Bookman

Here's an article I just read on CNN. Not important or anything but interesting none the less.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/04/26/Autos/toyo...dex.htm?cnn=yes
Book

Maverick128

Why should they?

Lalo

they dont have to.
they are building half of their autos, sold in the U.S., in the U.S. and creating more jobs. That right there seems pretty nice of them, especially if they are not getting a profit from building them here instead of somewhere else.

1 COBRA

It's allright with me, as long as they don't clone the Mustang.

GhostTX

"Our basic stance is that prices are something for the market to determine," a spokesman at Japan's top auto manufacturer said.

Amen! As much as I would rather see domestic cars on top, if they can do it for the same or better quality for less and still turn a profit, kudos to them.

Besides, all politicians have to do is impose a tariff on imports if they really want to bump up import prices.

1999 Black 35th GT

Okay we all know that my stance on toyota. They're already a rip-off at the prices they are. My wife looked at a celica a few years back and all the standard features on american cars. toyota stinks :notnice: hopefully they go down on the scale soon

Bookman

This is getting out of control. There are articles about this all over the place now.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/insiders...D01-163650.htm

Zastava_101

No, they are not rip-off, they are worth every penny you pay for them. Why? Because their engines can last forever. They may not be good looking, they may not be fast, but they have quality like no one else. Why do you think Toyota each year make profit? When was the last time you heard that Toyota lost $$$? Lexus, which is part of Toyota, has already beat cars like Audi, BMW and Mercedes in Europe (did anyone even heard of Lexus 15 years ago?). There is a good reason why Toyota never loses money and that is quality. When you buy a Toyota you know it will last you forever. You're not going to have many recalls (if any at all, mostly minor recalls), you know that they buyer won't came back to fix something on the car during warranty period. Sure, they don't have a car to compete against muscle cars now (although Supra TT was almost as good as Mustang Cobra in the 1990s), but try comparing Focus and Corrola or Camry and Five Hundred or Crown Victoria and Avalon. We all know the winner.

1999 Black 35th GT

Uh, Redstar you obviously haven't heard about the quality issues of the steel they were using for their trucks, or how all 3 models of the tacoma failed miserably in the rollover test, or how about the "sludge" problem the camry's had about 2 years ago and charging the owner with the bill to replace the entire engine in some cases, or the issue with them not recalling vehicles and getting away with voluntary recalls where the consumer had to pay for the fix (it happened to my father so I know first hand), or how about the best one of all.....

Our fire dept. recieved a manual on how to extricate victims from the hybrid vehicle from Honda (the Insight). The reason we needed this info is to know where to cut do to the powerful electrical lines in the car. So we then asked toyota for the info on the prius and what did they tell us.... "No those are trade secrets and we are not disclosing them to anyone, not even emergency services."

Our chief then had to have a special meeting with us discussing how if we were to arrive on an accident with entrapment involving a prius we would not be able to cut due to the danger to us and the victim. Thus he said if worse came to worse we would have to let the victim go.

Now that's how toyota claims to be a safe and reliable company???? I don't think so.

Keep that in mind next time you consider toyota a decent company. :notnice:

Zastava_101

No, I don't consider Toyota as a decent company. Decent companies are Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. I consider Toyota as a lot more than decent comapny. If Toyota have all those problems you mentioned, how come they still have #1 selling car, how come they passed Chrylser for 3rd place in USA and pretty soon they're gonna pass Ford too, how come they never lose money (compared to GM and Ford)? Explaing that to me, because I really don't get it. How come they never lose money if their cars (and trucks) have that many problems?

1999 Black 35th GT

No, I don't consider Toyota as a decent company. Decent companies are Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge. I consider Toyota as a lot more than decent comapny. If Toyota have all those problems you mentioned, how come they still have #1 selling car, how come they passed Chrylser for 3rd place in USA and pretty soon they're gonna pass Ford too, how come they never lose money (compared to GM and Ford)? Explaing that to me, because I really don't get it. How come they never lose money if their cars (and trucks) have that many problems?
[/b][/quote]

Thats the thing toyota IS losing ground. Hyundai and Subaru surpassed them in reliablility this year and so did Ford for the sports car, the Mustang. Also toyota wanted to get into hyundai's plant which hyundai didn't allow. Also you are far behind on the times my friend Ford did get passed last year which may have been a blessing in disguise. It has fueled them to build better vehicles which they have been!

