16th Jun 2010, 12:01
Seemed to have forgotten there are other GMs. I have a new Corvette and it's bulletproof. I never had a Corvair, but had Chevelles and Camaros with bulletproof 396 engines. I bought not at the lowest cheapest entry level cars. No issues.
16th Jun 2010, 16:41
"Ford is also replacing faulty accelerators on the Ford Escape."
They're doing the same thing with the Fusion. The same car that was portrayed as being "lightyears ahead" of the Accord and Camry. I'm glad I didn't buy into that one now.
16th Jun 2010, 16:45
For a few months, Toyota was the worst car manufacturer in world. Domestics were all of a sudden "lightyears ahead" and " (insert domestic car manufacture name here) is now building the best cars in the world".
However, with the domestics now recalling a lot of there vehicles as well, I really don't see where people got these assumptions. Ford, GM and Chrysler look like the same old corner-cutting, profit-focused companies they've been for decades.
17th Jun 2010, 14:13
Instead of buying the cheapest corner cutting spartan basic utility vehicles, buy higher end for minimal, if any issues. I have had no issue with my GMs. Better quality and warranty than Acura issues we had.
18th Jun 2010, 00:06
There have been THREE complaints of POSSIBLE issues with the Fusion accelerator. NONE are confirmed. This is a far cry from the hundreds of deaths due to the MILLIONS of defective Toyotas. It's hardly a rational comparison.
18th Jun 2010, 13:37
"hundreds of deaths" - no, at max 50 deaths, some even not confirmed. Compare this to the Ford Explorer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy
19th Jun 2010, 13:22
"What if you bought a Ford Mustang for example and had zero Ford issues?"
I'm not sure I get the issue here. I've owned 7 Ford Mustangs and never had an issue with ANY of them. What is the question??
As far as quality, the latest IQS (Initial Quality Survey) by the very reputable J. D. Powers just ranked Ford and GM FAR ahead of Toyota in quality (Toyota ranked a pitiful 21st out of 33 makers, Ford ranked 5th, AHEAD of Honda). How anyone who has read a newspaper or watched a TV news broadcast in the past year could regard Toyota as a "quality" vehicle is beyond me.
19th Jun 2010, 13:33
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy"
This is a FIRESTONE problem, not FORD'S.
20th Jun 2010, 20:23
Funny how when Ford chooses a third party part that fails and causes accidents it's not their problem, but when Toyota chooses a third party AMERICAN MADE part that fails, they get blasted for it.
21st Jun 2010, 17:26
Toyota is currently being forced to investigate and recall vehicles built TWENTY YEARS AGO (1991 models) due to poor quality metal in the steering rods. ALL of these cars were made in JAPAN, by JAPANESE WORKERS using JAPANESE PARTS. Kindly explain how this is "American incompetence".
22nd Jun 2010, 10:51
You're right, 20 years ago those sorts of issues were purely found in American cars. Sorry for that error!
22nd Jun 2010, 17:03
Actually Toyotas and Honda's both started to be manufactured here in the U.S. about 25 years ago, so it could be the American versions they are recalling.
22nd Jun 2010, 23:46
This steering rod problem is another case of Toyota recalling cars in countries outside the United States, then telling the US government they had no reason to expect problems in models sold in the US. But now that the government is pressing Toyota harder like they should have all along, it turns out they had 44 reported cases of steering rod failures reported in the US when they told the government there were none. This is a clear violation of federal law.
One justification they said was that Japan is more congested so drivers there make more sharp turns, like in parking maneuvers.
23rd Jun 2010, 14:51
"Kindly explain how this is "American incompetence"."
Probably because most of them were built in the States. Like others have stated on this thread, Toyota began building in the States about 25 years ago.
23rd Jun 2010, 17:19
But who designed and approved the recent cars produced? I did however like the very low production and slow assembly line of my 70s Toyotas made in Japan. But that was then. My last imports I bought new stunk with engine transmission woes.
24th Jun 2010, 09:59
Most of them are designed here these days. Yes, the company executives sign off on the cars but they really just want quantity and not so much quality these days. Toyota took their cues from GM because it worked so well for them 20 years ago when they produced utter crap and people kept coming back for more to support the U.S. product. Toyota is surely riding on their brand more than ever.
I keep hearing about engine and tranny problems, but the only problems I have experienced in these areas are on domestic cars. Never have I had a failure in any import engine or transmission. I guess where you are lucky with domestics, I am lucky with imports. And yes, luck has everything to do with it no matter what brand you drive!
24th Jun 2010, 17:21
"And yes, luck has everything to do with it no matter what brand you drive!"
Not really. According to the latest quality surveys, Ford tops ALL major import brands, even the mighty Honda, in build quality. That isn't luck. It's called building a quality car.
24th Jun 2010, 17:55
"Oh, and 1991-2010 is 19 years."
No, it's 20. The 2011's are already on sale, and the 1991 Toyotas in question were on sale in 1990. That's twenty years any way you slice it.
Also, even earlier models are being investigated now as a result of the metallurgical studies showing that the metal itself (not the part) in the JAPANESE BUILT models was of very poor quality and too brittle.
Anyone who has ever worked on ANY Japanese car, as I have, will immediately tell you that the materials used (whether built in America or Japan) are of VERY poor quality and grossly under-engineered. The brake pads on our Honda Civic were actually smaller than those on my MOTORCYCLE, and far smaller than any comparable domestic and wore out three times as soon... and it was built in Japan.
16th Jun 2010, 08:07
I thought this was a Camry review? I'm on my fourth Camry and they are just great. The service I get from the Toyota dealership is just great too.
I hear a lot of criticism on the Toyota safety recalls, but how many have actually perished as a direct result of the faulty accelerator? I've read about 50, and many are not even confirmed. Compare this to those killed by faulty GM and Ford products, then you see the whole picture.
Nader wrote 'Unsafe at any speed' 45 years back about GMs shady business practices related to consumer safety when they did not put a $10 anti-roll bar on the Corvair. And the story just goes on and on. It's funny how those GM/Ford lovers are trying to obscure the truth. Ford is not any better either, killing people both in the famous Pinto as well as the dangerously unsafe Exporer (Exploder?).
Now Ford and GM are recalling cars all over the place and GM is the leader in faulty product design. Faulty steering columns, fire hazards, faulty brakes, what will be the next? Ford is also replacing faulty accelerators on the Ford Escape.