21st Dec 2011, 11:52
Your "ad hype" rhetoric is getting old & tired fast. I wonder what (other than satisfaction) you have to gain by seeming to be on a mission to discredit certain makes (imports), and I for one am tired of all this propaganda on what used to be the best automotive website on the planet. Oh by the way - I own & drive 2 domestic vehicles - they are no better or no worse than the imports we have owned over the years.
As far as the only thing going wrong with a vehicle in 55,000 being a starter - yes, I wouldn't be happy that it only lasted 55,000 miles, but I had a new car where the starter went before 12,000 miles. So I don't think that's much to complain about.
20th Dec 2011, 09:53
Oh, the broken record skips on... Ad hype, ad hype, ad hype. I have never heard an explanation as to what this actually means. No one is denying Toyota has had its problems. But everything bad about Toyota is ten times for GM. At least Toyota hasn't begged their government for bailout money, and then continued to build the same vehicles they got into trouble with to begin with.
It is actually going to be amusing if gas ever hits the $4 mark again, as GM has continued to invest very little into efficient vehicles that can compete. They still rely heavily on their large truck and SUV lines to stay profitable. The carpet is just waiting to be yanked from under their feet again. Summer 2012, here we come!!
30 years of import domination did not come from their advertising. Sorry, it came from generations of people driving their vehicles for hundreds of thousands of miles with no issues. They out designed and outclassed our own companies for many many years. In fact the best design improvements on domestic vehicles over the past couple of decades can all be attributed to import ingenuity, and our own companies need to keep up with them to be competitive.
American cars for the most part are pretty good. Ford is the best by far of the big three. Enough about the recalls though. Domestic cars have had them as well, and yes people have died from design defects with domestic vehicles too. As with any other car company, things will smooth out for Toyota, and this will be a thing of the past when they are once again the top car maker on the planet.