Would you ever buy a Toyota again?

I used to like Toyota because the brand meant quality and superior service to me. I can't get over how they and others hid what could have been catastrophic news from the public.

they've done--and their thoughtless consumers have done--to American labour concerns and US manufacturing any less real.

They weren't here when GM was getting shit a few years ago.....They've decided that defending a Foreign entity here is a battleground.


They need to get past me first.

I'll put my fords, used to bes and present ones, up against any foreign branded vehicles in any category

But my Honda has 50-70k at least before it dies. Only have 130k now.

Lexus makes a nice car and they should be able to fix this. But they are permanently tainted.

it has another 50,000. I am not going to push it though. We are currently looking at some Hondas to purchase. I am really liking the CR-V.

What a car. I love that thing. No heated seats, tho. That is hard to deal with in the winter. Otherwise I love that thing.

Is it worth it for a tarted up Camry?



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I've not one complaint about all of the Toyota's I have owned.

I have a 2002 with +162K miles in a little less than seven years.

I'm hoping it will last at least until the end of the year, when the single-rider-in-the-carpool-lane stickers expire.

Preferably past then as well, until they have the plug-in option, as the place I work has electric vehicle recharging.

I'd also have a lot of trust issues with the car, considering the recent problems and how they handled them.

My brakes fail repeatedly, the thing has all sorts of electrical issues, repairs are ungodly expensive, and it gets shitty milage. Why wouldn't I buy a Toyota?

Are your guns made in America?

Since then, I've bought only American-brand cars made in the USA by the UAW, and have had only good experiences with it all around.

But I have my eye on an all electric.

ever made (arguably) in the 70s, I haven't looked at a GM car since. But, that is not to say I won't given their seeming turnaround recently in design and quality control.

Toyota will have to earn its reputation back, but if I see actual action towards that end, I would consider them (though I really do want to support the American brands if they will create something that serves my needs).

GM and Ford make INCREDIBLE products. This is NOT your father's piece of crap, these are World class cars now. And they CERTAINLY have NOT had the recalls Toyota has experienced in the past decade.

:crazy:

but, 35 years, not forty and yes, the cycle remains.

Which in and of itself is simply sad.

I drive a 1998 Subaru outback that I bought new.. I don't buy cars often and I keep them until they wear out. But, if you think there are not millions like me, who were very burned by the horrendous quality of US cars in the 70s and their failure to produce the kind of cars that people wanted in the 80s through 90s, you would be very wrong. Some of them will NEVER look at US manufacturers again. As I said, I am NOT one of them as I have been impressed with the progress and actually AM anxious to give them another chance when I get to the point of buying in the near future.

You get my 1,000th post. I was saving it for something else, but this was too good to pass up. Ok let me give you a few real world examples of some late 70's and early 80's GM cars:

My folks bought a 1976 Chevy g-10 van brand new. Tough ass vehicle, and was able to deal with the worst of the Missouri winters. We got 210,000 miles out of it when we sold it.

A few months before i was born my folks went to the AMC dealership in Houston and a new 1973 Hornet Sportabout stationwagon, with an inline 6. It had it's share of problems, overheating, and the carb was real finicky. It got us where we needed to go for 180,000 miles, and the ugly bastard consistently got 22 to 26 MPG out on the highway. I remember it had a kick ass A/C and heater in it.

When it was gone, Mom and Dad bought a very gently used 1981 Buick Century 4 door with a 3.8L v-6. I think it had 20,000 miles on it when they got it. This car had good power, it was incredibly quiet, and the ride was very nice. The only problems we had with it was that it liked high octane gas (It would really ping on the cheap stuff) and it was kind of a bastard to work on. This was the early years of computer controlled carburetors and it was crowded in the engine compartment. The A/C would give you hypothermia and it got really great millage. We sold it at 200,000 miles, still running and driving great.

My Grandmother (Dad's Mom) bought a brand new 1978 Buick Regal. I remember riding in it as a kid and it was so smooth and quiet. Grandma kept that car for 25 years. the only time it ever gave her a problem was when it needed a tune up. I remember it had a V-8 in it and it would break 20 MPG out on the highway. She went out and bought a new Buick Century and she kept it until she died.

