Toyota has some problems

[sqcomp]

I dunno, I've had more bad experiences with domestic vehicles than good(actually there have been NO good experiences for me with domestics). I bought into Toyota for the quality, reputation, and resale value.

For me there's no better value than a Toyota, "ugly" or not. If I HAD to choose another car that wasn't Japanese, it'd probably be a hyundai...maybe. This is coming from the guy who is planning his next purchase...a Camry SE V6. There's just something about the look, the fit and finish of that Camry and that engine that does something for me. That being said, the Scion Tc all lowered with that Five Axis kit on it? That's pretty nice as well.

[ilikerice]

i hope the new scion FR-S brings toyota back on the performance map.. i hope its not a flop.. im seriously considering trading up for that if it goes into production.

[silver_echo]

Originally Posted by ilikerice

i hope the new scion FR-S brings toyota back on the performance map.. i hope its not a flop.. im seriously considering trading up for that if it goes into production.

but i honestly think that if i were looking at one, i would probably end up with the subaru 086a... AWD turbo...

[ilikerice]

Originally Posted by silver_echo

but i honestly think that if i were looking at one, i would probably end up with the subaru 086a... AWD turbo...

yea.. but i like the toyota emblem so much that i dont like the idea of going over to subaru side.. I KNOW, its basicly a toyota shell and interior with the platform of a subaru.. but still, i like the fact that toyota/scion is finalling making a car thats not FWD.. think they wanna get into the drift scene now.. lol

[frownonfun]

As far as I'm concerned every company is gonna have to start producing something far and above what they are now before I begin to seriously consider getting rid of what I have now. I'm done with that whole "give the dealership a boost every couple years" business.

[p123456789]

Originally Posted by frownonfun

As far as I'm concerned every company is gonna have to start producing something far and above what they are now before I begin to seriously consider getting rid of what I have now. I'm done with that whole "give the dealership a boost every couple years" business.

I totally agree I'm sick of everyone thinking they have to keep up with the jonses while drowning in debt, I'm probably going to keep my yaris until it can't be driven any longer. I will also never buy a vehicle at a dealership I've worked at a couple and the stuff they won't fix on used cars is sickening they usually let the car go out broken hope the customer won't realize its broken and if they do they blame the customer what crap is that? They sell the car for full blown retail and give you black book trade in which is bs.

[frownonfun]

yeah everyone knows FIAT is the be all and end all of automotive perfection.

[rick996]

There has been a lot of talk about the Ford Fiesta.

This is from TrueDelta (owner reported, for what it's worth )

Trips for repair per year per 100 cars through 12/31/2010 :

2010 Yaris 7 based on 21 cars (not a very large sample) with an average ownership of 8 months and an average of 7900 miles on the odo. Fuelly MPG

2011 Fiesta 88 based on 60 cars with an average ownership of 3 months and an average of 4500 miles on the odo. Fuelly MPG

[.Kevin.]

American vehicles suck and this is coming from me, if people have seen my vehicles youd understand this line.

I don't feel bad for fixing up the Yaris, my goal is to keep it restored like an old muscle car - why not?

[why?]

Originally Posted by carnageehw

Yes it will. A car made 10 years ago has little to no bearing on the quality of cars made today. The parts are different, technology has changed, design has changed.

Reasoning stands that if a company has made high quality cars for a decade, they will likely continue to do so, so it is good for peace of mind, I suppose, but it in no way MEANS the company will continue to make great (or poor, for that matter) cars in the future.

Do you honestly think that because a car is "American" it will have problems? Or because it is "Japanese" it will not break down unexpectedly?

I believe American cars have a horrible reputation. All 3 long standing American brands have long histories of making cars that simply don't last, and have more repairs done than makes logical sense for any company that cares about quality.

I see that a good portion of Americans believe this as well. A reputation as thoroughly terrible as the American automobile industry cannot be healed with a few good cars. It takes a decade of great reliability for a reputation like that to even begin to change.

