Toyota is Doing Just Fine

[nissangirl74]

Toyota has agreed to pay out over $1.1 billion in recall settlements. That's billion with a B. According to this article, they're writing it off this quarter and their stock is still in fine shape.

"...It's interesting that Toyota has chosen to make this huge payout, considering that numerous tests have proven that Toyota itself was largely blameless for the high-profile incidents that led to the massive recalls... Toyota "concluded that turning the page on this legacy legal issue through the positive steps we are taking is in the best interests of the company, our employees, our dealers and, most of all, our customers"... -- the company's sales are booming, brand loyalty is soaring, and Toyota is tops in resale value. The automaker will write down the loss this quarter....Interestingly, Toyota's announcement has had little to no effect on the company's stock price. In Japan, shares have risen over the past 48 hours, and even in the U.S., prices remain near their 52-week highs..."

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/10 ... ion-recall

Does this surprise any of you? When I first posted the thread about the first unintended acceleration incident over a year ago, I fully expected them to take a huge hit, both financially and with customer satisfaction. A year later, it seems to have no significant impact on either.

Thoughts? Would you have any reservations about owning a Toyota?

[Ace2cool]

they're stock

I thought you were better than that....

AAAANYWAYS,

I would not have a reservation about owning one based on the acceleration thing. I would have reservations on how poorly they handled this recall, however. I would also have reservations based on the sheer fact that they make not one vehicle I'm remotely interested in, and haven't since the '90s. They produce so much bland it isn't even funny. Hell, their new, hip, sporty thing was a partnership with Subaru, which took a ton of the "eeeeggggghhhhh" out of it, I'm sure.

[Bubba1]

I'm not surprised at all. Despite legitimate independent testing exonerating them, I think Toyota made a wise business decision to settle in order to make the stupidity go away quickly, rather than face long, expensive, protracted, theatrics filled, excessive biased media analyzed trials in front of potentially idiotic civil juries that could just as easily dismiss facts altogether.

I would also not hesitate to buy another Toyota vehicle (I have two) if it fit my needs.

[Jesda]

Thoughts? Would you have any reservations about owning a Toyota?

Yes. They suck and I'd hate myself for owning one.



However, I could be very satisfied with a Scion FR-S, Scion TC, or most of their truck products.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Nissan could take a page out of Toyota's book on this one in terms of customer satisfaction.
I'd never buy a Toyota simply for the boring factor, but I have no qualms suggesting one to a friend/family that is looking for a boringmobile.

[elwesso]

I'm kind of along the same lines.... Although, something like this might make me consider, for instance, a Tacoma rather than a Frontier, especially knowing the buy-backs they're doing of older tacoma's... If I want an exciting car, I won't be buying a Toyota, but I don't think Toyota has ever really claimed to make a true "drivers" car, at least in semi-recent history... Only exception might be the FR-S.. But the vast majority of their brand goes to the "day to day" cars, and they do them well.

One point to consider is that just because they're doing this kind of shenanigans now, doesn't mean they'll do it every time they make a car with a fault..

In almost any situation (regardless of business, home, fun, etc), it's almost always cheaper to deal with an issue as soon as you can rather than let it drag out, if for nothing else than wasting time.. I'm glad that Toyota has been going against the norm and actually dealing with issues rather than stalling until a court makes them.

[nissangirl74]

they're stock

I thought you were better than that....

Sorry, brain fart. I fixed'd it.

[MinisterofDOOM]

What pisses ME off is not Toyota's financial wellbeing, but the fact that, after their initial mishandling of the "unintended acceleration" crap (which I admit was largely blown out of proportion by the media) Toyota still has a clean reputation of being dependable, reliable, safe, and cheap to own. Any other automaker's reputation would have crippled, or at least severely impaired, but those events. But Toyota buyers and the media in general (the SAME MEDIA who exaggerated the problem!) are such idiot sheep that they forgot about it after a few weeks and went back to bragging about how amazing the Camry is.

