American and Japanese quality

I have a Fremont-assembled 93 Corolla with 207,000 miles on it. The only real problem I've had is the US-built alternator. Replaced it with a ND and haven't had problems since.

Charles of Kankakee

My 94 Camry was built in US. My 97 Camry was built in Japan. The build quality and the materials (other than seals) of the 94 were superior to my 97.

There is a sticker on the driver's side rear door window. It is called an 'origin' sticker and will list where the major parts came from and where the car was assembled. The dealer will remove this sticker and throw it away before you pick the car up.

If you're really concerned, look at the car again before the detailers get it. It will show where the car was assembled, the percentage of parts origin, and where the engine and transmission were made.

And, chances are, you will get one of those nasty Delphi alternators...

Delphi isn't in trouble for nothing...

You have nothing to worry about. The quality of a Toyota is the same regardless of where it is made. Corollas have been made in Fremont, CA and Cambridge, Ontario for years, and it is still one of the most reliable cars around.

Don't worry about it---my wife's 95 Corolla was made at the NUMMI plant and I don't think it's ever going to quit running. It's rolling up on 150 K miles and has been hit by 2 other cars and 4 deer. We just pound out the dents and keep rolling. And if you knew how little maintainance it had received before we married you would be even more inpressed.

Americans can build very well. The issue with GM and Ford are cheap parts and lack of clear leadership.

Relax and enjoy...it's fine...

Have no fear. Remember that is the Toyota engineers who determine the methods and procedures for assembly, as well as quality control. Rest assured that those methods are idiot-proof, so that it doesn't matter who is doing the assembly.

I highly doubt that, if it was idiot proof it would probably be done by a robot. All the none idiot proof assembly is relegated to humans. I've been to Japan and their culture is just different, bus drivers cleaning their buses when they have a few minutes of spare time, for instance, is something you would just never see in the US.

Nope, it depends on the job. You may have visited Japan, but I worked in a Sony manufacturing facility for 13 years. I started on the assembly line, worked as a QC inspector, and finally a maintenance technician. I concur about the cleaning aspect. During downtime or a gap in the production flow, housekeeping duties were mandatory. It was also an area that was rated on annual employee reviews.

My US built Avalon is crap. So was a friend's. On the other hand, I had 3 Japanese built Tercels and they were excellent. You should be concerned.

Where was the Avalon assembled?

Don't listen to Art. He squawks about fit-and-finish issues with his Avalon, but doesn't mind when his Crapsler experiences a mechanical failure.

Avalons sold in the U.S. are assembled in Georgetown, KY.

My '98 was built in Kentucky. It's been excellent in form and function.

Brent

I picked up the new Avalon on 10 August. Later that same day the car showed its first fault. I felt a very strong shudder/vibration in the whole car, when travelling slowly in top gear and accelerating very lightly. Slowly=less than 80kmph(50MPH). It felt like there were bumper strips on the road, the kind they use for warning you to slow down.

The same fault happened several times over the next two days but when I took it to the dealer on Saturday, it did not do it anymore. The 1000kms service was done. Since that first happened there is a low frequency droning/vibration/noise (whatever you like call it) coming thru the whole car, starting at about 110kmph (70MPH) and loudest at about

130kmph (80MPH)... This is really annoying as I travel around that speed most of the time and it is quite intrusive when playing quite music..

On September 8, after doing a U-turn, the car gave a huge thud, which shook the whole car and bounced my foot up off the accelerator pedal.? of course when I took it to the dealer it would not do it again...

Also when driving slowly, the gearbox sometimes seems to get confused and does not know which gear to choose, it jumps quickly and suddenly thru gears. Until it finds the 'right' one.

Also the car seems to Amplify the small bumps in the road surface.

On September 17, I had the car checked by a panel of Toyota representatives who were here for a customer reaction visit. I told them all about the faults with my particular car and they went for a ride in it...

The report from these guys is that all these problems/issues are NORMAL...

UNLESS YOU WANT TO TAKE THE RISK HAVING AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THIS DO NOT BUY A 2005/2006 AVALON

Does your state have a lemon law?

Brent

So is it your feeling that it is not the design, engineering, or management philosophy that makes Toyota so good? Is it just the work force actually assembling the cars? If Chevy's were assembled in Japan in a Toyota factory, would they be as good as a Toyota? Or maybe even better?

Ed