Japanese 'Build Quality'

[ckhokie]

First off, I'm not a fan of Japanese cars. I hate the JDM scene, Lexus and Acura are my least favorite 'luxury' car makers and the people that buy them typically know nothing about cars.

However, fans of these cars sure do love to tell you about their reliability.

Since the start of 2009, Toyota has sold 23 million vehicles.... It has issued recalls on 28 million vehicles in that period.

Toyota's Reputation Takes 6.4 Million Fresh Dents With Its Latest Sweeping Recall - Businessweek

 

[HammerDown]

"But, but, but..." - Japanese car lovers

I don't support nations that have waged financial warfare on the United States since they stopped bombing us and who slaughter whales in the year 2014. I like the people, I don't like the country.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

I don't care how reliable they are...rice burners are gaaaaaayyyyyy.

 

[fordman84]

Love my Toyotas.

When America can prove that they can make a car that will make it beyond 100k with little to no maintenance...then I'll buy their cars. Wont buy anything but Ford trucks, but no thanks on their cars.

And I'd rather support a non-union Toyota plant over a unionize plant any day of the week. Sorry, but don't want my money ending up in Obama's treasure chest.

 

[douggie]

 

[JuiceTheGator]

Buy a Lincoln bitches! They last for 100s of Ks, have a much better ride and fit & finish and cost less than crappy Lexus. No gubmint bailout either.

 

[fordman84]

Buy a Lincoln bitches! They last for 100s of Ks, have a much better ride and fit & finish and cost less than crappy Lexus. No gubmint bailout either.

Lincoln is still overpriced IMO. Just a gussied up Ford.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

They don't cost much more really...and it's an entirely different car.

Take the Flex and MKT. The MKT actually has a much smaller profit margin for Ford than the Flex despite a $10k higher price. The computerized suspension is a big deal; shocks vs. a balancing computer smoothing the ride 100X per second. You don't have little shit starting to break and rattle at 50k miles like on the standard models. Most of all, they last longer for whatever reasons...they really do!

 

[fordman84]

They don't cost much more really...and it's an entirely different car.

Take the Flex and MKT. The MKT actually has a much smaller profit margin for Ford than the Flex despite a $10k higher price. The computerized suspension is a big deal; shocks vs. a balancing computer smoothing the ride 100X per second. You don't have little shit starting to break and rattle at 50k miles like on the standard models. Most of all, they last longer for whatever reasons...they really do!

I agree that Lincoln has had the cool gadgets like air suspension and all that, so the extra cost is justified. I just know that at the end of the day the little "overlooked" crap like the trim clips and window motors rolled off the same line as the Fiesta.

at me though, in reality every manufacturer pretty much use the same suppliers for those little items.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

^ Right, from the same supplier that probably made them for Toyota.

I don't buy new shit anyway. But a 2 year old Lincoln driven to church on Sunday at 14 mph has to be the best value you can get IMO.

 

[HammerDown]

Love my Toyotas.

When America can prove that they can make a car that will make it beyond 100k with little to no maintenance...then I'll buy their cars. Wont buy anything but Ford trucks, but no thanks on their cars.

And I'd rather support a non-union Toyota plant over a unionize plant any day of the week. Sorry, but don't want my money ending up in Obama's treasure chest.

Fordman, you should throw out those old Consumer Reports issues you have from 1997. It's 2014 now and even though Consumer Reports still hates anything American, Ford is winning all the awards. And they don't owe Obama a nickle, unlike Government Motors.

I won't ride in some Hondozuki. Sure as hell not going to buy one.

 

[757Hokie83]

Love my Toyotas.

When America can prove that they can make a car that will make it beyond 100k with little to no maintenance...then I'll buy their cars. Wont buy anything but Ford trucks, but no thanks on their cars.

And I'd rather support a non-union Toyota plant over a unionize plant any day of the week. Sorry, but don't want my money ending up in Obama's treasure chest.

when i sold my tacoma about 2 years ago, i had about 180,000 mi on it, it was a '98...besides routine maintenance, i had spend a grand total of about $200 on repairs in the 12 years that i owned it

 

[jeffro151]

when i sold my tacoma about 2 years ago, i had about 180,000 mi on it, it was a '98...besides routine maintenance, i had spend a grand total of about $200 on repairs in the 12 years that i owned it

I bought a used 2000 Nissan Frontier in 2005, w/ 103,000 miles on it. I put another 93k miles on it between 2005 and 2012, and the only problem I ever had was the timing belt break. I couldn't have asked for a better vehicle.