Newsflash:
The Camry has been a pile of crap since 2002.
It's been almost a decade since Toyota built any cars that stood out as being any more dependable since the competition (more than a decade for some specific models).
Modern Toyotas feel cheap, sloppy, lazy, and unrefined.

WHAT is Toyota putting in the water to keep people under their spell?!

[Bubba1]

WHAT is Toyota putting in the water to keep people under their spell?!

Could be something even crazier like having drama free ownership experiences with the ones they owned before, so they buy them again.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Yeah, no doubt about it, they take care of their customers. I mean, have you seen how much they are buying back Tacomas for?!

They replaced the entire frame on my Dad's Tundra for rust too.

[Jesda]

WHAT is Toyota putting in the water to keep people under their spell?!

Could be something even crazier like having drama free ownership experiences with the ones they owned before, so they buy them again.

I'm inclined to agree. To maintain owner loyalty, giving customers what they expect is significantly more important than giving them something they'll actually enjoy driving. Loyal owners are the easiest to satisfy because their expectations are lower than new customers. As long as they aren't disrupted or upset in any way, they'll stick around.

For example, vanilla ice cream never offends and blends well with other ingredients, thus its reigning popularity. I prefer a brightly flavored gelato or mango ice cream.

I don't know how to explain the popularity of Pizza Hut.


That's what separates auto enthusiasts from the Lund family. Enthusiasts have more complex tastes while the Lunds are average people with average interests. Average people consider driving a chore which is why I favor mass transit development, to get the Lunds off the road.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txro-uU9JvA[/youtube]

[Jesda]

Yeah, no doubt about it, they take care of their customers. I mean, have you seen how much they are buying back Tacomas for?!

They replaced the entire frame on my Dad's Tundra for rust too.

I think it goes beyond an act of generosity and into a need to protect a long-standing reputation. Toyota trucks enjoy a global reputation for durability. Any damage to that reputation in the US could have a worldwide impact on sales, especially Asia where most of their trucks are sold (for higher prices) and competition for pickups is arguably more intense than in North America.

Ford, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Chevrolet have struggled to break Toyota's pickup dominance and this would be the weakness they need to win over new customers. The Corolla, too, has been a tough nut to crack in SE Asia. It's an awful car to drive that's impossible to kill, and that's everything a low-end third-world customer could possibly ask for.

[Oatmealman]

I'll stick with my good ole American truck.It'll outlast some rustbox wanna be truck that toyota could ever make,and do it while being cheap to maintain.While toyota has the small truck market they will never have a piece of the 3/4 and 1 ton market because ford,dodge,and chevy have it down so well and have 50 years of experience over them.


I have to work on toyota's occasionally at my shop and all I can say I hate em.I hate the brah truckin douches that own tundra's/tacoma's.I hate the idiots that drive corollas,camry's,matrix's or any other econo s*** that they think is superior.toyota died in my book after 90.They are a giant pain in the a** to work on,placement on thing is just f*** retarded,I'd rather see a kraut clown car pull up versus a toyota.

[MinisterofDOOM]

WHAT is Toyota putting in the water to keep people under their spell?!

Could be something even crazier like having drama free ownership experiences with the ones they owned before, so they buy them again.

Part of me agrees with you.
But the other part has trouble understanding how the world of car owners can be composed of mostly Lunds while all of my car-ignorant friends drive non-Toyotas they love, and could never be Toyota owners for various reasons. They don't know the difference between a macpherson strut or an ignition coil, but they like their non-Toyota cars enough to mention the fact that they love their cars.

Really, what it comes down to is this:
Average people are dumb as Hell, and easier to influence than a kid in a candy store. They don't know WHAT they like until someone tells them so. And Toyota has made an art of telling people they like Toyota. It's that art I don't understand. Probably because I'm not a Dumb as Hell Lund Family Member.