Question to Toyota owners?

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: lexus114
"dealer incompetence."

That wouldn`t be LV Volkswagon would it.


Actually yes & no...

The only time they are worked on the TDI was oil changes & fluid flushes. I however read enough horror stories online to know what could happen.

They did strip the temp sender I had in the pan and blamed in on the sender(not the rookie who cranked it down to much). I had them RTV the plug back in and drove it home & replaced the pan myself. I couldn't get them to cover anything but they never wronged us on the Rabbit. The sales people I always love but ya the service area leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Part of the reason I warn people about dealer service. VW's is hit or miss and you "miss" a lot.

If Toyota does a Volt style car next with a diesel(they have great ones in Europe)I would seriously like to have it(provided it works).

 

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: grampi


Doesn't make much sense to condemn a particular model just because a few of their owners are idiots.


Not condemning it, just not rejoicing at it. People can drive them all they want, I just see no appeal in it.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Originally Posted By: lexus114
"dealer incompetence."

That wouldn`t be LV Volkswagon would it.


Actually yes & no...

The only time they are worked on the TDI was oil changes & fluid flushes. I however read enough horror stories online to know what could happen.

They did strip the temp sender I had in the pan and blamed in on the sender(not the rookie who cranked it down to much). I had them RTV the plug back in and drove it home & replaced the pan myself. I couldn't get them to cover anything but they never wronged us on the Rabbit. The sales people I always love but ya the service area leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Part of the reason I warn people about dealer service. VW's is hit or miss and you "miss" a lot.

If Toyota does a Volt style car next with a diesel(they have great ones in Europe)I would seriously like to have it(provided it works).

 

[Herz]

I dont own as many Toyotas as I do domestics but for me it comes down to what I can get. I was able to get the car my girl wanted really cheap because of these recalls so I did.

Do I thing toyotas were gods on wheels? No, I never did. I did think the 4 cylinders had a edge but that was a while ago.

 

[Popinski]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
Originally Posted By: lexus114
"dealer incompetence."

That wouldn`t be LV Volkswagon would it.


Actually yes & no...

The only time they are worked on the TDI was oil changes & fluid flushes. I however read enough horror stories online to know what could happen.

They did strip the temp sender I had in the pan and blamed in on the sender(not the rookie who cranked it down to much). I had them RTV the plug back in and drove it home & replaced the pan myself. I couldn't get them to cover anything but they never wronged us on the Rabbit. The sales people I always love but ya the service area leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Part of the reason I warn people about dealer service. VW's is hit or miss and you "miss" a lot.

If Toyota does a Volt style car next with a diesel(they have great ones in Europe)I would seriously like to have it(provided it works).


America would have been awesome if Chrysler went ahead with the Intrepid Diesel/electric hybrid back in the late 1990's. what did they do? they scrapped it.. WHAT IDIOTS.

 

[Thermo1223]

Originally Posted By: Popinski


America would have been awesome if Chrysler went ahead with the Intrepid Diesel/electric hybrid back in the late 1990's. what did they do? they scrapped it.. WHAT IDIOTS.


I personally like the gas turbine generator powered EV1...

Shame really, I understand GM not wanting to take such a risk having to implement parts for 10 years and such back in the 90's but man it could have given them a giant leap forward.

 

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Agreed.

Did you bother to read the post I was responding to? He says that the domestics have enjoyed better press and havent suffered this same sensationalism. Do you agree with that assessment?

Please, put me back on iggy, life was better before you started misreading and misinterpreting my posts. I was merely responding to that accusation....The love fest can resume at any time, sorry for clouding the issue with a dose of reality....lol.


Off topic again:

Yes I did read the post you were referring to. Funny thing is - I was agreeing with you. Ford took a tremendous amount of heat for things like the Pinto and the Explorers, etc.
No argument from me at all, and I've been a Ford man for a LONG time.
Deserved? Well we could ALL argue that one way or another until it snows in Phoenix in the month of August!
(Sometimes it feels like if I say the cup is half full you come back and say "No you are wrong, it's half empty!")

But for now - where we seem to disagree is whether the heat Toyota is getting is deserved or not. At this point in my view, I'd say there isn't enough evidence.
From my perspective nobody on this forum or any other knows exactly WHAT the problem is (i.e. floor mats, bad accelerator pedals, or bad electronics). I'm not so sure Toyota even knows and frankly it looks like to me they are throwing parts at it hoping to fix it!
Right now there is a LOT of speculation by everybody - on forums, on news casts, in print - even somewhat "respected" web sites.
The closest thing I've seen for evidence is the Sheriff's report on the CHP officer and his family that was killed in the Lexus accident.

