Reply With QuoteAs the National Lampoon once stated: The recall is for poor radio reception - when the car is in the ditchOriginally Posted by Eric
Toyota recalls 1.1 million Corollas, Matrixes
NEW YORK – Toyota recalled 1.13 million Corolla sedans and Matrix hatchbacks Thursday because their engines may stall, the latest in a string of quality problems at the Japanese automaker.
The recall covers vehicles from the 2005-2008 model years sold in North America. Three accidents and one minor injury have been reported, though Toyota said a link to the engine issue has not been confirmed.
The automaker said vehicles with 1ZZ-FE engines may contain a defective engine control module, the computer that regulates the performance of the engine. In some cases, a crack may develop on the module's circuit board, which could prevent the engine from starting, harsh shifting or an engine stall.
Toyota said it will replace the engine control modules on the recalled vehicles at no charge. It will begin mailing notifications to customers with affected Corollas and Matrixes starting in mid-September.
Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 10 million vehicles worldwide over the past year for a range of problems, including faulty gas pedals, floor mats that can trap accelerators and braking problems in its Prius hybrid.
Federal regulators have been investigating the possibility of engine stalls in the Corolla and Matrix models since December and intensified their probe earlier this week.
Toyota shares fell 28 cents to $68.78
As the National Lampoon once stated: The recall is for poor radio reception - when the car is in the ditch
Toyota appears to be on the way to becoming the new GM, which is pretty ironic but also evidence that being too big isn't necessarily a good thing.As the National Lampoon once stated: The recall is for poor radio reception - when the car is in the ditch
Exactly right on the money. Toyota became so focused on beating GM for being the biggest automaker that they took shortcuts and cut corners to attain their goal. Most Toyota's of the 80's and 90's are excellent cars, they won't excite the mind, but as transportation they can't be beat. Corollas, Camry's, Cressida's and the Compact Truck (yup, that's the official name) personify this. They will simple, relatively affordable and of course reliable. Back then Toyota wasn't number one, but it wasn't trying to be, it just cared about creating a quality product and thereby ensuring repeat customers who would tell their friends and family about their cars, creating new customers. Then they wanted to grow, nothing wrong with that but then they started to scrimp on things, first the Tundra and Sequoia balljoints collapsing causing the wheel to come off (not good if you're doing 70 MPH on the freeway) then came the Tacoma/Tundra frame rust issues and the most emblematic car that shows just Toyota has changed is the latest model Camry, when it first came out the V6 and it's automatic transmission were doing excellent imitations of Chernobyl's #4 reactor, the same engine would leak oil from a bad hose (another recall), the sunvisors literally disintigrate, plus all the acceleration issues and woes and the interiors, my God they are horrible. Granted I own a car that's not known for having a nice interior, a '06 Ford Mustang GT and yeah, the inside is all hard plastic, but even that is nicer then most of the Toyotas. The Mustang feels studier too. I rode in a brand new Sequoia and it felt cheap, I didn't want to touch anything because it felt that bad- for $50,000! I see it all because I sell Toyota parts. I used to get so much crap for buying Fords and not Toyotas as my personal cars... well I don't hear it anymore. I'm not saying Ford is perfect, but have they learned and come a long way......
Yep.
I've noticed this also, both professionally and personally.
My wife owned a '92 Corolla and it was a great little car. It ran like new, literally, at 100k. And it just ran and ran and ran. It rarely needed anything; so long as you changed the oil and did basic maintenance, it was as reliable as a Swiss franc. As you say, it wasn't exciting to look at or particularly fun to drive.
But it was a solid, well-built, extremely functional little "a" to "b" transportation module.
But since about 2000, I've noticed that the new Toyotas I test drove seemed to be increasingly pricey while they're interior materials/fit and finish didn't seem to justify the price. This is just my impression of them as brand-new cars; god knows how they'll be in five or six years and 70,000 miles down the road... .
I recently had a new Corolla to test drive. It was a basic model sedan with virtually no options other than AC and an automatic transmission. The thing was almost $17k. I was shocked.
Toyota better deal with the situation - and fast. Everything has speeded up and the slow-fall that GM experienced could be a sudden death situation for Toyota. People today are much less likely to put up with scheisse cars, plus the market is much more competitive now than it was when Toyota first began to overtake GM, plus, the economy just sucks and people are not buying cars anyhow.
I would not buy Toyota stock.
The company has some system-wide problems, including way too many models (just like GM) an arrogant attitude/dealer network (just like GM) and now, apparently, major issues with the basic soundness of its products.
As any corporation gets bigger it's all about the 'law of diminishing returns.'
After a while the cost of more and more labor and facilities generates less of a return.
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