Toyota's "Image Of Quality" Is Fading Fast

[billt]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33192916/ns/business-the_drivers_seat

Just like the Big 3, Toyota is running down the exact same track. Getting bigger, selling fewer, and quality dropping like a brick. It happens to all of them. It's when, not if. They are simply running down the same track with a later arrival time. Look for big layoff's, plant closures, and discontinued models. Everyone thought GM and Ford should use them as an "example" of how a car company should be run. No unions with lazy, overpaid workers, job dedication second to none, and "commitment" to quality. Same deal across the board. The only difference is they'll have to lay off more workers to achieve the same savings because they pay them less. Look for even cheaper houses in the San Antonio area. Bill T.

[billt]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/has-toyota-lost-its-way.aspx

[swamp]

Bill ... toyota has been going downhill for a good many years... toyota had a buy back program on some of their (POS) trucks a while back... the freaking frames were rusting out MUCH faster than expected...

my current car is a subaru outback... i doubt i will ever buy another toyota product...

http://consumerist.com/379734/toyota-announces-tacoma-buyback-program-for-severe-rust-corrosion

[Bill Gunn]

Even though he got a raise when he started his new job, I was surprised when my Son-In-Law quit his $100,000+ management job at Toyota in San Antonio this summer.

Guess he knew more than he was tellin' (I stay out of their private business) :D

[swamp]

it wasnt just the tacoma's that were rusting to hell and back the T-100's were as well and they didnt have a buy back program on those... many issues with the tundras as well... i dont know why toyota let things slide as badly... but they did...

dont buy a toyota if u live in an area where they use road salt... its bad enough on most vehicles but is far worse on toyotas.

[ncboman]

Suberoo is a good choice for snowy climates but doan ever get in a wreck with one.

A friend of mine wrecked in Dallas back in the late 70's and even after over a year in the hospital he never was his old self again. :o

[swamp]

Suberoo is a good choice for snowy climates but doan ever get in a wreck with one.

A friend of mine wrecked in Dallas back in the late 70's and even after over a year in the hospital he never was his old self again. :o

the newer subarus are about the safest car on the road... check out consumer reports

http://www.consumersearch.com/station-wagons/2009-subaru-outback

[billt]

I don't know what it is about Jap steel, but it is for certain a RUST MAGNET! I remember in the mid to late 80's when I lived in Chicago a bunch of people where I worked all had purchased Honda's. Accord's, Civic's, name it. All of them had fenders that rusted through in less than 3 Chicago winters. It was so profound Honda actually had a recall on them. All Jap cars and trucks seem to rust much faster than American cars. I know when I worked in the mold industry, many blueprints specified "U.S.A. Domestic Steel Only" No foreign steel was permitted. We had to provide copies of purchase orders from where we bought the steel from. Jap vehicles never impressed me, then or now. Bill T.

[M99ER]

I`ve spent a bunch more time repairing GMC frames than I have any foreign designs but then again, most times I try to work on something worth my effort...

[Hi Ball]

Well Boys, I guess I'll still keep buying those FORD Superduty's!!!;):D:D:D

[billt]

Well Boys, I guess I'll still keep buying those FORD Superduty's!!!;):D:D:D

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6954/carstrucks0033qy.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=carstrucks0033qy.jpg) http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4188/carstrucks0027fv.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=carstrucks0027fv.jpg) http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5568/carstrucks0017zp.th.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=carstrucks0017zp.jpg)

18 years, 150,000 miles, and still runs like the day it was bought. Bill T.

[GF.]

Funny....

My little ol' '93 Toyota 4X4 DLX ran 175k over a dozen years's worth of Minnesota winters, Colorado winters, and year-round salt exposure in the Northeast before I let her go, and the only things that ever rusted out were an exhaust bracket at about 35k (which I replaced with a wire coat hanger, which lasted another 8 years or so :D), a muffler, back of the catalytic converter at somewhere north of 100k, I suppose, and the rear step bumper, which started to disintegrate a bit after 11 years or so....

Running up over the continental divide 3-4 times a week at 5,000 RPMs for 3.5 years probably took an unhealthy toll on that little 4-banger, but a valve job at about 115k pretty well cured that.

So I can't complain. That was the only substantial repair that truck ever needed :cool:

Sure do miss that little truck.:(

[mack]

Got to agree with "billt", my '97 Taco went 197k mi. 'till number two son took out 3 deer with it,(2.7L 4cyl. never missed a beat, no rust). My '00 Taco is going strong at 177k, (faded red paint, solid running 3.4). '03 Taco at 117k- some frame rust,(recall for "treatment") , 2nd exhaust system, about 4 O2 sensors, antiknock sensor, recall on front end. Number one sons '06 Taco with 67k is on its third transmission, fourth clutch and throwout bearing, third exhaust, second drive shaft, has more squeaks and rattles than I can stand.

[DancesWithKnives]

Hopefully Toyota will see where things are going and respond more quickly than the Big 3 did.

I recently looked at the Consumer Reports car buying annual publication and was encouraged to read that the 6 cylinder Chevy Malibu beat both the 6 cyl. Camry and 6 cyl. Accord for reliability. That's certainly a positive development because the Camry and Accord have been fine vehicles. I hope GM can translate that Malibu success to other vehicles in their line.

My '93 Chevy K2500 has done pretty well and has about 138K on it.

DWK

[GF.]

Number one sons '06 Taco with 67k is on its third transmission, fourth clutch and throwout bearing, third exhaust, second drive shaft, has more squeaks and rattles than I can stand.

Just a thought - are you sure that all the clutch & tranny trouble isn't operator error? At 175k, my clutch was getting a little high but still gettin' it done.


The thing I heard on the accelerator issue is that the defective units came from US parts supplier, whereas the Japanese-built units that went into the same vehicles are trouble free.... :confused:

Has the makings of a great international business thriller - Japanese automotive giant comes to US looking to knock off the big three and gets suckered into doing business with US parts suppliers who unleash a flood of defective parts.... Union 'plants' get into the workforce and sabotage build quality in the open shops, ruining the brand's reputation for quality and paving the way for a big-three comeback......


Yeah, I know what you're thinkin', but hey - it's no more paranoid than a lot of theories they throw around on Fox.....