Originally Posted by
Mauser308
Here's a startling comment, I'm sure to start something with this. There is utterly no reason I can think of, to pay the current second-hand car price for a clapped out crappy Toyota. They are about 4-years or so behind anything else comparable in the country in terms of model advancement, ride quality and noise and cockpit layout, and about the only reason I can see for the popularity and hence the higher prices for a used version is a decade or so of a seriously well thought out ad campaign.
They aren't any cheaper to fix than anything else (some models cost more than they should), and a lot of people have this attitude that they don't break so they don't need servicing. As I said, it was a bloody good ad campaign...
As far as that goes, if you decide that you want a Toyota great just buy the vehicle not the propaganda and the owner's BS stories.
If you're looking at 7 seats, you are in the market for a Santa Fe, Prado, Ford Terrortory, or something like that in the 'soft roader' class. A Patrol or Landcruiser size 4x4 won't be the car for your missus if she can't handle a manual - she's likely to be a 'jump in and it goes' kind of lady and the Patrol's and Landcruisers in the 7-seat versions are bloody big vehicles for car parking buildings and the like. It takes a little bit of touch parking to learn where the bits are at either end...
My wife is quite a good driver, I've seen her do some bloody good emergency and defensive driving and apart from sailing into an intersection and expecting to stop the vehicle in 2 feet, she is pretty good in normal driving too. She hates my Ford Ranger PX, and refused the LWB Safari I used to have just because of the size and the hassle and lack of visibility. It's not because she can't drive them, quite the opposite it's just she doesn't like the extra stress of the larger vehicles.
Her current car is a Tuscon/IX35 sized Hyundai, bloody good and underrated little softroader 4x4 and a great car for her with all the safety features - except the damn thing doesn't fit carseats either. You really need that next size up which in the Hyundai range is the Sante Fe, or similar...