Older but interesting article on Toyota brand recognition

IMO, the American car makers in general blew it, in the early-mid 70's. I happily bought a Plymouth Duster in '72, but by '76 (kept the Duster for only 4 years; times goes by more slowly when young!) looked at only Toyotas & Datsuns as possibilities for my next car. (I don't think Honda was really in the picture yet, at that point? When did the Civic arrive?) I had no desire whatsoever to even consider another American car by 1976. IMO, they'd seen the writing on the wall, but had done nothing about it.

Cathy

Reply to
Cathy F.
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Yup....I educated her....

Now I could NOT pry her away from Toyotas...

Reply to
Scott in Florida

I think everyone should drive crapslers, fords or gm's first so they can appreciate the Toys and Hondas...

Reply to
Scott in Florida

My brother had a 94 Mazda 2300, also known as a Mord or a Fazda. Even though it was built by Ford, they couldn't figure out which parts it needed when it came time to repair things. And when the stereo theives wrecked the clutch, broke the fill pipe to the tranny and physically broke the board in the brain box, did we ever have a time getting the right parts. At least when Toyota used different parts for the same model year, they know how to find the right one, usually.

Charles of Schaumburg

Reply to
n5hsr

Toyota seems to be following GM and Ford down the same road of decontenting, and releasing new engines and transmissions before their time.

The third generation Camry was terrific, then they started their long decline. I remember how Toyota boasted that the fourth generation Camry (1997-2002) cost them $2000 less per car to build than the third generation (1992-1996). You could see and feel many of the cost reductions.

The transmission issues on the sixth generation warrant avoiding at least the 2007 model. The caution about avoiding the first year of a new model extends to Toyota and Honda.

Reply to
SMS

Agreed. If you paid the asking price for a major appliance it's because you didn't try to bargain!

Reply to
Pete Moss

I don't know about that. The POS Cressida I owned was a nightmare to get parts for . Starter solenoid burned out, Toyota solution- new $500 starter. Fortunately I was able to fix it for $0.25 (one of the contact bolts in the solenoid had burned off - I found a Chevy part that I could make fit). Alternator failed - Toyota solution - $400 alternator. And the damn thing failed three times in three years. A/C quits working? Toyota solution - Duuuuh we can't figure it out. Turned out it was a plugged receiver drier (I had to figure it out myself). Paint fades from dark blue to blue gray. Toyota solution - not our problem. We had it repainted. Car starts knocking off randomly. Toyota solution - there is nothing wrong. Yeah right,.I finally figured out the fuel pump relay was bad. Transmission starts shifting weirdly. Toyota solution - go away, its normal. Yeah right., My solution - sell that turkey.

And you wonder why I am suspicious of Toyota quality. I know it has been a long time. But you have to understand, not only was this car unreliable, it was also dull, cramped, expensive, and drove worse than a 20 year old pick-up truck. It was a total POS. Any company that would sell something like that as there supposed top of the line car can't be trusted. And before you asked, I didn't pick this POS out. The ex-wife did. And even she won't buy a Toyota now.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I think JD Powers surveys are much more professional and authoritative than CR. CR seems to have it backwards in this survey, not to mentioned they have to retract a child seat report recently.

I've not read any magazine that praised Toyota's styling. Not bad but nothing to rave about.

Toyota is not known as a performance brand but offers a good quiet ride to the supermarket. "Toyota racing" is an oxymoron.

It was years ago when Toyota's quality ranked above Honda according to JD Powers and now even Hyundai is better.

And Toyota as a technology leader? haa haa haa haa haaaa

Makes me wonder how much did Toyota pay CR for this ad? Try JD Powers instead.

C. E. White wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

I've not had the problem with repairs lately that you've had. I did have that problem with my 79 Toyota. But I note that most of the Toyota dealers I dealt with were also GM dealers, and thus oriented to the GM way of doing repairs in many cases. I avoid dealer repair shops like the Bubonic Plague for that reason. Even Arlington Heights Toyota doesn't want to work on older Toyotas, they'd much rather run up the bill so you'll give up and buy a new one, obviously one of theirs. . . . They tried that with our Previa. They wanted to put $2200 worth of just parts on it, not counting labor. Turns out the problem was the battery was 8 years old. Once we put in a new battery, the other symptoms disappeared. Why didn't they check that?

