When the new 4R finally arrives there might not be any room on dealer lots for them

This…

 

How do you like your steak? Mashed potatoes or baked?

 

Med rare, and baked, with butter and sea salt.

Now I'm going to have to hit the store today. That sounds good for watching the game tonight.

 

What if you want to be an English/literature professor?

 

I have a friend who is an independent Mercedes mechanic. In the mid 90’s he showed me an internal MBUSA video of a corporate guy at at a podium talking to a lot of dealership owners. He was talking about the ability of Mercedes to compete in the current climate. He talked about Mercedes Benz building cars to last 20 years, and that it was killing them, and that the new goal was to build cars that are trouble free for 7 years. He explained that most Mercedes owners lease their cars. And those cars should be trouble-free to keep those owners loyal and coming back. Then there are the folks who can’t afford a new Mercedes but might one day, who get a three-year-old Mercedes after its first lease, and that Mercedes should want those owners to be satisfied too. But after that, there’s no return on whatever expense is put into making the care last longer than 7 years. It was jaw-dropping.

 

It seems then that if you don't join with the other manufacturers, then you can't beat them. So long term reliability is dead.

 

That's not surprising Seems like Toyota is finally caving in to that model too.

Get those 2010s Toyotas with NA engines and 4-6 speed transmissions while you still can, folks.

 

I support anyone's ambition to do so and finance their own way to achieve their dreams. Just leave me and my tax money out of it. Have at it with private student loans.

 

If they are in school for a career that has job prospects then they have nothing to worry about.

if they are borrowing money to fund majors that traps them in academic or public sector hamster wheels and pyramid schemes for life then that's on them.

 

Just like a toaster. Throw the car away when it breaks and buy a new one.

 

Many are and many aren't lazy. Not all fall into the lazy category. I can see where your coming from though, I see a lot of youths expecting things to be handed to them. Currently have a 16yo stepson who has the same attitude. We keep working with him but once he's 18 and has not changed out the door he goes. Some people learn the hard way. I have made this clear to my wife, not going to support or live with unproductive adult offspring.

 

There is no shortage of hardworking people around the world itching to come America and work for a living.

If "native born" people expect to be given great paying jobs for just showing up on Teams or Zoom calls, they can FAFO.

 

Agree, that's what the USA used to be about. Live and let live.

But after the student loan forgiveness, I read one too many articles (even one was too many) about people who had an associates degree in something like physics (good start) but then complained that they had taken almost 100k out in student loans for a bachelor's in something stupid like art history and couldn't find a job "in their field". It was if they thought ANY bachelor's was going to give them another stepping stone in STEM and then couldn't understand why they couldn't get a job in their field with their limited experience and a BA.

To top this one article off, they said the money they saved on paying off student loans was now going to allow them to move to Thailand with their yoga instructor to "take some time to reset their career". So the US tax dollars essentially paid for them to leave the country.

 

Possibly a good investment, if they stay.

 

I went to school at a fairly well reputed place for some degrees that paved the way for what I do now. In the social events and mixers I ran into a lot of graduate students in their 30s or even 40s constantly hustling for grants and post doctoral work, married, with kids, living on loans, scholarships, temporary grants and such one FY or even 1000 hours at a time. This happens in STEM majors too, believe it or not, a lot of math, physics, and theoretical sciences departments are giant borderline slave labor machines that prey on life long students.

Needless to say these people are huge fans of free universal university for anyone including illegal aliens, mandatory student loan forgiveness, universal child care, universal health care, universal basic income, etc.

 

Basically, "give it to me, and make someone else pay for it."

 

They eventually move back when their parents leave behind an inheritance and often bringing back a spouse and whole village with them.

 

Unfortunately, I technically fall into the millennial category and feel the same way when someone talks blanketly about millennials being lazy. I was raised to work hard but I don't feel a lot of my generation were taught the same thing. We're getting older at this point too, so many millennials are now raising a new generation into the workforce.

I've worked with recent college grads the past few years in a STEM field and it was funny to me that they were upset they weren't making 6 figures right out of college. I had 16 years of full time work experience and had recently graduated with a BS as well and probably made the same as them as an entry level. The difference is I know how to work hard and the experience I had before coming into the job means I've had quick promotions and am now making what they think they should be making (but probably aren't given their attitudes and work ethic). They still thought it wasn't a big deal to party late the night before and come in late the next day because they were hungover. I remember those days but they were not productive and did not lead to quick raises and promotions

 

Why does every thread here turn into politics? I thought the original post by OP was interesting and since I didn’t follow the thread I went to last page only to read posts about current politics. Seriously do we care to keep this forum about 4Runner or just let people derail every discussion into whatever they wanna talk about.

Too many posts to flag but mods need to reign in. I am all for free speech and letting people speak up but stay on topic, please!

 

Yeah, sorry, I'm one of those who jump on the current topic and continue to derail.

I followed the thread the the first few pages but didn't feel I had anything to add. By page 9 when the topic changed, I found my voice

 

Personally, I am enjoying the back and forth of this conversation. It might seem political, but it's really not - unless one is ultra sensitive.

 

Okay... back on topic: my local Toyota dealership claims no fewer than 64 Tacomas on the lot.

"Nerdy me" would like a real-time tracker, to show how long each unit has been there.

 

I thought the student loan forgiveness didn’t happen?

 

My ex's did! I paid that mess off!

 

A lot of it did happen.

 

Some of it got rolled back, but many apparently did get paid

 

How? I thought it was never approved?

 

Any of it that was paid was by executive order - and money was repurposed from other things.

 

The fact that the conversation turned to politics shows that there are many who feel the reason the 6th gen may sit on lots too, or not have room, is directly tied to what has happened the past 15 years since the 5th gen was introduced. Right or wrong

 

that’s a stretch
The reason why this conversation is political is because mods are too lenient. Wherever you may lie on the political spectrum you’d be twisting yourself in a pretzel to justify discussing politics and call it relevant to OPs post.