers on the waiting list willing to pay MSRP and even over MSRP. The supply chain shortage from Asia (mainly China) - is still wreaking havoc on domestic production. This is forcing buyers to go elsewhere (Kia, Hyundai, Chrysler, Audi, etc).

 

I consider us Sienna owners as trend setters. I am hoping to put pointless SUVs out of style. If you need them for a big family to haul a boat then fine....but I get annoyed with people who buy them to hide their insecurities.

Hauling boats and heavy offroading is pretty much the only thing a minivan can't do that an SUV can.

 

I get annoyed with people who buy them to hide their insecurities.

Hauling boats and heavy offroading is pretty much the only thing a minivan can't do that an SUV can.

I find statements like this so silly.

You can have a big truck or SUV because you like big truck SUV’s, we’re free to buy what we like.

Attributing someone’s choices in vehicles, or anything for that matter, to an insecurity or inadequate size of a reproduction organ is absurd at best or projection or envy at worst. More importantly, how can you know they drive that because they are insecure, what evidence do you have?

SUV’s are not pointless, they definitely have their place. While the minivan is a great vehicle, they are soulless to drive. Yes, I am replacing a full size SUV for a van, but I would have bought the van in the beginning if it had 450 horsepower and was a luxury vehicle that could produce a smile while stabbing the skinny peddle, there’s 3 more items to add to your list of things SUV’s can do that minivans can’t. These are 2 completely different vehicles for completely different use cases and comparing them to each other makes no sense.

 

The handmade tales is the most drawn out story ever and why couldn't that 70s Camaro take out that garage door?

 

To me, anything longer than 15 minutes apiece is a drawn out of yawner.

It’s called styling and it’s very much tied to the times. Besides, auto makers shake things up with redesigns to stay fresh and appealing. The square body pickup has literally been a thing since the early 70’s and Chevy.
As for your Toyota example… the new Tundra has a giant flat front grill because it’s got 2 turbos to cool versus the older one running a much cooler naturally aspirated engine. Also, safety standards and crumple zone requirements now versus then do not allow for the same designs from the older Tundra. These are all tied to politics in the end, stricter CAFE standards to eek out MPG and tighter and tighter safety requirements both both dictated by our betters from up on top.

"Styling" and "times" in this context are not independent actors with their own self-awareness, ideas, and free will. Those are merely manifestatios of the thought processes in humans. This way the "styling", the "times", "the fashion" and the "culture" can only be understood through the psychology of humans as individuals and as the society.

You may be correct about the Tundra, but the chunky-looking nose grew on the RAV4 and the Sienna as well, even as they lost their V6's and moved to a more compact non-turbo straight 4.

But then again, this shall, too, pass

 

I liked the powertrain of our 2021 Sienna so much I went out and bought a 2022 Camry hybrid. Love them both. I always get a kick out of the fact that my two hybrids collectively have a 5 liter V8 while my ‘17 Tundra has a 5.7V8 by itself. Love that truck too.

I haven’t had to get unscheduled maintenance on a vehicle since 2018 when my Subaru Outback had some electrical issues with the rear hatch. The Sienna replaced the Outback, no looking back.

 

You can put a supercharger on the 5.7. I will prob do that one of these days. That would be crazy.