Toyota Problems

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-toyota-blue-book-20100208,0,3639034.story

Looks like Toyota's problems are getting worse. Trade values dropping, lawsuits, and managements is being coy about their plans. I don't like the feel of this. That fantastic reputation has virtually disappeared, almost overnight.

they have a new warm and fuzzy commercial on TV about how they realize they havent lived up to my expectations or their own, and how they really excited to earn back my trust.

If you want to earn back my trust, I have one...err..."word" for you toyota -

AE86

The biggest shame is that they have nothing on the lot that we can vulture in and pick off. If their reputation was in the tank and they were desperate to sell cars AND they had Supras, Celicas and MR2's on the lot we would be loving it! I mean, would you notice that the gas pedal stuck to the floor in a Supra? You'd have it there all the time anyway!

I agree, I'm a big Toyota guy from way back, multiple MR2s/Supras, but they have nothing at all on the lot that interests me.

I suspect a plot by the govt. run US automakers to tank the big competition and grab market share.

Still love Toyota and I'll stick with used, for now. Agree with racerdave, nothing they have new today interests me.

errrr...no...please see the rest of the world too:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/toyota_recall

the news guys at AP said: There have been about 200 complaints in Japan and the U.S. about a delay when the brakes in the Prius were pressed in cold conditions and on some bumpy roads. The delay doesn't indicate a brake failure. The company says the problem can be fixed in 40 minutes with new software that oversees the controls of the antilock brakes.... ...Toyota officials went to Japan's Transport Ministry earlier Tuesday to formally notify officials the company is recalling the 2010 Prius gas-electric hybrid. The automaker is also recalling two other hybrid models in Japan, the Lexus HS250h sedan, sold in the U.S. and Japan, and the Sai, which is sold only in Japan.

somethin tells me the guys in detroit arent really convincing the land of the rising sun to pull their cars off the market so Dodge can sell more Purple Turd cruisers, no matter how much sprinkles they put on top of a pretty please

is it a good time to buy stock in Toyota since it is getting cheaper?

4cylndrfury wrote: they have a new warm and fuzzy commercial on TV about how they realize they havent lived up to my expectations or their own, and how they really excited to earn back my trust. If you want to earn back my trust, I have one...err..."word" for you toyota - AE86

I thought it was supposed to have a hara kari scene at the end.

lol wally, nice!

Wally wrote: I thought it was supposed to have a hara kari scene at the end.

The "end" isn't here, yet:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article7020967.ece

Seppuku may be less messy that what Toyota faces for a long, long time.

Does anyone else find the "moving forward" tagline to be a bit ironic?

We've been thinking about a used Sequoia for some time now, as we need a people mover/tow vehicle combo. I'm hoping their values crater too, just through guilt by association.

And here it is:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/09/video-toyotas-jim-lentz-confirms-ft-86-not-supra-coming-to-a/

there's such a love fest out there for Toyota that in 12 months all will be forgotten

gjz30075 wrote: Still love Toyota and I'll stick with used, for now. Agree with racerdave, nothing they have new today interests me.

With you both. As callous as it sounds, i probably won't be affected much if they go belly-up, so if the public demands it, i probably won't attempt to stand in the way. The've only made two cars in the last 10 years that pique my interest, and they're already gone from the line-up, so i'll pick them up used anyways.

They made a decision on what to build when they quit focusing on superior quality and decried that they would be the #1 volume car mfg in the world.

Congrats...you achieved what you set out to do: Become GM.

Toyota won't croak. They have shown over the years they learn faster than just about anybody. They will fix this, symbolic heads will roll and they will go on.

I have to agree, their current lineup is about as watching paint dry. But there is a reason for it. As I have said before, 90% of consumers want NO drama from their transportation. Get in, turn the key, go. Get back home with the booger dispensers and the groceries with a minimum of muss, fuss, gas and oil. Cold air in summer, warm air in winter. No big repair bills. So Toyota went for that market and that has a lot to do with why they are (or were) #1 in sales. Yeah, they slipped but they will make it back up.

Never forget, as iggy says constantly the dollar is king and the real money is NOT in sporty cars. Damn shame to say since I am a complete car nut, but Toyota never would have gotten where they are if all they did was build enthusiast cars.

While I agree with Jensenman, I think you do need a sporty car or two to rub off on the plain ones. Toyota did a great job of it in the '80's when they boomed in sales with the MR2, Celica, Corolla variants and Supra, and again in the '90's with the MR2 Turbo and Supra Turbo. While they may not make much money, they keep them in front of the public in press and appearance. They missed out this past decade with the ugly and space challenged Spider and in my opinion the Scion branding.

Sports models also keep their engineers challenged and interested.