My other set of Grandparents bought a new 1978 Chevy nova with an inline 250 six. The only option that car had was A/C, and VERY good A/C at that. The car was quiet, quite powerful for a six banger, and got great millage. The car did have a lot of problems though. But they were not GM's fault at all. Grandpa wouldn't stop fiddling with it (he was retired and very bored) ;) He would screw it up and they would have to go get it fixed. The only time it ever stranded them was when the battery died. the windshield wipers quit working once during a rain storm, because a mouse had chewed into the wiring in the engine compartment. When they passed away, we sold it to my Great Uncle. He's still driving it to this day.

After we sold the van, Dad bought a used 1981 El Camino with a 267 cubic inch small block v-8. The car had a lot of runability problems with it, until my dad was instructed to get a carburetor from a 1980 model, and that got rid of the computer controlled unit. It ran great after that. Dad used the HELL out of that car, hauling firewood, boats, farm materials, and i would use it for hauling my dirt bike. The interior had a lot of problems, but i blame it on the plastics of the era. Dad traded it off with 150,000 miles for a 1985 Chevy El Camino with a fuel injected 4.3L V-6. It was the first year for that setup. How many miles did he get out of it? 365,000 miles, with no major engine or transmission problems. The only reason he had to stop driving it was because he tagged a deer going to work one morning. It cracked the radiator and the engine overheated, popping a head gasket.

American stuff is simple and reliable. Parts are cheap. The 1980's were a time of transition for the US automakers We were trying all sorts of new designs. Some of them were brilliant, some of them were stupid. Not everything the the big three produced in the 80's was crap. There were a lot more successes than failures in my opinion. The reason the Japanese got ahead was because of heavy marketing. There stuff back then was (and still is) quite reliable, but if you suffer a major component failure, sometimes it is truly cost prohibitive to fix it. I know this from experience from years of working on cars.

but it's not because of the safety issues. It's the cost. There's a high premium attached to ownership of a Toyota (and Honda, for that matter). They cost more than domestic models right off the showroom floor, they cost more when purchased pre-owned, and their parts tend to cost more - both original equipment and aftermarket.

I can attest to the fact that American manufacturers got the message many years ago and set out to improve their quality systems, and they've been successful for the most part. Despite the findings of the Consumers Union that are all skewed in favor of Toyota & Honda, there's not a helluva lot of difference in quality or reliability between the Asian OEMs and American ones.

And we love our 1997 RAV 4 and loved our toyota corona from long ago. But that was from an era when Toyota made quality cars that looked nice, had lots of interior space, windows allowing maximum visibility, and above all that operated reliably and safely. Then was then and now is now.

had the problem of cars popping out of park and driving off on their own (mid 80's), it took them a decade or so to recover

Shit just breaks on it all the time, mostly plastic junk parts. Its days around here are numbered.

with turbochargers and everything else. It is in for repairs on a monthly basis.

it was determined that every report was attributed to driver error...no mechanical cause for the reported 'unintended acceleration'.

the damage was already done.

I am not saying that Toyota's issues are OE (operator error) issues

The Audi incident took many engineers several months to wade through. I knew one of the team, after it was all made public he said that for the Audi to unintentionally accelerate would require the cruise control and the brakes to malfunction simultaneously in nearly every claim made...

I've never owned a Toyota, but I do own an older model Honda.

Now that Detroit has realized that quality, smaller, and more fuel-efficient cars are the future, I'll be buying American from here on out.

I have only bought cars and trucks built in the US for 20 years including several Toyotas.

Much like the irrational fear of terrorist attacks. There have been millions of Toyotas sold and, perhaps, 50 deaths from the sticky accelerators. Your chance of death is .00025%... probably similar to your chance of dying in a terrorist attack.

Please do not walk outside, because your chance of getting struck by lightning is 10x greater than dying from a "stuck" accelerator. Also, every company is guilty of "hiding" potential bad news

i'm an american, after all. :patriot:

are what? Non-Americans living in America?

there are plenty of americans working in jobs for companies/industries that i refuse to support. :shrug:

Toyota provides jobs for many Americans. Both GM and Ford make more profits from overseas sales (and factories) than they do in the U.S. So what? Jobs are the issue. Toyota is creating jobs in the U.S. while GM/Ford/Chrysler and shedding jobs. If you are so concerned about Toyota profits buy some of their shares and then some of their profits will stay here.

