Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Camry fell into Chevy and Ford's trap, they started cutting corners to keep up with demand and their quality suffered along the way. They have always had a good reputation throughout the 1980's 90's 00's as being a reliable vehicle, but now that the curtain's been pulled back exposing some serious safety issues over the past few years: Brake Pedal Recall, Poor Side Crash Test Rating 2013 on Prius and Camry, only acceptable ratings after they had a year and half to fix it, Camry being named worst car of 2013 by several major automotive sources.
Do you think that this is going to hurt Toyota. Is it beyond repair? Do you think they will need to scratch and start over?
Do you think the move out of California into Texas is the start of something new? A downsizing perhaps?
This is true, I don't know why negative stories or bad press doesn't affect their owner base more. It's a study in the human mind for sure. As a previous multiple Toyota owner, I had drunk the coolaid. I felt that there was no better car available on the market. It took an intervention of sorts for me to break away from their spell, but once I did I started to notice that not everything is rosy at Toyota.
Every car maker has troubles. I'm trying not to single them out, but looking back at the past 20 years of car manufacturing in the US, Toyota did what they needed to do to come out on top. Even if that meant sacrificing quality over quantity and their have been deaths because of it.
Ford Explorer had a serious Firestone Tire problem. Which was Firestone's fault, but Ford to the blame for dragging it's feet.
They took a huge financial hit for the bad publicity the tire issue caused.
Why did Toyota mainly escape the POOR crash test rating of 2013?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,551 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57739
Those that swear by Toyota are very loyal, and stubborn. It will take a lot more to turn them to other brands. I have only had two in my 40+ years of driving (one in the 70s, one in the 90s) and both were lemons, so I wouldn't have another. I think as more and more high-tech automation is being added we will see a huge increase in recalls for all brands. Just think about the number of times you have had to re-boot your computer.
Those who swear by Toyota, or by Subaru, or by Honda, or Canon cameras, or Nikon cameras, or Macs, or PCs are very loyal, and stubborn. That' is a normal human condition, and we all are loyal and stubborn to one thing or another. But in reality it's not just being "stubborn or loyal" as explained below.
Just look at which automobiles-from all the car makers-are selling the most, and which ones are selling the least. Then you will have a better idea of what is going on. To the great majority of buyers it's not being stubborn and loyal. All has to do with good/bad experiences relating to a certain automobile. For example, a comfortable ride, the looks of the car, the color, the interior design, quietness (from road and other noises), passing power or quickness, and on an on. So if this majority of customers aren't having bad experiences with their automobiles, why should they, all of the sudden, switch to another?
This is true, I don't know why negative stories or bad press doesn't affect their owner base more. It's a study in the human mind for sure. As a previous multiple Toyota owner, I had drunk the coolaid. I felt that there was no better car available on the market. It took an intervention of sorts for me to break away from their spell, but once I did I started to notice that not everything is rosy at Toyota.
Every car maker has troubles. I'm trying not to single them out, but looking back at the past 20 years of car manufacturing in the US, Toyota did what they needed to do to come out on top. Even if that meant sacrificing quality over quantity and their have been deaths because of it.
Ford Explorer had a serious Firestone Tire problem. Which was Firestone's fault, but Ford to the blame for dragging it's feet.
They took a huge financial hit for the bad publicity the tire issue caused.
Why did Toyota mainly escape the POOR crash test rating of 2013?
Why are their sales up?
It really is a puzzle for me...
you fell into the same trap that others have, you got a brand that at one time had fewer issues than others did, so when they started having more issues, they would get a pass on them. can toyota recover? yes they can, witness ford in recent years. but it will take some time, and it will take toyota doing the things it needs to do to get back to the level of quality they established in the past.
and to be fair to ford, one reason they dragged their feet was that they had a contract with firestone to supply tires, and they needed an ironclad excuse to breech the contract, otherwise they could have lost even more money in the courts. also note that at the time the explorer was the best selling SUV in the world in its class, and as such when something happened to it, it would get blown up all over the news. note that other SUVs with the same tires had similar issues, but ford got the bad publicity.
Camry fell into Chevy and Ford's trap, they started cutting corners to keep up with demand and their quality suffered along the way.
I see no evidence to backup you statement "that corners have been cut". None, zero, nada.
However, I do buy the argument that a 1999 Camry is more reliable then a 2009 model. But......
Post 2000, all manufacturers have suffered from the same problem. The US Govt has been pushing manufacturers to improve MPG and two common ways of doing this has been to (1) car reduce weight and (2) increase technology within the car.
Both of these factors have accomplished the goal of increasing MPG. However, as Milton Friedman once said there is no such thing as a free lunch. The price paid for better MPG has been less reliability.
Brake Pedal Recall, Poor Side Crash Test Rating 2013 on Prius and Camry, only acceptable ratings after they had a year and half to fix it, Camry being named worst car of 2013 by several major automotive sources.
Do you think that this is going to hurt Toyota. Is it beyond repair? Do you think they will need to scratch and start over?
Do you think the move out of California into Texas is the start of something new? A downsizing perhaps?
Not in the long haul. Remember, it took years and years of mismanagement for 2 of the big 3 to go down; this is nothing on the scale that they dealt with. So, Toyota had recall issues; so did GM and Ford has had their problems, albeit the big ones are much earlier. Camry/Prius were victims of being designed to an old crash test standard. Toyota is loathe to change much within a vehicle's generation, and so will likely live with it and design for the next generation. Finally, Toyota customers tend to be the most risk averse and loyal group around, and Toyota hasn't really made any bad or unreliable cars, just some really boring cars.
Only time will tell, but they have done well on automobile sales. April 2014: April 2014 Auto Sales
This is misleading. They are pulling an old GM trick to keep sales up. Lots of fleet sales, as well as a lot of cash on the hood (both of which have been documented by the press).
That said, I do not think their reputation is irrepairably damaged. They have taken some flack, but overall the reputation and regard for the Toyota brand still seems rather high.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
