Aron9000

#1 would be my old man's 1985 Toyota pickup. He bought it brand new, options included such luxuries as extra cab, cloth reclining bench seat, a/c, side stripe, tan paint, step bumper, 5 speed manual, and not much else. No power steering, no sound insulation, rubber floor, this was a man's truck. Learned to drive on this truck, he sold it with 200k on it back in 1998 for a T100.

#2 would be the folks old 2000 Avalon. Base model with the cloth seats, silver paint, options included alloy wheels and keyless entry. Which is fine, power seats, the sound insulation, the really nice cloth, all the room, the creamy ride, the v6, great sounding cd/tape player, all the good stuff was standard.

Recently drove this car on a 1000 mile road trip a couple of months ago to Florida and back. Never gave it a second thought about getting there or back. It was a great cruiser, never wandered out of its lane and never made me seasick with an overly soft ride, despite the 248,000 miles on the 100% all original suspension. Car still looks great inside and out, thanks to the old man waxing it about every other month. Seriously the interior looks like nobody ever sat in it, except for the radio buttons. This is really the car that made me a believer of Toyota. If you maintain and take care of your old Toyota, it will take care of you. I just saw this car click over 250k miles yesterday, it brought a tear to my eye considering how well it has provided rock solid reliable and very comfortable transportation to my family. I mean this thing is the road warrior, mom retired it from commuting duty back in 2012 with 230k miles on it. We all(especially dad) racked up a bunch more miles visiting Granny the past couple of years. I mean we were putting 700 miles a week on it just driving back and forth from Nashville to Bristol for a few months.

Rhambler

My first car ever was a 1987 Toyota pickup truck. Vinyl bench seats, no AC, four-speed manual. I treasured that little thing. Even though I felt I was going to die driving it around the 100 degree summers here in Sacramento, I didn't care. I had a truck! I was mobile!

I remember teaching myself how to change the oil, spark plugs, brakes, everything as I was dead broke. There really wasn't any Internet back then, no YouTube videos, I had to learn the hard way. But, that thing never faltered. Never broke down, never left me stranded no matter how hard I drove it.

But, what really got me hooked was my fake Ferrari 1991 MR2 Turbo, which was my second car. I spent every cent I had and my tuition and book money for the entire year to boot (never heard the end of that, even to this day) to buy it in the mid nineties while in college. It may have said Toyota on it, but to me that was my dream car Ferrari. Squint hard enough and it looked like one, lol. 200 brake HP, mid engine, weighing practically nothing and yippee! I still remember taking it to oil change places and the techs popping the front hood and scratching their head in utter confusion. Lol, loved seeing their reaction. Wish I still had that car even now to be honest.

GSHLNMTR

It wasn't a specific car for me; more so the fact that my parents have been die hard Toyota fans since 1989 when Dad got his 1989 Land Cruiser. About 2 years later he traded it for a 1991 Land Cruiser. Then two years after that he traded the 2nd Land Cruiser for a 1993 fully loaded V6 Camry XLE. I have a vague recollection of him telling me that he sold the 1991 Land Cruiser for more than what they bought it for. Anyway after the 1993 Camry came a 1996 leftover V6 Camry because the 1993 Camry's lease was up, the car had been wrecked twice, and Dad didn't want to keep it. I learned to drive on the 1996 Camry.

The first Toyota that was "mine" was a 1998 4-banger Camry. By "mine" I mean that my parents said was "mine to use." When my brother got his license it was "ours to share." The sharing part worked well because around the time he got his license I went off to college where I didn't need a car. I think in 2005 or so mom and dad titled it to me because I was getting married. At the time, the wife had a 2000 Corolla. When the Corolla met its demise at the hands of a Grand Marquis in 2009, wife took the 1998 Camry. I went to look for something new and just figured I would get another Camry. I drove a few and didn't love any of them, so I ended up with a 2006 Acura TL.

That 1998 Camry is a true testament to Toyota's overall quality. My brother and I beat the ever loving snot out of that car. By the time we traded it in, it was on it's 3rd hood/engine mounts and 4th bumper assembly. I rear-ended someone with 1200 miles on it. My brother rear-ended someone too, and I was rear-ended twice in it. Then on top of that there is a long list of various dings and dents that it took over the years, including the basketball-sized dint in the front passenger door. After my wife took over driving it full time, she became more and more aware of the car's full history and became increasingly uncomfortable. We traded it in 2012 for a Honda CRV. There were about 160,000 miles on the 1998 Camry at the time. I fully admit that I was sad to see it go.

