Tundra Tailgates Tearing Apart

[CARBIZ]

This what happens when you buy a Toyota Truck. I want to see this on CNN, if it were a domestic it would be trust me. Chevy should make fun of Toyota for this and use it in an ad!

For once, I am agreeing with GM on this one: do nothing. It is clear that the Tundra is only for Posers.. Period. Let the cycle of import humpers flock to the Tundra, see how inadequate it really is, then the tide will ebb back.

We know GM and Ford 'own' the truck market. Japan Inc. has been trying for 12 years to break the iron grip and failed. GM (and Ford) now need to focus their energies on the car market, which they allowed Japan Inc. to dominate.

[Angry Dad]

Must run in the family.

There's a few Tacoma owners quietly making the same complaint.

[4gm]

Do you guys know that "jap" and "japs" is considered a racial slur? From what I hear it's right up there with the n word. No, I'm not Japanese. I'm surprised the owner and the moderators of this site have repeatedly and consistently overlooked posts on this site that have used those slurs over the years. That gives the impression of a passive support of racism imo.

[Nick]

Do you guys know that "jap" and "japs" is considered a racial slur? From what I hear it's right up there with the n word. No, I'm not Japanese. I'm surprised the owner and the moderators of this site have repeatedly and consistently overlooked posts on this site that have used those slurs over the years. That gives the impression of a passive support of racism imo.

Yeah, but it is easier than typing out "Japanese".

And besides, I'm sure nobody here intentionally uses it in a racist or degrading manner...well, maybe a few...

[balthazar]

Didn't the term originate with newspapers, where all manners of words & grammar are abbreviated due to space considerations? Or did it start earlier? It is, after all, a literal abbreviation, not a completely different word- unlikely nearly every other racial slur.

Is ANY deviation from the formal word now considered a slur?

In my obervations (including period publications)- the terms was always more of a reference term than a direct verbal put-down. The n-word has a far greater and more direct history rooted in slavery & segregation; I don't see anything comparably as tangible with the 'j-word'.

[ocnblu]

The Japanese have a term for American Anglos, I am sure.

[PurdueGuy]

Didn't the term originate with newspapers, where all manners of words & grammar are abbreviated due to space considerations? Or did it start earlier? It is, after all, a literal abbreviation, not a completely different word- unlikely nearly every other racial slur.

Is ANY deviation from the formal word now considered a slur?

In my obervations (including period publications)- the terms was always more of a reference term than a direct verbal put-down. The n-word has a far greater and more direct history rooted in slavery & segregation; I don't see anything comparably as tangible with the 'j-word'.

I expect it started as more of a shorter way of simply saying "Japanese", but with WWII, a lot of negative emotion got packed into the word, and for some it's still there. I agree that it doesn't feel like a word that's meant to hurt feelings, it just feels like a shortened way of saying Japanese.

[Drew Dowdell]

The Japanese have a term for American Anglos, I am sure.

suckers?

[pow]

I expect it started as more of a shorter way of simply saying "Japanese", but with WWII, a lot of negative emotion got packed into the word, and for some it's still there. I agree that it doesn't feel like a word that's meant to hurt feelings, it just feels like a shortened way of saying Japanese.

It's still very offensive, especially for older Japanese-Americans, who were shipped and locked up in horse tracks by their own government.

[PurdueGuy]

It's still very offensive, especially for older Japanese-Americans, who were shipped and locked up in horse tracks by their own government.

Understood, as said- it's a term that got packed with emotion during WWII. I'm simply ALSO acknowledging that for those who weren't around during that time, it doesn't hold the same negative connotation. I didn't mean to dismiss the value in understanding what it means to others and be sensitive to that.

[FloydHendershot]

It's still very offensive, especially for older Japanese-Americans, who were shipped and locked up in horse tracks by their own government.

Compared to what happened to American citizens by the Japanese, much less military, they got off easy. You may be surprsed to learn how vicious war really is when it's not sanitized or summarized to fit in the pages of a history book.