Buying a Mexican made Ford, for example, doesn't do as much good for American workers as buying a made in USA Toyota, imho.

How many people are driving around with a bumper sticker on their car that states "Buy American", oblivious to the fact that that their American nameplate car was made in a Mexican plant, by workers paid 2-4 dollars/hour by Ford???

Big Three US automakers and the top three Japanese automakers:

1998 2008 Change
General Motors Corp. 177,000 104,000
Ford Motor Co. 173,899 84,700
Chrysler LLC 123,180 66,409
474,079 255,109 (218,970)

Toyota Motor Corp. 25,622 36,632
Honda Motor Co. 17,000 27,000
Nissan Motor Co. 9,000 14,500
51,622 78,132 26,510

If people want to buy Japanese cars, that's their choice, but they really shouldn't pretend that the Big Three's declining US market share has had no impact on US employment - 218,970 Big Three US jobs lost vs. 26,510 Japanese US jobs created in a decade - that's a pretty scary trendline.

Then GM bailed on the deal making the plant economically unfeasible. But we are supposed to support GM while they go around the country shutting plants and dealers, Right?

to be paid $12 an hour to manufacturer one of the most technologically advanced products in our history with little or no training, in states with some of the worst educational statistics in the country, where the illiteracy rates are abdominal, and where the turnover ratios at the factories are enormous,you consider that a reason to buy a Foreign product?

I kid, I kid!!!

:toast: :patriot:

Our current Toyota is a 2007 Prius which has been one of the best cars that my wife and I have ever owned.

We have an appointment to come and test drive the new 2010 one with the solar sunroof this weekend

I wonder where all these people that are bashing Toyota now were a few years ago when there were all those deaths and injuries associated with the Ford Explorers and Ford tried to cover it up and pass the blame on to the tire manufacturer.

Our current Toyota is a 2007 Prius which has been one of the best cars that my wife and I have ever owned.

We have an appointment to come and test drive the new 2010 one with the solar sunroof this weekend

I wonder where all these people that are bashing Toyota now were a few years ago when there were all those deaths and injuries associated with the Ford Explorers and Ford tried to cover it up and pass the blame on to the tire manufacturer.

I am still confused about the Camry problem. Did the "Stuck" Accelerator also disable the Brakes? And possibly the Trans-Shift?

decent mileage, and the safety is incredible. knee, side and chest airbags.

It seats 7 easily and can become a moving SUV.

I love it.

I am in the market for a different vehicle and currently researching vehicles that best suit my needs.

Whenever a Toyota comes up on the list, I quickly rule it out.

some bad events - fuel tanks exploding, SUVs overturning, front wheels falling off due to defective bearings.

Faulty stuff gets corrected, and we move on.

.

you can purchase a Ford, GM, or Chrysler vehicle crafted with pride by UAW members, or you can buy a vehicle built by non-union employees of a company that sends the profits back to Japan.

Your fellow Americans and the UAW would benefit a great deal more if you bought a Ford, GM, or Chrysler product. It's times like these when we all need to stick together.

Patriotism and loyalty are nonexistent genes in their makeup.

and it's still good as new. I'd think twice about driving any model car without a mechanical linkage between pedal and throttle, though (i.e. a hybrid).

My '93 is still running good, my driving is minimal now, next car will be an old VW bug.
I refuse to buy a car with a black box in it.

I love it. It goes. It stops (and it's a Toyota. *shock*). It holds my stuff. It gets fantastic gas mileage (32+mpg on the highway/about 25 around town). It was not expensive.

Yes.

I had a Corolla in the early 1990's and wasn't very impressed with it. I thought the quality was highly overrated.

Unfortunately, Toyota has been living on the reputation they built in the 80s & early 90s. Quality has fallen way off while prices continued to climb.

Both our Chevies and our Jeep lasted way longer than the damned Honda.

and it was in the shop constantly. My car has only had maintenance work done on it 250,000 miles later.

because our son rolled it down a mountain. He was fine, by the way. Our Honda lasted just over 100,000 miles. All our American cars have had 200,000+ when we finally had to trade them in.

