Posted on 06/07/2006 10:27:19 AM PDT by G. Stolyarov II
Toyota is planning to voluntarily recall about 2/3 of the Prius cars they have made.
Someone in Japan learned that when you turn the steeling wheel and drive real slow into a curb, it can break something in the steering mechanism. Trust me, you drive very slowly in Japan a lot, with the steering wheel turned all the way the left or right.
Usually, its bad business for a car company to do something like this. However, Toyota is sucking it up, making the changes on their own dime BEFORE a tire blows out, or a car rolls over and kills someone. By doing so, Toyota earns points for doing the fix.
That's the way a quality company does business, I think.
What do you think?
Having owned 4 Toyotas I can tell you that this behavior is typical - and one reason why I am a repeat customer. US car companies take a lesson. BTW significant fractions of several Toyota models are made (and assembled) here in the US, so the problem is not with American workers.
They're opening another plant here in Indiana (I think number 4).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1620709/posts
I still love my Toyota!
The Japanese government kicked Toyota's ass so many times in the past that they restructured their whole safety response program.
When a car has a known problem or defect the company should fix it and not just a "safety" issue. I may not buy another BMW after the current problems that plague the E36. The HVAC unit has a one penny capacity that blows after 5 years forcing the owner to spend $500 on a new unit. The catalytic converter goes after 10 years forcing the owner to pay $2000 to get the car to pass inspection. The water pumps all go after a few years because of a plastic impeller. and on and on, really bad quality from BMW.
I think that every automotive company doing business in the US is bound by federal law to repair safety related defects.
BUMP!
What, we're supposed to praise Toyota for puting a weak steering mechanism into production?
I think its a good thing anytime a car company owns up to an error and does a recall...
That said, in my experience, Toyota is TERRIBLE at owning up to their mistakes. I've had quite a few problems with my Toyotas that have been widespread, and Toyota never recalled them or even would cover repair costs. Some of them have even led to class action lawsuits to try to force Toyota into coverage. That is not the sign of a company doing the right thing....
I find it interesting that we praise Toyota for this and curse GM or Ford when they do the same. Shouldn't ALL efforts to correct problems be seen in a positive light and all denials of problems be seen as a negative?
---Now they got me curious, the article mentions "turn the steeling wheel and drive real slow into a curb,"
Can someone try it and see what happens when you drive into the curb fast? :) Don't hold me liable for damages though.
That is the second article I've seen that ended with the "what do you think?" sentence. Noticed it's the same source.
What I think is that it is a loaded question.
Well, they could stonewall like BMW and deny that their capacitor causes the owner to spend $500 to fix, or that their plastic impeller in water pumps fail after a short time...
I've had the opposite experience. They have never failed to acknowledge warranty work, and it has happened more that a half-dozen times in three years.
That is an example of what I call "Bad Brother-In-Law" thinking. Just because I may treat my Wife better than my Brother-in-Law treats her sister does not make me an exemplary husband. I have to do the best I can do on my own.
BMW's customer relations problems have nothing to do with the strength of the steering gear on the Toyota Prius.
I've only ever had one problem with warranty work - they refused to acknowledge "rust through" because the rust occurred where three pieces of metal were hemmed together, and only two had rusted through. So despite the fact that I could put a finger through two pieces of metal, the third one (they claimed) meant that the car hadn't rusted through and would not be covered.
Of course that was quite a few years ago.
What really has peeved me is the common defects they do have that they don't acknowledge...
I've actually had the least resistance from Ford of anyone. Not that they're angels, but they're a notch above Toyota when it comes to acknowledging mistakes, in my experience... Doesn't hurt either that the Taurus has been cheaper than the Camry (same miles, Taurus is 1 year older) by a few thousand $$$... And that gap just grew as the Camry just junked a CV joint.... There goes my Saturday.... %@#!#%!$#! :)
I have never owned a Japanese-made vehicle and if the Japanese made Bentleys and sold them for a dollar I still wouldn't buy one.
I'm still miffed about Bataan.
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