Toyota now
- Thread starter 805gregg
- Start date
Skim, Not to pick on you particularly, but you're the last one to post a comment like this. Have you owned a new toyota? (last 3 years or so?)
Just curious, since it seems like a lot of people who I get comments like this from have little experience with "Toyota now".
Haggis
Appalachian Ridgerunner
Well I'm almost a year into owning my first Toyota. And while it's been a fine truck I haven't drunk the Kool-Aid yet. Little problems keep appearing, nothing major just annoying. Both tailgate cables rusting trough, the plastic sleeve in the tailgate latch rod assembly breaking, seat belt tensioner sort of wonky and the infamous broken Key loop. All in a truck with just over 39,000 miles. But it has the best drivetrain of any new truck I've drove. Would I buy another one? I dunno...while the Tundra is a comfortable and capable ride it lacks...something. Maybe I can't handle refinement to well...
mcm4090
Explorer
S
Scenic WonderRunner
Guest
I watched the Toyota/Toyoda......Hearings today.
It started out kind and easy going.
And then it got real nasty! (as I knew it would!).
I am embarrassed by our Lawmakers on Capitol Hill!
.
It started out kind and easy going.
And then it got real nasty! (as I knew it would!).
I am embarrassed by our Lawmakers on Capitol Hill!
.
Skim
Explorer
CLynn85,
Yes. I purchased and maintain my mothers 2009 Rav4.
I drive a company car that is a 2010 Tacoma.
Toyotas in the family: 2007 Highlander, 1999 Camry, and the fiance's 2004 Prius.
Not one problem with any of them. Just routine service with these "Toyota now" vehicles.
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Mr. Leary
Glamping Excursionaire
:iagree:
Rather embarassing when compared to the handling of the Ford Exploder tire stuff a few years back, that killed a few hundred people.
Political memory is so short in this country.
Skim
Explorer
Embarrassed......to say the least.
Rattler
Thornton Melon's Kid
X2 and I was watching some of the healthcare summit, not the Toyota bit.
This last month and half me and my wife had the pleasure of renting the 2009 Chevy Cobalt and the Toyota Corolla. We had the Cobalt for a month and the Corolla for the last 2 weeks.
One word for the Cobalt, "crap". No sense of functional ergonomics exist at all. Placement of control buttons are haphazardly placed. The hazard button was placed somewhere as an afterthought.
The cup holders are in front of the HVAC controls - how do I adjust the climate control if I have drinks in them? You have to put up the center arm rest pad to click your seat belts.
The lever under the front buckets to push your seat back was stiff and hard to grab. You have to put more effort than you really need to.
Cheap plastic everywhere. No effort to make it presentable. And so on and so on.
The Toyota, well, it was just the opposite of the Chevy.
Only complaint was the brakes had a funny feel to it. I don't know if it was psychosomatic in my part because of the recall. But Enterprise Rental did have it go in for the recall program before they handed it to renters.
All in all, I would still take the Toyota over the Chevy. I have more confidence in Toyota making it right. GM had decades to do better and catch up. It seems their vehicles got worse. Only thing good that is going with GM is that the cars start. :victory:
But having driven the Cobalt makes me think they don't care what crap they put out there. If GM wanted to really impress potential buyers, they could've used their entry vehicles as examples of what better things to expect from their high line models.
I would get a Toyota or a Japanese brand over GM. If I had to buy American, it would be a Ford. Well, before I take a plunge on a Ford, I should rent one to find out if its any better than GM.
One word for the Cobalt, "crap". No sense of functional ergonomics exist at all. Placement of control buttons are haphazardly placed. The hazard button was placed somewhere as an afterthought.
The cup holders are in front of the HVAC controls - how do I adjust the climate control if I have drinks in them? You have to put up the center arm rest pad to click your seat belts.
The lever under the front buckets to push your seat back was stiff and hard to grab. You have to put more effort than you really need to.
Cheap plastic everywhere. No effort to make it presentable. And so on and so on.
The Toyota, well, it was just the opposite of the Chevy.
Only complaint was the brakes had a funny feel to it. I don't know if it was psychosomatic in my part because of the recall. But Enterprise Rental did have it go in for the recall program before they handed it to renters.
All in all, I would still take the Toyota over the Chevy. I have more confidence in Toyota making it right. GM had decades to do better and catch up. It seems their vehicles got worse. Only thing good that is going with GM is that the cars start. :victory:
But having driven the Cobalt makes me think they don't care what crap they put out there. If GM wanted to really impress potential buyers, they could've used their entry vehicles as examples of what better things to expect from their high line models.
I would get a Toyota or a Japanese brand over GM. If I had to buy American, it would be a Ford. Well, before I take a plunge on a Ford, I should rent one to find out if its any better than GM.
S
Scenic WonderRunner
Guest
I still love Toyota and support them!
I'm just going to put it out there that I do Not believe this is a floor mat problem, or a gas pedal size problem. I never did.
Vehicles have become way too complex with Electronics.
I say it's an Electronic problem. And whoever is making that part is being protected by the no speak.
I hope they get it right soon.
.
I'm just going to put it out there that I do Not believe this is a floor mat problem, or a gas pedal size problem. I never did.
Vehicles have become way too complex with Electronics.
I say it's an Electronic problem. And whoever is making that part is being protected by the no speak.
I hope they get it right soon.
.
expeditionist
Observer
I have owned many Toyota 4wds. They have always been and always will be my 4wd of choice. Every car maker deals with recalls. Its very unfortunate that the system that fails in this case has caused injury and/or death. The media loves this kind of material as they thrive on creating fear in this country. Despite the misfortunes of the people who have personal experience with the result of the mechanical defect, I stand behind Toyota and the long standing history they have of building reliable quality vehicles. After all, we are in the hands of engineers many times every single day. Engineers are people too.