Our Jeep was NEVER in the shop except for maintenance. Our Blazer had a few problems that mostly were the result of my husband putting the wrong coolant in it. Our bad.

:hug:

lasted forever. We just traded it in for the cash for clunkers deal in late July or August. Can't remember which month it was. And we got a hybrid Malibu which we absolutely LOVE.

n/t

My current Honda is ten years old, 200,000 miles and still going strong. My Nissan truck is also ten years old, though only 115,000 miles. I'm expecting to get many more years out of both these vehicles. When I feel the need to replace them, I'll do so and select the car I feel has the best quality for the right price and that meets my needs, no matter whether that car is foreign or domestic. That's the way I make all my major purchasing decisions and so far that strategy has worked well for me.

We're trading in our Yaris and getting a Tundra (supporting our plant in San Antonio).

They have abused the trust placed in them by the public even when they knew this problem was causing deaths and injuries. It is inexcusable imo.

I've owned two of them. They were ok. Hondas and Nissans are better cars, however.

Toyota cannot be trusted. They hid knowledge knowing it would kill innocent people, that it would terrorize their customers and maim some of them.

when it rained--water puddled all over the floor. I haven't bought another GM to this day.

Sure will.

I think this car is a marvelous engineering feat. The integration of the electric and gasoline power sources is great. I'm disappointed at how Toyota obviously lost its way. Once again hubris fells a giant.
Yes, I would buy a toyota again, but they've got to show that they learned their lesson and fix the problems.(I personally think the problem is software or firmware or both.)
But it's not clear that they can survive the hit to their reputation and the legal challenges they will face. Juries don't tend to look kindly on companies that ignored customer complaints about problems that got people killed.

My last car was a Toyota product in 2004. Its been fine.

It will probably be fine for another 5 - 7 years.

Every car company will be on the possible list.

during the horrible winter storm we're having, a tree limb came down and smooshed the top doing serious damage. I don't know if it's fixable or not and the weather is so bad even the insurance agency is closed. Shit.

Its not like they are the first company to have recalls.

Its a 2008 Prius. I talked to the dealership and they said there was nothing that needed to be done to my car regarding any recalls. I even took it there to get an oil change and asked the mechanic if there was anything that needed to be done and he said no. So I feel pretty good about the car I got now. I've had it for about a year and have had no problems.


I don't know if I'd buy another one though I guess I'd have to see how their future cars hold up. I'm hoping to keep this one for at least 10 years.

I've never been into supporting non-union companies by giving thousands (or tens of thousands) to Japan's GDP.

or before all the speeding accelerator mess

I am not too worried about that happening.

they were anything special, and the parts and sevice were overpriced. I will also never buy another VW or any Chrysler product.
Nothing to do with the recalls - they are not very good cars and not worth the money.

mark

Now there's a fine automobile, yessirreebob.

when a runaway Toyota runs up the ass end of it.

equipped with spontaneous combustion engines.

It took a rear end collision. That is one of the reasons Ford Motor Co. was acquitted when it got charged with murder.

The trucks are crap. I work with a guy whos toy is no more than 3 years old, and the rocker panels are GONE. As in rusted away. My little 25 year old s-10, on the other hand, is essentially rust free. Both trucks were purchased, and spent their whole life in the same environment.


And I can perform any and all maintenance and repair on it myself.


And the cars, whatever thier good points are, would never survive my location. Heavy trucks barely do.

If I want good fuel economy, I drive our suzuki swift - though it too suffers the environment, not so well.


American Iron for me, for the most part. The swift was a concession to 4 dollar a gallon gas - and only because I couldn't find a low enough milage geo metro (not that theres much difference).


Our daughter has a prius, but I suspect she wont have that much longer, after what happened.

I suspect her answer at this point, wouldn't be "no", it would be "HELL NO".

I prefer the F-150 series myself.

Though I am unimpressed with them (toyotas). I think theyre ugly, and and the paint or sheetmetal or something is just...bad. Its like theyre rust magnets.


I have to admit ford makes a decent truck, particularly the super duty trucks, and I especially give a nod to fords 6.4 twin turbo diesel super duty truck. Its one hell of a working truck.


