Toyota Quality

[PhoKingGuy]

I don't know how it is in the US, but here in Canada, the difference in price of domestic cars and imports with similar features usually equates to a few thousand dollars more for the imports.
Considering that the quality of domestics is mostly on par, if not better, than some of the imports these days, have lower repair costs, AND offer better financing and leasing rates, I don't see how you can be such a Toyota, Honda, etc fanboy.

I don't know of a single one of my relatives in Canada that doesn't have an American car.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

From wiki:

LEDs also offer a significant safety performance benefit when employed in brake lights, for when power is applied they rise to full intensity approximately 200 milliseconds (0.2 seconds) faster than incandescent bulbs. This fast rise time not only improves the attentional conspicuity of the brake lamp, but also provides following drivers with increased time in which to react to the appearance of the brake lamps.

I think the euro spec VWs have a dual stage LED tail light system that varies intensity with how hard the pedal is pressed. If you mash it down it starts flashing or something

 

[StageLeft]

2002 Tahoe - Oil changes ever 5k miles with mobil 1 synth, new tires at 50k, recall to put a piece of plastic in seat hinge so you dont get your fingers smashes (Stupid)

1999 I30 - oil changes, 3 sets of tires, front and rear brakes, front CV boots

2008 GTI - 1 oil change, DSG recall

Pick the right models and it all works out fine

Looks like you're two for three Skoorby no like transmission recall.

Apparently cars shipped from Japan have their tires inflated to sidewall or beyond for shipping.

It's because Japanese always run @ sidewall, it's perfect. They run it down to low values for stupid Americans!

Becoming the #1 car company in the world, we knew they'd cut back on tons of things and #1 thing to but back on would be quality and it's definitely been showing.

I think the CEO actually said as much, too, literally.

for when power is applied they rise to full intensity approximately 200 milliseconds (0.2 seconds) faster than incandescent bulbs

But since a normal lamp IS bright immediately, just not "100% bright", the actual distance traveled would be pretty slight. I would like to conclude by saying that the LED is thus technically safer, but only by a very marginal amount.

 

[desy]

As I've pointed out before, in 2007 there was ONLY about a 10% difference between NA cars or Toyonda, for cars that are 15 years old or built in 1992 'remember, the crappy days of NA cars'
In fact in 2000 for cars made in 1985, NA manufacture was BETTER than foreign cars.

All cars today are pretty good and I'd buy most, cept German ,cause I'm still not convinced parts and maintenanace won't eat me alive.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/278820

In 2007, of 15-year-old passenger cars that remained on the road ,research found that the number had climbed to 43 per cent.

Among nameplates, the research showed the survival rate for vehicles older than 15 years from offshore-based manufacturers including Toyota and Honda had shot up to 53.9 per cent last year from 30.5 per cent in 2000.

North American-based General Motors, Ford and Chrysler also had improved their survival rate for those aging vehicles to 43.7 per cent from 35.2 per cent in the same period.

DesRosiers said if there had been research in 1990 for 15-year-old vehicles, it would have been newsworthy if more than 15 per cent of such autos were still on the road.

"Never before have we seen such compelling large-scale evidence of improved long-term durability – regardless of nameplate origin, country of manufacture or class of vehicle," said DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

 

[StageLeft]

As I've pointed out before, in 2007 there was ONLY about a 10% difference between NA cars or Toyonda, for cars that are 15 years old or built in 1992 'remember, the crappy days of NA cars'
In fact in 2000 for cars made in 1985, NA manufacture was BETTER than foreign cars.

All cars today are pretty good and I'd buy most, cept German ,cause I'm still not convinced parts and maintenanace won't eat me alive.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/278820

In 2007, of 15-year-old passenger cars that remained on the road ,research found that the number had climbed to 43 per cent.

Among nameplates, the research showed the survival rate for vehicles older than 15 years from offshore-based manufacturers including Toyota and Honda had shot up to 53.9 per cent last year from 30.5 per cent in 2000.

North American-based General Motors, Ford and Chrysler also had improved their survival rate for those aging vehicles to 43.7 per cent from 35.2 per cent in the same period.

DesRosiers said if there had been research in 1990 for 15-year-old vehicles, it would have been newsworthy if more than 15 per cent of such autos were still on the road.

"Never before have we seen such compelling large-scale evidence of improved long-term durability – regardless of nameplate origin, country of manufacture or class of vehicle," said DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

We don't want your damned numbers, sir!

 

[MJinZ]

Looks like you're two for three Skoorby no like transmission recall.
It's because Japanese always run @ sidewall, it's perfect. They run it down to low values for stupid Americans!
I think the CEO actually said as much, too, literally.
But since a normal lamp IS bright immediately, just not "100% bright", the actual distance traveled would be pretty slight. I would like to conclude by saying that the LED is thus technically safer, but only by a very marginal amount.

ACtually, a regular bulb is not as bright (luminance) nor as fast to reach maximum intensity.

