Toyota workers get $10,000 bonuses

The Japenses beating the pants off of an American industry makes you happy why? Are you going to get this exited when the Koreans pass us too?

Damn. Another liberal dumbass that just doesn't get it. Toyota workers are getting bonuses because people are buying Toyotas. . . . People aren't buying General Maintenance or Fix Or Repair Daily machines. The marketplace has gotten tired of repair-shop queens. Life has gotten too busy to have two cars just so one can be in the shop all the time.

(Actually I think the second car company stands for F***d Over Rebuilt Dodge, myself. I've got a friend who has a Fart Escort and it has been in the shop more in the past 6 months than out, and it's not that old. It's been in for tranny repairs (4 times) Water pump (once) and fuel line rupture. Truly they are finding the parts that are surviving and building them cheaper, and this is what you get. . . .)

I could have sworn we won WWII, but from the compacency of our manufacturers you would have swore they won . . .

Charles of Schaumburg

I fully understand why Toyota is doing so well, but why does that makes you happy? As for not getting it, why don't you get your head out of the seventies and look at up to date reliabilty ratings of American cars. They actually are not too bad, and many are ahead of most Japenese cars.

Maybe in the short term. But Toyota and Honda continue to rank ahead of the big 3 in long-term reliability (5+ years).

Who says I am happy. I am against unions, but I am not happy that GM didnt give any bonuses. I am for the worker. Toyota seems to be taking care of their workers better.

I'm convinced. In 10 years, when my '01 Camry finally dies, I'm buying a 'merican car...

CP

Well, it might help if the top end at GM would build something people like me actually want. Since they sank Geo and are slowly killing Saturn, they're moving back up to the big car market again, and out of my need range.

Charles of Schaumburg

here in the u.k. we have a consumers association that reports back with faults on cars as experienced by the membership. although not covering cars from the u.s. it does give a good feeling for what is going on with car makes both generally and model by model.

maybe good to start something like that in the u.s. ?

by the way toyota and honda shine out for many things especially reliability. even german cars now come nowhere near.

Fair enough. I heard the average Toyota plant worker actually makes more than their US Union counter part. Not sure if that's true, but I did see one article were the guys on a line in Kentucky make 70K.

And to prove my point, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal Editorial page about how Toyota won.

Charles of Schaumburg

But no facts about long term quality, which is what we are talking about.

Long term quality: My current Toyota is 12 years old and has 216,000 miles on it. The last GM I owned I unloaded at 50,000 miles. I own a decade-old Previa van with 150,000 miles on it. My sister owns 2 more Corollas with well over 100,000 miles on each and each over a decade old, and she's had them since 1998.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Charles of Schaumburg.

Still anecdotal and void of facts. My brother in law is a farmer and puts 300K on his Ford trucks, which take more of a beating in one day than any Tundra does in its life time. I have a friend who owned a Previa and it was a nightmare to own and cost a fortune to fix. So there, I called and raised your story. Everybody can come up with stories, but until you provide some factual meaningful statistics, your opinion is meaningless.

What's the big deal? Go to any brand NG and you will see posts about cars with 100K, 200K and more of their brand as well. LOL

mike hunt

Check Consumer Reports and Edmunds for long-term reports. You'll see that Toyota and Honda continue to rank at (or near) the top for reliability.

Actually if you do a detailed search you will find all manufactures are building long term reliability vehicles today. Naturally as any bodies 'list,' one will be on the top an another on the bottom with the rest in-between, but none are unreliable today. No two lists are the same in any event.

mike hunt

The problem we've had with Previas is people not knowing how to work on them. The dealer wanted a fortune to fix things that were fixed by $109 worth of new battery.

Ford/Mazda trucks have a long reputaion, what about Ford cars?

Charles of Schaumburg

Schaumburg Toyota did a great job with our Previa although I did most of the work myself. We no longer have the Previa but I kept the factory service manual so Charles, since you're only about a mile or two from me, you're welcome to borrow it!

Right now, (knocking wood) the Previa is in Kankakee and running properly. Thanks for the offer. Remind me if we are working on the Previa again.

Charles of Schaumburg