“Buy American Trucks” – Hypocrisy At It’s Finest

We’ve all heard someone say that you shouldn’t buy a Toyota because “all the profits go to Japan.” Talk about hypocrisy. People think it’s wrong to support a global car company that’s spent $20 billion building plants in the USA over the last 20 years, yet they willingly fork over their dollars to bankrupt GM and Chrysler so they can “buy American.”

Here’s a newsflash for all you “buy American” hypocrites: Toyota’s profits on one truck sale pale in comparison to the amount of money YOU send overseas every year. The fact is, we’re all sending thousands of dollars a year in profits to foreign companies – regardless of the type of vehicle in the driveway. Take a look: Read more…

Cash For Clunkers A Gift For Honda and Toyota

When the “Cash for Clunkers” program (a.k.a. CARS) was signed into law 2 months ago, there were a lot of different advantages pitched at the American taxpayer:

• CARS will help the environment by getting rid of polluting old vehicles
• CARS will help the economy
• CARS will help the auto industry
• CARS will help the domestic automakers earn a profit

While we can’t speak to the environmental, economic, or overall auto industry benefits, we CAN speak to the idea that the CARS program helped domestic automakers: For 3 out of 3 domestic manufacturers, the answer is NO.

According to a recent report from IBISWorld, an independent company that analyzes the auto industry, the domestic manufacturers took less than there fair share of the cash for clunkers dollars.

Here’s the data: Read more…

5 Cheap Performance Tips For Your Truck

Do you enjoy tweaking your truck to squeeze out every little bit of power? Who doesn’t. When Henry Ford built the first Model T with a pickup bed in 1925, somewhere someone was trying to figure out a way to make it a little faster.

Of course for truck owners, it’s not really about speed…it’s about power. Power to tow, haul, pass on the freeway, head up to the mountains, or show that snob in the Range Rover who thinks his wittle SUV is fast who really has the big motor.

Cheap truck performance tips – 5 ways to go faster for less than $50

The most common truck performance accessories are air intakes and exhaust systems. However, if you’re short on cash, or if you don’t feel like spending half your truck payment (or more) on an aFe air intake, here are some ideas for making your truck more powerful without spending more than $50. Read more…

Gas Prices and Truck Sales – Not As Related As We Think

Auto analysts LOVE to declare that high gas prices will ultimately kill pickup truck sales. At first glance, this reasoning makes some sense – if gas is $5 per gallon and a Tundra has a 26 gallon fuel tank, every fill-up will cost $130. If you just felt a little pain in your gut at that number, you’re not alone. When gas prices approached $5 per gallon this time last year, truck sales fell precipitously.

However, was this a knee-jerk reaction or an indicator of a shift in consumer demand?

Average price per gallon of a gallon of gas from 2003 to 2009

First, let’s consider this question historically. Read more…

5 Reasons Toyota Could Stop Building The Tundra

Toyota’s decision to move Tacoma production to San Antonio is most likely good news for the future of the Tundra. Still, the case can be made that this move signals danger. Tundra sales are down and Toyota executives have been less than positive about the vehicle. Moving production of the Tacoma to Texas could be a sign that the Tundra is on the way out.

The case for dropping the Toyota Tundra

To be clear, we believe the Tundra is here to stay. Still, there are quite a few reasons for Toyota to walk away from the Tundra completely: Read more…