Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: Steve S
Toyotas aren't what they used to be!!!
They're EXACTLY what they've always been... people are just discovering that they aren't what they *thought* they were.
Seriously, they're good cars but a whole generation of clueless yuppies truly believed that they were PERFECT in every way. Nothing can live up to that. They're cars, they break down.
I keep pondering this. I think you're basically correct, but I keep seeing the traditional buyer of domestics assigning personality or ego ..or "image" into a car. I can't ever see that with someone buying a Camry. Even the trucks, I don't see the "overbearing" image that they provide. FJ-Cruiser? Sure. I'd say it's the same with Honda. What possible ego or bravado can one broadcast with a Civic?
I'm talking the mainstay volume of sales and the customers that produce those sales. Not the V-TECH fast and furious types. When I think Toyota ..I see Camry. When I think Honda, I think Civic.
I'd say that the Asian offerings attract people that have a much more rational perspective on cars. Whether it's founded in perceived or realized quality or not is another issue, but I don't think that they're people who consider a vehicle an extension of themselves.