I'm a chevy guy though, I still prefer the first gen s-series small trucks. If I were forced to buy a full size...It would probably be a late 90s chevy with the 5.7 vortec.


Decent milage for a truck, and good power for a small v8.


The f-150 is a good choice too though. Theres a reason its the number one selling truck in America.

Even when GM was in the toilet, their trucks were the one product that held up well in terms of quality.

The new F-150's are both attractive and easy to drive(for a truck, that is).
The super-duty trucks are very popular where ever you go. I have seen them everywhere.

Toyota has much repentance to give before I give them a second look.
This is a serious problem that goes well beyond the horrors of the Pinto.

I don't know if I'll ever be in the position to buy a new vehicle again. I'm happy with the Toyota I've got, and expect it will last me another 2-300K.

If I'm ever in the position to be able to shop for a new vehicle, it will depend on what's available and what my life's circumstances are.

If I could buy a new vehicle today, it would be a full-sized truck, which, for me, would mean an American brand.

To be a second vehicle, to haul hay, horses, etc..

If I had that truck, then I'd be in the market for an economical, reliable car instead of my small truck. In that case, I'd be looking at the most recent technology in fuel economy and lowering emissions, for something that could handle 6 months of ice and some snow, and for something that would last for 300K.

Those criteria, not brand, would dictate the sale.

I've worked on many different autos and I never did see why TOYota garnered such high praise. my neighbor has a rather new corolla and he is forever having to work on it, Even though its never been in an accident it was wearing the front tires uneven and when they finally fixed it it took the use of a small grinder elongating one of the holes so they could actually get the adjustment right. Now it seems to be wearing the tires evenly but this is after much heartache and arguing with the the dealer that something was wrong. He was telling me the other day that the Ford Ranger he bought a few months ago is by far the best vehicle he's ever owned, he's 66 Years old btw. He also told me that when they replace the toyota they has now they would be buying a ford focus. Upon my badgering him to at least check out a Ford they finally did and when they got back home he called me first thing and said to me that there is no comparison between the toyota and the ford, that the ford focus was twice the car their corolla is. Tells me this is the last toyota he will ever own.
When he takes it to the dealer to have it serviced he tells me that it cost an arm and a leg and that they are always telling him that he needs to replace the brakes. Hell my ford f150 which has had its fair share of hauling big loads both on it and on trailers is still on the original brake pads and it has 12 years and 130,000 miles on it. I'm going to change them this summer not because they are worn out but just because I feel after all this time I should.

Toyota is not as good of an auto as they, toyota, would like you to think. I suspect that the magazines that were touting all the merits of them were taking money on the side to print that bull too.

I don't like nations that compete unfairly and LIE about it...

Only a few HUNDRED American brand cars are sold in the fucking nation EACH YEAR!!!

Tell me about "free trade"...

We have a 2006 Sienna and a 2006 Tacoma. Both have over 100,000 on them and are in great shape...accept where my wife backed into the side panel of my Tacoma because she parked it behind her van where anything is seldom parked or the roof damage from when the kids climbed up there cleaning snow off truck a few weeks ago and got into a snowball fight, but it's a truck and I'll run it till it completely disintegrates....We'll get rid of the Sienna next two years. Bumper damage from bouncing off the Tacoma, scraps from gas pump protector rails, one of the boys hitting our mailbox while learning to drive...typical bumps and bruises for well used family van....No big deal, they are Toyotas and I think they are great. We've had two previous Toyotas and a Nissan and they flat out outperform the Ford and Chrysler minivans we've had...Although the Ford Escort is a '99 with over 145,000 on it and my sons college car....
Yes, we'll buy Toyots again. Probably a Prius or Hybrid Highlander....

My Chevy on the other hand...there was no fluid that it didn't leak, among other things...well okay, brake fluid didn't leak, but that was it. My Ford, I'm happier with. I'd buy another Toyota or Ford.

though I'm still driving the Tercel I bought in '94, and expect it will last another 100,000 miles...

Never liked their styling or their sedateness. I want to know where is this acceleration when I'm behind one. Even grannys in Buicks are faster than Camry drivers