However that does not mean it cannot be done. Ford especially seems to be pressing the right buttons, especially when they start bringing their phenomenal European vehicles over to the US, finally, after decades of giving us crap. Allen Mulally seems to be a genius at the moment. Great cars, great ads, and great moves. It is a great beginning. Give it a decade with great reliability and Americans will start to really look at ford again.

Chrysler's new ads are great, but that is it. It is owned by a french company, the dealer network has a long history of incompetence, their products have been supremely subpar.

GM could go either way.

The most important thing to remember is people would rather buy American. If I could trust American cars, and if they even made cars that gave the great gas mileage the Yaris did when I bought mine, I would have looked at them instead of completely ignoring them.

The people did not move away from the American car manufacturers, the American car manufacturers repeatedly came out with supremely inferior products for decades on end.

I don't think I can say it enough though. Americans would rather buy American products. But both the manufacturers and the unions have failed miserably.

[carnageehw]

Originally Posted by why?

I believe American cars have a horrible reputation. All 3 long standing American brands have long histories of making cars that simply don't last, and have more repairs done than makes logical sense for any company that cares about quality.

I see that a good portion of Americans believe this as well. A reputation as thoroughly terrible as the American automobile industry cannot be healed with a few good cars. It takes a decade of great reliability for a reputation like that to even begin to change.

However that does not mean it cannot be done. Ford especially seems to be pressing the right buttons, especially when they start bringing their phenomenal European vehicles over to the US, finally, after decades of giving us crap. Allen Mulally seems to be a genius at the moment. Great cars, great ads, and great moves. It is a great beginning. Give it a decade with great reliability and Americans will start to really look at ford again.

Chrysler's new ads are great, but that is it. It is owned by a french company, the dealer network has a long history of incompetence, their products have been supremely subpar.

GM could go either way.

The most important thing to remember is people would rather buy American. If I could trust American cars, and if they even made cars that gave the great gas mileage the Yaris did when I bought mine, I would have looked at them instead of completely ignoring them.

The people did not move away from the American car manufacturers, the American car manufacturers repeatedly came out with supremely inferior products for decades on end.

I don't think I can say it enough though. Americans would rather buy American products. But both the manufacturers and the unions have failed miserably.

I agree with everything you are saying about public perception. However, that's just public perception. The fact that domestic companies made crappy cars years ago doesn't mean they are making crappy cars now.

I don't blame someone for not wanting to buy one, because, after all, a car purchase is a huge investment, but it doesn't mean that the cars are bad.

You can only buy a new car based on what you know about the car now. Going with a company with a good reputation will likely give you more piece of mind about your purchase, but (especially in the world of manufacturing, where there's always going to be defects in something) it doesn't REALLY matter.

[frownonfun]

One must admit, why? makes some pretty good points on this one. Maybe I'll call and cancel my appointment for that Toyota tattoo afterall.

I like how we can all agree that Chrysler is crap at least. lol. That makes me feel better.

[ilikerice]

Originally Posted by PK198105

only in the good ole US:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13420798

they need to start putting on all the new car window sticker "car may have defect" cuz of that lawsuit.. LOL

[yaris2010RS]

id buy a toyota before a chrysler any day!

i currently have a part time contract working for chrysler (driving cars off the line to the local holding lots about 5 - 30 km away) and i can say yes the new lines look impressive and have alot of really cool things, i cannot begin to tell u how many brand new cars with 0 mi on them dont make it to the destination. tranny issues, rad issues, alternator issue is very common, raccoons (that was our fault not the cars). and if all the lights work properly you got a really good car.

i feel toyotas boring line of cars has enough of a background of quality and trust in my family that as lon as they continue to make a car in my price range with what i need from a car, i will always buy toyota.

on the other note....the chrysler 5.7 is epic..... :) and the 6.4 300c awd will take all cars off the line hands down

[why?]

