Toyota taking the low road
Toyota has done a terrific job over the years of convincing people that it was a good company at heart. Paying workers in the U.S. more than it had to, sponsoring every athletic and racing activity known to Man, fielding the first hybrid-electric car (and for many years, the only practical one), and running feel-good publicity campaigns helped. So did having most of its cars going well beyond the letter of pollution control laws, and, of course, relying mainly on efficient four-cylinder sedans for its sales. Toyota also acted as a good corporate citizen by taking over a failed GM plant for its first U.S. factory, and shared its Corolla (or Matrix) with GM for years. Sure, GM didn’t sell many, but it’s the thought that counts.
They say you can tell a person’s real nature when they are under stress, and if that’s true, it bodes ill for Toyota, because their real nature has been very different from their public image.
When the economy went downhill, the faithful workers at NUMMI in California were immediately dropped, even as plans for new factories were retained. They will be the first Toyota workers to be permanently dismissed due to a moving factory, as far as I know. But Toyota’s attitude seems to be that though their primary product was the Toyota Corolla, they’re not real Toyota employees, so they don’t count. (GM did pull out first, but since GM only got a small number of cars from the venture, that couldn’t have been too significant. The factory, at one time, had the highest quality of any Toyota plant in North America.)
The first thing Toyota did when they were caught flouting American law was to get the talking points out, and the first talking point was, “Toyota did nothing wrong. NHTSA is favoring General Motors and Chrysler.”
A set of six governors from Toyota factory states (in the South) went on record as supporting Toyota and opposing government investigations. One ranted about how union activists “and their supporters” were clearly at fault. Not Toyota, of course. Toyota might have illegally delayed for five days before following a recall order, but that’s trivial. After all, they support the South. We should let them do whatever they want, right? Otherwise we we’ll be anti-industry. You know, like all those congressmen who voted to overrule Federal bankruptcy law and reinstate Chrysler and GM dealers.
At least one Republican did stand up for reality, pointing out that the NHTSA “bureaucracy” is the same as it was under Bush, with the implication being that blaming Obama is pointless. His voice was drowned out by the chorus of Toyota-lovin’, America-comes-after-my-state hack politicians.
NHTSA was apparently bending over backwards for Toyota under this administration, just like it did under previous administrations. Toyota even bragged about how they escaped serious recalls and delayed regulations for their own profit. Obama did nothing to attack Toyota; certainly he did not favor GM and Chrysler in the recall process.
There is one reason, and only one reason, why there is currently an investigation. That is because Toyota violated the law by waiting five days to implement an ordered recall. Had they not done that, they could have continued to thumb their nose at the foolish Americans, who open their borders and “play nice” while their economy is destroyed and eaten away.
Toyota’s anger and surprise is interesting. Surely they understood they couldn’t have it both ways forever? Or that you can only go so far before you step over the line? (Unless you’re a megabank, China, or Saudi Arabia.)
Also of interest is their arguments and those of their supporters (not counting Democrat Jennifer Granholm, who said she supported Toyota but didn’t say how; Toyota has a 1,200-person engineering installation in Ann Arbor.) They blame unions. They blame Obama. They blame NHTSA. They say NHTSA is being swayed by GM/Chrysler-loving Obama and Democrats. The words “liberals” and “socialism” are surely one step away.
They even got one Republican to demand an investigation of the head of NHTSA on the accusation that he forced State Farm to come out against Toyota. (State Farm, incidentally, told a lobbying company that it had to drop Toyota due to conflict of interest.) State Farm is the insurance company that, last week, said it had, years ago, told Toyota about the problems which are now showing up as recalls.
But most people aren’t buying it. I haven’t seen the usual same-story-repeated-400-times-across-the-nuttier-right-wing-blogs yet, alleging a liberal socialist conspiracy led by Comrade Obama (they do talk like that, by the way. And there are nutty left-wing blogs too, though they seem to link rather than just reprinting large stories without credit and sometimes while changing key facts.) I haven’t gotten angry e-mails with clearly fictional allegations, of the GM-killed-the-electric-car variety. I haven’t seen Facebook groups forming around the Great Anti-Toyota Conspiracy. Because people aren’t buying it.