Toyotas are in the main pretty good. A lot of the repair shops I've dealt with, however, ain't up to spec. Some of the parts departments are so dense that I've literally had to point to them on their own fiche which part I'm talking about. Especially if they're kids I seem to have this trouble. Some of the older parts guys will get right to it.

Charles of Schaumburg

Reply to
n5hsr

You usually can get an okay price from places like Carsdirect.com, though you can beat their prices at a dealer.

Reply to
SMS

Aha, I see what you are saying -- General Motors designed the Prius? And as usual, the Japanese took advantage of American technology?

Reply to
Bill Tuthill

If you want a good independent shop in our area, try the Marathon station just west of HEHS on Higgins.

Reply to
Ray O

"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.meer.net...

If you check on the origins of "Toyota's" hybrid technology you'll find that Aisin Seiki was the original developer in response to requirements from a number of companies (including Toyota and Volvo). Aisin Seiki originally got into the drive train business through a joint venture with Borg Warner (Aisin - Warner). This company was the sole supplier of automatic transmission to Toyota. It also supplied transmissions to other companies. Eventually the joint venture with Borg Warner was dissolved. Later Toyota bought a controlling interest in Aisin Seiki, so I guess that makes it Toyota technology. However, it definitely has it roots in lessons learned from Americans. I do find Japanese Corporate politics fascinating. Aisin Seiki never acknowledges that they are controlled by Toyota. Toyota for its part never mentions that Aisin Seiki actually developed the hybrid technology they are so proud of. On the other hand Aisin Seiki has no problem acknowledging that they sell hybrid components to Ford. But they never mention that part of the technology used in the components they sell to Ford is licensed from Volvo (which is owned by Ford). If you read the Aisin Seiki "history," the joint venture with Borg Warner is never mentioned. Jatco is the same. Jatco was originally setup by Ford, Mazda, and Nissan to manufacture automatic transmissions based on Ford designs. Originally each owned a third. After Ford took over control of Mazda, Nissan insisted that Ford drop out, since they could exercise control over Jatco because they owned a third outright, plus controlled another third through Mazda. Ford eventually got out of Jatco. But if you go to the Jatco homepage, you'd never know Ford or Mazda ever had a part in the company. Nissan and Mitsubishi are apparently the main owners of Jatco these days, although they still supply transmissions to Ford of Europe and Asia, and Mazda.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

I haven't tried Schaumburg Toyota with the new car yet.

Reply to
n5hsr

What's HEHS? Higgins runs a long way.

Reply to
n5hsr

A Cressida? What was that - 20 years ago? 30? I can't remember the last time I even saw a Cressida.

And you don't have a Toyota now? Tell me why I shouldn't go hang out in alt.autos.ford/gm and bad-mouth Ford and GM over there.

Reply to
dh

The high school at Higgins and Gannon, across from the Acura dealer.

Reply to
Ray O

OK, just tell me that it's on the same street as White Castle and the Hoffman Estates Post Office.

Reply to
n5hsr

Thanks for the very interesting corporate survey.

The movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" implies that Cl>

Reply to
Bill Tuthill

Sure, as Ed White mentioned, Toyota and Aisin like to downplay the technology assistance from other companies. I believe you should give credit where credit is due. You don't think the hybrid drive is a new technology never seen before on the planet, do you? Technology innovation is quite different from applying existing technology.

For instance, Toyota isn't good at designing direct injection and diesel engines. So it licensed the hybrid drive technology to Ford in exchange for direct injection and diesel technologies.

Maybe you can tell us which auto technologies were pioneered by Toyota: Cylinder deactivation? No, that's GM. ABS? No, that's Dunlop and then TRW. Digital engine control? No, that's Bosch. CVT? No, that's a Dutch invention. Air bags? No, John Hetrick patented it in 1953. Hybrid electric drive? No, the widest use is in diesel-electric submarines.

Please give credit where credit is due.

Reply to
johngdole

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