articles.moneycentral.msn.com — Toyota's (TM) problems continue to intensify, as the U.S. opens an investigation into brake problems in the 2010 Prius.The company is now in a full-blown crisis, leading many experts to look at how it got into this mess in the first place. And one message is coming across loud and clear: Toyota has been too arrogant.
Feb 4, 2010 View in Crawl 4
steelchickenFeb 5, 2010
The real problem in this is engine control software developed by Toyota engineers, but they wouldn't admit that.
veriixFeb 5, 2010
osteor10, are you suggesting a car salesman doesn't know the different between something that doesn't work and something that isn't there...yeah, you're probably right.
xtructureFeb 6, 2010
Found it: <a class="user" href="http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/09/lexus-es-350-misaligned-floor-mat-may-have-caused-calamity.html" rel="nofollow">http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/09/lexu ...</a>Consumer Reports indicates that the problem was likely an aftermarket floor mat that was put in the car by the dealership. I think this supports my point.
Closed AccountFeb 6, 2010
I dugg you up because I used to be loyal to Toyota until my purchase of a 2003 Corolla. I have owned two corrollas, two camrys, and a tercel ranging from the late 80s to mid 90s in age. The cars were mechanically sounds. The interior design was hideous, they were not overly comfortable, but they were built like tanks. All 5 Toyotas which I have owned had over 400k kms on them with the original engine and transmission. We know they have the technology to do it.At 106000 kms, a manual transmission failed in my Corolla. I bit the bullet, bought a transmission with 30k kms out of a junkyard and had it put in by a tranny shop. Total cost was 1200. Toyota wanted 3000 for a manual transmission and 1200 for labor. 60k kms later, this transmission began to fail. Both times it was the input shaft bearing. Further online research led to me to discover several other people with the same problem. Toyota did nothing for me and would not admit there was a problem. They, of course, blamed my driving.In my opinion, automobile makers don't give a f**k about quality anymore and they are using their service departments to obtain additional revenue from their poorly built vehicles. The only time that their practices come to light is when the problems involve safety. Design failures not relating safety are almost never recalled and the costs, along with more profit, are passed on to the consumer Are safety issues the only ones which auto makers should be held accountable for. Is it any more acceptable for them to knowingly cover up design failures which don't affect safety.My resolve is to never buy a new car again and buy all of my replacement parts from aftermarket suppliers. I don't even want to get into the ridiculously overpriced parts sold by the service departments at dealerships. f**k the car companies.
gkiltzFeb 6, 2010
Is it arrogance or insularity?
mmwilhelmFeb 17, 2010
You bought the pitch from Toyota. It's NOT floor mats. People are dying. Just get a friggin' logo stamped on your forehead already.