Yes even if it's a small percentage of Toyota vehicles - there appear to be an alarming number of cars accelerating out of control and even ONE death is ONE death TOO MANY!

As I stated before I'm not a die-hard Toyota fan, but until all the evidence is in (I don't call news shows, forums and tv news casts evidence) I will not throw rocks at them!
I would give Chrysler, Kia and Honda the same benefit of a doubt and I don't even like them!
(No insults intended to anyone that likes those particular brands)

(Back on topic)

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
A lot of the media claims of more reliability for Japanese cars and now Korean is just hype and not really true.


Depends on the segment. If your talking subcompact ot compact, it's absolutely true. I don't think anyone in here can say with a straight face the Aveo, Cobalt, Focus, Neon or any small car from the big 3 is comparable in terms of build quality to any of Japanese or Korean makes. Now if we're talking about mid sized or larger vehicles, that's a different story altogether.


I think late model J-cars Cavalier and Sunfire, and the Cobalt are very reliable small cars. I've seen plenty of them go over 150K without much repairs or maintenance. The GM Ecotech and 4sp automatic are pretty solid designs. they are fairly simple and solid cars.

 

[LS2JSTS]

Originally Posted By: oldmaninsc
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Agreed.

Did you bother to read the post I was responding to? He says that the domestics have enjoyed better press and havent suffered this same sensationalism. Do you agree with that assessment?

Please, put me back on iggy, life was better before you started misreading and misinterpreting my posts. I was merely responding to that accusation....The love fest can resume at any time, sorry for clouding the issue with a dose of reality....lol.


Off topic again:

Yes I did read the post you were referring to. Funny thing is - I was agreeing with you. Ford took a tremendous amount of heat for things like the Pinto and the Explorers, etc.
No argument from me at all, and I've been a Ford man for a LONG time.
Deserved? Well we could ALL argue that one way or another until it snows in Phoenix in the month of August!
(Sometimes it feels like if I say the cup is half full you come back and say "No you are wrong, it's half empty!")

But for now - where we seem to disagree is whether the heat Toyota is getting is deserved or not. At this point in my view, I'd say there isn't enough evidence.
From my perspective nobody on this forum or any other knows exactly WHAT the problem is (i.e. floor mats, bad accelerator pedals, or bad electronics). I'm not so sure Toyota even knows and frankly it looks like to me they are throwing parts at it hoping to fix it!
Right now there is a LOT of speculation by everybody - on forums, on news casts, in print - even somewhat "respected" web sites.
The closest thing I've seen for evidence is the Sheriff's report on the CHP officer and his family that was killed in the Lexus accident.

Yes even if it's a small percentage of Toyota vehicles - there appear to be an alarming number of cars accelerating out of control and even ONE death is ONE death TOO MANY!

As I stated before I'm not a die-hard Toyota fan, but until all the evidence is in (I don't call news shows, forums and tv news casts evidence) I will not throw rocks at them!
I would give Chrysler, Kia and Honda the same benefit of a doubt and I don't even like them!
(No insults intended to anyone that likes those particular brands)

(Back on topic)


Off topic and nothing more than a fishing mission to bait me into the argument!

I never made any such statements on this thread. I merely replied to another poster who said that "GM and Ford hadnt raised nearly the same stink" as Toyota has. You are the one trying to turn this into an argument over the "evidence".

I never made any statement in this thread about UA or Toyota or evidence at all...please point to where I did. So why the big discussion over what "we disagree about"?

 

[SuperBusa]

I've got a 2005 Tacoma ... it's not on the "recall list" for UA, but I'm hoping one day it does go into UA so I can see what it's like ... probably won't be much different than how I drive it.

Of course, I'm ready to slap the transmission in neutral and let it hit the rev-limiter.

 

[c502cid]

I guess what it comes down to is perception. Although I own many makes of cars, I'm one of those GM loyalists at heart who said "but they are building good cars, try one and see for yourself" only to get bashed hard by the import guys who said "nothing beats a Toyota because they really care about their customers". Well, now the shoe is on the other foot. It may only be perception that their cars have a problem, but perception is everything, and now the import guys get to be on the "but, but, but" answer train.
By the way, between my 98 Escort and my 94 Corolla, the Escort is a million times the better car. Both are POS's, but I'll grab the keys to the Escort every time if I have to choose between the two.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
A lot of the media claims of more reliability for Japanese cars and now Korean is just hype and not really true.


Depends on the segment. If your talking subcompact ot compact, it's absolutely true. I don't think anyone in here can say with a straight face the Aveo, Cobalt, Focus, Neon or any small car from the big 3 is comparable in terms of build quality to any of Japanese or Korean makes. Now if we're talking about mid sized or larger vehicles, that's a different story altogether.