Well, that’s a nice thing, isn’t it? It gives one hope. They’ve pulled out their chief weapons, and none have worked. They worked when Chrysler closed all those dealers; they worked when GM and Chrysler were bailed out (when Bush dumped billions into them, nobody said the UAW had forced him to; when Obama did it, it was suddenly illegal and he did it just because of the UAW, according to many people, including the aforementioned blogs). The Toyota lobbyists seem to be stuck.
I’d like to say that maybe, with all this developing, just as it did with Mitsubishi, people might think, “Gee, if I was that wrong about Toyota, maybe I was wrong about GM and Chrysler and Ford being so bad, and I should try them out again.” No, word is that the Toyota buyers are just moving into Hondas. Well, you can’t win ‘em all. Especially since the reporters and analysts have everyone believing Chrysler isn’t making anything “people want to buy.” Shame this didn’t happen a year from now! But maybe it will… maybe Honda will turn out to have feet of clay as well.
By the way — yes, NHTSA appears to have been badly managed, like many government agencies. (That’s what you get when you elect people who don’t believe in government regulation but also don’t end it entirely.) They haven’t markedly improved under Obama, for that matter, but it appears that their main flaw was not overbearing over-regulation, as Toyota and their shills would have you believe; it was being too forgiving and too gullible. That makes Toyota’s claims that Obama made the United States “not industry friendly” (as though Japan hasn’t also been enforcing recalls) even more absurd.
The new Toyota chief, Mr. Toyoda – that’s the correct spelling, the story behind Toyota’s spelling is at Toyoland’s Toyota history page – took full responsibility, but either he’s not really in charge or it’s just a mask, not meant to be taken seriously. Toyota’s been very vigorously pumping out the disinformation. Kudos to the American public and the mass media for not buying it, this time.
“TOYOTA TAKING THE LOW ROAD.” Unfortunately, it is with an increasing sensation of deflation that I read on into the body of the comment entered by Dave. Somehow, it takes a great attention getting headliner, and then downturns it into a political hardball. This one trying to fight the civil war again, the South against the North. That somehow, the North is better for car companies. Doesn’t really mention the corrupt big business United Auto Workers unions that so permeate the North, making the South much more attractive to business. (BTW-There is a HUGE scanel brewing about the UAW and THAT is coming up in 2010. It is just off the radar right now-BUT-look out soon!!) As well, Most Southern jurisdictions also have laws more favorable to business rather than myriad of the boondoogle tax catches, set up by Northern states. Say what you will, but that IS how IT IS!
As well, the blog follows the “BLAME BUSH” syndrome so prevelent of this current administration. While, in fact, it tries to hold the Democrats and thus Liberals, blameless. The eight years of the previous administration was hard set up against a pure Democrat controlled Congress. Obama spent a couple of those years VOTING on items sent down by the administration as a US Senator from Illinois. Congress disposes, while the President only proposes. If it was SO bad, then why didn’t Congress reject most or ALL the legislation? It certainly held up a great deal of appointments, unlike previous Congress. COME ON! Get a new political view! Is the current administration responsible for anything….. at all??
As far as most people the fact is that people are listening. Toyota sales are way off. Myself, I have never owned a Toyota, never wanted one, and while the story is interesting, it has not affected me in the way that it has for the people that do own and buy the product. Do I dismiss it? No I do not. It just shows how this country AGAIN, REACTS instead of ACTS. After the barn has burned down, and the fire department arrives to save the foundation, THEN we get ACTION. Too little, too late. When, for a fact, laws exist, currently on the books that would allow the USA to look into and stop such antics before they go out of control. But……. we will blame it upon the previous administration, and the previous President, whether overall they did a decent job or not, because that is the current POLTICAL OPINION that prevails, and people seem to have very short memories. That is what the Liberals count on from the voters. You need to remember who REALLY is responsible, and how it got that way. However, that might take a little research and of course, we don’t have the time to do that because we are so engaged in the latest rendition of some pop idol on some pop TV program. Exactly what the political machines LOVE. I AM NOT SAYING THAT DAVE is in any way a part of the “NO RESEARCH FACTION.” All of his stuff is usually well done with facts all lined up. His way perhaps, nevertheless, you can get to the matter if you look, as he does do.
