Less stuff, so less to break, I suppose. I bet they have fewer problems than VW merely because they have less content
You would think so, but GM and F had less content for the most part in the late '90's and early 00's and they were LESS reliable. Also the Prius is more complex and it is one of the most reliable vehicles as tracked by CR (notwithstanding the UA issues).
Germans always liked to make things more complex just for the heck of it. During WWII, a breech assembly for a German piece of artillery used 45 separate pieces compared to only 8 for the American one.
Possibly.... Although, I seriously doubt many would want to take the American equavalent of armor at the time and go mano-a-mano against an 88MM or a Tiger tank.
Remember, the Allies won by have tons more men and material, and would quite probably lost the war if it had been fought on a 1 to 1 basis.
How decontented are they really? In areas where our lovely Mexican built cars have chronic problems? I know Skodas can be nicely equipped and seem to do no worse than the 40K mile lifespan of Mexican built cars and 50K mile lifespan of German built cars. And seeing how poorly the average Fiat/Alfa/Renault/Peugeot seems to age...
The Panzer and Tiger tanks were engineering marvels, but they were complex logistical nightmares and the Germans couldn't produce nearly as many of them as we could Shermans. Shermans were inferior, but we could make like 6 of them to one Tiger. The Russians also had their T-34 tank.
I don't trust em either, a co-worker of mine who had 2 new VWs and endless problems within 40K miles on each scares me away - I've never had a MB with nearly the problems of either car (Turbo Beetle and diesel Jetta) nor the inept maintenance. Now he has a Subaru with zero problems.
The Panzer and Tiger tanks were engineering marvels, but they were complex logistical nightmares and the Germans couldn't produce nearly as many of them as we could Shermans. Shermans were inferior, but we could make like 6 of them to one Tiger. The Russians also had their T-34 tank.
One last comment on the subject from me...
Actually, there were over 19,000 T-34's made and over 60,000 Shermans made. And, of course, many other series as well as the British production. The entire German production was right at 50,000 for ALL of its tank production. It wasn't unheard of in battle for a Tiger to take out 30 tanks before being put out of commission. At Kursk, even though the Germans were halted in their advance, tank losses were 5 to 1 (in Germany's favor). Even at a 5 to 1 kill rate, Germany couldn't overcome the Allies in tank battles.
At some point, quantity overcomes quality.
Like one German general commented during the Stalingrad campaign about the endless onset of Russian soldiers, Germany was like an elephant fighting off ants...The elephant may kill millions of ants, but at the end of the day, the ants will eat the elephant.
If Mercury is so great, why is it another dying brand? huh, answer that one!
You answered your question in the same post: But I do think its a smart decision Ford is making since Mercuries are pratically rebadged Fords
Mercury's failure is due to the marketing positioning too close to Ford; not because it's reliability. Ford is doing much better than Toyota or Honda, with or without Mercury.
I'd say just 5 years ago it was really difficult to find any press or survey placing an American cars on top. Now American cars win more and more reviews; gain more and more market share; and even win the overall rating by JD Power for the 1st time.
Just look what you Toyota fans are doing on this board; facing one bad news after another of Toyota, you have to now list what's left not bad (yet). Clearly the tide has turned and Toyota is on the run. Of course just like the retreating Germen and Japanese putting up big fights in the end of WWII too; Toyota is no exceptions. But like I wrote before, it's the beginning of the end.
There's another problem for Toyota: a fast growing Hyundai. Toyota intends to address the price advantage Hyundai has over them by reducing their costs 30%. I wonder how they're going to do that without decontenting the heck out of its vehicles and/or resorting to slave labor?
There's another problem for Toyota: a fast growing Hyundai. Toyota intends to address the price advantage Hyundai has over them by reducing their costs 30%. I wonder how they're going to do that without decontenting the heck out of its vehicles and/or resorting to slave labor?
Heck, all manufacturers are practically using slave labor already.
An article last week in USA Today told of a Honda plant in China that was allowed to strike in order to get better pay and working conditions. Yes, a strike in China.
Also, in the article, it mentioned that many western and Japanese companies are moving deeper into China (where globalization hasn't arrived, and the labor is really cheap) as well as other low-labor-cost countries, such as Viet Nam, etc. These companies include components used by the Big-3 as well.
Can North Korea be far behind?
Maybe we'll see a Dear Leader Hyundai model in a few years...