I think late model J-cars Cavalier and Sunfire, and the Cobalt are very reliable small cars. I've seen plenty of them go over 150K without much repairs or maintenance. The GM Ecotech and 4sp automatic are pretty solid designs. they are fairly simple and solid cars.


They'd still require more maintenance/repairs over the life of the vehicle than comparable Japanese cars.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted By: c502cid
By the way, between my 98 Escort and my 94 Corolla, the Escort is a million times the better car.


That's the most ridiculous statement I've seen in this thread yet. The Escort isn't even in the same league as the Corolla in terms of build quality and reliability. The Corolla will easily go 300K miles or more with normally scheduled preventive maintenance. If (and that's a BIG if) the Escort somehow is able to last that long, it would require far more repairs than the Corolla would. BTW, I don't know what your statement is based on, but mine is based on years of complied reliability data.

 

[charbaby]

With all of the millions of vehicles being built every year, someone has to get the bad ones. For me, it was the domestic vehicles, to USA1, it's Toyotas. Today, I think that the gap has closed and is now tight enough to slip in a credit card. Before, you could drive a truck through it!

 

[harley145000]

i'll buy another one

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: Char Baby
With all of the millions of vehicles being built every year, someone has to get the bad ones. For me, it was the domestic vehicles, to USA1, it's Toyotas. Today, I think that the gap has closed and is now tight enough to slip in a credit card. Before, you could drive a truck through it!

I support this post.

I would also add that the top spot has changed, too. Many of us forget but there was a time when "Made in America" really was synonymous with quality, and "Made in Japan" really was synonymous with flimsy. Then the American brands slipped, and the Japanese ones had their time in the limelight. Now, as Char Baby points out, the American brands have rebounded a lot and the Japanese brands have been dislodged, so things are more or less even.

We should be happy about this! Closer product offerings means more competition, which means we all benefit. Not a bad turn of events IMO.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: grampi


They'd still require more maintenance/repairs over the life of the vehicle than comparable Japanese cars.
Fact or speculation?

Because a friend of mine just posted a pic of the odometer of his Cavalier with a reading of 200,000 miles. No problems, just normal maintenance. And other friends that have owned Cavaliers have basically called them cockroaches, i.e., impossible to kill.

 

[labman]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: c502cid
By the way, between my 98 Escort and my 94 Corolla, the Escort is a million times the better car.


That's the most ridiculous statement I've seen in this thread yet. The Escort isn't even in the same league as the Corolla in terms of build quality and reliability. The Corolla will easily go 300K miles or more with normally scheduled preventive maintenance. If (and that's a BIG if) the Escort somehow is able to last that long, it would require far more repairs than the Corolla would. BTW, I don't know what your statement is based on, but mine is based on years of complied reliability data.


You are saying his personal experience is worthless?

 

[jazeo]

Originally Posted By: labman
Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: c502cid
By the way, between my 98 Escort and my 94 Corolla, the Escort is a million times the better car.


That's the most ridiculous statement I've seen in this thread yet. The Escort isn't even in the same league as the Corolla in terms of build quality and reliability. The Corolla will easily go 300K miles or more with normally scheduled preventive maintenance. If (and that's a BIG if) the Escort somehow is able to last that long, it would require far more repairs than the Corolla would. BTW, I don't know what your statement is based on, but mine is based on years of complied reliability data.


You are saying his personal experience is worthless?


Thank You! I couldn't make up my mind whether to comment and you did it for me... IMO there is NO better example, than from someone that owns both vehicles....

 

[mechanicx]

Originally Posted By: grampi
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: grampi
Depends on the segment. If your talking subcompact ot compact, it's absolutely true. I don't think anyone in here can say with a straight face the Aveo, Cobalt, Focus, Neon or any small car from the big 3 is comparable in terms of build quality to any of Japanese or Korean makes. Now if we're talking about mid sized or larger vehicles, that's a different story altogether.


I think late model J-cars Cavalier and Sunfire, and the Cobalt are very reliable small cars. I've seen plenty of them go over 150K without much repairs or maintenance. The GM Ecotech and 4sp automatic are pretty solid designs. they are fairly simple and solid cars.


They'd still require more maintenance/repairs over the life of the vehicle than comparable Japanese cars.


I don't really think so. they had platinum plugs, the coolant Dexcool always looks good and rarley needs changed. No timing belt or valve adjustments or distributor to worry about. Parts are fairly cheap and easy to find. I've seen them go 150K and only need 1 alternator and a battery.