In one sense, Dave is absolutely correct in pointing out that we, as Americans play “nice” while evil people come here and seek to destroy this country from within. They do seem to be winning. America is far from the country that IT SHOULD BE, with laws that mean something, enforced by people that CARE, with entitlements for honest citizens, and punishments that lend to enforcement of the concept of punishment, not enhancement to those who see jail as a means of upward mobility!
The talk of the “nutty blogs” cuts both ways. It took all of two minutes when a crazed pilot flew his privately owned aircraft into the IRS building, for a Liberal blog to lay blame at the “TEA PARTY” due to that person being affiliated. It is with an amazing evidency trail that the bloggers build up their contentions. The basic issue, of course, is that it is all flawed or made up out of thin air. But, again, a little research would be called for, and “nutty bloggers” count on you, the reader of their garbage, to NOT take the inititative to do so. Which, in turn sets off the other side of the coin into their own brand of being “nuts” sending out their brand of “proof” on their blogs. Of which is no better or evidenciary based than the other side.
As for Chrysler itself, it is poised right now, at the cusp of something really, really big. Had Iacocca cleared out of the way in 1992, Chrysler probably would still be riding high today. All too often, the Liberal leaning press, and we all know that it is just that, likes to pile on, when someone is down. Like a tackle in football, one more body on top of the pile means nothing, except to the poor person on the bottom of the pile. They have no desire to be seen as being “out of step” with the main stream. Up through to the introduction of the “LH” based Chrysler cars in the ’90s, the press was always down on Chrysler then too. Then, suddenly, it was “discovered” and became the darling of the automotive world, especially when BILLIONS of dollars in profits began to roll in. Unlike anything in Chrysler’s past!
The reality being is that Toyota was given way too much credit. Even this website gave it credit beyond belief. No skepticism was envisioned. Yet, this is exactly what is called for when law enforcement officials go to work, AS THEY SHOULD, and DID NOT in this instance. Yes, the meaning for insanity is to do the same thing, over and over, expecting a different result. HOWEVER, even that WAS NOT DONE. No one looked into the thinly disquised contempt being carried out by Toyota and the Japan based officals who ultimately hold sway over the money and profits, whether the cars are built there in Japan or here in America. FOX News is now reporting that sticking accelerator pedals in Toyotas were reported to Insurance companies here in America as early as 1976!! Insurance companies tried, repeatedly, without success, tried to get Toyota to respond. It was a whitewash, and apparently, worked. If FOX news story holds up, then the problem goes WAY beyond belief, even for the current circumstances!
I missed something. What am I blaming Bush for, and what am I holding Democrats blameless for? I also thought I made it clear there are nutty blogs on both sides. (But when attacking Obama and government involvement with Chrysler we both know who tends to be rabid.)
Oh yes, yes, yes. Toyota is now one of the nasties that are only interested in profits. “Oh my God” yells the masses. “Does this mean that Toyota wasn’t working in the interest of the United States?” they asks.
Wake up America! Well, the United States at least. Toyota is an automobile manufacturer and the Automobile manufacturing world is a ruthless one at best. Each and every maker has its own best interests at heart. Which is as it should be cause if’n they don’t, they will go under.
But having ones own interests at heart on a manufacturing basis includes having ones home countries economy also at heart. Not the those who makes the cash strictly by investments! No sir. These people, hereafter call MC’s (As in Money Changers) puts their money where it shall reap the most return, irregardless of how it affects their homeland economy and the lives of those who work in it. After years spent forcing product production (the only true method of making money) off shores in order to acquire more faster, the MC’s have all but rendered the US of A a shadow of it’s former self. Remember, all that product carrying the names of US owned companies are not being built in US owned plants in China. Chinese law doesn’t allow that. No they are being built in China by Chinese workers and Chinese ownership. The only thing we do when we buy a Chinese built RCA TV is add to the outgo of US money and jobs.
