American made Toyotas....

Have to agree. My encounters with US built Toyotas has left a bad taste in my mouth. Even if you get a Camry with a "J", it's still (probably) 75% US Content. Considering that means Delco electrics...

Rather serious charge when one considers the fact quality is a function of management, not labor.

mike hunt

Both.

If workers don't give a f@ck, and never notify management of manufacturing problems, how will management know until the product hits the market?

And, if there isn't a single issue, they'll be chasing their tails. I remember being given a US made Camry while my Corolla was being fixed. It was a '98, one of the early US made models.

My 97 Camry starts with a "J" and it feels more cheaply made than my 94 Camry that was made in USA. Even my 2000 Sienna that starts with a "4" is more solid all around than the 97 Camry. Perhaps it was just that design that had a lot of shortcuts designed into it.

They call them composite.... not plastic.

And I think there have been some lawsuit over cracking composite exhaust manifolds.

Poor management can result in good designers being unable to make a good design (i.e. kicked back as "too expensive") or good line workers not being used efficiently (e.g. not being given the proper tools to do the job properly). Of course, poor designers and poor line workers can make a mess without needing poor management, but good management is that which can recruit good workers of all types and have them work to their best efficiency (while keeping the poor workers from doing too much damage).

In a union assembly plant, management must build a case to prove a worker is not doing his job properly before they fire him. In nonunion assembly plants, like Toyotas where they can simply give him the boot, they should not have a poor worker problem. It must be the training facilities, paid for by the states where Toyota has it taxpayer financed assembly plants, that are the source of the poor workmanship of their workers. Then again if you pay a man $6 an hour less, than other vehicle manufactures to do the same kind of work, I supose you don't get the smartest workers. Particularly when he has fewer benefits, less desirable medical care and a less desirable 401K retirement plan, rather than a defined pension plan like a union auto worker. ;)

mike hunt

As usual, all negative on Toyota and other foreign manufacturers while the customers buy more and more of their vehicles.

Mike's one sided comments remind me of General Systems theory, where it is stated that a system which doesn't adjust to changing inputs and outputs will eventually die. >:)