Experts have been finding declines in toyota's reliability lately too, ask my father in law who has a tundra. He'll tell you about the cheapness of the vehicle.

Also Ford and Subaru have ranked higher than toyota on safety too!

Zoran you need to read before placing an opinion on something that you may not know about!

They are not decent cars. People have it set in their mind that just because the badge is on the car that makes it reliable which is farthest from the truth!

Psst... There is a reason the F-150 has been the best selling truck for 28 years

Laurie's 35th Black GT

No, they are not rip-off, they are worth every penny you pay for them. Why? Because their engines can last forever. They may not be good looking, they may not be fast, but they have quality like no one else. Why do you think Toyota each year make profit? When was the last time you heard that Toyota lost $$$? Lexus, which is part of Toyota, has already beat cars like Audi, BMW and Mercedes in Europe (did anyone even heard of Lexus 15 years ago?). There is a good reason why Toyota never loses money and that is quality. When you buy a Toyota you know it will last you forever. You're not going to have many recalls (if any at all, mostly minor recalls), you know that they buyer won't came back to fix something on the car during warranty period. Sure, they don't have a car to compete against muscle cars now (although Supra TT was almost as good as Mustang Cobra in the 1990s), but try comparing Focus and Corrola or Camry and Five Hundred or Crown Victoria and Avalon. We all know the winner.
[/b][/quote]


Actually, Toyota is a rip when compared to the very similar Honda. I have been a loyal import buyer for many years now. Every time I consider buying a Toyota over a Honda, I am persuaded against it b/c of Toyota charging more for standard options on a Honda. I have comparisoned shopped between Celicas vs. Civics and Rav 4 vs Element. And both times Honda won hands down b/c of price. To me, Toyota over charges for what comes standard in many other vehicles. And I have a big problem with a company who won't provide information to our emergency services dept in order to save our lives! I can't believe that they would risk lives and law suits all in an effort to not devulge "trade secrets"?! In that case, I'd rather drive an unreliable vehicle than drive won that is un-safe. I think we all need to take a look at Toyota (and any other manufacturer for that matter) and boycott their sales if they are not willing to provide such information like where to cut for extrication purposes. How would you feel if that was your loved one in the vehicle?

Zastava_101

And there is a reason Corrolla is 2nd best selling car in the world of all times (1st is VW Beetle). I'm gonna ask you again, when was the last time you heard that Toyota didn't make profit? Each year they are stronger and stronger. I even read a story few years ago that Toyota makes twice bigger profit than Ford and GM together (and those were times when GM and Ford weren't losing money, like they are doing it now). Weather we like it or not, Toyota have best quality cars in the world. They did more in the last 20 years than Ford did in the past 100 years. Which car do you think is better, Focus or Corrolla? Camry or Taurus? Truth ain't pretty, my friend.

Lalo

Did some research on reliability:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/busin...in-auto08.html
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7119221
http://money.cnn.com/2004/11/08/pf/autos/c...to_reliability/
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=...9-060256-5021r
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=558798

This is from one of the articles.
For 2004 Models:
BRAND PROBLEMS PER
100 VEHICLES
Subaru 8
Honda 9
Acura 10
Toyota 10
Hyundai 11
Infiniti 11
Lexus 11
Audi 12
Mini 13
Ford 15
Pontiac 15
Cadillac 16
Chevrolet 16
Chrysler 16
GMC 16
Jeep 16
Mazda 16
Saab 16
Dodge 17
Mercury 17
Volvo 17
Buick 18
Nissan 19
Saturn 19
BMW 21
Volkswagen 23
Mercedes-Benz 25
Lincoln 26

GhostTX

I honestly think the "quality" wars of the 70's and 80's are still rippling today, even though Ford and GM quality is on par, if not better than Toyota's.

There was a study in the 80s that a defect detected in a new rollout was fixed on an import in less than a week. On domestics, it took the better part of a year. This is how that "don't buy first year models" rule came into affect. They did the same study in the late 90s and found a defect detected and fixed is now the same amount of time in both domestic and import car manufacturers (under a week).

