Posted on 01/19/2007 6:14:25 AM PST by eraser2005
TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. plans to recall about 533,000 Sequoia SUVs and Tundra pickup trucks in the United States to repair faulty components that could make the vehicles difficult to steer.
Six injuries and 11 accidents were reported as a result of the defect, Japan's top automaker said Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
I'm ashamed that my 95 Tahoe has been a reliable vehicle...I knew that I should have bought a Toyota
5 million is a lot of miles. I can see that you would have a loyalty to Jags. Note that my comments and comparisons are directed at the worship of rice. I know that some European brands are superior to Asian brands. That said, I would still buy American. I would buy a Ford/Jag long before I would purchase rice, however.
Ford has had some problems with oil gelling in the Jaguar X-Type 2.5 (and its Mondeo cousin). DCX had problems with the 2.7L V6, but said they fixed it shortly after introduction (ha ha). Mercedes has also had problems and raised their warranty coverage for the issue to 150K after they were sued, for *all* 98-01 cars (and sludging has been reported on everything from A-class to S-class): http://www.alldata.com/tsb/Mercedes-Benz/1070611200000_1075276800000_P-18-00-20/
I've been recalled once for a rear taillight assembly where the bulbs dropped out because of a poor design of the little plastic wedge that locks them into place. Seems that Toyota didn't recognize the problem in most Tundras until people like me took them offroad where the bumps knocked the bulbs out. Almost as soon as the problem happened on my Tundra, I got the recall notice.
Only downside to my Tundra is that the quality of Japanese paint isn't the best.
I sure would like to see Toyota put a Cummings turbo diesel in the Tundra along with a heavy duty manual transmission.
Glad your experience as been positive.
Having owned 12 American cars, one of them currently being a Cadillac, I share in my joy of twisting the key each day.
What I hate about Japanese cars is the design. I have owned a Nissan truck once. Once. It couldn't pull my boat without suffering. Had a Toyota truck for a while too. Buyers remorse on that one - never felt safe in the way-too-thin doors, thinner sheet metal. Interior spaces in each seemed cramped. I look at the Honda Ridgeline and think: Truck? Naw... Unibody right? A trunk in the bed of it? Sounds like it needs to come standard in pink and have a pop-up make-up mirror on the dash.
One of my passions is muscle cars and I hurt from laughter at the giant wings, fart pipe, manhole cover sized brakes, stickers, and puny output of these things. Making a lot of HP at redline is OK. Making tons of torque down low and having neck-snapping response is even better.
I hate Japanese cars not out of a protectionist mindset, or any sort of bigotry. I hate Japanese cars because I think they are crap.
Personally, I buy whatever I want to drive that fits my needs and my wants the best. For me, it's usually a Jag of some kind, but I have had other cars - everything from a BMW 750iL to a beat-to-hell Toyota pickup truck. My last daily driver (when gas prices spiked) was a Nissan 300ZX Turbo. I've bought American, Japanese and European.
I have no illusions about Jaguars, I've had too many of them, and no, they aren't total paragons of reliability. But they are better than the domestic product overall, sad to say.
From my experience: The Japanese do build good to excellent cars and there are some that I'd like to have, but most of them lack character and "soul". The American products just seem bland and uninspired at best, and gross money pits at worst. My Jeep has been exhibiting the latter behavior lately, as did the F-150 before it, and it's going away. Ironically, I'm going to buy a Land Rover Discovery instead, because it will probably be more reliable.
"Good, we can ignore any further comments from you as being completely biased, then."
Guilty as charged.
People who lack opinion, and willingness to express it, might as well be a part of the furniture. Just my $.02.
I guess I need automotive manufacturer diversity training.
" Toyota is, as has been established in this thread, more proactive in their recalls than other manufactures."
As has been established? There is ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF of this.
"...And you can buy shares in Toyota if you want a share of the profits."
Creat country this US of A. Free markets.
