calboy76

iTrader: (1)

given the recent recall fiasco and the lawsuits that will follow, and given the past event that happened to Audi, do you think our brand, which has always prided itself in reliability and lacked the fun factor, can survive the storm???

or is it the end of its reign??

maying856

iTrader: (31)

No worries, I still have full confidence in the Toyota/Lexus brand. I just see this as a wake up call for them and a chance for a new start. instead of looking at it in a negative way we can see this as a good thing. Who knows how much better they will become now. The Japanese are known for their excellent work ethics and craftmanship, people are just taking this too serious.

rlin5741

Very good observation. Good article in Businessweek that draws tha parallels:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ota-sales.html

I do believe that Toyota is in a much better position than Audi, they have decades of goodwill built up from building high quality, reliable cars. Toyota's PR job has been extremely poor however, and they to improve that quickly in order to avoid becoming another Audi. Additionally, as the current leader, Toyota's competitors will be salivating at the opportunity to chip away at the quality image, and already have started moving aggressively to win Toyota customers.

ivanz

What happened to Audi??? If you are referring to the Audi 5000 "unintended acceleration" problem, the problem was between the seat and the pedal.

LIMS407

great point...

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

This whole fiasco is a blessing in disguise. It knocks Toyota down a few pegs and gets them focused on quality again instead of being the #1 automaker.

-J-P-L-

Exactly. You can bet that going forward, Toyota will be better than ever. That's why I find it ridiculous that people are giving up on Toyota so quickly. Their loss.

STIG

I agree. Hopefully, toyota will learn their lesson and get back on track with quality again.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

Exactly, can't add a word more.

hughh

Here's a goos article by car guru Ed Wallace on the whole Toyota situation:

Dragging Toyota Through the Media Muck
The Toyota recall is not as serious or dramatic as the media, tort lawyers, and its competitors make it out to be, writes Ed Wallace

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyl...029_528234.htm

projectdna

iTrader: (56)

if you want a legal/media fiasco, go look up information about the ford pinto's exploding gas tank or the ford explorer's prone to rolling over.

aside from one incident of the wrong floormat causing the death of four people, the defects that toyota/lexus are addressing are NOT imminently catastrophic. the media needs to stop repeatedly pushing the public's panic button.

spwolf

well it is not dramatic, as edmunds found that Toyota had one of the lowest numbers of complaints in NTHSA database (lower than Hyundai, Honda, GM, Ford, Chyrsler):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...-the-best.html

jadu

iTrader: (42)

+1 i couldnt agree more with the damn media

norapat01

I have less faith on Toyota/Lexus/Scion now that they quality went down the drain. Their built quality has gone down compare to before. The Corolla used to be pretty decent interms of interior material, but the new ones....you can tell that they are cutting costs.

I'm not a Toyota/Lexus nut hugger or anything, I would say that I probably wouldn't trade-in my 350Z in for an IS350 if these recalls were to come up 4 months ago.

MI350_55

Here's my take... This whole issue w/ Toyota was used as propaganda by our government to help boost confidence back in buying domestic products. It should be a wake up call for all vehicle manufacturers to up their ante in the consumer market. It was only a matter of time that Toyota would be in this mess. They started to become like GM (too many models under one brand) and were selling too many vehicles. Then, someone in management proposed a bright idea of cost-cutting to increase the bottom line to satisfy the shareholders. I hope Toyota learned their lesson and go back to basics of satisfying their customers first rather than shareholders.