Japanese automakers completely revamped the way Americans buy a new car. The gas-efficient, reliable, and smaller Japanese cars made their way to the U.S. in the 1960s and ’70s. Offering alternatives to the gas-guzzling dinosaurs sold in America, Toyota and Honda built a reputation for reliability and quality. But even with an emphasis on quality, there have still been many mishaps over time.
When drivers think of cars that Japanese automakers messed up, the Toyota Echo comes to mind, as does the Honda Insight. There was also the Toyota T100, which was an awful excuse for a pickup truck. It’s was surprising that such revered automakers managed to foul up. We looked back at 30 Japanese cars that automakers messed up worse than drivers could imagine.
30: Toyota T100
By the 1990s, the pickup truck became a normal mode of transportation. Toyota needed to get on the bandwagon with this and introduced the T100. The main problem was that the T100 wasn’t a compact truck or full-size. Instead, it was an in-between-sized model only offered with a V6 powerplant for an engine choice (via Motor Biscuit).
Pickup truck buyers were more interested in domestic offerings than the T100, whereas the Toyota Hilux and Tacoma were both sales successes. Toyota would later rectify the mistakes of the T100 with the Tundra, which boasted the IForce V8 engine. The T100 is undoubtedly one of the least popular Toyota models ever made.