12th Sep 2011, 13:52
The 2006 Camry is doing well. Are you kidding me? I posted a review a couple weeks ago about my P.O.S. 2006 Camry that blew a head gasket because of plastic parts on an engine that runs over 200 degrees, and it cost a lot of money to fix. 2006 was the final year for the Camry of that style, and you would think by then that Toyota would get it right, but they didn't.
12th Sep 2011, 19:55
With 22 million recalls, three Grand Jury subpoenas for ignoring major safety complaints, numerous articles on engine sludging, problems with brakes, suspension, steering, ignition, electronic and a host of other issues, it's amazing anyone could NOT believe Toyota has dropped in quality. Consumer Reports retracted its "recommended" rating for Camry in 2008 (for the 2007 model) because of an "uncharacteristic drop in quality". In 2011 Lincoln knocked off Lexus as the long-range reliability champ. Even before that Buick traded places every year or so for number one.
Toyota sales have fallen far behind even third-place Chrysler in the U.S. and trail both GM and VW worldwide. And PLEASE, none of the "The tsunami did it" excuses. Camrys were the cars sitting longer on lots than any other car in the world in late 2009. That was a LONG time before the tsunami. It's also now been 6 months since the tsunami. PLENTY of time for that tired excuse to wear pretty thin.
Somehow urban myths just hang on forever. When billions of dollars in mind-manipulating ad hype imprint an idea in people's minds, all the news of bad reviews, recalls, mechanical problems and Grand Jury subpoenas for ignoring customer complaints seem to have no effect at all. If facts can't change people's minds, then I suppose nothing will.
12th Sep 2011, 20:45
I know, you and your family have had flawless ownerships with your Yotas. Therefore that means that everybody should have the same identical ownership as yours, and that Toyota's never had any problems, and nobody was ever unsatisfied with theirs, and that all the bad comments and reviews people give them are false and grossly exaggerated. I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to.
13th Sep 2011, 07:36
I also had a POS car. Two of them in fact. One was a 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix that had a major lower and upper head gasket leak and hydro-locked. The other was an Oldsmobile 88 1999, same problem as the Grand Prix, the 3.8 series II used plaster gaskets that melted and caused engine coolant to leak into the engine, mixing with oil. A $1,200 repair each, out of my own pocket. Did GM own up to their design flaws, NO!
The GM 3.1 and 3.4's had the same problems. Fords and Chryslers too had the same problems with their V6 engines, in addition to transmission and electrical problems. Just ask anyone who drives one of these and is honest about it. I have friends who owned Taurus', and ALL of them had transmission problems, along with the head gasket issue. Ask any Caravan owner about their transmission and serpentine belt issues.
13th Sep 2011, 09:57
Tons. The reason is because I live in California, and the reason you don't see as many in other places, is frankly Toyota didn't sell near as many cars in the rest of the US until the 80's. So yeah - I see an awful lot of 70's Toyotas on the road - not being driven as classics, but as everyday drivers. In fact, you still see more than a small amount of 80's Camrys and Accords on the freeways. They still even look good. On the other hand, I can tell you where you'll find most Tauruses from that era: In the junk yards with prematurely blown engines. Same goes for most other American cars both old and newer.
Either way, the numbers don't lie. Toyota and Honda are on the top of the list in regards to quality and reliability.
13th Sep 2011, 17:49
It has always amazed me how biased import owners tend to be. When I state that we have never had a single problem with any of our domestics in 100,000 miles (and we haven't) I am basically called a liar and "import hater". When I (correctly) point out that our three imports were ALL terribly unreliable and didn't make 100,000 without major repairs (actually one never even made 100,000 miles), again the cries of "impossible!" and "untrue" are thrown out viciously, usually by import owners who have never even sat in a domestic.
Naturally, when I (again correctly) state that my domestics don't require so much as brake pads in 100,000 miles, that too is challenged. One would expect that from people who are used to driving cars that chew up brake pads in as little as 30,000 miles.
My recommendation is that some of these people need to actually try a new Ford or GM vehicle. I love the fact that except for oil changes I have to open the hood only every 4 years (when my battery warranty expires) on my GM or Ford cars. I love not having to re-tighten screws and bolts that hold the body together (as my imports required) or add oil every month (as I did with my imports).
Although I am semi-retired, I greatly prefer working on my cars when I choose to, not because they are broken down. I prefer spending my money on custom or performance items rather than engines, transmissions and brakes. It is also nice to know that when I take my Ford or GM vehicles on trips, the chance of actually getting there and back without being stranded on the road is virtually assured. The only times my wife or I have been stranded on trips, it has been in Toyotas.
13th Sep 2011, 23:33
"Toyota sales have fallen far behind even third-place Chrysler in the U.S. and trail both GM and VW worldwide. And PLEASE, none of the "The tsunami did it" excuses."
... and once again all you have to do is pull up "Toyota Sales" in ANY search engine, and the results show that they are just NOW starting to get back to having full production. This is followed by mention that this affected their global sales. Repeating over and over and over otherwise does not correct this fact.
"With 22 million recalls, three Grand Jury subpoenas for ignoring major safety complaints, numerous articles on engine sludging, problems with brakes, suspension, steering, ignition, electronic and a host of other issues, it's amazing anyone could NOT believe Toyota has dropped in quality"
Yes - even though the Big three have had the lion's share of recalls over the years, I guess we can all conveniently forget all of those and instead focus on Toyota - which over the years has had comparatively far fewer recalls and suddenly claim they make a faulty product. If that sort of logic were used, then you should be driving Toyotas and Hondas. So Toyota has had some recalls. They still make better cars.
"Somehow urban myths just hang on forever. When billions of dollars in mind-manipulating ad hype imprint an idea in people's minds,"
Where does the term "Myth" come into all of this? Using this logic, any company could come up with a new product, claim they were fantastic, and people would just ignorantly buy them over and over again no matter how bad they were. No - there is no "Myth" here. Toyota got their start selling cheap econo-cars in California. They were not the best cars at first, but they gradually improved and over time gained a reputation amongst buyers - not from some sort of false propaganda - as being reliable. There doesn't need to be a "Myth", because I and virtually every person I know who owns a Toyota has had good luck with them. The only people I seem to hear about having bad luck seems to be those on this and other sites - the "Import bashers" who claim their Uncle had some "Import" that lost all 4 wheels and the steering wheel 30 feet off the dealer lot, yet they owned a good ole' Ford Pinto that ran for 500,000 miles, and golly gee wizz, they never changed the oil.
"I know, you and your family have had flawless ownerships with your Yotas. Therefore that means that everybody should have the same identical ownership as yours, and that Toyota's never had any problems, and nobody was ever unsatisfied with theirs, and that all the bad comments and reviews people give them are false and grossly exaggerated. I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to."
No - not just me and my family, but the neighbors on both sides of my house, the approximately 30% of my friends who own them, most of their friends and families, and the millions upon millions of owners who conduct reviews as well as their collective experiences recorded by various consumer magazines and reports. Oh - and they're called "Toyotas".
12th Sep 2011, 13:05
There is plenty iota of truth... Consumer Reviews on new cars everywhere and consumeraffairs.com, but you will not accept it. I see an increase of concerns since 2000. I don't know why you cannot accept other's ownership experiences. In turn, there are 100 year old domestics still on the road too. I am an exhibitor in the 100 years of Chevrolet display myself this weekend at the Hagley Museum Car show this Sunday. It will have Dennis Gauge there and the Speed Channel with coverage. Maybe one of your cars will last 100 years with zero repairs? When is the last time you saw a 1970's Toyota on any road? That's less than 50 years.