Toyota's Troubles

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/182948

link doesn't work

edit.....it does if the sad face is deleted

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/182948

Interesting article. I would contend that quality has not declined. They talk about increased defects and recalls, I attribute that to the law of probability.
The more vehicles they make, chances are the more defects you will see. While it may seem that quality has declined, I do not believe that it has.
I wonder how much GM paid to have that article published...:dunno:

"In the latest J.D. Power survey, the Toyota brand now scores below that of Hyundai Motor Co., a brand better known for low price than quality. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a risk-assessment arm of the U.S. insurance industry, withheld its "top pick" rating from Toyota's redesigned Camry and RAV4 sport-utility vehicle after they performed poorly in whiplash tests. And in January, Toyota's U.S. division agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by motorists who claimed that oil-sludge build-up had destroyed their engines despite compliance with the manufacturer's maintenance guidelines."

That is complete BS. Everyone gets whiplash in their cars no matter what or from whatever car they drive in an accident even if the car comes with side curtains.

"That is complete BS. Everyone gets whiplash in their cars no matter what or from whatever car they drive in an accident even if the car comes with side curtains."

Now, above is a complete BS. Side curtains do not prevent whiplash, it protects the thorax or upper body portion of the occupants in the car. Head restraints or headrests with proper use of seatbelts are the ones that prevent whiplash. Good head restraint design can reduce or prevent whiplash and maybe the Camry's headrest is not designed to effectively protect the passengers from whiplash.

In all fairness though, I don't think Toyota's realiability has gone down the drain, I think it has more to do with the fact that the rest of the competition has caught up with them in terms of realibility including the Korean automakers.

Toyota is still the best and i wil always by them. I owned many toyotas and Never seen a problem with one...neither have i seen one..come to think of it i ONLY hear problems about toyota and these post and site, but my friends, family, people etc never have complained about any problems at all?....i am starting to wonder bout these post are they true? or is some one trying to give toyota a bad name.

^^^:lol: ....wait, come to think of it I haven't had a single problem with either of my Toyota trucks either, you may be on to something :thumbup:

In all fairness though, I don't think Toyota's realiability has gone down the drain, I think it has more to do with the fact that the rest of the competition has caught up with them in terms of realibility including the Korean automakers.

I think you hit the nail on the head. ToMoCo is the benchmark when it comes to quality (and perceived quality), but the rest of the auto manufactures are close on their heels, and in some categories, surpass Toyota.

Has Toyota's quality gone down? I would say NO. Has REALITY finally caught up with the PERCEIVED quality of Toyota's. . . . I would say YES. For many years, Toyota has enjoyed a better reputation than it deserved (as it relates to quality). Don't get me wrong, Toyota did (and does in some cases) have better quality vehicles than any other manufacture, it's just that it is not "perfect" like many want to believe.

Toyota is still the best and i wil always by them. I owned many toyotas and Never seen a problem with one...neither have i seen one..come to think of it i ONLY hear problems about toyota and these post and site, but my friends, family, people etc never have complained about any problems at all?....i am starting to wonder bout these post are they true? or is some one trying to give toyota a bad name.

I got an '04 Camry 4cyl you can come drive and see if it lives up to the Toyota reputation.

in the article i see a corolla, a matrix and then a corolla...shouldn't a factory line be set up where all cars are essentially the same????

^^^ It is called flexible manufacturing, and it allows several different vehicles to made at the same plant. ;) That being said, I am not sure where these cars are on the assembly line (in the picture), but it looks to be an inspection area. Most (if not every) Toyota plant is "flexible" so it is not an uncommon sight to see different Toyota vehicles on the same assembly line.

Interesting. Well I really do hope Toyota stays true to their word and maintain (and even improve) their quality. I like the way Toyota pays attention to fine detail. Not to knock Honda but seeing how I noticed a few things where Honda cut corners: 1. using one licence plate light instead of two 2. tiny power window switches 3. hard plastic covered in fabric (I honestly though it was foam and knocked my elbow against it. Needless to say, it hurt) 4. no trunk lining material on the trunklid 5. no driver's footrest (Fit) etc etc. Now of course, if you're not picky and rather look at the big picture (aka Honda's driving pleasure) then you'll be happy with a Honda. I like the little things that make the car feel more expensive like damped overhead grips or damped glovebox, illuminated ignition keyhole, fabric covered centre console box lid, plastic caps on all the screwheads to hide them and so forth.

^^^ It is called flexible manufacturing, and it allows several different vehicles to made at the same plant. ;) That being said, I am not sure where these cars are on the assembly line (in the picture), but it looks to be an inspection area. Most (if not every) Toyota plant is "flexible" so it is not an uncommon sight to see different Toyota vehicles on the same assembly line.

I've done a research paper on toyota in my undergrad prog. I know what flexi manufacuring is. Its bascially using the same tools to make something different. You don't have down time. What your talking about is ability to make numerious options from the same tools, but not making them in alternative cycles of one car!

I've done a research paper on toyota in my undergrad prog. I know what flexi manufacuring is. Its bascially using the same tools to make something different. You don't have down time. What your talking about is ability to make numerious options from the same tools, but not making them in alternative cycles of one car!

LOLz! Did you get an "F" on that research paper? No hard feelings but your qoute is circular.

In regards to the original article, the author was just qouting facts and regurgitating figures that are commonly available in the media. Kinda hard to believe that GM will pay a Torstar writer to besmirch Toyota. If you are familiar with this newspaper and read their WHEELS section, you would think that they are in Toyota's payroll and not the other way around.

Toyota is still the best and i wil always by them. I owned many toyotas and Never seen a problem with one...neither have i seen one..come to think of it i ONLY hear problems about toyota and these post and site, but my friends, family, people etc never have complained about any problems at all?....i am starting to wonder bout these post are they true? or is some one trying to give toyota a bad name.

I'm with this guy...Every Toyota that has been in my family had no problems what so ever. Exteremly reliable. In my extended family I think we have close to five gen 3 Camrys all of them running well with no problems and have over 200,000kms on them. So yeah its hard for me to believe most of these thread that bad talk Toyota until I see the mistakes/problems with my own eyes...

Uuuuuuh then you should here what this guy is saying and others like him.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1650190#post1650190