>Arghh!!  Does this guy get $0.05 every time he mentions Toyota???

If you don't like it, exercise your delete key! There's plenty of
other OT on the list, and *I* don't complain about folks grinding
THEIR axes. If I'm not interested I just delete.

>Am I the only guy getting tired of hearing how great Toyotas are on the
>Vanagon list???  Please... let me know if I'm being overly sensitive.

Yes.

>BTW:  VW (and Honda, Nissan and Subaru) rates consistently above Toyota on
>nearly every major consumer report in nearly every category.  So who we
>going to believe: you (a cabbie) or the professional testing bureaus?

Get real. Hondas rust. Nissans have electrical problems and some of
their engines are disasters. Subarus have notoriously weak
transmissions. What fails on Toyotas? Bugger-all. I'm talking about
Japanese-assembled cars and personal experience, as well as that of
friends, acquaintances and the taxi fleets. US assembly may well be a
different kettle of fish, but don't blame local assembly for a
particular model's problems. NZ-assembled Toyotas can rust... Jap
ones just don't. And Toyota is every other manufacturer's quality
benchmark.

Fortunately rust is one of the few places VWs (German ones, that
is... don't ask about Brasilian buses!) are good. VW makes good
bodies and van suspensions... shame about the rest.