Toyotaness

[Raza]

Yeah, what I stated was fact - Toyota changed the world of manufacturing and pretty much most anything manufactured today has benefited for the better.

Yes, and Walmart changed retail forever.  They study both Walmart and Toyota in Boring Business Practices (supply chain management) classes all over the country. 

Doesn't mean I enjoy setting foot in one if I ever have to. 

Toyota is a great business and they make a great appliance.  Doesn't mean they make a great car.

[Raza]

Toyotaness (noun): An intangible attribute that makes owners praise the reliability of even an unreliable car.

[Raza]

amen bro. Whiplash every time I drive the van. I guess it feels "more powerful" to have the gas pedal go to 20% engine power with the pedal 1% down.

Yup, that's exactly what it is.  It's built for test drives, so people think they're getting a much more powerful car than they are.

[TurboDan]

I can still call it a good car, and seems like the trouble areas have been addressed....so hopefully nothing else will happen.

I recall standing in my driveway saying that right after I fixed a coolant leak in the Saab a week after I bought it. Ah, memories. 

[2o6]

I recall standing in my driveway saying that right after I fixed a coolant leak in the Saab a week after I bought it. Ah, memories. 

Hey, I just drove a RAV4 and I didn't feel like I was going to flip over. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Yup, that's exactly what it is.  It's built for test drives, so people think they're getting a much more powerful car than they are.

Betcha we could get rich with a kit that fixes the gas pedal so it modulates better at the top..

[Eye of the Tiger]

Toyota: my friends' new Sienna has  the blue tooth ipod thing. If you try to activate it while driving, it completely locks out the stereo system due to "safety". In order to use the stereo again, you have to shut the vehicle off, then back on.

[AutobahnSHO]

Toyota: my friends' new Sienna has  the blue tooth ipod thing. If you try to activate it while driving, it completely locks out the stereo system due to "safety". In order to use the stereo again, you have to shut the vehicle off, then back on.

otherwise known as the "lawsuit avoidance stereo"

[Raza]

Betcha we could get rich with a kit that fixes the gas pedal so it modulates better at the top..

Maybe.  I couldn't make it, though.  I could market it.   

[TurboDan]

Maybe.  I couldn't make it, though.  I could market it.   

That's kinda the whole problem with America today...

(And I'm part of it. I basically could just write a news story about it once someone else makes it and markets it...)

[WookieOnRitalin]

I feel that Toyota used to have an advantage about 15-20 years ago. Now? Not really. Mostly everything built these days is going to last a long time just based on better building technology over that time. The biggest issues I see for newer cars is the electrical. Almost everything is power and it's just been my experience with older cars that manufacturers across the board have issues maintaining electrical systems as a car ages.

Toyota is a brand for people who want toasters on wheels. I think that point has been made very clear over time. Anyone who actually enjoys driving will look somewhere else.

[Northlands]

I feel that Toyota used to have an advantage about 15-20 years ago. Now? Not really. Mostly everything built these days is going to last a long time just based on better building technology over that time. The biggest issues I see for newer cars is the electrical. Almost everything is power and it's just been my experience with older cars that manufacturers across the board have issues maintaining electrical systems as a car ages.

Toyota is a brand for people who want toasters on wheels. I think that point has been made very clear over time. Anyone who actually enjoys driving will look somewhere else.

I'd say over 50% of the population wants a car that is going to give them a relatively trouble free experience. I'm one of them. However it's also pretty insulting that assuming that group doesn't enjoy driving. Because people like us buy more than one car and the other usually ends up being something we enjoy.

[Onslaught]

I feel that Toyota used to have an advantage about 15-20 years ago. Now? Not really. Mostly everything built these days is going to last a long time just based on better building technology over that time. The biggest issues I see for newer cars is the electrical. Almost everything is power and it's just been my experience with older cars that manufacturers across the board have issues maintaining electrical systems as a car ages.

Toyota is a brand for people who want toasters on wheels. I think that point has been made very clear over time. Anyone who actually enjoys driving will look somewhere else.

