29th Oct 2010, 19:45

And that is why I recently switched to all domestics. Low production, I agree. they were not mediocre, but look now. The domestics are great for us now. If you have a prior so called exceptional Toyota past wonderful car, it should go even farther up in quality, not go backwards.

30th Oct 2010, 15:18

Okay everyone. Here is how recalls work. They recall EVERY CAR that they have sold that COULD be equipped with the problematic parts. These recalls have been greatly blown out of proportion because the ACTUAL number of cars that have had any issues is extremely low. Look up recalls on ANY car brand, and they are all pretty much in the millions over the past 5 years. The domestics don't need bad press, so they have been focusing on Toyota's problems. I know many many people with Toyotas, and no one I have ever talked to has needed anything done to their car when they've had it checked out.

Again, just because they recall millions of cars, does not mean millions of cars need parts fixed on them!

30th Oct 2010, 17:53

"How can a recall for a sticking accelerator be blown out of proportion? In reality... It could kill somebody."

So could the fire hazards, braking problems, and steering failures of the domestics that have been recalled in the past year, so what is your point? They recalled millions of domestic cars over the past few years, just like Toyotas. But, like Toyota, the actual number of problem cars is extremely low compared to the number of recalled cars. The part that is blown out of proportion is the belief that every car that is recalled needs fixing. It just isn't even close to the reality of things!

30th Oct 2010, 18:42

"And that is why I recently switched to all domestics"

I lunched with a good friend today who has driven nothing but Camrys since the late 80's. He told me he has owned his last Toyota because of the lapse in quality (one of his friends has had nothing but trouble from his new Corolla). My friend is buying a Ford Fusion. I own a 5-year-old Fusion and he was so impressed with it, it was an easy choice for him. Modern domestics are way ahead of both Japanese and German cars.

31st Oct 2010, 11:14

My recalls consisted of a new seat belt buckle recall on my Trailblazer and a steering lock recall on my Vette when parked. Both fixed, no charge.

31st Oct 2010, 12:03

"Modern domestics are way ahead of both Japanese and German cars."

Not according to J.D. Powers and Consumer Reports!

31st Oct 2010, 12:32

""The ACTUAL number of cars that have any issues is extremely low".

That would be because they recall the car before the recall issues have a chance to occur."

Hmmmmph!! Okay, the ACTUAL number of cars that need the recalled parts is extremely low! There are a tiny amount of failing parts on the cars... not millions of cars!!

1st Nov 2010, 07:32

Your "domestic" Ford Fusion was IMPORTED from Mexico. It is a Mexican car, and made in Mexico.

1st Nov 2010, 12:24

"12:32 What are you talking about? "the actual number of cars needing the recall is extremely low" If 1 model has a recall, that means it applies to all the models of that year, not just a few. What do you think; they pick the ones that get recalled out of a hat?"

Okay, let me make it simple. I have known many people with Toyotas. They have all been recalled, but upon bringing them into the dealer, not one of them has needed anything replaced. They recalled millions of cars due to the possibility that there might be a defective part on them. They are not sure which exact cars have the defective parts on them, so they have to check them all out.

What this means is the actual number of cars with the faulty parts on them is extremely low compared to the number recalled. In no way does a recall of millions of cars mean that every single car has a faulty part.

1st Nov 2010, 14:04

They take the entire manufacturers year of a specific model and do a recall campaign.

So it's not minimal.

2nd Nov 2010, 12:22

"12:24.

No kidding, but they still replace the defective part on EVERY car recalled. That is the whole point of a recall."

C'mon guys! They DO NOT replace the part on every single car in Toyota's case. They only replace the parts that are defective. I have known many people that have taken their Toyotas in for the recalls. None of them has had any parts replaced, because when they got checked out, they did NOT have the defective parts on them. One Camry could have the defective part on it, and the next Camry doesn't. This one part came from multiple sources, and only certain versions of it were defective. I think they actually traced the defective parts to an American distributor, so any cars built with the part from this specific distributor were likely replaced with the new part that is better. Again, they did not use this specific part on every last Toyota!

The parts that are problematic were used on very few cars. Unfortunately, when you have a car that is literally thousands of parts, you can't possibly track which parts go on which cars, so they had to recall all of them to check for these faulty parts. They had to check every car to see which ones had the actual faulty parts, hence the millions of recalled cars.

Why is this such a complex thing to understand?

2nd Nov 2010, 12:27

"A recall includes every model that has a defect, it really does not matter if the car didn't have the problem at the time of the recall, even if the defective part is still good at the time of the recall, it still must be replaced, because who is going to know if the recall matter is going to happen in the future?... unless you have a crystal ball."

Not true in Toyota's case. Like I said, I have known many people that have had their Toyotas checked and needed nothing done to them. There was a defective part from a specific distributor that was causing the problem. It is one of many of the same part from different sources that was easily identifiable upon inspection. Not too many of the cars actually have the defective part and they only replace the part on the cars that actually have this specific part.

It is just these kinds of beliefs that every car needs fixing that really blow these things out of proportion.