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When it rains, it freaking pours...

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The Stigenator said:
I had a friend who worked in Toyota Service Dept (service adviser) and used to constantly complain that the new cars (Camry,Corolla, Matrix, Rav4) were constantly coming in for engine and transmission related issues. There was also the stuff like build quality issues. People who thought they were indestructible were thinking of the Toyota's from the 1980-1990's.
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any service manager will say the same thing about the cars they service.
that's all the see day in and day out.
 
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ussfletcher said:
The government doesn't have a conflict of interest here. You are treating it like a sole entity, when in fact it is not. The administration speaking is in no way connected to the wellbeing of GM.
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I agree. If anything, this only helps Hyundai (and Kia), Ford and Volkswagen. My analysis follows.

1. Honda and Nissan are Japanese brands and carry a slight stigma that Toyota is Japanese as well. This really shouldn't matter but this is the world we live in. The rest of the Japanese auto manufacturers don't sell volume to matter (Nissan is arguable as well).

2. The US has already lost respect for GM and Chrysler. Until they pay back every tax payer penny and start building consistently good automobiles, their massive marketing campaign won't do jack. This will eventually happen.. many decades from now.

3. Ford, Hyundai (and Kia) and VW are the only major US market auto manufacturers to gain respect, image, market share, reliability and perceived reliability. Especially impressive considering the world economic condition.

My predictions. Toyota will continue to lose sales, other Japanese brands stay static, GM and Chrysler continue to fall into the pits of doom, and Ford Hyundai and VW.
 
KIAman said:
My predictions. Toyota will continue to lose sales, other Japanese brands stay static, GM and Chrysler continue to fall into the pits of doom, and Ford Hyundai and VW.
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?? Did you look at last months numbers? Almost all "New GM" brands were up big time year over year (Cadillac being the one exception...basically flatlining). Buick up 44%...Chevy up 36%... GMC up 11% Even with the languishing sales of Saab, Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn...GM as a whole was up 16%. They are not headed down a pit of doom if they continue to put out good product.

ref: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/02/by-the-numbers-january-2010-total-recall-edition/
 
PricklyPete said:
?? Did you look at last months numbers? Almost all "New GM" brands were up big time year over year (Cadillac being the one exception...basically flatlining). Buick up 44%...Chevy up 36%... GMC up 11% Even with the languishing sales of Saab, Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn...GM as a whole was up 16%. They are not headed down a pit of doom if they continue to put out good product.

ref: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/02/by-the-numbers-january-2010-total-recall-edition/
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I agree that what they are putting out now is head-and-shoulders above what they were putting out in the 90's/ early-2000s. They really are earning every bit of those sales too, they have done a complete 180 in what? 5 years?
 
Predictions are like a blind man playing darts. Eventually, somebody will go blind from a dart to the eye.
 
ussfletcher said:
I agree that what they are putting out now is head-and-shoulders above what they were putting out in the 90's/ early-2000s. They really are earning every bit of those sales too, they have done a complete 180 in what? 5 years?
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True.

Also, the sales numbers released for Jan 2010 compared to Jan 2009 need to be looked at in more detail to really see the numbers. Toyota is down (a lot), Honda is down ( a little) and GM and Ford are up. As well as Ford is doing (PR-wise) their CONSUMER sales are actually down 5% this year. Most of their sales increase is due to fleet sales skyrocketing because rental companies put a big freeze on car purchasing last year. GM consumer sales were actually up 5% IIRC.
 
ussfletcher said:
I agree that what they are putting out now is head-and-shoulders above what they were putting out in the 90's/ early-2000s. They really are earning every bit of those sales too, they have done a complete 180 in what? 5 years?
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I'm going to credit that to Bob Lutz being an automotive genius. He is to GM what Mulally is to Ford. Both have done the only publicly-owned American automakers great things. FWIW, Lutz also was an executive at Chrysler from 86-98. This is when the Caravan was *the shit* of the minivan world, the Viper came to be, the Neon was America's best-selling compact, and the Ram debuted styling elements that are now being used by GM and Ford in their HD trucks.
 
thescreensavers said:
You still using OEM tires? why not get a tire with better tread rating?
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No, the dealer is. We get them for free actually. 🙂

When we bought the car they offered us a free tires for life deal if we service the car at the dealership, which we have. For 18" performance rubber I figure 3 full sets of tires would have set us back well over $2k by now.
 
GTaudiophile said:
Meh. My dad's 1997 RAV4 is still going strong with ZERO major problems after 300K miles.

He just bought a 2010 Tacoma.
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Those old RAV4's are really really damned solid!

A 2010 Tacoma though? IMHO (obviously irrelevant so long as your dad is happy and safe, and hopefully gets a lot of miles out of it) .. the Tacoma is overpriced at the moment.

F150 is a world better than what it was, and at the moment I think a better buy than the Tacoma, or God forbid, the Tundra ($$$$$$$$). You'd think you're getting a Lambo for what those Toyotas cost.

Now in 1997? Yeah the 1997 F150 blew chunks compared to a 1997 Toyota Truck. They were notoriously underpowered and unsafe until the '04 gen, which was a huge 180 degree turn.
 
