For car reliability, looking East is still best

[Bugmenot]

Originally Posted by dsmnick

I just saw your post...I don't get to check TN as often anymore due to our poor internet connection here. I will never take the internet for granted back in the States again...so much more reliable!

But to answer your post, I was alluding more toward the arrogant Toyota management of late. No, they haven't started building cars like the GM X-bodies of the late 70s / early 80s, but they have also been receiving unflattering reviews from a number of magazines hinting at cost and corner-cutting. I think your statement of "light years" is highly overexaggerated with no backing. You may have been right about that comment five years ago, but not today with the new product. Most manufacturers these days are on equal footing when it comes to product quality...there are no longer large gaps like there were back in the 80s and 90s.

Consumer Reports has proven that its rating system and system of sampling opinions is flawed; these are the same people that once recommended the Toyota Matrix while not recommending the Pontiac Vibe even though they are the same vehicle. The ratings are generated from readers opinions, and most of the people that subscribe to CR are the import crowd anyway. I'm neither old nor entirely pro-domestic...I lean toward manufacturers that produce performance cars, whether that be Ford, GM, Nissan, or BMW. But to rely on one magazine's opinion for something as important as a vehicle purchase is naive...if one really likes Toyotas and has had good experience, by all means. But the sheeple out there who settle on a Toyota because CR says it's good and doing a little research is too tiring...well, they deserve it if they miss out on something that might have suited them better (be it price, options, quality, etc).

Like one magazine editor said (and I'm paraphrasing this)...buying a Toyota by default, you will get a good, reliable car. But you may not get the best car for your money.

Ya, but the Matrix is built at Toyota's own plant in TMMC Cambridge and the Vibe is build at NUMMI which GM and Toyota share. Maybe that's why they saparated the Vibe and Matrix because they know there might be a quality difference.

And to ECHOKnight2000, Toyota is already making steps to improve their quality like extending the new Corolla launch by a year to fix any kinks that might occur and to retrain all the plant workers. Though, I do feel your pain of Watanable's cost cutting initiatives. Maybe when Akio Toyoda takes over, thing will change for the good.