The most fascinating part of this article is the links to the right of the article- lists customer reviews by model. I'm not meaning to bash Toyota per-se, but I do believe the perception of quality and the reality are not the same thing.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...a_quality.html

a few gems:

Lani of Hilo HI (01/03/05)
I was in a Toyota Tacoma 2004 that spontaneously caught on fire on August 30, 2004. In the truvk bed were $25K-$35K in personal items. I was on my way to the airport. The boxes in the truck bed contained items being transported to Hawaii for a move there.

Brad of Medford OR (12/28/04)
I have a 2000 Tacoma which I bought new in 2000, I now have only 38,000 miles on it and have engine problems, I'm now on my 3rd transmission, not to mention a recall on an electrical part that can cause fires...what the hell is going on with Toyota? Ive owned Toyota trucks for the last 20 years and never had a problem till now, I really like the looks of the 2005 Tacoma, but I am re-thinking buying into another exspensive nightmare.

Michael Berg of Roseville CA (07/27/06)
On July 20, 2006 while driving to work in the morning, without any warning, my Toyota Tacoma Double Cab TRD 4wheel drive truck engine rod broke. I immediately got to the side of the highway and called for a tow truck, which I directed to the nearest Toyota Dealership Service Department. The CHP Freeway Service Patrol truck arrived first, and visually inspected the fluid draining from the bottom of my engine and said I blew my transmission because the fluid was transmission fluid. The AAA truck arrived minutes later and the driver said the same thing, Looks like you blew your trannie.

When I got to the service center, the service attendant also stated that he thought my front transmission blew, but when he started the engine it was obvious that the rod had blown and he immediately changed his opinion about the kind of fluid that was draining from my vehicle, directed me to the service representative, Doug Sullivan, who wrote up an estimate of $6500 to repair the motor. Later that day Doug called and confirmed that the motor needed repair because the rod broke and needed to replace the short block, the rod and piston.

The next day, he indicated that the repair would need to include valve replacements and as long as they were in there, they should replace the timing belt and a few other things that would be due at my next scheduled service. The estimate now was up to $8,200. I had just completed a 75,000 mile Service; my mileage at breakdown was 79,405 miles. I purchased a 7/75,000 extended warranty when I purchased the vehicle, which they confirmed they could not apply to this problem.

Mark of Grande Cache Canada (10/25/05)
I bought a 2005 Tacoma. The fender brackets all broke due to what Toyota has said was To much mud While I was waiting for them to decide how to fix it, the fenders started cracking. Toyota Canada has said that they will not warranty the problem. So I now have a 2005 Tacoma that I have to spend thousands to fix. I bought the Off Road edition because half of my traveling is on gravel roads. It's crazy that an Off Road truck can have too much mud. How come they don't show that on their commercials?

 

My uncle bought a RAV4 a year or two ago, and at around 15,000 miles took it to an independent shop for an alignment to correct a slight shimmy at highway speed. The shop found three blown shocks/struts. My uncle wasn't too happy...

No sympathy for this guy, though: That's not poor quality, that's stupid buying. If you don't like the features or ergonomics of a vehicle, don't buy it. If you do, it's your own darn fault that you own a car you don't like.

 

"We make it easy, easy on you" TOYOTA

 

Exactly perception an reality are so true in Toyotas case. Everybody thinks Toyotas are flawless just goes to show there not. The new media an magazines such as consumer reports have a love affair with Toyota. If theres something bad you never here about it.

 

I agree. Although it's probably not relevant to 2007 Toyodas, The toy I had years ago was part of the bunch that their reputation is founded on. I had alot of problems in 120,000 miles. Bad oil leaks, over heating, a bad head gasket, EFI gremlins, luke warm (almost GM bad) AC, a starter, an alternator, and it rusted almost as bad as 73-86 Chebby. You had to get a down hill run to accomplish a pass too. It got 22mpg until 75,000 miles when it dropped to about 16 and I could never get it back. I wonder why the media thought they were so great?

 

my grandma and cousin always buy only toyotas, and they always have some sort of little problem of some sort with them also, not sating any other brand doesn't, but they think there problems are normal and other brands ARE WORST!

 

Been hearing bad things about toyotas trucks for years. I think the problem is they quit building them in japan.

 

Your exactly right. When I buy a car it's Japanese made in Japan and thats the first question I ask the dealer. Their attitude toward build quality on the assembly line is fanatical. If it were the same in this country then I would buy American. That said though, cars are so complex now anything can happen to any brand, but you dont see the type of huge issues with Toyota like you see with GM and Ford. A good example with Ford is the 5.4 engine spitting spark plugs and they only have 3-4 threads in the head to hold the plug in, then Ford tries to say it's the fault of the spark plug. GM's quality is improving but it takes a long time for people to forget the Vega's and others they owned from the past.

 

Gm has been making leaps and bounds in quality. I am very impressed. The question is, is it to little too late?

I am very surprised someone knows about the japanese work ethic. Its a matter of personal honor to them.

I heard an anecdote a while back. They said there are two identical toyota plants. One in japan the other in america. They are identical in every way except for one. Big puase for dramatic effect. The storage facilities for rejected vehicles in japan will hold 10 cars. In america it will hold 1000. Thats the maximum number of vehicles expected to have defects.

 

I bought an '03 Tacoma ext. cab 4x4 new and was not impressed. Over time I found it to be cheaply built- door handles fell off, interior plastic panels faded at different rates so I had a multi-colored interior. It was also not reliable- it went back to the dealer 3 times in 14 months- transmission sensor went bad, one fuel injector went bad, leaky front axle housing seal. It also lost a mud flap at 60 mph once- which I fixed myself.

Never again...

 

Toyota's increase in recalls makes it appear that their quality is slipping. Anytime a manufacturer increases market share and uses the same part on several different vehicle models, the recall of a shared part has a greater impact and gets more publicity.

 

Its about time the truth comes out about Toyotas. They are not the perfect vehicle they say they are. The media has helped Toyota for years, while beating up on American brands. I drive only Ford and Chevy trucks. I have good luck with both brands. Currently have an 06 F350 dually, and an 06 Silverado 1500. Both trucks do their jobs well, with no problems.

 

Dont hear no one complaining about the corollas. Take it from me. They earned that reputation. Fantastic little car.

 

Since most of these stories are about the new Tacoma, it is interesting that some of them are assembled in Fremont, CA and some in a new factory near Tijuana, Mexico. I wonder if there is a connection, as some have stated about Japanese assembly in the past. My daughter's Corrola is from the Fremont plant and has been flawless.

Jim

 

At the time we had our Tacoma we also had a little 4-door Focus. We were living on Kodiak Island, Alaska, which represents a fairly hostile environment for any auto to operate in. I drove the Focus for two years there and never had a single problem- on the same crappy roads and in the same crappy environment that created problems for the Toyota time and time again.
Good thing I had the Focus- it's what brought me home every time I had to drop the Toyota off to be fixed...