Toyota reliability crumbling

[YSSMAN]

Care = quality, yes indeed. Chevrolet Tahoe's aren't rated particularly high in quality, but get someone like my grandfather behind the wheel that cleans everything in the car with a q-tip, the thing is going to last forever.

As for our Camry? It's had the same problems that most 3rd gen models have, leaky headgaskets, leaking main-seals, crappy exhausts that rust quite fast, added to a car that is rusting faster than most American models. But we can't complain too much, as most of the probelms didn't start happening untill about 8 or 9 years into ownership (bought new in May 1995 as a brand-new 1995 model).

 

[niky]

Toyota too? Honda's circa 95' models (here) are notorious for poor rustproofing. And Nissan's "10Best" V6? The small displacement version back in the 90's was notorious for headgasket failures, too.

As most of our American cars here are trucks (except for the odd imported Mustang or Camaro), it's hard for me to imagine how much worse they could be than that... wait... I can... my buddy's Venture is still in pieces... the porker just broke down... again.

 

[GT4_Rule]

This was obvious from as early as 2000. The 7th Generation Honda Civics (the one before this current one) had lots of problems with interior as well as trims in 2000-2002. Toyota's recall rates have been going up since 2001. It's the same footsteps the American giants took. Once they got big, they outsourced parts, used cheap labor, and let their overall quality slip because they knew that people will still buy the car thanks to the name.

My view on this matter.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Recalls are usually about a design failure (c.f. Corvette) or some batch-manufacturing fault (c.f. Prado). They're very rarely related to the reliability of a vehicle.

A manufacturer would have to recall any vehicle affected by whatever defect it has identified, because if it did not, an owner affected by it (whether in terms of safety or reduced value) would sue them, especially in the Land of the Litigious. Hence a million-vehicle recall in the face of 30 complainants.

Which is worse? The manufacturer who issues recalls and fixes problems, or the one that keeps its head down, and quietly fixes stuff at service intervals? I believe that all manufacturers find issues with their cars, and the ones that issue recalls are the honest ones.

And (reaching way back into this thread) Toyota score so well in consumer surveys because they understand customer service.