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Troubles can't stop Toyota's growth


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Exactly. Things of this nature do not happen immediately. It took domestic automakers decades to lose a lot of market share after the imports came on the scene.

Two things worth noting:

 

many of these recalls are for vehicles 3-4 years old..

 

Toyota's quality has probably slipped in the last 3-4 years.

 

This means Toyota's recalls will probably get worse, not better. Most of them involve poor QC and poor assembly methods. Toyota is only now paying lip service to addressing these concerns. Likely there are several years worth of poor QC and assembly for Toyota to work through.

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Amusing how this is only a small setback for Toyota, but if it were Ford/GM/Chrysler we would be reading about how poorly those companies are run.

 

Argh!

 

Well Toyota is still a long way from having decades of poor quality under its belt. It's worth noting that the big 3's quality perception didnt' come from recalls, although the media did use recall announcements to validate the point.

 

Still though, it got 'yota on the defense pretty quick. Talk about unfamiliar territory... :rolleyes:

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What I don't get is, why does the media shrug off Toyota's problems as not a big deal, while if it were Ford or GM, it would be all about how horrible the company is and that the company needs to get its act together.

I currently own an 03 Mercury Marauder with 120,544 miles (not one problem, runs as good as new), a 1997 Saturn SL-1, with 342,000 miles without any major problems except for the clutch breaking at 265,000 miles, and a 2006 Toyota Scion xB with only 5,000 miles. I bought the Scion because I commute everyday and thought it would be better than racking te miles on my Marauder. Well, after 5,000 miles in 5 months, I think its been in the repair shop more than my garage or on the road. When I frst got it, everyone was saying how Toyota's such a great company, this car will last you forever, and so on. But it simply isn't true. The Scion reeks (yes, reeks) of cheapness, and runs like crap. Also, Toyota's pricing scheme is outrageous. $245 for two floormats?! WTF is up with that? Also, listed on the sticker of options, was a $450 option for a mandatory passanger side airbag...shouldn't that be illegal? The Scion is back at the dealer's, this time for sale. I got rid of it, and will never buy anything from them again. Also, people complain about Ford's customer service? At my F-M-L dealership (3 in one), I've never had a problem. At the Toyota/Scion dealership, nothing BUT problems. BTW, the price of the Scion was outrageous for such a crappy car...my 10 year old Saturn had a nicer interior, ran better, and looked better than this crap and was only $9,900.00 new whereas this Scion cost me $19,780.85 out the door (and i didn't get any options except for a/c.)

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What I don't get is, why does the media shrug off Toyota's problems as not a big deal, while if it were Ford or GM, it would be all about how horrible the company is and that the company needs to get its act together.

I currently own an 03 Mercury Marauder with 120,544 miles (not one problem, runs as good as new), a 1997 Saturn SL-1, with 342,000 miles without any major problems except for the clutch breaking at 265,000 miles, and a 2006 Toyota Scion xB with only 5,000 miles. I bought the Scion because I commute everyday and thought it would be better than racking te miles on my Marauder. Well, after 5,000 miles in 5 months, I think its been in the repair shop more than my garage or on the road. When I frst got it, everyone was saying how Toyota's such a great company, this car will last you forever, and so on. But it simply isn't true. The Scion reeks (yes, reeks) of cheapness, and runs like crap. Also, Toyota's pricing scheme is outrageous. $245 for two floormats?! WTF is up with that? Also, listed on the sticker of options, was a $450 option for a mandatory passanger side airbag...shouldn't that be illegal? The Scion is back at the dealer's, this time for sale. I got rid of it, and will never buy anything from them again. Also, people complain about Ford's customer service? At my F-M-L dealership (3 in one), I've never had a problem. At the Toyota/Scion dealership, nothing BUT problems. BTW, the price of the Scion was outrageous for such a crappy car...my 10 year old Saturn had a nicer interior, ran better, and looked better than this crap and was only $9,900.00 new whereas this Scion cost me $19,780.85 out the door (and i didn't get any options except for a/c.)

If you gave damn near 20K for a Scion, they not only heard you coming, they heard you get outta bed that morning. Boy, did you get taken for a first class ride...

 

In the sales business, that's known as a "laydown."

 

Second, if you had such good luck with your Saturn, why the hell did you go to a foreign car? Hell, at least I claim a reason for going to Honda...

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If you gave damn near 20K for a Scion, they not only heard you coming, they heard you get outta bed that morning. Boy, did you get taken for a first class ride...

 

In the sales business, that's known as a "laydown."

 

Second, if you had such good luck with your Saturn, why the hell did you go to a foreign car? Hell, at least I claim a reason for going to Honda...

