28th Mar 2010, 13:03

Sadly, Toyota fell victim to corporate greed and stopped paying attention to quality or safety over a decade ago. While Ford was issuing recalls on SIXTEEN YEAR OLD vehicles voluntarily, Toyota had to be forced by law to repair major safety defects on vehicles that were brand new. This is why I will never own a Toyota, and why there are two Fords in my driveway.

29th Mar 2010, 17:39

Fords catching on fire, Toyota's accelerating out of control. Both pretty much equally dangerous. Bought myself a Honda.

11th Apr 2010, 22:12

"Bought myself a Honda."

Honda just recalled half a million cars for defective brakes. That might qualify as a safety issue.

12th Apr 2010, 10:48

I had a lot of new Hondas and felt losing transmissions on the interstate surrounded by tractor trailers reason to sell. First trans went at 28000. I have had no problem the past few years with our new GMs.

12th Apr 2010, 15:36

"Honda just recalled half a million cars for defective brakes. That might qualify as a safety issue."

And GM just recalled 1.7 million cars due to powersteering failure. Hey, I'm just throwing it out there, but to suddenly lose powersteering while going around a corner or taking a turn may just cause some safety hazards as well.

12th Apr 2010, 16:55

Honda's catch fire too. Our neighbor's Accord caught fire in their garage and did so much damage that the house had to be torn down and rebuilt. A friend's Nissan burst into flames at a redlight and they had to bail out to save themselves. Frankly, I don't think any new cars are beyond having problems except maybe the Fusion (which has a perfect record so far).

13th Apr 2010, 09:21

16:55

The Fusion is a good car, but it is not "perfect" either. Read through the reviews and comments. There seems to be complaints about transmission failures. No vehicle is "perfect", they are machines.

13th Apr 2010, 12:00

"No vehicle is "perfect", they are machines."

True! They ALL have issues at one time or another. Cars are built with the cheapest parts they can get a hold of, by the lowest standards to pass testing, and they are mass produced. Do you think that all adds up to a perfect product? Please!

13th Apr 2010, 14:11

Seems like a 100000 mile warranty and loaner car in 2010 is the solution. I had no courtesy shuttle with my newer Honda even to be dropped at work. My older cars always have a 1/4 turn battery disconnect so they do not burn up a 10 dollar part that saves a classic car and my garage. I also carry full replacement insurance vs take a bad financial loss.

13th Apr 2010, 14:45

Re: 09:21.

Sure no car is perfect, but Toyotas (including Camry) are really overrated. People may have started to realize this, or they will, after a few years when they know it by (somehow more expensive) experience...

13th Apr 2010, 14:51

Re: 12th Apr 2010, 15:36.

It's not about having recalls my friend, it's about not having it when you need to (Toyota)

13th Apr 2010, 16:36

To comment 16:55.

You're right, the Fusion is so perfect. In fact, I bet you could even convince the poor souls on this very site who bought one only to have the transmission fail around 12,000 miles (one guy had to have his replaced at 6800 miles) that it's so perfect and that they made the right choice.

Although, you should also warn them that Ford's recall for vehicles catching on fire is still going on and has so far reached 16 million vehicles.

14th Apr 2010, 11:28

The mistake most people make in looking at recalls is that Japanese car companies don't recall a vehicle until forced to do so by law. All American car companies do voluntary recalls, so naturally there will be far more of them.

In 2007 Ford did a recall going back 18 YEARS for a possible cruise control problem. Now try to imagine Toyota or Honda recalling an EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD CAR!! They have to be forced to recall TWO MONTH OLD cars for MAJOR safety defects. I've had Fords recalled at over 7 years and 100,000 miles for problems that were not remotely safety related, and the dealer fixed them immediately with no questions asked. Toyota owners have to rely on the U.S. government to make Toyota fix their potentially FATAL defects in the first few months of ownership. That's why I drive two Fords.

Oh, and in case you might have missed it, the headline in my newpaper this morning screamed "DON'T BUY THIS CAR" and had a picture of a Lexus SUV. It is so dangerous that Toyota is halting production. So much for Explorers that rolled over!!

14th Apr 2010, 11:33

"Honda just recalled half a million cars for defective brakes. That might qualify as a safety issue."

Honda also just recalled thousands of cars due to defective airbags. They appear to be following Toyota's "let's sell crap and make lots of money" philosophy.

14th Apr 2010, 13:22

And lets not forget that the big three American car companies started that philosophy and rode on it for over 30 years.

Funny how the foreign car companies lost all of their quality when they started being designed and built in the U.S. huh?

15th Apr 2010, 15:34

That's 100% FACT. As proof, and I've said this DOZENS of times already, the only Toyota models that were affected by the recall were the ones built in the U.S. NO JAPANESE BUILT MODELS WERE AFFECTED. I even noticed a quality drop in Honda when I bought an American built Civic. Our quality control is much lower obviously.

I'd go out and buy a brand new Toyota right now without thinking twice. I'd just buy one with a J-VIN.

So remember, if the VIN starts with J, it's a car you can depend on. If it doesn't, it's just another piece of junk domestic.

16th Apr 2010, 07:57

I feel design flaws plus higher volume as the cause, not whom assembled the vehicle. If design flaws were the factor, no matter how excellent the robotics and DC electric controlled assembly tools that release the vehicle to the next assembly, operation will be affected. If a part is flawed, no matter how precise the assembly is performed, then thousands of vehicles can be produced before a mandatory recall.

13th May 2010, 23:08

"It's not about having recalls my friend, it's about not having it when you need to (Toyota) "

Truer words were never spoken. People make so much over the fact that U.S. auto makers have had lots of recalls. Well, gee, they do it VOLUNTARILY, rather than waiting until enough people die in their cars to FORCE a recall. I just read that now Toyota is being FORCED to recall cars dating back to the '90's. I venture to say that before all is said and done, virtually EVERY Toyota built in the past two DECADES will end up being recalled.

As for those "perfect" Japanese-built 70's and 80's Japanese cars NEVER having a recall?? Well, gee, they weren't subject to legally mandated recalls then. And incidentally, I owned a couple of those "perfect" Japanese-built cars and they were absolute garbage. Neither the Honda or the Mazda made 100,000 miles without self-destructing. They were by FAR the most unsafe and unreliable cars I ever owned.

I now read that NISSAN is having massive recalls for defective air bags. That makes Toyota, Honda and Nissan SO FAR. The myth of Japanese superiority has been soundly refuted. Of course I could care less. Since our Honda went to car Heaven at less than 100,000 miles we've owned nothing but domestics... and NOT A ONE of them has required a SINGLE REPAIR.