TOYOTA QUALITY IS THE THING OF THE PAST

Has the car ever been wrecked ?? Could account for the wind noise. But it sounds like your friends car has been neglected & needs to be taken to a different dealer for a proper diag & tuneup My ex has a 2001 4 cyl and it is hard to tell if it is running when you are stopped at a traffic light

Not sure when Tojo quality was good, but our '91 Camry is fairly average in most of those departments. Only thing is, it has lasted pretty well. Still doesn't burn/lose oil for instance.

The 7 year old car has some wear and tear over the years. But the general consensus is that since the 1997+ cost cutting the quality hasn't been as good as earlier ones.

Hey, at least that engine didn't sludge up on you and seize, or the intake manifold buzzes intermittently like the 2002+ 2.4L engines, or the transmission skips gears like some 2007 Camrys. But at least Toyota management acknowledges it and pledges to improve. We'll see.

M. M. Schmidt wrote:

I owned a Camry 2001 for about a year and got rid of it as soon as I found a good deal on an Accord (Honda). I must agree with you that Toyota quality is not what people are expecting these days. Toyota is pushing to be the biggest global car manufacturers so they are more concerned with quantity than quality. The irony here is Toyota seems to follow the same foot path of GM, a miserable failure in quality control. And that is what's brought GM to its knees today. The consumers can only tolerate so much of lies in advertisements. The bottom line is the consumers will eventually be in the driver seat.

GM and Ford on the other hand, have taken a different approach. They try to "absorb" other not-doing-so-well car companies like SAAB (Swedish), Subaru (Japanese), Jaguar (British), Holden (Australian), Volvo (Swedish) and ruin their repuation with the same junk products they've fed the consumers for years. This is an evil business strategy: buy the competitors out then kill them - one by one. This eventualy leaves no competition. And the consumers will have no choice but to buy junks from GM or Ford, and now Toyota.

I would just buy a very good, realiable car and stock up parts for the car and not buy another car for as long I can. Buying new car is money thrown away. What makes it worse is many parts are now made in China, where quality has no meaning.

"M. M. Schmidt" wrote in

Holden have basically always been GM, they revived/reinvented a company (about 1948?) which had failed years earlier I believe. Big marketing con - "the Australian car". Jaguar had already gone off and maybe Volvo too, while Ford & GM cars have improved a bit.

one example, good or bad, is totally irrelevant, all cars made today are light years ahead of cars i've driven in the 70's,

...snip complaints

all your compliants seem minor or subjective.... no alternator failures, no starter failures, no stalling, no wheels failing off, no brakes failing, no transmission slipping, no smoke pouring out of hood, no overheating, no loud clunks over bumps, no steering binding on turns, no shocks leaking, no oil leaking, no window handles failing off, no doors jamming,no electrical problems, no alignment problems,no ac problems, no heating problems

just, it runs a little "rough" and noisy and a typo in a manual, and dealers are jerks, please, you are wwwwwaaaayyyyy to spoiled and whiny

'70's cars weren't that good although I few I knew exhibited any of the troubles in your list, at least in the first 10 years. 80's cars were better and many are still running, but some personal comparisons with later examples (not specifically Tojos) lead me to suspect the quality of some (Volvos for instance) might have "peaked" 10-15 years ago.

============== Obviously they're related. Sales volume cannot be increased without building customer satisfaction. I used to wonder, however, how long Toyota would or could continue to build cars that would last twenty years and 300,000 to 400,000 miles when the competition was meeting a far lower mark.

I have only personally known 2 ford v8's and 1 Tojo Landcruiser to do

350,000+ miles, but 250,000 miles is not uncommon for most Jap makes including all those rebadged as GM & Fords.

Sounds more like a user problem and not a design problem. Each and every car needs care, if you expect it to perform well without care then youre in the wrong direction. Why don't you ask your friend on how he cares for his car.

They didn't name the Camry as America's best selling car for nothing :)

By the way, a side issue...

Comparison: 2006 Chevrolet Malibu SS vs. 2007 Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart vs. 2006 Nissan Altima SE-R vs. 2007 Toyota Camry SE

1st Place Toyota Camry SE Best overall package on a superb new platform. Performance, quality, safety, and comfort--what a concept.

2nd Place Nissan Altima SE-R If you put more emphasis on sport than sedan, this is your car. Can't wait to test the new one.

3rd Place Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart A nicer car than its third-place finish indicates. Doesn't overwhelm, but does everything well.

4th Place Chevrolet Malibu SS In this case, you don't get what you don't pay for. Costs less, but gives less. We'd like to try one with GM's 3.6-liter DOHC V-6 and a six-speed automatic, even if it costs $1000 more.

The ones to go for are those which survive bad treatment, they will do best when looked after.

Best selling and best car are often 2 different things. It will be 15 years before we know if they were right.

The newer cars are made to cover 200 kMi in two years rather then to last 20 years. Yes, the older cars had some problems but they were MUCH easier to maintain and repair. If 80 Toyota Corona will still be in production I will buy it instead of many newer cars.

================== See:

bottom of the page shows the owner's mint 1967 Corona.

In 2005 Toyota recalled more cars than sold in th US, you dont last long with recalls like that. Yes their quality is down, the new Corola is delayed 1 yr so they will try to get it right. The last time I remember a car company recalling more cars than sold was Ford in 1973 or so.

No it won't, infact it's very hard to get a Camry 07. The waiting period is awful. Toyota had to stop orders due to surge in demand. I got my 07 last May and after that people have to wait for months. Production remains the same and people just have to wait. I know this since people would walk up to me and ask me how long I waited to get the car and comlaint of stock availability plus I have read it in car magazines.

It wouldn't really make sense in this day that cars should drop in quality to increase production and sales. To make them wear out sooner maybe or make them more profitable to build, but to increase volume only poor design/production decisions would result in worse cars.