My $0.02, the stigma of import = better quality of today is the remaining backlash of the truth 20 years ago. Today, domestic are just as good if not better, they just can't get past that two decade old perception.

Zastava_101

I would like to see what those problems are. Because not having CD player working and not having engine start is not a same thing.

1999 Black 35th GT

Number One. You obviously aren't grasping what I'm saying. Toyota may make a profit but they are slipping! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? Or do you need me to do this in sign language too? My point is that they are becoming more unreliable and more unsafe year after year.

Number Two. And let me get this straight, you would rather buy a vehicle that isn't as safe simply because of the badge on the front? That choice is completely up to you, but I wouldn't!

Number Three. If many experts are saying (and don't even BS me that you're more of an expert than Consumer Reports because you're not) that Fords are safer why do you insist on the opposite And why are Toyota profits dropping, huh? And why has Subaru overtaken Toyota as the most reliable auto manufacturer (and this is also according to Consumer Reports yet again)?

You know what, why don't you just go and tell all the workers at CR that they are wrong and you're right and see what happens. I bet you get laughed at as you are right now by many people.

Just read GhostTX's response above. He speaks the truth. You are being blinded by what you have heard many years ago! I don't claim that Ford's reliability is above Subaru because it's not (hopefully it will be in the coming years), but it has certainly risen above Toyota IMO. You forget to look at how Toyota has the voluntary recalls that don't count on the list. Add them in and they're "sparkling" image gets pretty tarnished. My dad had a Camry with 4 voluntary recalls, 4!

Even look at my Laurie 35th Black GT's answer. She's an import fan and she still sees past what you cannot.

If there is a lesson to be learned from any of this it is to gather knowledge before placing an opinion. Also not all sources are correct either, the Tacoma was top rated until it failed the roll test miserably

Oh and just in case you noticed my main focus is SAFETY! No company is perfect but Ford is safer overall!

holderca1

Only problem is that a lot of their vehicles are made in the U.S. anyway and wouldn't get hit by a tariff. The Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Tundra, Nissan Titan, among many others are made here.

Lalo

Sorry

the Sonata being the number one reliable vehicle and the new looks make it really hard to look away (not to mention it has the best name imo)


:

Zastava_101

Number One. You obviously aren't grasping what I'm saying. Toyota may make a profit but they are slipping! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? Or do you need me to do this in sign language too? My point is that they are becoming more unreliable and more unsafe year after year.

Number Two. And let me get this straight, you would rather buy a vehicle that isn't as safe simply because of the badge on the front? That choice is completely up to you, but I wouldn't!

Number Three. If many experts are saying (and don't even BS me that you're more of an expert than Consumer Reports because you're not) that Fords are safer why do you insist on the opposite And why are Toyota profits dropping, huh? And why has Subaru overtaken Toyota as the most reliable auto manufacturer (and this is also according to Consumer Reports yet again)?

You know what, why don't you just go and tell all the workers at CR that they are wrong and you're right and see what happens. I bet you get laughed at as you are right now by many people.

Just read GhostTX's response above. He speaks the truth. You are being blinded by what you have heard many years ago! I don't claim that Ford's reliability is above Subaru because it's not (hopefully it will be in the coming years), but it has certainly risen above Toyota.

Even look at my Laurie 35th Black GT's answer. She's an import fan and she still sees past what you cannot.

If there is a lesson to be learned from any of this it is to gather knowledge before placing an opinion. Also not all sources are correct either, the Tacoma was top rated until it failed the roll test miserably
[/b][/quote]

Number 1: Even if Toyota's profit is slipping, TOYOTA STILL MAKES PROFIT, which is more than I can say about GM and Ford. Toyota is not losing money, they're still making profit.
Number 2: I wanna car that average person can afford and to have engine that can last for a long time. I don't care about name of the car.
Number 3: Even if Subaru does have better quality than Toyota, this isn't about Subaru vs Toyota. Do you really think Ford is more reliabe than Toyota? Do you really think Focus is more reliable than Corrolla or Taurus is more reliable than Camry? Why is Ford losing money if they build such reliable cars?