Toyota has been a major player in the international truck market for 50 years. They did not try to compete with the big three in the full sized pickup arena in North America until recently. The Land Cruiser did make some inroads in the 4WD market. Their small pickups also did ok in our market. Their trucks have a worldwide reputation for durability and low cost of operation.
I have owned an '89 4-Runner, which my wife liked to jump over sand dunes on the beach with. I traded it in on an '88 Land Cruiser, which had the frame and suspension of a two ton truck. It was built for anything.: 40mm rear axles, a huge 2" thick rad, enough torque to pull stumps. It has been the only vehicle ever to drive over the Himalayas.
I never got stuck in it, and once drove over a standard height curb at 30 mph, and hardly felt it and did no damage.
I owned it for 15 years, did my own maintenance, and it went to a mechanic only once, to have the front end rebuilt after Crappy Tire screwed it up putting two different sized tires on it, which after two years wore out the front diff. I once rear ended a Crown Vic and bent the bumper. The Crown Vic had $4000 damage. I was rear ended by a small car (a Pinto, I think) and it bent the rear bumper. The small car was written off, with damage back to the windshield.
Toyota been good to me.
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