It's the noticeability factor that is more important than just the delay factor between brake press and light emission.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I dont really care if LED tails are safer or not, but they sure as hell look a lot better. The Euro spec VW tails change color from red to amber when you turn, but they disabled it for here

Lame

 

[soccerballtux]

It's taking people a while to realize that Toyota's reputation for quality isn't necessarily holding true anymore. They've let things slide quite a bit and during that time their competitors have been catching up and often times passing them.

Fine, we've still got Honda, who cares. I'm buying that over GM any day, lmao...

 

[SparkyJJO]

I dont really care if LED tails are safer or not, but they sure as hell look a lot better. The Euro spec VW tails change color from red to amber when you turn, but they disabled it for here

Lame

I like LED tails in general too (keep thinking of ways to make my own for my car) but some of them use such intensely bright LEDs that while yeah they are very noticeable they are almost painful to look at at night. Like looking into a bunch of lasers

 

[LTC8K6]

But since a normal lamp IS bright immediately, just not "100% bright", the actual distance traveled would be pretty slight. I would like to conclude by saying that the LED is thus technically safer, but only by a very marginal amount.

I always notice LED lights, though. The way they light up is noticeably different to me. They get my attention.

Of course when all cars have them...

 

[Pacfanweb]

LOL. You totally do not get this thread. I have no sympathy for Toyota nor am I asking for sympathy for myself (why would I want your sympathy lol? I want to dissuade people from buying Toyotas). The Domestic makers are still behind in many aspects, so who cares? You get the news like Oooh brand new Ford Fusion finally a decent car. Yea, against a bunch of 4 year old cars. Brand new Buick LaCrosse does well against Lexus ES. That's pathetic.

I'll put every GM and Ford model up against everything Toyota makes, and those domestics will come off VERY well, if not superior in most aspects.

GM and Ford have been equal to Toyota/Honda for several years now. Probably since the early 2000's.

Honda/Toyota have PLENTY of problems....but until Toyota's recent woes, they PERCEPTION has been that they are the gold standard of reliability. Perception takes a long time to change, but the fact of the matter is, things HAVE changed, and the playing field is about level now.

 

[desy]

I wouldn't put every Ford or GM up against everybody else but the gap has certainly closed on Toyonda.

But how boring would it be if everybody drove Civics?

 

[DietDrThunder]

Question on the runaway Prius on I-8 yesterday. Can you not shift the Prius into neutral? Or does the Prius not have a neutral? Also, the guy mentioned repeatedly pressing the start/stop button but the engine wouldn't shut off. Don't you have to press and hold the start/stop buttons for 3 seconds before it will shut off the engine?

 

[GTaudiophile]

My dad bought a 1997 RAV4 that the still owns with over 300K miles after 13 years of driving. He has had nearly zero problems with the car. He just bought a 2010 Tacoma based on his successful RAV4 experience. I hope he made a good decision.

 

[Arkaign]

I wouldn't put every Ford or GM up against everybody else but the gap has certainly closed on Toyonda.

But how boring would it be if everybody drove Civics?

That's true, every maker has their high marks and low marks. GM in particular is a very mixed bag at the moment, some of their older models (Cobalt for example) are near the worst in class, while others (Malibu, CTS) are right at the top of their segment/price.

 

[Arkaign]

As I've pointed out before, in 2007 there was ONLY about a 10% difference between NA cars or Toyonda, for cars that are 15 years old or built in 1992 'remember, the crappy days of NA cars'
In fact in 2000 for cars made in 1985, NA manufacture was BETTER than foreign cars.

All cars today are pretty good and I'd buy most, cept German ,cause I'm still not convinced parts and maintenanace won't eat me alive.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/278820

In 2007, of 15-year-old passenger cars that remained on the road ,research found that the number had climbed to 43 per cent.

Among nameplates, the research showed the survival rate for vehicles older than 15 years from offshore-based manufacturers including Toyota and Honda had shot up to 53.9 per cent last year from 30.5 per cent in 2000.

North American-based General Motors, Ford and Chrysler also had improved their survival rate for those aging vehicles to 43.7 per cent from 35.2 per cent in the same period.

DesRosiers said if there had been research in 1990 for 15-year-old vehicles, it would have been newsworthy if more than 15 per cent of such autos were still on the road.

"Never before have we seen such compelling large-scale evidence of improved long-term durability – regardless of nameplate origin, country of manufacture or class of vehicle," said DesRosiers, president of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.

Heh, I wonder how the numbers would look if you took the mostly craptacular Dodge lineup out of the picture. Of course, to be fair, we'd have to delete Mitsubishi from the import lineup to be fair.

 

[rancherlee]

LED tails help quite a bit in stopping distance BUT you have to remember that you will have to buy an COMPLETE 200$ taillight IF the LEDs go bad. Even if one single LED goes bad out of 20+ in a taillight there are some state inspections that will fail the vehicle. I see many 5 year old cars with LED tails that have 1 or 2 burned out (with 20+ still working). Hell my 1996 FORD Thunderbird has LEDs in the trunklid tails AND the rear 3rd breaklight, so they are nothing new. Since about 2000 Toyota quality has been slipping ALOT and Ford has passed them and GM is catching up quick in Quality.