Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: Vizzy
Especially since it is a Toyota it should at least meet that standard....
So, are you implying that Ford is a substandard brand that need not live up to this standard?
Well Toyota itself in every ad I see claims it has the highest reliability. And they sell a lot of cars from promoting this image. So I think it should be held to that standard. That goes for any automaker claiming it is the best.
When you look at their reliability surveys over a good span of time, you'll see the reputation is earned. That said, like every auto maker they've had some problems here and there in the past, and some very high profile ones in the present.
Regardless of how impacting the current problems are, relative to millions of vehicles sold, there is no question that the brand image has taken some tarnish lately, and this is reflected in significant sales drops. For an automaker, image is everything, and lately they've lost credibility among the perception of the general public that they are still the gold standard they once were; and this is coming at a time when the market share they gained from that image, was at the expense of other heavy hitters who were having problems of their own - problems that have since been rectified, and whose image has been improving.
Overall I think the brand is still solid as it as ever was, and Toyota remains at the top of my list - although improvements in other manufacturers have placed them much higher in my own preference so even being the Toyota fan that I am, there's no guarantee that the second car I plan to buy will also be a Toyota; nothing to do with Toyota, and everything to do with me being satisfied that there are now more good alternatives to choose among then there were before.
With the company having the image problems lately that it is, it naturally opens them up to what me be an issue on a few cars (when taken into context of the total number of cars sold within that model) being perceived as a model wide issue deserving a recall, and when there is none, an assumption that Toyota is covering a problem up to avoid more press.
The OPs issue I don't dispute, nor that his perceptions are human nature and perfectly natural. At the same time, it doesn't mean the issue is model wide, in need of a recall, or that Toyota is covering anything up.
The Yaris one of their more popular models, and they sell an awful lot of them. 3 cases dose not indicate the problem is model wide. I think some perspective is needed here; it should be objective, and while I'm trying to be objective, I'm also up front that as one who is particularly partial to the brand, I am inclined to give them a little more benefit of the doubt than one who isn't. And I've become partial to other brands lately too, not just Toyota, so this is not "fanboyism."
-Spyder