But back to manufacturing cars. Any plant owned by foreign corporation is all about keeping it’s profits for itself, as it should be. But for some reason, the citizens of the USoA, along with their Governors, Senators, Congress people, etal., cannot seem to understand that when push comes to shove, those corporations will regroup on home soil and the plants located on foreign soil (That’s us folks when speaking of Toyota) be hanged…….. out to dry. The monies that state Governors have been willing to shell out to attract foreign manufacturers to their states is not only anti-American, poor business and short sighted, it’s, well, trying to come up with an appropriate term that is accurate…. hmmmm, oh yes, now I have it….Stupid!
Here it is people. Undisputable fact in evidence from the last couple of years; Toyota could care less about the USoA and it’s citizens. It located here to take advantage of a government that has no understanding of how to financially protect its own in order to help embellish their own bottom line. When things got tough, Toyota got going – right back to Japan.
And now we find out that Toyota did learn how to manipulate our bureaucracy all right. They became buddies with the NHTSA and bought off some rather expensive recalls. Well there you go; foreign manufacturers may take their profits home with them but they still can apparently own government officials. Oops. did I just call a spade a spade there? Yes sir, profits before people, in the finest of what many will call the Detroit way of doing business. But I have seen more than one recall for items not nearly as dangerous rammed down Detroit’s throats. Maybe the time has come to for the masses to understand that Toyota (Insert the Name of your favorite foreign manufacturer here) is at least as snaky as our own home grown manufacturers.
Now don’t go blaming Obama for this. Not that I have any particular liking for the man, albeit I did vote for him. But that was because there was no one else to vote for, other than Ricky and Lucy (oops again, I meant John and Sarah). No this has been going on through several administrations, Democratic and Republican alike. We have been all too complacent in our choice of politicians, in our acceptance of poor quality transportation, in allowing the ACLU to decide what is and isn’t constitutional and the crap that our children watch on TV. It really falls upon us to rebuild the US.
I’m starting to see some of the same arrogance from Toyota executives that we came to expect from the Germans at Daimler. They can do no wrong. Luckily, it looks like Toyota is finally being exposed for what they are; just another corporation that will do anything to cover up mistakes, even fatal ones, rather than have them impact the bottom line. Profit before customers’ lives.
What I hope responsible news organizations do is not just focus on Toyota’s latest accelerator pedal issues, but reveal a long pattern of quality and safety defects and restate them over and over and over again like they have with any bad news from the Detroit 3. I want them to keep reminding people of the massive recalls Toyota had back in 2005/2006. I want them to talk about Toyota’s engine sludge problems. The rusting frames on Tacomas and Tundras. The brake problems of the past and present. Now the steering problems. The drive shaft problems on the Tacoma.
I hope they keep beating Toyota to death with the TRUTH. And I hope Toyota keeps mismanaging the PR side of things. And, Dave, the only reason Toyota paid American workers a higher wage at some plants was to keep the unions out. Probably why they closed the NUMMI plant as well, to get rid of any ties to the UAW.
I used to be among those that admired Toyota. However, over the last decade or so, I’ve come to realize they are just a bunch of lying dirt bags. And arrogant doesn’t begin to describe them. It is their arrogance that had them foot dragging on recalls. After all, Toyotas are perfect, right? I experienced that arrogance with my Lexus. The car was junk but they looked at me like I was making all the defects and component failures up.
How can they be running ads right now talking about how wonderful their products are in the midst of a historically massive recall? I’m not talking about the “apology” commercials, I’m talking about the ones telling us how wonderful the Camry, Corolla, and Tacoma are while millions of people’s lives are still at risk. Now we see evidence of a cover-up. Hmmm, reminiscent of the scandal that killed Mitsubishi and they still haven’t recovered to this day. I can only hope the damage to Toyota is deep and lasting so they can experience depressed sales for a decade or more. Audi 5000 and Isuzu Trooper come to mind.
Yes, I’m sure you can tell, I hate Toyota. I’m no fan of the Japanese government either for being complicit in giving Toyota (and other Japanese vehicle manufacturers) unfair trade advantages in the U.S. market while making it damn near impossible for U.S. vehicles to ever see success in Japan.
I hope NHTSA’s patience has worn thin and, along with Congress, they crucify this company. It has been a long time coming.
Oops, I forgot to mention the end of their old wage policies… and yes, I’m pretty sure the wage-matching was just a way to keep the UAW out. But it was still a better way to do it than many companies.
