During my vacation in Hawaii, my host lent me his 2000 Toyota Camry for a couple of weeks. I had heard many praises about the Camry but I was greatly disappointed of the spotty quality of the Camry. I am convinced that Toyota is more about quantity than quality these days. Here are just a few examples:
- Wind noise and road noise from "leaky" rear doors. According to my friend, this has always been the problem since day one of his new car.
- The owner's manual contains some serious errors such as engine oil capacity: the manual said 1.6 quarts while the actual capacity is 4.7 qts! I want to get my hands on the bastard who's responsible for the owner's manual editing.
- Gas mileage is not as good as Toyota's propaganda machine wants you to think.
- There are many lose spots in the assembly process,e.g.,headlights are not assembled correctly.
- Transmission shifting is rough.
- Engine idling rough (Toyota dealers said it's "normal")
Beside the lack of quality once known of Toyota, the dealers often reflect the we-don't-care attitude of Toyota company. These people seem to redefine the meaning scumbags through their tremedous lack of business ethics and professionalism.
I would never spend my own money on a Toyota. Someday Toyota is going to face the downfall like GM as it gets too big and too arrogant to care about quality.