;-)
Not offended. Annoyed by your use of them in every post. Makes me discount your posts, because you seem to be illogical in your hatred of "Jap" cars.
As far as the cars go, well, you're entitled to your opinion. I can tell you that I didn't get my bad opinion of American cars from the media, but from my own experiences, and those of people I have known. Are the Japaense perfect? No, of course not. They've produced some real dogs over the years. And the American car makers do some things well. As I've said before I think that GM and Ford have better corrosion protection than the Japanese (and maybe anyone else, although old Mercedes seem to hold up quite well). And they'll give you a bigger, if somewhat less advanced technologically, motor for your money. And until fairly recently they were the only ones making a really decent-sized affordable family car. And they're the only ones selling affordable rear-drive cars (300C, Crown Vic, Mustang) in this market. But I continue to be leery of their quality issues, not based on things I read, but again based on my own experiences and those of people I know.
I'm Canadian, btw, so buying "domestic" really doesn't mean anything to me - all the profits go to companies based in other countries. All the major players have plants in Canada, although my Honda Accord was built in the US.
I don't think anyone's been keeping track, but it *is* Toyota policy (from my observation) to get out a recall before NHTSA begins a full formal investigation into a problem. I believe that this could be confirmed by checking to see how many of the recalls are "voluntary" versus "voluntary/in conjunction with the NHTSA". Toyota will have more of the former, most other makers (Ford comes to mind again) have more of the latter. And Ford (again, using them as an example - GM, DCX and even smaller makers like Jaguar when they were independent are all guilty of this) sometimes waits until NHTSA *forces* them to have a recall, which damages customer relations.
I believe if you look at history, you won't find a single *NHTSA forced* Toyota recall in the last 15-20 years.
"" Toyota is, as has been established in this thread, more proactive in their recalls than other manufactures."
As has been established? There is ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF of this."
Prove to me that Ford or GM is more proactive in recalls.
You cannot. WHERE IS YOUR PROOF!
I was suspicious of them when they got caught *lying* about the Isuzu Trooper, and when I found out about their high rating of the Excel, I just stopped listening to them for any capital purchase. They may be good at rating washing machines and refrigerators, but they have no clue on cars.
You do know they just got caught *lying* about car seats, right?
"I was suspicious of them when they got caught *lying* about the Isuzu Trooper, and when I found out about their high rating of the Excel, I just stopped listening to them for any capital purchase. They may be good at rating washing machines and refrigerators, but they have no clue on cars.
You do know they just got caught *lying* about car seats, right?"
And you are aware of Fords lying about Pinto and F-100 gas tanks?
Let's agree to disagree - OK?
"What I hate about Japanese cars is the design. I have owned a Nissan truck once. Once. It couldn't pull my boat without suffering. Had a Toyota truck for a while too. Buyers remorse on that one - never felt safe in the way-too-thin doors, thinner sheet metal. Interior spaces in each seemed cramped. I look at the Honda Ridgeline and think: Truck? Naw... Unibody right? A trunk in the bed of it? Sounds like it needs to come standard in pink and have a pop-up make-up mirror on the dash."
Cars? You've only mentioned trucks. As if 4-cyl regular cab Ford Rangers and Chevy S-10s weren't also gutless, cramped, and tinny. Actually, the regular cab Nissan "Hardbody" trucks were a little tight on interior space - the cab could have stood to be about 6 inches longer, where the S10 was a little better in that regard (but then it had the craptastic interior and a pitiful base engine). Agree on the Ridgeline, though - it's a nice car with an open storage area in the back, but it's not a truck.
Um, I'm not pro-American car here..... I'm anti-crappy car, and Ford has made a lot of crappy cars (along with all the other domestic makers). They do make some good ones, and their current product lineup doesn't have anything truly embarassing any more (Tempo and Aspire come to mind...).
I didn't claim that GM and Ford were proactive in recalls. But to claim Toyota IS is complete and utter bunk. You have no proof, and you know it.
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