Gary, from Melbourne. This will be our first Toyota but our 5 adult children and spouses have had a few Toyotas over the years.
A life time ago I started my first “real” job as a Production Engineer at Ford in Geelong - just as the XY was was being replaced by the XA (the less said about that model, the better!)
i remember about a month into my employment there was a sale of 12 month old ex company cars - all lined up between the Engine and Stamping plants. Included were 4 XY Phase 3 GTHO’s for sale all priced at $4500. If only I knew then what I know now!
we had a Mitsubishi L300 Starwagon, and survived it, as our family transport when the kids were young. Except for that I’ve been a Falcon / Territory person with one long standing exception. In 1972 I fell in love with a 1955 Mercedes 220a. Not a good career move as I was asked to park it well away from the front fence ( and the viewing public) in the Ford car park! As our second car, and my transport of choice, I’ve always had old Mercs and my current car, a 1991 300E, has just turned over 200,000 ks and is about to celebrate it’s 30th. birthday. ( It still looks and drives as new!) I have little interest in Mercedes cars beyond 1993 so I trust that this one will see me out. An 8 year old grandson expects to inherit it; he told me recently that he has 10 years to go and “ you’ll probably be dead by then.”
Our 2008 Territory is on its last legs so we were in the market for a replacement. Test drove most medium SUVs and had settled on a Skoda Karoq, although a little concerned about Dealer numbers and resale value. Then we drove a RAV4 in late Jan. 2021. After a 2nd lengthy Test Drive it sold itself and we ordered a 2WD Cruiser Hybrid, Graphite with Nutmeg interior. After nearly 4 months we found out a few days ago that the Factory has accepted the order for a July build. Here’s hoping that we’ll be driving our first Toyota mid August.