 

$19,000 was the cheapest on the lot...and i take offense that I got "taken for a first class ride"...the owner of the dealership is my father-in-law and the sales person was my wife...it does them no good to rip me off on the price...that was the MSRP on it too...

 

As for the Saturn, my wife drives it daily to keep the miles down on her tbrid and GM and Ford do not produce anythign like it, a small reliable car. currnet saturns are butt ugly and nothing from ford was what i was looking for, if they hadnt gotten rid of the escort, that wouldve been on my list; and i thought (wrongly) that toyota was a good car company...they certainly have the reputation as one.

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$19,000 was the cheapest on the lot...and i take offense that I got "taken for a first class ride"...the owner of the dealership is my father-in-law and the sales person was my wife...it does them no good to rip me off on the price...that was the MSRP on it too...

The service department jerked around the boss's son-in-law?

 

Wow. That's gutsy.

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Guest Sixcav

I understand where you're coming from merc. When I had my Toyota PreRunner the service department at my Toyota dealer was just south of total shit. The truck spent a lot more time than it should have in the service department, espically in light of the fact that Toyota is supposed to make some super high quality product. That certainly wasn't my experience. When they did try to fix things that broke on it, they didn't do it correctly and I would have to go back. They were piss poor both in their attitude and workmanship. As a result I won't buy a Toyota now because the next closest Toyota dealer to where I live is over 20 miles away. I don't want to drive that far for warranty repairs or service.

 

I seem to recall reading somewhere the exact things you were complaining about with respect to the Scion. That being that they are having reliablity issues and they are cheap, cheap, cheap. And they are cheap, that was the whole point wasn't it? I think a lot of people just assumed that just because it had the Toyota name associated with it that it was going to be some stellar quality vehicle. In my own experience, even an honest to God 100% Toyota vehicle is every bit as likely to break as any other car. People just buy into the hype all to often. It's not 1985 anymore ladies.

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i understand that the scions are supposed to be cheap, but even for a cheap car, this scion had cheaper materials then my 10 year old saturn....the seats were the only thing worth any money on that car.

the plastic on the dash was warped from sitting in the sun after only 5 months. that is just unacceptable, especially for a car that is "cheap" at almost 20,000 dollars. the only reason i even thought about the scion was the decent gas mileage it advertised; a 4 speed auto was rated at 31 mpg highway. even that turned out to be false, driving on i-5 from coalinga to LA (about 140 miles one way) as i do everyday twoc a day, at best, i was only getting maybe 25, and thatzs at a steady 75 the whole way and no traffic until i get to LA.

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Well mercmarauder... I can't blame you for dumping that Shiton car. That's why I prefer to drive older Ford, Lincoln and Mercury stuff from the 1970's and 1980's that look better, run better and last longer as well as cheaper to maintain than than that Toyodor piece of shit!

 

It's too bad I don't have the $$$ for a Marauder... Those chrome rims on that are the whip!

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Bosses son-in-law with the wife as the saleswoman, and you can't get it below MSRP? :finger:

 

Hope your wife's commission check was big. :hysterical:

 

Toy doesnt something Ford wishes they could do...They control Scion pricing. Its like buying a candy bar...what you see is what you get.

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Toyota has to be careful. If quality slips for a few years, the internet will make sure the news gets out. It may seem that the media is writing a lot about Ford and GM's problems, but that's because there is a lot to write about now. Both companies are losing tons of money and have big labor issues.

 

Mercedes Benz used to be super-solid in the 80s and most of the 90s. But for whatever reason, their quality slipped and only now are they starting to feel it.

 

I think Ford's quality is better than the reputation right now but I still say their biggest problem is a bunch of dud vehicles on the market.

 

500 - nice vehicle but BORING. used ones on the market for almost nothing.

Freestyle - huh? good concept, horrible name, BORING style

Freestar - the only minivan worse is GMs

Focus - very good car now but man it needs some style

Explorer - sales way off because the redesign sucks and poor MPG

Fusion - very promising

Mustang - fantastic job all around

F-series - see other threads on the trucks

Crown Vic - don't keep this like it is just because of police cars.

Expedition - handsome but.....

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That's the most eloquently I've ever heard the issue stated. There's gotta be an advertising slogan in there somewhere.

 

 

My good man, I totally agree with you.

 

Where in the hell is Fords advertising department when you need them!!!!!

 

Think some of us ought to change this to our signature temporarily, so when the advertising department quits eating doughnuts and drinking coffee and come here for their once a quarter visit or so, they can get the message!

 

By the way Niteflight, got anymore we can use?

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