watch out if you have a recalled toyota, and get it fixed. as the so called fix dont stay, as i was on a run to a accident where the car accelarated into a building, and the car was supposaly fixed by a dealer in indy. the little shim was found on the floorboard.

 

But, but, but Toyoda said they fixed them.

 

And Dubya said people from Iraq and Iran flew planes into the Twin Towers.

After all, that is why we invaded those countries...

 

cant even make a decent car anymore whatta shame

 

I just watched a news item which pointed out that Toyota 'bragged about saving 'x' amount of money on shoddy repairs ...
''shoddy'' is my word for this day i guess ..

 

crap cars

 

This will do more to restore the North American auto industry than all the bail out money put together. If they blow this chance they deserve to just go under.

Maybe, just maybe they learned something and will continue to work on quality. Lets hope so, eh?

 

Not only that, my 2007 has a squeal in the power steering. Coming off lease soon. Never again. Ever.

 

Isn't it just amazing what happens when you are overconfident?

What goes around, comes around.

 

I just got a new car... not a toyota... not like I would have been affected since I can't afford a new car... but I still think it stupid!

 

No Toyota for this girl, not for a long time...I'd like a Ford, my father is turning in his grave...

 

I just saw this article, and thought others might want to read it...

Documents: Toyota boasted saving $100M on recall

Documents: Toyota claimed it saved $100M by negotiating limited recall



By Ken Thomas and Kelly Olsen, Associated Press Writers , On Monday February 22, 2010, 5:21 am EST
TOKYO (AP) -- Claims by Toyota in internal documents that it saved money by obtaining a limited recall from regulators in 2007 create an even bigger challenge for the automaker's president when he testifies before U.S. lawmakers this week over quality and safety lapses.

Toyota officials said they saved $100 million by successfully negotiating with the U.S. government on a limited recall of floor mats in some Toyota and Lexus vehicles, according to new documents shared with congressional investigators.

Toyota, in an internal presentation in July 2009 at its Washington office, said it saved $100 million or more by negotiating an "equipment recall" of floor mats involving 55,000 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES350 vehicles in September 2007.
The savings are listed under the title, "Wins for Toyota -- Safety Group." The document cites millions of dollars in other savings by delaying safety regulations, avoiding defect investigations and slowing down other industry requirements.

The documents could set off alarms in Congress over whether Toyota put profits ahead of customer safety and pushed regulators to narrow the scope of recalls. Two House committees are holding hearings this week on the Japanese automaker's recall of 8.5 million vehicles in recent months to deal with safety problems involving gas pedals, floor mats and brakes.

"You can feel that the staff were thinking more about company profits than customers," Mamoru Kato, an analyst at Tokai-Tokyo Securities, said in an e-mail after viewing the documents. "It's unfavorable for Toyota ahead of the hearings."
The world's largest automaker has been criticized for responding too slowly to complaints of sudden acceleration in its vehicles, threatening to undermine its reputation for quality and safety.

The documents were turned over to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- which is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday -- and obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday. The presentation was first reported by The Detroit News.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Documents-Toyota-boasted-apf-3066044297.html?x=0

 

Simple lesson...

Toyotas were good cars before they thought they could make shortcuts to save money and increase profits.... I hope they suffer big time. But at the end of the day its a knock on effect... people will just lose jobs etc. etc.

 

true enough, my '93 Toyota Camry is still kickin ass and taking names:excited:

 

Why do you think there is so much attention on this recall? I haven't seen so much shit get stirred by any of the numerous recalls done by the American auto makers. Didn't look for facts to back it up but, I would bet that any American auto maker has had a significant more amount of recalls than Toyota.

 

Oh, I'm sure of it. But this is the long-awaited opportunity for the American auto industry and the corporate media to take Toyota down a peg or two, and they're not going to miss it for anything. They may have some short term success, because of Toyota's gross mishandling of the whole thing, but they'll have trouble negating decades of Toyota topping the charts in terms of initial quality, trade-in value, customer satisfaction, etc. etc.

 

Funny, last couple of years manufacturers other than big T have had chart toppers on various initial quality surveys and such.

The best selling vehicles in the US have a huge customer satisfaction and return buyer rate. They are...... Ford and GM trucks.

"the corporate media"? The same media that is even handed and non partisan in it's political reporting? That corporate media?

Or the corporate media that has been calling Toyota the "greenest" automaker, despite their making several giant trucks and SUV's, and having fewer functional hybrids on the market than GM.

This reaction is simply our national media's "pile on" mentality. Toyota screwed the pooch, has had their arrogance and hubris exposed for all to see, and has proven that all the automakers are capable of placing profit over sound engineering. Other examples of this most well known - Firestone.

And yes, ALL the other auto manufacturers are salivating at the chance to score points on Toyota.

Kimi, It's more than "gross mishandling". It's Toyotas SOP. Obfuscate, hide, deny, don't talk about. When it was little shit, it didn't matter all that much. Now that its not so little shit, it does matter.

Toyota is so far getting off lightly compared to the whipping Audi received 25 odd years ago.

 

Curious the way you worded that. "...have had chart toppers..". I assume you meant that one or two models did well.

But here are the overall figures from J.D. Power (for 2008).

http://businesscenter.jdpower.com/news/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008063

 

Oh, I'm not arguing that Toyota has held the overall "quality" lead compared to US manufacturers. US automakers, from management to engineers to unions build defects and poor craftsmanship right in.

The to points to remember are: US manufacturers are getting better, and Japanese manufacturers are getting worst.

The whole pile is sliding down the hill towards mediocrity.

The big difference right now is that US manufacturers admit to having problems and publicly attempt (sometimes with zero success) to fix them, while Japanese manufacturers hide everything.

 

Good deals in used Toyotas

I just discovered that you can get good deals in older used Toys that are still excellent transportation cars and have none of the defects of the newer cars. People are afraid of them and their name association. I will probably buying a 2001 sedan in the next week for a couple thousand less than I would have had to pay a week ago.

There are even bigger discounts on the newer cars on lots for the obvious reason. 08 and 09 cars are thousands less and will find few takers. The used car guy I talked too today said they won't take new Toys in trade. He's turned down several deals this week from people who where trying to unload them and get a safe car.