Originally Posted By: FutureDoc
Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Originally Posted By: edyvw
I am not sure what is going on with Honda, since they have issues with new Pilot too.
It's simple. They are riding out their reliability reputation as long as possible while their vehicle quality continues on a steady decline. My family has owned Honda vehicles since the late 1980s, and they think my mom's 2011 Fit might be the last. The same thing is happening with Toyota.
The sad part is due to the complexity of today's vehicles, the simplicity of the Japanese cars still makes them look pretty reliable, even though they are cheaper made now than ever before.
I would not lump Toyota with Honda. Honda went from an easy "second place" to being a mid-tier maker behind Hyundai (of all makers). Honda made a conscious choice in the late 00s to cut costs and de-content the engineering robustness. They pulled a Mercedes when.... like when a 1980s Mercedes were a Mercedes now they are a Mercedes. Honda went from an easy choice to more of a gamble and it was not because they were resting on their reputation, rather they made an "business" decision to cut cost... but they cut deep.
Toyota went from being the best by a country mile to being the best buy a couple of of yards (although it sounds like they are having issues with the Tacoma and that ain't good). If you are looking at reliability, Toyota is still the best, just not leagues ahead as they were in the late 90s and 00s. That being said, with the exception of Honda, everyone else is stronger than what they were in the 90s. Subaru is a lot better, Mazda is lot better. Hyundai and Kia are a lot better. Nissan got better and then lost it all and might be in a place worse than Honda. Even the Big 3 got better. However, they are still not as good as Toyota.
In my opinion Toyota service has gone downhill a lot, and that is the part where they rest on their reputation. Their cars are still decent, but if you have an issue forget about it. My GF had a 2010 Prius for a few years. It had some very strange problems with the ABS and transmission. The ABS would activate at seemingly random times, and it became very dangerous to drive during wet or slippery conditions. We went to a number of Toyota dealerships, one even verified the problem, but basically told us it wasn't worth their time and to take it up with Toyota Corporate. They said the issue was electronic, and related to the electronic throttle and braking control systems. Toyota Corporate said there was nothing they can do, and were very arrogant. Basically telling us they sell so many cars they don't really care if there is a bad or dangerous one on the road. And this is coming from someone who has dealt with terrible Chrysler service for years thinking it was normal. The car also consumed 1 quart of oil in 1000 miles and they told us it was normal.
Her father has a meticulously dealer maintained Tundra that has rod knock, and it is just out of warranty. Toyota is a far cry from what they used to be.