I don’t know if they’ll all move to Honda but Hyundai and Kia want also a piece of the cake. I got a neighboor, a couple of years ago who sold his Honda Accord for a Hyundai Sonata. In Canada if we combine Hyundai and Kia, they’re ahead of Honda-Acura! Some thinks then Hyundai have more “bang for the bucks” then Honda. Also Mazda have a more important dealer network in Canada then in the United States, the Mazda 3 trail against the Civic in the sales chart in the Great White North.
To conclude, as Curtis mentionned, Chrysler is at the cusp of something really really big. I can’t wait to see the reskinned 300, Charger (and possibly Challenger as well who might receive the same drivetrains improvements) and “Sebring”. I might have the impression then GM might regret some of their decisions about the RWD Zeta platform (althought there some rumors of a smaller Zeta II platform and/or a small RWD Alpha plaform coming), maybe it might surprise Ford as well.
“Even this website gave it credit beyond belief.”
I do remember some examples of this and wondering what was going on. Maybe it was something in the water. But this news comes as no surprise to me, I’ve never had much respect for Toyota. A few years ago when they were starting to sponsor absolutely everything, I knew they were trying too hard to, as my generation would term it, “get in America’s pants”. Sorry if that offends anybody, I just couldn’t think of anything to replace it with. If they were really that good, they shouldn’t need to try as hard as they were. I guess it worked, for a while anyway, because almost everyone bought it. Toyota was on a pedestal. Their Prius commercials made me sick with the claims that they were good for the environment, when there is a very good possibility that they are just the opposite. The Dust to Dust comparison with the prius really puts it into perspective. http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/DUST%20PDF%20VERSION.pdf
The people who believed Toyota could do no wrong really made me mad. One of my buddies has a Tundra and argues that Toyota is the best. Of course I counter that, but he hasn’t said anything in the past couple of months about it. I know I shouldn’t enjoy it as much as I am because people will lose their jobs, but I am very happy to see people are finally realizing what Toyota is.
One thing I am wondering is, if the South is better for businesses, Why couldn’t the big 3 build a plant or two down there? I understand they’re not exactly expanding right now, but a few years ago maybe? If the same incentives were extended to American companies.
GM does have Southern plants. Ford produces in Texas, I believe. Chrysler seems to be almost entirely concentrated in one region, except for their Mexican holdings, probably for better coordination?
I could see this coming, yet not at this scale, not this quickly. Toyota began cutting corners in the late 90′s. They made exactly the same decision as GM in the late 1950′s: we can cut corners, cheapen components here and there–no one will notice, profits will increase. They boasted of that fact at the time: for example the 1997 Camry had fewer parts, was cheaper to build than the 1992-1996 versions. Ditto for the 1999 Corolla. No one decried those things at the time, even though, really, the 96 Camry was a better car than the 1997. It was subtle, and even came with slight retail price reductions on some models. But they kept on with that mentality and took it too far–and now people ARE noticing. They don’t have a throttle cutoff in their drive by wire throttle while every other carmaker does, even “inferior” Chrysler; Toyota has an electric control system that thinks its smarter than the driver; it speaks of shaving money out of engineering, less thought to safety, much like Airbus’s flight control and rudder control systems which allow less control, less margin of safety than Boeing, and which have led to equally tragic results.
Like GM in the 50′s and 60′s and 70′s, being the biggest was considered the equivalent of being the best. They took for granted the customer would always be there, that they can just pass off anything and the consumer would keep coming back. They thought they could bank on their reputation, the media would gave them a pass–indefinitely. Really, the host of problems with Tundra, trim falling off Highlanders on media test drives, with Camry stalling (electronic control failure causing the engine to idle even though the driver was pressing the gas to accelerate), and all the recalls before 2009 were the same kind of issues as the Vega mechanical problems, the X-body problems, the V8-6-4 problems that hurt GM’s reputation. But Toyota did get the free pass from the media on those issues. They were experts at fostering their reputation; perception far outstripped reality; and even today, they are considered “green” while GM actually has more 30 mpg plus vehicles and better MPG for its trucks.