I look at this as a bump in the road for Toyota compared to the long term uphill battle that GM and Chrysler face. I agree that the politicians are giving Toyota a hard time because there is a conflict of interest due to the billions they have pumped into GM and Chrysler and a lot of them are up for re-election this year.
I have an 07 Tundra with almost 80,000 miles on it with only two problems (airbag sensor under the seat and a rack-and-pinion seal that leaked). I think that is great because I was expecting a few flaws with a completely new model from front to rear, that is why I purchased an extended warranty that I have yet to use. My 04' Honda Accord had 2 transmissions replaced in this amount of time and my 01' Frontier was at the dealership so many times I knew the entire service department by their first name. I love my Tundra continue to smile every time I put all 380 horses to work:Wow1:
Now my family's driveway at Christmas looks like a Toyota dealership and we are all very happy with these cars and trucks. My dad has been a GM nut since he was a child. I always remembered having a GM product while growing up until he test drove the "new" Lexus back in 1990. He couldn't believe the refinement and went back and forth for several days and said "What the he77, I'll give it a try". He bought his second one 280,000 miles and 14 years later. He will only be a Lexus in the future (currently a 2004 LS430 and 2003 LX470) and just not sure if it will be new secondary to the depreciation of top tier brands. He is continues to be a die hard Corvette fan and has a personal fleet of them.
I agree that this could be a bonus for us diehard Toyota fans. They may start listening to loyal customers and put out products that we want. Just in case they are listening I would like a HD Tundra with a solid front axle and a Hino diesel.
I have an 07 Tundra with almost 80,000 miles on it with only two problems (airbag sensor under the seat and a rack-and-pinion seal that leaked). I think that is great because I was expecting a few flaws with a completely new model from front to rear, that is why I purchased an extended warranty that I have yet to use. My 04' Honda Accord had 2 transmissions replaced in this amount of time and my 01' Frontier was at the dealership so many times I knew the entire service department by their first name. I love my Tundra continue to smile every time I put all 380 horses to work:Wow1:
Now my family's driveway at Christmas looks like a Toyota dealership and we are all very happy with these cars and trucks. My dad has been a GM nut since he was a child. I always remembered having a GM product while growing up until he test drove the "new" Lexus back in 1990. He couldn't believe the refinement and went back and forth for several days and said "What the he77, I'll give it a try". He bought his second one 280,000 miles and 14 years later. He will only be a Lexus in the future (currently a 2004 LS430 and 2003 LX470) and just not sure if it will be new secondary to the depreciation of top tier brands. He is continues to be a die hard Corvette fan and has a personal fleet of them.
I agree that this could be a bonus for us diehard Toyota fans. They may start listening to loyal customers and put out products that we want. Just in case they are listening I would like a HD Tundra with a solid front axle and a Hino diesel.
Toyotero
Explorer
Toyota "losing its way" is exactly what caused their current situation (specifically, they lost "The Toyota Way") but I think that their management will bring it back in line. This is a bump in the road, and it's a pretty big one... but from big events like this one, corporate managers can learn big lessons and can change the company for the better. I believe that this will be the case with Toyota.
One thing to remember about all of this is that Akio Toyoda has been president of the company for just nine months (since June 2009), and when he took the position, he publicly recognized the deficiency in focus on quality and safety and has been working to bring it back in line with Toyota's trademark “kaizen” approach of improvement through steady, gradual cost reduction while maintaining product quality. Toyota had strayed away from what had made them successful. Quoting business week, “The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-(Toyoda) family, financially oriented pirates,” said Jim Press, Toyota's former U.S. chief
Previous to Akio Toyoda was Katsuaki Watanabe, who is documented as having been very focused on cost cutting and rapid growth. His "Construction of Cost Competitiveness in the 21st Century" plan reminds me of NASA's "Faster, Better, Cheaper" plan.... any engineer will knows that you can only 'pick two' of the three, and in the case of Toyota, while cheaper and faster happened (Watanabe slashed the time needed to bring new models into production and wrung out more than $10 billion of savings over six years after just 3 months in his job) the "better" or quality part of the triangle was eroded and cause what we have today.
Personally, I have owned 5 Toyotas (and still own 3) and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another... after the acceleration issue is resolved that is.
- Toyotero
- Reference -
http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...lie-in-cost-cuts-growth-targets-update1-.html
One thing to remember about all of this is that Akio Toyoda has been president of the company for just nine months (since June 2009), and when he took the position, he publicly recognized the deficiency in focus on quality and safety and has been working to bring it back in line with Toyota's trademark “kaizen” approach of improvement through steady, gradual cost reduction while maintaining product quality. Toyota had strayed away from what had made them successful. Quoting business week, “The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-(Toyoda) family, financially oriented pirates,” said Jim Press, Toyota's former U.S. chief
Previous to Akio Toyoda was Katsuaki Watanabe, who is documented as having been very focused on cost cutting and rapid growth. His "Construction of Cost Competitiveness in the 21st Century" plan reminds me of NASA's "Faster, Better, Cheaper" plan.... any engineer will knows that you can only 'pick two' of the three, and in the case of Toyota, while cheaper and faster happened (Watanabe slashed the time needed to bring new models into production and wrung out more than $10 billion of savings over six years after just 3 months in his job) the "better" or quality part of the triangle was eroded and cause what we have today.
Personally, I have owned 5 Toyotas (and still own 3) and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another... after the acceleration issue is resolved that is.
- Toyotero
- Reference -
http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...lie-in-cost-cuts-growth-targets-update1-.html
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