[4gm]

Understood, as said- it's a term that got packed with emotion during WWII. I'm simply ALSO acknowledging that for those who weren't around during that time, it doesn't hold the same negative connotation. I didn't mean to dismiss the value in understanding what it means to others and be sensitive to that.

It may not have the exact same negative connotation it had decades ago but it's still an ethnic slur and people still use it derisively. Just look at the beginning of this thread and tell me some of the posters who used the term didn't mean it in in any other way.

[FloydHendershot]

It's rarely used innocently but that's moot. Offensiveness is subjective.

[Camino LS6]

Sooo... about those tailgates...

[4gm]

Subjectively speaking I would think that a minority group would find slurs which specifially target their ethnicity offensive. Subjectively speaking.

[FloydHendershot]

Sooo... about those tailgates...

On the surface they look good (to some) but when you test them that's a different story. We'll see what comes of this but I tell you what, when it

comes to trucks I'll look to the tried and true.

How many times has Toyota presented a full size pick up that did not measure up?

[gm4life]

Once again Toyota didn't do get the job done. Nissan did on the other hand love it or hate the Titan is a good truck. And if I use the word "Jap" I do it because I don't wanna type it all out. But hey who bombed pearl harbor... Sorry forgetting off track.

[dratnol]

Wildmanjoe, great post. I really liked the pictures that you used.

[dratnol]

And if I use the word "Jap" I do it because I don't wanna type it all out. But hey who bombed pearl harbor... Sorry forgetting off track.

I think that is the reason most everyone does that. Some people like to find negative connotations for everything. Take the terms "guys" in "Hey guys, how are you?". Some would say that is offensive since girls are not "guys", they fail to look at the general statement and only focus on a specific word.

I wonder what some of you would do if English was like Spanish or other languages in which terms all had a gender associated with them?

[toesuf94]

I stopped at the Toyota dealer on Sunday when nobody was around and I so badly wanted to SIT on the Tundra Tailgate to see what would happen. The gate is so flimsy and light I was stunned. I did resist the urge, as I feared a security camera was in range. I am sure my 6-foot 285 pound person would have mangled the gate.

I did notice in the corner of the lot, hooked to a trailor used for dealer trades was a mid 90's Chevrolet carrying a new Corrolla...I guess the Tundras on the lot cannot tow anything but cargo containers out of quarrys. The Corrolla was probably too light.

Edited October 31, 2007 by toesuf94

[z71stampede]

Two or Three times depending on who you ask. Past entries into the hall of shame:

1993-1998 Toyota T100.

Toyota fanboys will call it full sized, but it's only roughly the same size as a similar vintage Dakota. Failed because of a lack of a V8 (a wheezy I4 and two wheezy V6s were offered), small size and lack of useful options.

2000-2006 Tundra

7/8 the size of a regular truck, the Tundra tried to go after the heavy duty truck crowd only to find out their poser fan base didn't want a tougher truck and real truck drivers wanted brakes that work, transmissions that held up for longer than 40,000 miles and steering and suspension parts that weren't made of recycled Paseos.

LOL. Toyota needs to stick with crappy economy cars.

That T-100 was amazingly ugly, too. They should at least have stretched the wheelbase to line up with the body they threw over it. My Dad had one for a couple of years but got tired of how little it would tow, and how crappy the mileage was when he did tow. The new Tundra is at best awkward to look at, and the interior is crazy. Toyota likes to claim that they spent hours and hours with contractors and fleet users to find out how working folks used their rigs. So how did they miss something as obvious and yet easy to fix as a weak tailgate? I am very happy to see Toyota running into the same problems their competitors have run into before--shows you that everyone makes mistakes. Will they get the media all riled up? I doubt it. They have pretty strong financial roots here in the states now, and they do employ a lot of Americans for which we should be thankful. But the press will just not stand up and say anything to them for some odd reason. Toyota's probably wishing the billions they invested in full-size truck programs were invested elsewhere about now since they are chest-deep in Tundra (with lots of cash on the hood LOL), Sequoia and even the not-compact anymore Tacoma with gas prices hovering around 3 bucks a gallon consistently throughout the year.