I traded the TL last year for a 2015 Acura TLX, which I decided I didn't like and traded that in for a 2015 GS350 F-Sport.

The 1996 Camry ended up going to my brother in about 2004, at which point Dad got a 2004 Avalon. I think the Avalon has about 200,000 miles on it, maybe more. Mom has a 2004-ish Camry. My brother recently sold the 96 Camry and got the 2004 Camry from Mom. Mom now drives the 2004 Avalon, and Dad got a beautiful new Avalon.

JDR76

It started with my 1986 MR2, then every Toyota I've owned since (88 Corolla coupe, supercharged 06 Scion tC, 07 4Runner V8, 11 Tacoma, 13 RX350, 14 IS350, 15 GS350). My dad always worked for Toyota so that helped.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

got my ex a '99 rx. most flawless car i've ever purchased. after that i got my '00 gs400 and was blown away.

mmarshall

To be blunt, what got me hooked (at the time) on Japanese cars in general, not just Toyotas, was what I went through with the domestic crap of the 70s and 80s. Like Trump's supporters, I was just mad as hell from having to put up with those lemons, and wasn't going to take it any more. Today, of course, the domestic manufacturers produce more respectable products....especially since the buyouts/reorganzations of 2008-2009.

Stereorob

my first Ls400 (1990) did it for me.

TangoRed

The GS400 came out when I was in 9 years old and that was the first time I really paid attention to Lexus. I loved the cool gauges in the interior and shift buttons on the steering wheel. Also my mom's friend had a cool SC400.

OceanView

Started with a 86 Toyota Truck with the 22R engine. What a great little engine. Trouble free for 129K miles until my little bro took it out and got into an accident.
2nd car was a 91 Lexus LS400. Power, Prestige and reliability. Drove it to about 115K miles without any issues.
3rd was a 98 ES300. Car had 347K miles on it with no major issues.
4th is my current 2000 ES300 now with 167K miles.
All these cars were reliable with routine maintenance and basic DIY work.
I can't say the same for all the Mercedes, BMW, Acuras that I've had in the past.

pbm317

86 Cressida.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Mom's 2008 RX350. Took it in for service, decided to pick up an IS a few months later.

brasstacks

Back in HS (2004) everyone was all up on that Honda life. I had a hand me down 1997 toyota corolla and wanted to be different. I never did anything to that corolla, but it made me think differently about the cars I liked. Yeah the b16 was sweet... but how about a 4age 20v? I've considered buying mr2's, supras, corolla xrs, sc300, through out my life. Instead i bought a miata, then a gc8 wrx, but now im back to my roots. Is300!

peteharvey

Previous Cressidas weren't so pretty, and they had simple single lower link MacPherson struts up front, and semi-trailing arm rear suspension.

However, the 1988 Cressida got me.
It was attractively styled, and had a 3.0L in-line six with twin cams and twenty four valves, with double wishbone suspension front and rear!
It was a poor man's BMW 5 Series, with steering that's slightly more blunt than the BMW, but due to softer springs.
However, it was very smooth and quiet, and superbly built, for a fraction of the price.







Then came the 1990 LS400 and 1992 ES300.
The 1995 LS400 was much improved with much more rear legroom, while the 1996 was much improved with more refined styling and more bottom end torque, though the interior plastics got really cheap.

Before the 1988 Cressida, I only had a small eye for the old 1982 Celica with reclining headlights, and the old rear drive layout.





The Supra version of the old 1982 rear drive Celica with 2.8L in-line six was great too.





The 1986 Celica with 2.0L twin cam 16 valver and now front drive was a beauty too.





Then came the 1987 Supra based on the Cressida with 3.0L in-line six with twin cams 24 valves, rear drive, and all round double wishbone suspension; it was also available in turbo.





Meanwhile the Supra of the 1990's with the big rear wing was superb! It was available in twin sequential turbo with 0-60 in just 4.6 seconds back then.
Pity they stopped it for some reason?







Now, they're thinking of bringing the Supra back...

GSCT

The gen 2 IS. It looked wonderful inside and out and a test demonsration/drive showed it handled really well and Lexus' reputation for reliability sealed the deal - we bought our first Lexus, a 2008 IS 250.

blacksc400

iTrader: (4)

SC400/SC300 5 spd manual.