Toyota now admits the Prius issue, at least that's in the paper today, this one causing delays of up to a second after you press the brake. Man, these Toyotas just do NOT want to slow down, do they?
 
JulesMaximus said:
No, the dealer is. We get them for free actually. 🙂

When we bought the car they offered us a free tires for life deal if we service the car at the dealership, which we have. For 18" performance rubber I figure 3 full sets of tires would have set us back well over $2k by now.
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I Don't know what is more expensive, the tires or the dealer service. :biggrin:
 
Arkaign said:
Those old RAV4's are really really damned solid!

A 2010 Tacoma though? IMHO (obviously irrelevant so long as your dad is happy and safe, and hopefully gets a lot of miles out of it) .. the Tacoma is overpriced at the moment.

F150 is a world better than what it was, and at the moment I think a better buy than the Tacoma, or God forbid, the Tundra ($$$$$$$$). You'd think you're getting a Lambo for what those Toyotas cost.

Now in 1997? Yeah the 1997 F150 blew chunks compared to a 1997 Toyota Truck. They were notoriously underpowered and unsafe until the '04 gen, which was a huge 180 degree turn.
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Full disclosure...I own a 2005 Tacoma TRD Offroad.

There are a few niches that the Toyota fills that the Ford F150 does not.

1) Smaller than the Ford F150. While the Toyota has grown from its older (more nimble) size, it is still a good bit smaller. This really only counts when offroading...but there are definitely times I've been able to get places where my friends have not in their larger full size trucks. I specifically have the access cab model....the double cab long bed is a freaking long truck.

2) bare bones 4 cylinder. You can get the toyota in a very bare bones, 4 cylinder config that will get very good mileage and do 90% of the work a F150 can do. Sure it can't haul huge loads or tow enormous, but it works for a lot of people and gets great gas mileage doing it. One of my friends is a Contractor out in California and that is all he needs. He drives a LOT and needs to make runs for items...but nothing the Tacoma can't handle. To be honest, I have a number of friends who work construction in different forms and none of them use their full size work trucks to their potential...all of them drive them around like cars with the occasional bit of crap in the bed. Their companies could easily give their employees 4cyl Tacomas and save a lot in gas (they could get the Ranger...but really???).

Those two points being made, the F150 is definitely a better deal for the amount of car that you get for the price especially when compared to a higher end Tacoma.
 
Skoorb said:
Toyota now admits the Prius issue, at least that's in the paper today, this one causing delays of up to a second after you press the brake. Man, these Toyotas just do NOT want to slow down, do they?
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I heard on NPR that there is no recall for this, but that Japan gov and NHTSA are investigating. Toyota is just telling the customers to "brake harder".

Another comment made by the NPR reporter was that Toyota has "already" fixed this problem on newer cars....it was just earlier 2010 Prius's that have this issue. So they knew about this already. I understand that this happens a lot, but from a PR perspective, this is only going to be more bad press.
 
Boy, I tell ya. Toyota figures out a way for your vehicle to go further than before, giving you better mileage.....and all the American consumers do is complain that they can't get their cars to stop! They just can't win!! 🙄
 
ive said it b4..but i gotta metnion it again
my 2005 toyota tacoma 4x4 was the biggest POS truck ive ever owned
so big in fact i sold it with 28k on it
clutch pedal assembly went 2x(replaced once under warranty)
all leaf spring bushing made noise had to be replaced
it was fuckin embarrasing to drive
constant intermittent clutch noises9throw out bearing?toyota tech didnt know)
heater died in 07
slave cyl went at 25k
the tacoma is the most overrated piece of shit truck ive ever owned
ill NEVER buy another toyota again
trying to get toyota to do anything about it was a nightmare

oh and rust on every single seam on the frame by yr 3
 
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spaceman said:
ive said it b4..but i gotta metnion it again
my 2005 toyota tacoma 4x4 was the biggest POS truck ive ever owned
so big in fact i sold it with 28k on it
clutch pedal assembly went 2x(replaced once under warranty)
all leaf spring bushing made noise had to be replaced
it was fuckin embarrasing to drive
constant intermittent clutch noises9throw out bearing?toyota tech didnt know)
heater died in 07
slave cyl went at 25k
the tacoma is the most overrated piece of shit truck ive ever owned
ill NEVER buy another toyota again
trying to get toyota to do anything about it was a nightmare

oh and rust on every single seam on the frame by yr 3
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Other than a battery dying in one of the wheels (fking TPMS...I forgot to check that when I replaced tires, too), my '05 Tundra has been just about perfect (only 47k on it, though). My '98 Tacoma was great until the frame rotted out at 198k. 🙁
 
sdifox said:
I Don't know what is more expensive, the tires or the dealer service. :biggrin:
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Dealer service is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. The car warns my wife when a service is due, she calls Lexus and makes an appointment to drop it off, they give her a free loaner car and she picks it up when it is ready. This way I don't have to deal with any of it and I'm perfectly happy with that. It's about convenience.

Besides, she is self-employed and uses the car for business so we write more than half of that expense off on our taxes anyway.
 
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