Posted on 02/03/2010 7:57:51 PM PST by smokingfrog
The hybrid-electric Prius has long been Toyota’s “green car,” the symbol of the automaker’s engineering prowess and its big bet on the kind of car consumers will want to buy for decades to come.
But on Wednesday, the Prius was drawn into the mounting crisis for Toyota, as Japanese officials ordered the company to investigate problems with the brakes on the 2010 model. American safety officials also said they had received dozens of similar complaints.
The new questions surrounding the Prius raise doubts about a different problem in a model that was not part of the recent global recalls of more than nine million vehicles.
“Prius is the gold standard,” said Brian Johnson, the senior global auto industry analyst with Barclays Capital in Chicago.
“We know Toyota puts its best engineering and its best talent into that car,” added Mr. Johnson, a Prius owner whose wife and mother-in-law also drive Priuses. “This hits at its flagship.”
Adding to its woes, the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, said Wednesday that owners of recalled Toyotas should stop driving their vehicles, though he quickly backtracked on the comments.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
GM has produced some desirable cars interspersed with mostly inferior products. I have to admit, I drool over these recent offerings,
Corvette ZR1-really amazing performance, still lackluster interior
Cadillac CTS-V-Can’t find a bad thing about this one!
And unfortunately, the one I could afford, they’re not going to make anymore...
The Pontiac G8 GT.
Ford F-150 is the biggest selling vehicle in American history ...For good reason.
A friend of mine recently bought a 2010 Corolla. He isn't happy with the way it handles on the interstate with windy conditions. He had traded in a another Toyota model for the Corolla. If you visit some car review websites, there are some negative comments about Corolla handling.
The lefties/greenies have to be going goofy over this one!!
Seems like a good time to consider buying Toyota stock. They always done well, and they will get through this. I wont buy their vehicles, but I will buy their stock.
The Pontiac Aztec, to me, was proof positive of the absolute lack of any connection to reality or consumers. And to boot - they were junk. As if making one of the 10 ugliest cars ever produced in the US, they had to make a real lemon... Any company that would even try to foist that beast on consumers deserves to die.
Was that the Malibu in the picture? I have looked at those and they have improved so much over the last rendition. If GM would make a stylish car based on the G8 GT, I would seriously consider buying it. I guess I’m infatuated with that rear-drive V8 sedan for around 30k.
I knew someone who owned an Aztek. Every time I saw it, I wondered, “What the h*** were you thinking?”
Yes, you are angry, and antiamerican too!
So your family is disloyal, BFD.
Ford has been “on the right track” longer than you’ve been alive. That is why they’ve been the world’s supplier of trucks for three decades running.
The (fortunately discontinued) Aztec was nothing but a Toyota with the Pontiac name affixed.
Buick (made by General Motors) has been #1 in long-term quality. The Ford F-150 was also the single best auto in quality.
100% of US autos are above industry average in quality. Neither Japan nor Germany can make that claim. ONLY THE US.
The media that hates America has convinced Americans US auto are low-quality. IT IS BULLSHIT. Their anti-American lies has not been selective to politics
Buick: NUMBER 1 (for 3 years long before obama fucked with GM)
Toyota: NUMBER 6 and has been dropping long before obama)
Your siding with Japan over America?????
Good post. We should never have allowed foreigners to build automobile factories here. I am not a free trader. Libertarians can f off
LOL!
Rebadged Toyota? Exactly what Toyota was that based on?
The Aztek was produced at General Motors’ Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, assembly plant, where it shared an assembly line with the Buick Rendezvous.
GM forecast sales of 75,000 Azteks per year.
GM needed to produce 30,000 annually just to break even.
Only 27,322 were sold in 2001 with more than 50% being sold to rental company fleets or used by General Motors executives.
Where can we buy Volkswagen diesel pickups? For that matter - a Volkswagen pickup period?
And a Jeep diesel? Where? The Liberty diesel gets “up to” 26mpg.
The Grand Cherokee Diesel gets 15-21 or so from what I have read.
So where are you finding these ultra-mpg Volkswagen and Jeep vehicles? Apparently not in the US.
The VW Jetta TDI actually does average better than the window - the two owners I know have clocked as high as 48mpg on the highway. One claimed he got over 50 - until he recalculated...heheh..
What is really a kicker about the Prius and most other hybrids - they work their magic in city driving -but really are not all that stellar on the highways (both in terms of mpg and in performance). Diesels do better on the highway, but they do not drop off quite as bad in city driving as gas... so the overall average is better, not just the highway miles. I am a diesel fan.
But please share where you got your numbers for VS and Jeeps?
Who makes those lists of “quality”?
I don’t listen much to the media - whether it be the NY Slimes, Car & Driver, or JD Powers and Associates - they all have their biases and intents.
What I do listen to are the comments made by people I know who own vehicles. Family, friends, and others that I know well enough to know if I can trust their judgment - and even more so, when it is a close friend or family member that I can witness their time with said vehicles.
Overall - Buicks are not bad - though I can’t say I would put them at the top of the quality pile based on what I have witnessed. Probably the best in the GM stable (there have been some good Cadillacs - but not across their line).
But those who are Toyota owners in my family and close circle of friends are loyal Toyota owners - and have the repair records (very slim, though accurate) to back up their claims.
Toyota is indeed slipping - but not across their line. The Tundra had some serious issues - primarily with camshafts - that really caused them some fits.
One thing that I have noticed - the more of the “japanese” vehicles that have been produced here in the US, the more you see QC issues creep in, though still - they tend to run a tight ship (easier to get rid of bad employees when they don’t have an army of UAW mercenary lawyers and a 2000 page contract binding you to your employees).
Although I don't like the Aztec (I drove a rental one for several days while working away from home), I have a co-worker who loves his. Go figure.
JD Power's initial quality survey is a survey of owners after 90 days of ownership. They are the survey that most automakers advertise.
Personally, I don't think that 90 days is long enough.
Here is the story Rush was talking about today about the Unions pressuring Toyota last week:
http://dailyme.com/story/2010012700005151/unions-protest-toyota-japanese-embassy.html
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