It just stays ugly for Toyota

[ebsoria]

I just... feel bad for Toyota now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110126/bs_afp/japanautocompanytoyotarecall_20110126060619

TOKYO (AFP) – Toyota Motor is to recall nearly 1.7 million vehicles worldwide including 1.2 million in Japan and 421,000 overseas over a fuel leak risk, the automaker and the Transport Ministry said on Wednesday.
Toyota and the ministry said the recalls include around 245,000 of its luxury Lexus vehicles in the United States and 74,590 Lexus, Crown and other cars in Japan over other leakage fears.
In Japan 19 models produced between 2000 and 2009 will be affected by the recall, the ministry said.
"Slight cracks may appear on the engine fuel pipes. If it continues to be used, the crack may be widened and there may be risks of fuel leakage," the ministry said in a statement.
There have been more than 140 cases reported in Japan, with no accidents, it said.
In 2008 Toyota ended General Motors' 77-year reign as the world's largest automaker but the road has been a bumpy one for the Japanese giant, facing the impact of the economic crisis, recalls and recently a strong yen.
In the past year the automaker has pulled millions of vehicles worldwide over a range of issues following a safety crisis involving brake and accelerator defects that has tarnished its once stellar reputation.
Toyota shares tumbled 1.7 percent following news of the recall.
On Monday Toyota said its group sales in 2010 rose, enabling the firm to narrowly retain its title as the world's biggest automaker despite the global safety crisis.
Toyota's global sales rose eight percent year-on-year to 8.418 million vehicles last year, narrowly beating the 8.39 million sold by a resurgent General Motors.

[Chillez]

I just... feel bad for Toyota now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110126/bs_afp/japanautocompanytoyotarecall_20110126060619

TOKYO (AFP) – Toyota Motor is to recall nearly 1.7 million vehicles worldwide including 1.2 million in Japan and 421,000 overseas over a fuel leak risk, the automaker and the Transport Ministry said on Wednesday.
Toyota and the ministry said the recalls include around 245,000 of its luxury Lexus vehicles in the United States and 74,590 Lexus, Crown and other cars in Japan over other leakage fears.
In Japan 19 models produced between 2000 and 2009 will be affected by the recall, the ministry said.
"Slight cracks may appear on the engine fuel pipes. If it continues to be used, the crack may be widened and there may be risks of fuel leakage," the ministry said in a statement.
There have been more than 140 cases reported in Japan, with no accidents, it said.
In 2008 Toyota ended General Motors' 77-year reign as the world's largest automaker but the road has been a bumpy one for the Japanese giant, facing the impact of the economic crisis, recalls and recently a strong yen.
In the past year the automaker has pulled millions of vehicles worldwide over a range of issues following a safety crisis involving brake and accelerator defects that has tarnished its once stellar reputation.
Toyota shares tumbled 1.7 percent following news of the recall.
On Monday Toyota said its group sales in 2010 rose, enabling the firm to narrowly retain its title as the world's biggest automaker despite the global safety crisis.
Toyota's global sales rose eight percent year-on-year to 8.418 million vehicles last year, narrowly beating the 8.39 million sold by a resurgent General Motors.

Well damm... that sucks I have a Toyota not good news at all.

[BroncoFanNC]

Never buying a Toyota again (Got an 09 Corolla), had to take it in for 2 recalls already, seem there quality control guy fell asleep.....

[LordTrychon]

Without turning this into a P&R issue... isn't it Toyota that's been bragging that it's the most 'US made' of the major brands recently?

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I think you're right LT. They essentially just assemble parts stateside, I believe. They don't manufacture parts here.

[baphamet]

Never buying a Toyota again (Got an 09 Corolla), had to take it in for 2 recalls already, seem there quality control guy fell asleep.....

that is not quality control, that is bad engineering.

[ebsoria]

Never buying a Toyota again (Got an 09 Corolla), had to take it in for 2 recalls already, seem there quality control guy fell asleep.....

You'd be pretty surprised to see how many recalls the "Big Three" have as well. It's just kept very quiet... very quiet. I work at a GM dealer, so I'm not talking out of my arse here.

Without turning this into a P&R issue... isn't it Toyota that's been bragging that it's the most 'US made' of the major brands recently?

:lagh:

Yes they are. And for the most part they are. It'd crack you up with the truck buyers wanting to "buy American" when the Tundra is the only one built here. Over in Kentuky.

[darth-hideous]

You'd be pretty surprised to see how many recalls the "Big Three" have as well. It's just kept very quiet... very quiet. I work at a GM dealer, so I'm not talking out of my arse here.



Yes they are. And for the most part they are. It'd crack you up with the truck buyers wanting to "buy American" when the Tundra is the only one built here. Over in Kentuky.

