How is your Tacoma shopping going anyways?
It's coming. For me, I think the Tacoma best fits my intended purpose. Having spent thousands of miles in one on and off road, and having been in and worked on (mostly interior stuff admittedly) all of the comparable domestic trucks, I just don't think the "domestic" trucks are built quite as well. They certainly don't have the same sort of international support as the Toyota (you can find toyota parts just about anywhere in the world), and with the amount of dirt miles I plan to put on the vehicle, I just feel there isn't enough real world feedback to support the claim that the Ford/Chevy/Dodge 1/4 ton trucks are just as reliable and at a better price point. The Frontier is probably the closest, but I want to run at least 33's, and it takes far more work to put 33's on a frontier than it does on a Tacoma.
I couldn't care less if it's a Toyota. If there was a Kia truck that had the same pro's, I'd buy a Kia. The brand loyal douchebags can stay brand loyal and can continue to buy their brand based on it not being another brand. I like my vehicles for what they are, not for what they aren't.
Whether or not the majority of the parts are manufactured in the US, and the vehicle is assembled here, doesn't take away from the fact that it's not an American company I guess. But if you want to get all Team America on us, then what would you rather: A company based in a foreign country that exports and creates jobs in America, or an American company that exports jobs to Mexico and Indo-china?
Cody