Toyota losing zeal for quality

My recent experience with Toyota shows that from the top to the bottom, the company has lost the zeal for quality which has made it famous.

I bought a brand new 2007 Camry; this car is positioned as a upscale sedan, yet it comes with a design defect such that there is a continuous periodic snapping noise from the console area. If you are playing a CD, it sounds like a scratch on the CD; if you are trying to enjoy the quiet smooth ride, it is as annoying as a dripping tap.

Toyota agree that the noise is there in all Camrys of that year, but to them it is acceptable and normal. I have escalated this from the shop floor, through the dealer management and all the way up to the management review committee at Toyota corporate.

The end result? Toyota don't care, and it is my problem if I cant enjoy my upscale sedan because of a design defect.

The company has gone from obsession with quality to arrogance.

Buyers of Toyota, and especially Camrys, beware. You are no longer getting what you used to get from this company.

Reply to
pgmer6809
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You should try to your state's lemon laws. Maybe you can force them to take it back.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

You'd think we would of heard of it already.

Reply to
Bonehenge (B A R R Y)

Me too. But in my case I drove the car for about 4 months before this started. It might have something to do with the ambient temperature, and the fall weather. In any case the dealer tested 4 or 5 other camry's on his lot and all of them had the same problem. It was then that he decided he couldn't fix it, and referred me to Toyota, who do not deny the existence of this problem. pgmer6809

Reply to
pgmer6809

Lemon laws for a car stereo =) and road noise? I thought lemon laws applies only to safety related issues? I haven't used my CDS for a very long time since I started using Ipods

Reply to
EdV

You were lucky, another dealer might've torn your dash board, console etc. apart trying to fix it or appease you. He was honest about it and you're better off letting it go. Better that, then having the Techs use your vehicle as a metal lab rat.

Reply to
CamryMan98

Sometimes these things happen, and unless you're willing to risk a very sore neck from being upside down under the dash panel, looking for it and hopefully finding it, it's evidently very hard to trace. I had a noise years ago in a '57 Ford sedan that sounded for all the world like a pair of castanets going "clack clack" which I never did find. Finally I got so that I didn't hear it any more (much)....sort of like you tune out a nagging wife.

Reply to
mack

Lemon laws are for problems that the dealer didn't fix. There are different requirements from state to state.

iPods. Apple paid consultants lots of money to get the capitalization right.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

I have a similar problem with my Scion, but only when the temp is below freezing.

Then again, this is a $16,000 car. How much is a Camry now?

Reply to
Hachiroku

Make sure the dealer documents the noise accurately. TSBs (technical service bulletins) show up all the time and you can get it fixed even if the standard warranty just expired. That's why I advocated holding off on the first production year. At least your rotors haven't warped, transmission hasn't skip gears and side air bags might deploy properly.

Toyotas are inexpensive cars built for the masses (Honda Accords are $1-2K more!). It's the kind of achievement that would make Henry Ford (with his Model T, as in "T"oyota) proud. It's by no means an "upscale sedan". The ~$18K model collects more money with installed bells, whistles and leather seats, but the engineering is there in the ~$18K range. But really, it's not bad for a cheap midsize car.

Reply to
johngdole

Sweet! Thanks for pointing that out.

Reply to
EdV

Hmmm, I had a '64 Galaxie that made a sound like a couple of tin cans being kicked around. Happened quite regularly, but was impossible to find, my guess was in the engine somewhere. I think our sounds are quite similar.

Reply to
Father Guido

So does this mean I getting the honest to God's truth everytime I've had a complaint and the service techs just say 'that's normal?'

Reply to
Father Guido

Hmmm... I didn't have that problem on my 07 Camry. I didn't like the car and got rid of it but the stereo was fine. jor

Reply to
jor

getting what you used to get from this company.

In a recent edition of Consumers Report, I read where CR has put the V6 Camry on a Not Recommended status because of transmission problems. Toyota is aware of the problem, but apparently does not have a fix yet.

Honda had problems with their tranmissions some years ago, but stood by their customers. A recent example -- our parish priest has an 03 Civic hybrid where the CVT transmission went out at 60k miles; Honda replaced the transmission no questions or quibbling.

Reply to
tww1491

Yeah, Honda seems to treat their customers as members of the family, even though their automatic transmissions really aren't up to par. It's easy for me just to recommend a Honda to those who ask, and the new 08 Malibu and the 08 Caddy CTS, and the.....

Toyota tries to play with harder clutch pack material with the new U- series transmissions, but it looks like they should have stuck with their Aisin-Borg Warner venture and use the A-series. The A-series were dirty from the softer clutch material and shifted like the cheap transmissions they were, but they were generally bullet proof.

Reply to
johngdole

The 2008 Consumer Reports Buyers Guide shows that the 2007 Camry V6's are relatively dependable and are not as risky as some would have you believe.

tww1491 wrote:

Reply to
flutterbye

The "console crickets" have been discussed extensively in the GreenHybrid d-group see

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andsearch on "console crickets" there are a number of do-it-yourself solutions provided and the dealers have been fixing lots of the TCH for this problem.

My crickets appear only in cold weather (below 35 degrees F) which seems to be consistent among those complaining. It seems to come mostly from the area below the heater controls near that center console box and is exacerbated when I lean my knee against the side of the console.

I've also noticed a new cricket in the windshield this winter. But this one is less common and has nothing to do with my leg resting against it .

I had a rental car last week (a Buick Lucerne) and it was VERY quiet compared to the TCH at least in terms of crickets.

Overall I am still rating my TCH high - I've had it since August 2006. My biggest complaint is/was the crappy Bridgestone tires they put on some of these cars. Mine we showing the wear bars at 15K and had to be replaced at 26K because they were practically bald. And Mr. Toyota (the website for customer support; not the dealer) tried to imply it was my fault when I complained to them. This is all detailed on the GreenHybrid site as well and it is also a common complaint/problem.

~j

Reply to
jeb

ou believe.

The guide does indicate that. However, the December edition recants and adds the Camry V6 to the No Longer Recommended List because of the aforesaid transmission problems. Added to the No Recommended List were the Tundra 4WD and the AWD Lexus GS. The 4 cyl Camry and hybrid are still recommended.

Reply to
tww1491

The OEM Dunlop's on my 99 Camry CE 6 cyl. also wore out very quickly.

Reply to
sharx35

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