I don’t rejoice at this. But it may make buyers look at competing products, where before it was just a blind purchase decision, blind faith in Toyota. Ironically, as Toyota was cutting corners, GM was putting quality back in. So was Ford. And Chrysler made great efforts to reduce even just “minor annoyance” type of recalls. I recall looking at a Camry and Impala on a dealer lot, side by side, a couple years ago. The Impala had straighter, tighter seems, that were hidden, rather than the wider gaps, and blatant seems of the Camry; the Chevy also had nicer upholstery. Probably wouldn’t have swayed most buyers. Maybe now people will at least take a second look.
I think GM and Hyundai and Honda will increase sales at Toyota’s expense. Chrysler might hold onto minivan and truck sales and make some inroads if it can get new midsize and compact cars out into showrooms.
Watched a local news program this morning. The Milwaukee Auto Show is on this week so obviously they had to ask show goers if the Toyota recalls would affect their next car buying decision. Well, the only two they aired both reverted to the old “they’re really a good company. Everyone has problems”.
Thankfully not everyone believes this crap. And the first one, a male probably in his late fifties to early sixties reminded me of all the people who decided to go Japanese in the 70′s and 80′s. One of their big cry’s was how the American autos had so many recalls and the Japanese were so much better because they did not.
It ain’t gonna change overnight but right now at least, Toyota has shown its true colors – and they ain’t red, white and blue!
It’s hard to determine where folks are coming from on this issue (especially the media). This morning FOX news had a reporter talking for a good three or four minutes about Toyota, reporting from the Georgetown KY facility, talking about how much pride the workers have in the cars, really glowing terms about the company. I never heard them, or other networks, do the same for GM or Chrysler during the period when the “bailouts” were being considered. To be fair I don’t watch 24 hours a day, maybe i missed similar coverage of GM or Chrysler, but this stood out to me. (and I really like FOX News, so I’m not trying to slam them; but alot comes down to who is invested in whom, who has advertising from whom. Toyota has spent alot of money lobbying the government in the US).
You can bet that Toyota still has a LOT of money and no less higher up influence. You can also rest assured that Toyota is pulling out all the PR stops to put the best “face” and spin on all that is happening to it. Right now, I just see the tears coming from Toyota’s President as being like those of a crocodile. Hard to believe that he was totally innocent, and not informed. The tears more for being caught “in the open” with a scandal, than being caught making money, no matter how it was done. Japan is a male dominated society, and companies are run by dominant males. Toyota just cut to near the bottom of the muscle and bone that holds things together, and it fell apart, at an alarming rate.
What Toyota did in “decontenting” or cutting quality items is not anything new. Faced with financial ruin, one of America’s greatest quality car makers, PACKARD, moved to making a far cheaper car the 120. Up through World War II, Packard may not have been the “standard of the world” BUT, it certainly held the heart of America as THE CAR to have, with a quality standard that even put ROLLS-ROYCE out to pasture! The onset of the depression era in 1929, put all companies to the test, and Packard was no exception. It lost money, big time in 1932, and saw no upswing for the future. In 1935 they introduced the 120. It had all the style and earmarks of a regular Packard, however cost less than HALF to produce. It answered the call for all those that desired a Packard, but could never hope to afford one. It sold for 60% of the cost of a regular Packard. The 120 sold like half price hot cakes, and put Packard well into profitability again. It was so successful that in 1937, Packard, not looking at it’s history, introduced an even CHEAPER model the 110. It too sold like a phenomenon, BUT, the reputation as being a singular quality superior production car was long eroded, and Packard suffered the slings and arrows accordingly. ALL car companies do it, perhaps hoping to constantly “reinvent” itself. Chrysler reduced the 300. Plymouth cut the Fury. Ford slipped down on the Galaxie. Chevrolet went by the Impala. All done to increase profits. It is just that Toyota stupidly didn’t stop when it KNEW it had gone by acceptable safety limits.