Remember, Nissan tried the same thing in the mid '90's and it really hurt them as a company. A good sports program injects into the entire company, look at their products now compared to Toyota.

Eventually Toyota will be hurt by this approach. Even the non-car people I know like to think their toaster has something special, such as a friend with a Malibu claiming it has Corvette DNA or something like that, even though it doesn't.

Don't underestimate the damage a non-sporting image can do to a car company. There is a reason why most every car company in the world strives to have an image like that, and why they spend the money they do.

dyintorace wrote: We've been thinking about a used Sequoia for some time now, as we need a people mover/tow vehicle combo. I'm hoping their values crater too, just through guilt by association.

Could always hedge your bets, and get the better GM or Ford product.

Why wait for a Toyota? If it's crappy and overpriced now, it will still be crappy and underpriced later.

Eric

racerdave600 wrote: Don't underestimate the damage a non-sporting image can do to a car company. There is a reason why most every car company in the world strives to have an image like that, and why they spend the money they do.

Outside of their rather poor execution of their F1 program, Toyota has been doing that for a LONG time now- and it took a major hit to their quality to hit their image. Not the lack of a sporty car.

A sporty car caters to Car and Driver and Road & Track- both of which stopped taking 95% of the market seriously for a long time. Now that AW also ignores that 95% of the market, few rag magazines will matter.

The problem with "sporty cars" is that it's all pretend. And it costs a lot of money to pretend. It's incredibly hard to make money off of enthusiests, since there are really not enough of them out there. It seems that the only market for "sporty" cars is for sports cars (<100k/year, so the dominant market performers cost big$), Muscle cars (can make some money on a Charger, but not nearly what people think- see the Pontiac GTO and variants), and Pony cars- (the ONLY marketable segment to make decent money on cheap cars- otherwise the V6 auto mustang would be the dominant car in that market). And even the pony car entire market is smaller than Camry by itself. Which is dwarfed by the F150.

There's barley enough sporty buyers to support what there is today.

Eric

There's barley enough sporty buyers to support what there is today. Eric

Now you're talking! We finally get this thread around to beer!

From Wiki: Barley is a cereal grain derived from the annual grass Hordeum vulgare.

Barley has many uses, including; serving as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages . . .

racerdave600 wrote: While I agree with Jensenman, I think you do need a sporty car or two to rub off on the plain ones.

Look at Mazda. Their marketing thing for a while is that everything Mazda makes has a little bit of sports car in it - to the extent that I put a zoom-zoom sticker on my 91 B2200 as a joke. :)

Seriously, though, it's a good time to be buying a Toyota. Most other people don't want one, new or used, so it's a good time to snatch them up - especially older ones, which aren't affected by the recent troubles other than the current stigma of the Toyota name.

The thing is, EVERY auto manufacturer has recalls. Many of them. The American brands have had their fair share - maybe more than that. Yet Toyota is getting all the bad press right now for theirs. The issues are legitimate, but the media is having a feeding frenzy with this - and that is where I think any potential conspiracy to bash foreign brands in order to boost domestic brands is happening.

White_and_Nerdy wrote: - and that is where I think any potential conspiracy to bash foreign brands in order to boost domestic brands is happening.

Did you think otherwise during the media frenzy over Firestone? They were trying to boost the import sales? Or during the hearings a year ago, when many members of Congress was dressing down the Big 3 for not making cars that people want- which is BS when GM was the largest seller...

I find it amusing that so many people just can't wrap their heads around the idea that Toyota can have problems- even after talking about trans issues they can over look, or oil sludging problems they can over look, I can go on...

For decades, we've been going out of our way to find fault in the Big 3- between quality issues and Labor problems, that when the shoe is on the other foot, we question that.

But they are having problems world wide, and we are finding out that Toyota has been helping themselves in shutting down NHTSA investigations- even hiring former members of NHTSA. Had this been Ford or GM, you'd all be the ones with the ax. Think about it.

Eric

In reply to alfadriver:

The NHTSA has the bad habit of getting way too cozy with the industry it is supposed to regulate; just like the SEC. All manufacturers have experienced problems that forced recalls but the NHTSA starts getting zealous when lives might be in jeopardy.

That said, the media literally smells blood because of a few (relative to the number of units involved) tragic incidents and like sharks, media loves a good feeding frenzy.

What is too often ignored is the human element; people are just too damn lazy, ignorant, stupid to learn how to drive, operate or properly maintain their vehicles.

I like the semi-boy racer looks of the current Corollas with the factory body-kit and spoiler. Could be a fun sleeper with aftermarket springs, shocks, bars and tires. The inevitable pricing discounts could probably pay for all those goodies.

And, Toyota will fix the problems - they have to.