Originally Posted by PK198105

only in the good ole US:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13420798

i'd vote for any political candidate that would make tort reform a high priority. Mainly making it a loser pay system, and if you can't pay you forfeit everything you have and the lawyer is on the hook as well.

Originally Posted by carnageehw

I agree with everything you are saying about public perception. However, that's just public perception. The fact that domestic companies made crappy cars years ago doesn't mean they are making crappy cars now.

I don't blame someone for not wanting to buy one, because, after all, a car purchase is a huge investment, but it doesn't mean that the cars are bad.

You can only buy a new car based on what you know about the car now. Going with a company with a good reputation will likely give you more piece of mind about your purchase, but (especially in the world of manufacturing, where there's always going to be defects in something) it doesn't REALLY matter.

You're right. However public perception is reality. And don't start telling people nothing is guaranteed. Our entire civilization would crumble if people started facing that reality.

I think in the near future we won't be talking about imports as a group anymore. It'll be Ford vs Hyundai. Toyota will always be around, as will GM. But Toyota really needs an image boost, maybe they'll get it from Subaru and the FT-86. Honda is overly expensive and going the wrong way. They only were relevant when the were saying,"this is what we do, take it or leave it." Now they've sold that out to making as much money as possible. Just like VW just did. Of course VW is too overpriced to truly be relevant.

The rest of the Japanese car companies are just too small to matter. Mitsubishi is always on the brink of financial disaster, Subaru won't spend enough money on advertising, Nissan makes a great product, but won't spend enough on ads and their management has made some amazingly stupid decisions.

GM will always be the question mark. They get some thing amazingly right, but they've never done it consistently for more than a few years, or only a handful of models. The Volt is basically doa.

lol, sorry for the rant.

[p123456789]

has anyone here bashing domestics ever owned one? I've had jeeps since I was 18 and I've never had a major repair the 4.0 engine is bullet proof the aw4 transmission (toyota tacoma trans) is bullet proof I've had to rebuilt a couple rearends but other than that its been gaskets and belts. the first week I had my yaris I had to rebuild the transmission the input shaft seal was leaking requiring complete tear down of the trans. I think honda builds some of the poorest quality cars out of all the japanese cars, endless automatic transmission problems seat frames constantly breaking motor mounts and stuts contantly going out. Domestic car companies have made some the most iconic cars and trucks some of them not reliable but not as bad as everyone thinks, as a technician I think gm ford and toyota are on the same level as far as quality gm and ford are styled alot nicer than toyotas line up. Toyota is getting left in the dust in the gas mileage and style department. My point is not all imports are the best thing sliced bread and not all domestics are super unreliable, every car line has that car thats a lemon even toyota.

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by p123456789

has anyone here bashing domestics ever owned one? I've had jeeps since I was 18 and I've never had a major repair the 4.0 engine is bullet proof the aw4 transmission (toyota tacoma trans) is bullet proof I've had to rebuilt a couple rearends but other than that its been gaskets and belts. the first week I had my yaris I had to rebuild the transmission the input shaft seal was leaking requiring complete tear down of the trans. I think honda builds some of the poorest quality cars out of all the japanese cars, endless automatic transmission problems seat frames constantly breaking motor mounts and stuts contantly going out. Domestic car companies have made some the most iconic cars and trucks some of them not reliable but not as bad as everyone thinks, as a technician I think gm ford and toyota are on the same level as far as quality gm and ford are styled alot nicer than toyotas line up. Toyota is getting left in the dust in the gas mileage and style department. My point is not all imports are the best thing sliced bread and not all domestics are super unreliable, every car line has that car thats a lemon even toyota.

well said.

we had a 92 and 93 topaz growing up that never had issues (except that the a/c eventually stopped working in them)

also had a 2000 and a pair of 2003 v6 malibu's.....my parents still have one of them....no major issues with those cars either.

my father had an 06 sierra until last year and never had a problem with it, either.

from MY experience, domestic cars are just as reliable has japanese cars.