As for the Southern commentary about auto manufacturing, again, it is a matter of money. In that sense, most of the south is wide open for manufacturing in that, there isn’t much done there. Heads up governors and state legislators invite and make incentives available to draw interests from major manufacturers to move to their jurisdictions. As well, most southern jurisdictions do not encorage, nor do they support unions or unionization, particularly the great big unions with their openly rampant corruption, intimidation tactics, and big business schemes for keeping their money, paying mostly lip service to the paying members. Most have laws supporting “open shop” rules for work, preventing unions from even thinking about trying to implement this automatic card business. A worker need not have to be a member of a union to get a job, nor hold a job in an open shop. That is freedom of choice, and that is what America is truly supposed to be about. Not having to try to function through a big union is a major plus to a manufacturer. Yes, of course, it increases profitability……. what is wrong with profits? Made honestly anyway.
Long before Toyota’s latest issues, I’ve always felt that Japanese car companies did a pretty good job when it came to initial quality of their vehicles. They present themselves well when new. Where I think American vehicles shine, and Chryslers in particular, are over the long haul. Now the Polk stats on registrations over the last 20 years may prove me wrong, but I’ll stick with my own observations and experiences. Those tell me that while the Japanese have durable engines and transmissions, some of the crap their hanging off of isn’t all that great.
Here in New England where they have the philosophy you can never use enough road salt, I see Asian cars in general rusting out a lot faster than American or European vehicles. I have also noticed that many trim pieces and moldings inside and out seem to be cheap and start to fade, crack, etc. compared to American vehicles. I also find the optics in their glass and mirrors to be of inferior quality because you often see waviness and other distortions in them. I think their seat fabrics are also inferior and show wear and fading sooner. While the leather in their premium brands like Lexus might be great, I’d take the leather on my Chrysler 300 anyday over the leather in a Camry XLE or Avalon. Especially over the long haul.
We have two 2007 Mazda6′s, one 4-door, one 5-door which replaced our totalled ’04 Stratus. Now that we’re three years into them, I can tell you that I’d rather have the Stratus back with 85K miles then the Mazdas with 40K and 50K respectively. Not that they are terrible cars, but they just don’t seem to be screwed together as well as the Stratus, my Grand Caravan or the 300 are. All of those have/had a lot more miles and age going against them, yet they still have proven more reliable, more refined and more durable. The Mazdas, like most Asian cars I’ve observed, seem prone to corrosion. Not so much the body as the mechanical parts underneath. I just had to replace two rear brake calipers on the 4-door because they were completely seized with rust. One of them had apparenlty been that way for some time because the pads had worn all the way through along with half the thickness of the backing plate…..in 37,000 miles…..and, needless to say, destroyed the rotor. “Dad, my car is making a funny scraping sound.” A little too late on that piece of data. The interiors of the Mazdas are not holding up well either. The leather seats in the 4-door look worn and you can see the outline/imprint of the seat structure right through them. The fabric seats in the 5-door also look very worn…..more worn than my almost 6 year old Grand Caravan with 130K on the odometer that’s hauled all sorts of junk including my Golden Retrievers and Black Lab. The Mazdas are also now full of squeaks and rattles. The door courtesy light lens on one keeps falling off. They’ve both had fuel injection problems covered under warranty and one had to have the steering rack replaced. Can you imagine what people would say if these were American cars? Now these weren’t terribly expensive cars at about $17K a pop after discounts and rebates, but neither was our Stratus. We just picked up a 2010 Altima 2.5S. Let’s see how Nissan stacks up in 3 years.
Well, I can hardly believe I’m saying this, but I feel bad for Toyota. I am one of the strongest supporters of domestic producers around, never owned an import, never wanted to, didn’t like any.(except for that sweet little Miata!). BUT, this is just bashing here. Toyota makes perfectly good appliances for people that look at autos that way, and yes they may have fallen off the wagon a bit, but which manufacturer hasn’t? I know plenty of folks that have been eminently satisfied with their Toyo’s, and have never experienced any problems whatsoever. Politicians are notorious for ganging up on the latest media victim without any fact checking or research in order to get their smarmy faces on TV, so of course they’ll smear the jap bastards. (no political consequences to them!). Let’s everybody just cool off until the problems are actually diagnosed, and then we can start to sling some REAL dirt. (I’ll be first in line!)
So Toyota systematically covering up their defects, lobbying to avoid having regulations apply to them, and deliberately disobeying a direct recall order are all just the media ganging up on them?
The media ganged up on O.J., too…