It's not just the power stuff that gets me. It's what they make the cars out of too. To keep the weight down for MPG they're using lot's of plastics in places that metal was used in the past. Things like radiator supports and things like that. These plastics go from cold to very hot and back down to cold again over and over and over every time you drive the car. Over the years I've noticed that they get brittle and start to snap.

[AutobahnSHO]

Yup. Stuff just ain't built like it used to be... but I don't mind not going back to the land yachts...

[GoCougs]

I feel that Toyota used to have an advantage about 15-20 years ago. Now? Not really. Mostly everything built these days is going to last a long time just based on better building technology over that time. The biggest issues I see for newer cars is the electrical. Almost everything is power and it's just been my experience with older cars that manufacturers across the board have issues maintaining electrical systems as a car ages.

Toyota is a brand for people who want toasters on wheels. I think that point has been made very clear over time. Anyone who actually enjoys driving will look somewhere else.

When done right, today's automotive electrical systems (just as their mechanical systems) are more durable and reliable than in times past. Take EFI - given not a lot of time and it turned out to not only be vastly better performing but also vastly more durable and reliable.

[GoCougs]

Yes, and Walmart changed retail forever.  They study both Walmart and Toyota in Boring Business Practices (supply chain management) classes all over the country. 

Doesn't mean I enjoy setting foot in one if I ever have to. 

Toyota is a great business and they make a great appliance.  Doesn't mean they make a great car.

Toyota makes the exact car that it wants to; they most certainly make a great car.

[Raza]

Toyota makes the exact car that it wants to; they most certainly make a great car.

You can say that about any manufacturer and it similarly means nothing.  Yugo made the car they wanted to.

[Eye of the Tiger]

A mechanically operated diesel engine is the only thing that will run once the terrorists start using EMP
bombs.

[Onslaught]

A mechanically operated diesel engine is the only thing that will run once the terrorists start using EMP
bombs.

I'll die without my game systems anyway.

[ifcar]

You can say that about any manufacturer and it similarly means nothing.  Yugo made the car they wanted to.

Nah, Yugo wanted its car to run well so people wouldn't have stopped buying them.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I'll die without my game systems anyway.

Parcheesi?

[Xer0]

Toyota is a great business and they make a great appliance.  Doesn't mean they make a great car.

<- wow, forgot how ugly that thing was

And of course one of the greatest and best performing vehicle of all time

[nickdrinkwater]

Toyota is a brand for people who want toasters on wheels. I think that point has been made very clear over time. Anyone who actually enjoys driving will look somewhere else.

Not sure if you are serious if this was sarcasm?

[sportyaccordy]

You can say that about any manufacturer and it similarly means nothing.  Yugo made the car they wanted to.

Many manufacturers are not making the cars they want. They are making the cars they can afford to and are allowed to by the market.

[WookieOnRitalin]

Costs $350,000



They didn't build it. Added to list of all manufacturers who built fantastic concepts, but never had the balls to build them.

If it weren't for Lexus, I'd just absolutely loathe Toyota. Lexus is one of my favorite brands.

[WookieOnRitalin]

Not sure if you are serious if this was sarcasm?

Totally serious. I exaggerate a bit, but honestly, Toyotas leave a lot to be desired from a driving enjoyment standpoint compared to their competition.

[MX793]

They didn't build it. Added to list of all manufacturers who built fantastic concepts, but never had the balls to build them.

Umm, what is this then?



Doesn't look exactly like the concept, but few production cars do.

[Rupert]

If it weren't for Lexus, I'd just absolutely loathe Toyota. Lexus is one of my favorite brands.

Huh? You hate Toyota but love Lexus? What cognitive dissonance allows this?

[Madman]

Umm, what is this then?



Doesn't look exactly like the concept, but few production cars do.

Wow, talk about a lazy rebadge job.  They could at least try to make them look A LITTLE BIT different!!!! 

[MX793]

Wow, talk about a lazy rebadge job.  They could at least try to make them look A LITTLE BIT different!!!! 

They're not supposed to look different.  Scion doesn't exist outside of North America, so the top one is the one Toyota sells in Europe and Japan (and probably other places), and the bottom one is the one Toyota sells in America as a Scion.  No different than a Vauxhall Astra sold in the UK and an Opel Astra sold in the mainland.