 

[fordman84]

Fordman, you should throw out those old Consumer Reports issues you have from 1997. It's 2014 now and even though Consumer Reports still hates anything American, Ford is winning all the awards. And they don't owe Obama a nickle, unlike Government Motors.

I won't ride in some Hondozuki. Sure as hell not going to buy one.

Consumer Report is a scam to begin with. My grandfather has never owned or driven anything not Ford, literally he still has the 1926 Model T that his parents bought new. He currently has 3 Fords, all with less than 100k miles and they are all broken. Granted, he can't drive anymore and my grandmother just broke her hip so she won't be driving either...but one has a tranny that won't go into OD, another has a coil out on a cylinder, and the crown vic has something or other wrong with it that I can't remember. My 99 4runner Im not gonna jinx, but has spent 1 day in the shop back when it was new. HOping the same for the wifes Camry.

I know Ford supposedly has turned the corner and I was really close to getting the wife a Taurus instead of the Camry. But I want to see what the Taurus is like in another 3 years as their redesigns start hitting 100k. I've got no doubt the build quality has caught up, but when I'm dropping $25k+ on a car I want to make sure I can still drive it reliably in 6-10 years.

 

[fordman84]

when i sold my tacoma about 2 years ago, i had about 180,000 mi on it, it was a '98...besides routine maintenance, i had spend a grand total of about $200 on repairs in the 12 years that i owned it

That's where I'm at with the 99 4runner. Wife wants a new "hauling the kid around" SUV, but it's still so solid that I hate to get rid of it. \


Plus I want to replace it with a truck, so trying to get her to admit the Camry has plenty of room to haul him around.

 

[wings-pens2166]

between the wife and/or I over the last 25+ years, we have owned Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Pontiac, Ford, Chevy, Nissan, BMW, hell even an Alfa Romeo (while living Italy). fact is, none have been as well built or longer lasting than the Toyotas....the least reliable? the GM products...just POS with those

to be fair, the Honda is only 2 years old, so I can't speak to long-lasting or not with that one...but the wife loves it so far.

 

[jonvi]

I love my F150. It's had minor issues....it has eight coils, one for each cylinder, instead of one coil for all eight. Two of the coils have gone out. $100 bucks later each time I was back with a smooth running truck. It's an 08 and I have 89K on it. Still feels very good.

The best car I own though is the Saab 9-3. This car is just straight up nice...a bit small, but man it's a nice machine that has a ton of go. Too bad they are no longer being made.

My brother swears by Toyota products, the Tundra and his wife drives a lexus 2 seater that's cool. The Toyota's seem to treat them pretty good.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

A 30 yr prospective

Not old enough to remember exactly when the Japanese started sending cars here, but I do remember when Nissan was called Datson.

I've owned GM (Chevy, GMC x 2), Volvo, Toyota, Mazada, VW, Ford x 3, Nissan, Infiniti over the last 30 years.

The 2 best vehicles in term of longevity, mileage was the GMC Envoy SUV, and the Toyota Tercel...both went well over 250k mi with minimal costs aside from regular PM.

IMO the Japanese cars have been the most reliable and required the least maintenance cost, but American cars have really closed the gap. The Ford Taurus was the only car that I felt was not worth the money.

At least to those under 30...Honda, Mazda, Toyota are as American as Apple Pie anyway.

On the luxury end, the Japanese don't have the best product, but they have carved out a nice piece of this marketshare in only about 25 yrs...in reality they have surpassed Lincoln and Cadillac is making a little resurgence to hang in there.

Maybe in the 70s and into the 80s Japanese build quality was superior and they've built on that reputation, but today, I'm not that certain they are.

 

[JuiceTheGator]

when i sold my tacoma about 2 years ago, i had about 180,000 mi on it, it was a '98...besides routine maintenance, i had spend a grand total of about $200 on repairs in the 12 years that i owned it

Can't deny it, those little trucks are admired around the world. The ones sold elsewhere with little diesels really last a longtime. Of course, the problem is they are no longer made in some pristine plant in Japan by college educated worker bees. Now, they're thrown together by drunken slackjaws in Ohio who give no fucks.

I'm just sayin' brand loyalty born 20 years ago just isn't that relevant anymore. Japs have fallen, GM still sucks and you can restart your loyalty program at this time.

 

[cezero]

i'll never buy another fix or repair daily

the last two that i had just make it impossible for me to even consider it, no matter how much better the quality supposedly is now.