Toyota: Illusions of Trust, Gone

Toyota: Illusions of Trust, Gone

By Michael Karesh on February 5, 2010

Based on the emails I’ve been receiving from TrueDelta’s members, I have underestimated the impact of the unintended acceleration fiasco on Toyota’s future sales. This fiasco is going to hurt Toyota, possibly for years to come. The problem isn’t that many people feel that Toyotas are unsafe. Most seem to recognize that a very small percentage of Toyotas have suffered from unintended acceleration. But they’re hearing about problem after problem, so Toyota’s quality seems to be lower. Most of all, Toyota’s public statements have seemed dodgy, and people seem to feel that they cannot trust the company to keep owners’ best interests or even their safety in mind.


In other words, they’re feeling about Toyota much like they’ve felt for decades about Detroit. That the company is focused on sales and profits rather than the owners of its cars. That Toyota does not really care about them.

The odd thing here is that many people previously felt that Toyota could be trusted more than the typical auto company. Why? Because of their reputation for reliability? Because of the Prius?

The fact of the matter is that, when car owners have had problems with Toyotas, Toyota has been at least as bad as the average car company in taking care of them. Conducting TrueDelta’s Car Reliability Survey, I hear customer care horror stories involving virtually every manufacturer. If a car has a problem you feel it should not have had out of warranty, and you haven’t been regularly servicing your car at a particular dealer, that dealer will tell the manufacturer you’re not a valued customer, and you’ll get little or no out-of-warranty assistance. This is as true of Toyota as any other make. Have a problem that requires special help, and you’ll quickly learn how little they care. Toyota’s advantage was that its cars have been (and in many cases continue to be) more reliable, so people had fewer opportunities to experience how little they really care.
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<http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-illusions-of-trust-gone/>

Turns out that the Toyota myth was a bubble economy!

I know people who Toyota has given them brand new engines for their trucks, even when they were had crossed over 100,000 miles.

Toyota was building hybrid technology while Detroit was pumping out gas guzzlers and paying Congress to keep the mileage standards low.

I have driven nothing but Toyota's since the 1980's and currently have the new Hylander Hybrid which is an amazing vehicle.

Toyota has forced American car manufacturers to make better cars, to increase their mileage and their quality year after year.

If anything, those who drive GM, Ford and other vehicles should be grateful for the high standards Toyota has set for decade after decade.

This has been an unfortunate incident, but Toyota will do the right thing and their customers will stay with them. As I will.

The blind loyalty exhibited by Toyota loyalists is astounding.

"Detroit was pumping out gas guzzlers "

You do realize that Toyota makes gas guzzlers, right? Or is it only ok for Toyota to make large vehicles?

"Toyota will do the right thing"

Too late. They have known about the problem for years and have ignored it. They blamed their customers, who in some cases died because of the defect. The company is still in denial and it's obvious that the problem is more than a sticking pedal. Toyota will lose customers.

Toyota's sales have fallen in the last month!

I've never owned a Toyota. The only foreign cars I've ever had were a 72 VW Super Beeele and an 88 300ZX which I still have. I'm 66 and all our cars have been American. Mostly Chrys;er products and we've been very happy with the cars & the dealerships we bought them from.

People get very antsy when uncontrolable problems pop up. I can feel good about any car that starts when I want it to, stops when I want it to, and has only minor problems if any at all. Toyota has broken the STOP rule, and now the ligts too! They have BIG PROBLEMS in the years to come, and Im not sure they can get their reputation back.

We bought a Sienna last spring and have had it in four times for the low tire light issue. AND have paid more than a thousand bucks on a NEW van.

This was our first time trying Toyota and it will be the last.

Low oil pressure at idle due to bad oil pumps on low mileage vehicles.

Motor oil sludge build up due to bad design, requiring overhauls at 41,000 miles.

Oil burning and smoking engines at 5,000 miles.

There are many, many engine problems and LOTS of unhappy owners.

My neighbor has a new Avalon that never fails to strand his wife and two small children somewhere in the rain. The dealer tells them there's nothing wrong with the car.

The myth that Toyotas are great cars is gone. And with it, many of their "happy" owners.

It's been known for years that people who buy foreign cars because of the perceived lack of quality in Detroit, then turn and lie on quality surveys so as to not look like a fool for doing so. And god how I've hated the "cutesy" sounding names like "Camry". You just want to hug anything with that name, right? Barffff! I've owned many American made cars and never has any one of them left me sit. My '99 Regal is the best automobile I've ever owned. 135k miles and counting. Never seen the inside of a warm garage. Engine purrrs like a content kitten. And I heard some woman in CA being asked about her car being recalled.... she responded that the Detroit cars are soooo bad she just had to have her Toyota. And I'm thinking, for christs sake lady, your car sits in a Toyota garage for a major recall and all you have to say is something negative about Detroit!

The fact is that Subaru is owned by Toyota

The fact is that Subaru is owned by Toyota

The fact is that Subaru is owned by Toyota

there were a lot of internal whispers saying that like Detroit in the 70s, Toyota management's egos got too big and they neglected a lot of details that made them so successful in the first place...

the government that practically owns Toyota's primary competitor.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/its-true-toyota-asks-japanese-government-backed-bank-for-2b/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4695677

And you know what? US auto makers are limited on what can be sold in Japan. No US manufacturers were involved in the Japan version of Cash for Clunkers. So fuck Toyota.

Corporate welfare and government subsidies

Toyota has received a little over a billion USD in federal, state, and local government tax subsidies and incentives including:
$323.9 million in subsidies for the plant in Tupelo from Mississippi taxpayers. <1><2>
$371 million in subsidies for the Georgetown plant from Kentucky taxpayers.<3><4>
$227.5 million in subsidies and tax incentives for the Tundra plant by Local, Texas, and U.S. taxpayers. <5><6>
$125 million (Canadian) in subsidies to help cover research, training and infrastructure costs. <7>
$29 million in subsidies for the Huntsville Engine plant by Alabama taxpayers<8>
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Motor_Engineering_&_Manufacturing_North_America>

a glorified Toyota Avalon.

.... is that the Lexus problem was floor mats. I have NEVER bought the floor mat story, since any moron can reach down and pull the mat out of the way.

My guess is that they are trying to not stain the Lexus brand as they have Toyota.

I don't expect this to work out for them in the long run.

some countries say if it was not for the US government going after them they would not recall their vehicles. Now they are saying Lexus has problems too with the gas pedals, a 911 call in CA was of the caller saying his Lexus is going 120mph and he cannot stop it, this caused a crash killed him along with 3-4 others and was unfortunately caught on the 911 tape.

If only they admitted they had a problem from the beginning it wouldn't be so damaging, but they brought it on themselves.

Or does it just have a push button like BMW's. There's got to be a way to kill the engine.

And you have to hold the button down for 3 seconds, continuously, to make it shut off. 3 seconds is a fucking eterrnity in a situation like that.

<http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20100206-197030.html>

Perhaps the regenerative braking technology is not as quite as mature as we were led to believe, no matter the make or model:shrug:

about a year ago. when i went into consumer reports its ranking had really fallen for the first time.

so i bought a lincoln mks. a lot more for the buck

this didnt just start happening.

Yesteday the clutch pedal went to the floor and stayed there - 3rd time, $220 for the repair part.