Posted on 03/05/2010 12:47:27 PM PST by Born Conservative
As the Toyota Scion of Scranton dealership continues to replace gas pedals on Toyotas recalled for unintended acceleration, managing partner Greg Gagorik depicted the automaker as a victim of a political hit.
At a media event on Thursday at the dealership's new Scranton showroom and service center, Mr. Gagorik handed out lists of contributions by trial lawyers and the United Auto Workers union to congressmen who grilled Toyota executives last month over acceleration problems blamed for dozens of deaths.
Mr. Gagorik attended those hearings, where the U.S. government's majority stake in General Motors hung heavy in the hall.
"One day, U.S. Toyota dealers woke up to find that their government owned their competitor," Mr. Gagorik said. "Now, our tax dollars are being used against us. Our government has a major conflict of interest."
As if to say Toyota is not alone, Mr. Gagorik handed out news reports of the 540,000-vehicle recall by Nissan for brake and fuel gauge repairs and a 1.3 million-vehicle GM recall for power steering from earlier in the week. The majority of Toyota recalls, he said, are because of customers putting non-Toyota-made, after-market floor mats in their vehicles.
"How much will Toyota be liable for non-Toyota products being used in their cars?" he asked. "That will be answered by the courts."
So far, the dealership has serviced half its customers' recalled vehicles last month, or 1,200 of 2,300. The job takes about an hour, but customers can expect the process to take two hours.
Until last week, Toyota Scion service bays were open until midnight, and they remain open on Saturday and Sunday to service vehicles under the recall. Each customer gets a free oil change, car wash and $250 off their next Toyota purchase.
The work hasn't affected the dealership's ability to serve its customers, said Chief of Operations Vito Sampogne. The service department's 70 employees have been able to handle the work.
The dealership had several happy customers on hand to talk to the media Thursday. Customer Tom Matkosky of Justus said the local Toyota sales and service team - not the corporate executives - are the face of the company.
Mr. Matkosky has owned 16 cars of different makes in the last 29 years. He is on his second Toyota Matrix. His own car's recall has not diminished his faith in the brand.
"I'm disappointed in the executives. The way you react to something is important," he said. "But the dealership network is another story - they are doing everything in their power to take care of customers and address what is happening."
Kimberly Konopka also says she remains a loyal Toyota customer. She traded in one Corolla to take advantage of 0 percent financing on another, her third. The owner of a Gouldsboro horse farm, she also frequently drives American-made trucks.
"One recall doesn't bother me," she said. "That's nothing compared to the number of recalls on the American trucks I've owned."
Mr. Gagorik hasn't noticed a sales drop in the last few weeks, this being the slowest time of the year. But he said Toyota has put together the most generous package of incentives in its history to lure buyers to the showrooms.
"For 25 years, Toyota has had the best record of safety and reliability in the industry," he said. "That is not going to change."
I wish I were so sure. I'm a Toyota owner (who BTW would know to turn off the ignition if my car were ever accelerating when I didn't want it to). I'm on my third one now dating back to 1988. I had an electrical problem once. I wouldn't be surprised if 250 owners had the same problem that year. These are cars. Some number of them are going to need repair. But my guess is that the number of repairs per mile that Toyotas have required is shall we say less than the same number for Government Motors cars.
But yesterday I was speaking with a very conservative neighbor, and she was very concerned that I was driving a Toyota. The daily news alarms about Toyota are having a devastating effect.
ML/NJ
I’d be interested in that list.
where do you think the majority of profits for the rice burners go ???
ping
Yeah them Jap cars are about as American as apple pie aren’t they!
The wage goes to the American worker. What a company does with it’s profit is not my business. I guess you like GM better. You like a business that the American worker has to support?
I guess I shouldn’t eat at the local Chinese restaurant. They aren’t very apple pieish.
To the shareholders.
actually I work for and drive a Ford,,, thats a company based in Dearborn Michigan that makes AMERICAN cars... and is not sold out to the Government.. the same company that supported the US thru out World War II building vehicle and tanks for the troops to fight the Japs and one that donates MILLIONS and MILLIONS of dollars to charity!
Good for you.
In case you haven’t noticed, we are no longer at war with Japan. Toyota donates millions to charity as well and they aren’t union. What is your point?
Lol! Good point.
Why are you sending me private messages?
where do you think the majority of profits for the rice burners go ???
Where do you think the union-run GM’s profit go ?
Oh, never mind.
DNC re-election campaigns.
“Yeah them Jap cars are about as American as apple pie aren’t they!”
As a matter of FACT they have a bunch of American content.
Toyota has had a design center in the US since the 1970s. Several of their popular models have been designed almost entirely in the US.
Then you know about all the plants in the US?
The vehicle industry is international. All of the major companies make vehicles in several locations.
None of the countries could grow to any size, only building and selling in one country.
And right now the majors are looking towards China and India, as their largest growth markets.
The anti-Toyota meme has legs because the Toyota dealers (at least in the Chicagoland area) are major a$$holes. I switched this year after 21 straight years with Toyota because I was sick of their games and high prices in the face of declining demand.
Good cars though.
Aren’t the dealers locally owned?
So you think that the auto industry ought to consist of three American manufacturers? Dude, the American automobile industry wasn't killed by imports, it was killed by socialists from the 1930 to the 1970s.
During the 1920s competition and economies of scale rewarded successful competitors, especially GM, whose sales formula brought down the Model T in 1926. Many, many other companies went out of business during this time as unable to keep up with the rest. Others honed their business models and rose over the rest, such as Chrysler.
It was during the 1930s, however, that the government killed off competition. By mandating material and labor costs and conditions, FDR's New Deal (NRA) reduced all competitive advantages to a simple matter of scale. Since materials and labor cost all factories the same, the only factories that could survive were those of enormous scale: during this time the "Big Three" were created, GM, Ford, and Chrysler. WWII saved the smaller competitors since they moved to war materials, but coming out of the War, the government continued wage and materials controls, which, again, favored the Big Three over their few remaining competitors.
Through the 1950s and 1960s all the Big Three competitors died off, except American Motors, an amalgamation of other, failing companies, and which finally died in the 1980s.(Btw, a 60 Minutes report that exaggerated claims of rollovers of Jeeps was the coup de grace of AMC.)
By the 1970s, the government had stifled and killed off all viable domestic competition to the Big Three, which then dominated the marketplace. However, import competition, in large part driven by the surving dealer network of the old independent manufacturers, filled in the crucial needs of alternatives for the consumer.
Your beloved domestic automobile industry is a government created failure.
Bottom line: I don't know how all this would play out, but it seems to me that the media and government are coming down on Toyota with major shit. I never saw this kind of brouhaha in the news over probs with other auto companies. My Dad had a Ford that stopped dead on the freeway once. Bottom line: I'll find
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