14th Jan 2007, 09:22
Well, the million mile club isn't necessarily an indication of quality. A Saab recently made it and, as this site and endless others testify, the majority of Saabs are crap. Same with Volvo and Cadillac.
Mercedes is the only one that can claim to offer consistent quality (in the PAST).
The rest are just attributed to a combination of luck and how much money an owner wants to pump into the car.
15th Jan 2007, 11:58
That still doesn't explain why there are ZERO Japanese cars in the million mile club.
15th Jan 2007, 15:59
<<That still doesn't explain why there are ZERO Japanese cars in the million mile club.>>
Probably a lot has to do with ownership intent. There are tons of Beetles around here (California) but few American cars from the same era.
The Japanese cars were not "interesting" until about two decades ago. Now the Gen X, Gen Y, and others have taken a huge interest in them and you will soon find Civics and such entering the million mile club.
And, as I said, the million mile club is NOT a good indicator of reliability since Saabs have NEVER been a Consumer Reports recommended car and have never been considered reliable overall.
17th Jan 2007, 14:41
Where I come from we call them Rustyotas. Nice running cars, but the salt eats them up. My 1985 Corolla fell to pieces at around 300k. Cheaper to buy another one than to fix it. My 1989 Cressida was the same. I sold it to a guy who wanted the drive train, it still ran well, but it just rotted away.
I still got my 1978 Olds Vista Cruiser, it's my daily driver. Had it since new, it was my wife's car. A great car, has over 400k on the clock and still runs good. At least it always starts in the winter at minus 30C, neither of my Toyota's would start without being plugged in.
Haven't owned a foreign car since the Cressida. My wife owns an F150 and when the Olds dies I'm going to get one myself. Nothing beats North American.
17th Jan 2007, 18:22
Toyota is the best auto manufacturer on the planet. Anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong.
17th Jan 2007, 18:28
My 1979 Caprice Classic had a new coat of rust colored paint (that was rust) after ONE winter in western New York. ONE.
My 1980 Tercel survived SEVEN winters without any rust problems.
18th Jan 2007, 12:11
You must have kept it in the garage all winter. Nothing rusts like Toyota. That's why you don't see many ten year old Toyotas on the road, there usually part of it by that time.
19th Jan 2007, 09:41
Well, if you're talking about the cars themselves that is subjective since Toyota doesn't really make a sports car that I would be interested in. It used to build fun cars (Tercel - and yes my Tercel was fun as hell, Celica AllTrac, Supra).
BUT if you're talking about actual facts then, yes, Toyota is the best auto manufacturer on the planet. It has a market cap greater than the big three combined, is growing an a huge rate, and is considered the best run company in the world for its size.
Only from a pure profit perspective does Toyota lose out - to Porsche. Porsche is the most profitable car maker on the planet on a per-car basis, but obviously Toyota makes much more money overall.
19th Jan 2007, 13:11
Oops, I was going to add some more thought to this debate, but another "Huge" Toyota recall was just announced affecting 600,000 Tundra and Sequoia model trucks. Something to do with the steering. Nothing out of the ordinary I hear. Hey, now that's "Toyota Quality". That says it all!
19th Jan 2007, 16:07
Gee, let's see... Toyotas now have recalls for bad steering, accelerators sticking, and TONS of complaints about defective brakes. I'm almost scared to meet one on the road. If the accelerator sticks at the same time the steering fails I'll have a HECK of a time scraping the remains off the front of my (domestic) SUV.
19th Jan 2007, 16:25
Yeah, never happened to an American manufacturer. Oh, wait, my Focus had 20 recalls. Never mind.
20th Jan 2007, 04:29
A few very serious defects such as Toyotas steering recall, brakes, malfunctioning air bags. accelerator throttle sticking open can be fatal. And yes you can have 20 recalls but what are they exactly?...such as a bad SUV tailight recall, window mechanism, factory radio with a CD repair, water pump bracket recall etc. which could be recalled but is not serious or life threatening. A vehicle of this price range with few options, lack of performance or power less handling better be exceptional nearly zero defects for what you have to give up. I think the warranty should be stretched out to standard 100,000 miles like many others without an extra expense to show the manufacturers total faith in the reliability of their products. If I hadn't been stung on my last warranty that ran out at 36,000 I may have remained an import buyer. They expect you to pay for an extended warranty when you have already paid a premium for a luxury import. People are intelligent and look around when they are let down........we certainly did.
20th Jan 2007, 09:14
Silly me, I guess brakes, flooding in the compartment, engine fires, and similar are considered "minor" by you. That's what my Focus had. Radio worked fine, as did the tailights. Oh, the car was also in the shop 10+ times for reasons IN ADDITION to the recalls.
21st Jan 2007, 15:58
I guess you had to 'Focus' on spending a lot of your time/and or money fixing a Ford. How unusual, (lol)! Why would anyone want to drive something that runs for 300,000 trouble-free miles, like a Camry, when you buy a Focus for cheaper? (Oh, wait, I guess if you add all of the trips to the Ford dealership, and the money you lose being late for work when the car breaks down, the Focus might actually be MORE expensive in the long run).
I guess all of my Toyota's, (which all cost me a combined total of $0.00 dollars to repair), must be exempt from Toyota's new "declining in quality" campaign. Maybe Toyota's must not be the best anymore because they have some recalls? (Oh, wait, EVERY manufacturer in the world does). Scratch that argument. I think I'll stick with Toyota.
23rd Jan 2007, 16:45
No one seems to understand the recall policies on import and domestic cars. Domestics do VOLUNTARY recalls for ANY problem at ANY time. I've had recalls for INTERIOR TRIM PARTS at 100,000 miles from Ford. 99% of ALL domestic recalls are for incredibly MINOR items such as tail light bulbs or trim items.
Imports, on the other hand NEVER recall a vehicle unless FORCED TO by MAJOR, LIFE-THREATENING SAFETY DEFECTS. They also never issue recalls once the warranty period is up. Even now Toyota is dragging its feet with some Highlander owners who have had brake failure.
There will ALWAYS be more recalls on domestics until the U.S. government REQUIRES imports to issue recalls for ALL defects instead of just MAJOR, LIFE-THREATENING DEFECTS. There is QUITE a difference there.
13th Jan 2007, 18:09
It's funny that anyone would make a comment about ANY Japanese vehicle being the "longest lasting". A number of vehicles have made the "million mile club", including Volvo, Ford, Cadillac and Mercedes. There's not a Japanese car in the entire list. "Longest lasting"?? Keep dreaming!!