Calif vs Ontario built

[FLCEGuy]

Hi,
I just got my first Toyota Corolla and I'm a tiny bit disappointed with the assembly and quality control. My car was built 12/05 in Torrance, CA and hit the port 12/17/05 near here in Jacksonville, FL. I had expected it to come from Canada.

I don't have much to complain about. It had 2 miles on it when I took delivery but there was already a chunk missing from the edge of the hood (all the way to the primer) and I could see the screw holding the passenger side kickpanel was sticking out and couldn't be screwed in. The metal clip that holds it in was also sticking out. The 46 point port inspection either missed the big chunk out of the hood or the motor freight carrier did it and the dealer missed it.

I had heard and read so much about Toyota's legendary manufacturing system, quality control, etc. that I actually expected to get a car with zero defects. Am I being unreasonable?

I love the car. It drives well, and by the time I got home (65 miles) from the dealer the gas gauge hadn't moved from being pegged above Full after the dealer's FREE fill-up. I drove under 60 on HWY 17. Hopefully, I'm just getting over 40 MPG and don't have a stuck float in the gas tank.

After a disasterous four years with a used Chrysler LHS (over $5,000 in repairs in 22k miles-all for design defects), I was determined to buy the most trouble-free car I could afford. That's why I passed up the better appointed, extremely fun-to-drive Japanese built Mazda 3i (baby BMW) for the more sedate, 3rd year, 9th generation Corolla.

Please tell me my UAW assembled Corolla isn't going to turn out like my other American cars! How are the Canadian built Corollas? Should I have specified one of those? Has anybody gotten a perfect new Corolla?

[PhantomS]

Can't quite answer your poll....we have an '05 Canadian built S (built March '05, I believe).....car was virtually perfect, except that the rear driver's-side door wouldn't unlock using the powerlock. took my car in the day after I found this out, and the dealer had me out of there in less than 10 minutes - so, my car wasn't "perfect", but I wouldn't call it "flawed"....the door could still be locked and unlocked manually, was no biggie....and apparently was just a loose wire or some other easy fix. Overall, I'm pleased with my car AND the dealership service dept. Nice guys and they seem to be very efficient.

[rolla-XRS]

I think you have some misunderstandings.
First, there is no such thing as a zero-defect car. If you look at the statistics, Toyota sits at about 110 defects per 100 cars (ie: one per car) whereas others sit at 180/100 cars. Yes it's possible to get a car that has zero defects, but I think if you're very "particular" in what you expect from a car (like me), you will find a defect.

As for the stone chip, that was likely incurred by the transport company during shipping. Did you point it out to the dealer before you drove it off the lot? As for paint chips in general, you can thank the environmental lobby for forcing car manufacturers to use less paint on cars and thereby making them less resistant to stone chips. It sucks but then everyone's the same now.

As for plant assembly, there's really no difference between plants assembly. Each Corolla/Matrix is 85% built by machine with exacting specifications. And I would doubt that you could have specified a specific plant for the vehicle. It doesn't work that way. But you live in Florida so you have one of the best Toyota dealer service networks in the US.

As for the gas gauge, keep watching it. If it hasn't moved when you've completed 200 miles, then get it checked. Unfortunately that's probably one of the most likely to fail parts on any vehicle off the lot - I can only assume that the sensors are quirky and can't really be tested well except through usage. But you will find that the needle doesn't move very much for the first 100 miles and then will drop quickly. The gauge doesn't drop at a uniform rate. But you should be able to easily get 250-300 miles on your Corolla before the gas light goes on...and you will still have over a quarter tank available. It's a very conservative gauge.

For what it's worth - I am VERY VERY picky with my XRS. And because of that I have had several warranty claims for defects from minor dash and runroof rattles/squeeks to major items like drive shaft, radio, belts, etc. And this was a Canadian assembly. My buddy has and XRS and had no problems with his. Just my luck I'm afraid.

Good luck!!