A friend worked at GM dealership in Florida, and if what he said was true about drunken exec telling them how much it really costs to make each car, the auto manufacturers should be ashamed of themselves.

[BroncoManiac_69]

American made cars/trucks made mostly out of foreign parts and foreign cars/trucks made out of mostly American parts.

Something is wrong with this picture.

Am I missing something here?

[Bronco_Armada]

Without turning this into a P&R issue... isn't it Toyota that's been bragging that it's the most 'US made' of the major brands recently?

Yeah, we can't make crap anymore. Not even a halfway decent burger.

[Brancos]

The only major car company that still has most of their production in the country they started in is Porsche. (They were also the last major car company to not be owned/partnered with any other company until they tried to buy VW in 2009).

This doesn't really surprise me though. Toyota's are reliable but they are also low quality. This isn't a reliability issue but instead it is a a quality issue. Quality is the one thing Toyota has basically always needed to work on. I am sure there are some people who would disagree with me (It depends on which Toyota you are talking about of course) but for the most part that is true.

At the same time every car company has recalls it's pretty normal. Porsche has 83 defects per 100 vehicles (they are ranked highest and that is the only reason I am bringing them up here) while Toyota has 117 per 100 vehicles (average is 108). Porsche had a recall on the seat belt mounts on the Panamera. The only reason anyone cares about a recall on Toyota's is because they sell a lot. If Land Rover sold the same amount of cars Toyota did then maybe people would realize that a recall like this isn't really that big of a deal. Land Rover has 170 defects per 100 vehicles (ranked last).

[BroncoManiac_69]

The only major car company that still has most of their production in the country they started in is Porsche. (They were also the last major car company to not be owned/partnered with any other company until they tried to buy VW in 2009).

This doesn't really surprise me though. Toyota's are reliable but they are also low quality. This isn't a reliability issue but instead it is a a quality issue. Quality is the one thing Toyota has basically always needed to work on. I am sure there are some people who would disagree with me (It depends on which Toyota you are talking about of course) but for the most part that is true.

At the same time every car company has recalls it's pretty normal. Porsche has 83 defects per 100 vehicles (they are ranked highest and that is the only reason I am bringing them up here) while Toyota has 117 per 100 vehicles (average is 108). Porsche had a recall on the seat belt mounts on the Panamera. The only reason anyone cares about a recall on Toyota's is because they sell a lot. If Land Rover sold the same amount of cars Toyota did then maybe people would realize that a recall like this isn't really that big of a deal. Land Rover has 170 defects per 100 vehicles (ranked last).

Did Brancos just make a serious and worthy post?

Catch me... I'm falling.

In all seriousness though, Porsche is one of the highest priced vehicles to be found and they should have a higher standard but the point of faults amongst all of them is noted.

Produce them now and produce them fast. That is why we have issues with these auto makers. It's complete BS as they continue to raise the prices of their products and ream us in the end.

Why DC bailed out Detroit is beyond me. They should have let them suffer for a while and clean out the lots.

My 2000 Chevy Silverado is doing just fine at 150K miles with no plans to buy any time soon. Screw the industry. Let the big boys eat McDonalds for a change and move to a smaller 3 million dollar home.

[ebsoria]

A friend worked at GM dealership in Florida, and if what he said was true about drunken exec telling them how much it really costs to make each car, the auto manufacturers should be ashamed of themselves.

I dont know what number he told you, but yeah, it's pretty stupid.

[kishzilla]

Our news media makes a big deal about every time Toyota has a recall. Any correlation between the Feds taking part ownership in GM and Toyota taking GM's spot as the #1 auto-maker? I think not. These recalls are standard procedure in the auto industry. It just seems that they make a big deal about Toyotas for some reason lately, while GM gets plenty of their own recalls, probably more than Toyota, and you don't hear much. Just seems a little too coincidental to me.

The only domestic automaker that seems to have their crap together is Ford. They didn't receive any bailout money, they have increased sales, and quality and reliability have all gone up significantly.

The recalls (when they aren't routine) are a GOOD thing. This is a mark of the company taking care of an issue. There were only 140 reports of this problem, and they are recalling a couple million vehicles world wide. They could have issued a service bulletin and only fixed peoples cars that complain of an issue, but instead they are telling their customers to bring the cars back and they will fix it for them regardless if it's an issue or not. That's what a car company should do IMO.

I think that it has become a sensationalism type of issue now to where every time Toyota farts, you're going to have everybody and their mommas telling everybody it stinks. Much-ado about nothing.

[kishzilla]

I dont know what number he told you, but yeah, it's pretty stupid.

What blew me away was when I found out how much it costs to build a 4 door sedan vs. a big SUV or a truck. I guess it's virtually the same amount of money, but the big trucks go for twice as much. Crazy.