Also, China itself has shown that it has serious aims in getting into global auto production, and it certainly has that capability. So, it will be chasing Hyundai, which in turn is chasing Toyota, and the list goes on and on.
As long as "Dear Leader" or his living double are still around, I doubt there will be a North Korean Hyundai. "Dear Leader" would be too proud to admit his Stalinist utopia is a failure and allow foreign companies to set up shop on his turf.
Toyota stumbled, for sure, but it's unwise to count them out.
Remember when Iacocca said they were going to kick them back in to the ocean? Look what happened back then.
Even in the unlikely case that this is "the beginning of the end" of Toyota, look no further than Hyundai to see who will pick up any market share they may lose.
Toyota grew too fast, and in their cost cutting made the same mistakes the big three made in the 80s.
Two of their vehicles just earned Top Safety Picks from IIHS and sales are up several months in a row, and you're calling this "the beginning of the end"? You sound like Iacocca did back then.
Wow I agree with Lemko on something. Who would have thunk? Anyway, I think Hyundai is a big threat to Toyota as well because they have Toyota and Honda in their sites and the new Sonata is a great indication of that. Its constantly compared to the Accord and Camry and has a few features they don't at a cheaper price. The sales increase for the new Sonata and other redone Hyundai models shows they are becoming a major player now.
I too am curious to see how Toyota responds next year with the 8th Gen Camry! The new Camry is going to tell a whole lot as to whether or not Toyota can get back in the game, because right now, the Camry, and few other models to lack several features that Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, and Chevy offer in their vehicles and it will be interesting to see how they add features to either match or overtake their competition on features when they are suppose to cut costs?
Remaining the same is the Toyota Camry in the No. 1 spot. But the real surprise is the second spot going to the Honda Accord. Not just because the Accord debuts so high on the list, but because it supplants Ford’s F-150 pickup, the best-selling vehicle in the country. The F-150 dropped off the index because it didn’t meet our minimum requirements for domestic content. The F-150 fell from 75% domestic content last year to 55% this year, despite maintaining the same design.
I too am curious to see how Toyota responds next year with the 8th Gen Camry! The new Camry is going to tell a whole lot as to whether or not Toyota can get back in the game, because right now, the Camry, and few other models to lack several features that Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, and Chevy offer in their vehicles and it will be interesting to see how they add features to either match or overtake their competition on features when they are suppose to cut costs?
Last year, when my daughter was shopping for a new car (trading out her 2004 Corolla, which had been an excellent ride - no problems at 90,000+ miles) we looked at several models. Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia made the final list.
Hyundai and Kia local dealerships had, at the time, poor quality ratings (plus bad experiences by some friends who bought from them), so they were axed...
She eventually picked the Nissan Sentra. It appeared to have mort attention to detail, a nicer interior overall, and more options for less money. So far (almost 25K miles, not a single issue) the car has performed well.
One other point...She didn't like the feel of the steering in the new Corolla, which is a common complaint about that model now. From what I can tell, it seems Toyota has turned a blind eye to those customer complaints. Other models with electric steering don't seem to be garnering as many complaints, so I'm thinking its more of a "tuning" situation than a "mechanical" one.
I think there's more to it than that, not to mention it's not the only problem associated with that engine.
The funny thing is they replaced the 2.0 FSI with a newer 2.0 TSI engine. If you pop the hood you'll note even the engine covers look completely different.
Fans of VW keep saying "the new ones are better" but I'll wait to see it to believe it.
Pic of a bad case of carbon build-up at 100k miles (though it's reported as early at 10,000 miles):
The 2.0 FSI and 2.0 TSI engines have minor differences, at best, or at the most. VERY minor differences is more like it. I believe most of the changes were with the fuel pumps.
I haven't had any issues with my 2.0 FSI other than being strongly recommended a "fuel system cleaning" at 62,000 miles.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
The report says that the driver of the LF-A was 67 years old and Toyota's chief test driver, which leads us to believe that he is Hiromu Naruse, In addition to being the company's chief test driver, Naruse is also Akio Toyoda's personal driver and the Godfather of the LFA.
I guess that tells us how the best Japan has to offer compares to German engineering, when it comes to safety. When it rains it pours. No mention of SUA with the LFA. Of course they wouldn't. It could be the steering problem that so many drivers of Corolla have complained about.
We don't have much in the way of details yet, but according to a report out of Germany, Toyota's chief test driver has died in a crash on highway 410 near the Nurburgring after veering into the oncoming lane and colliding with two others test drivers driving a BMW.
You have to wonder if this guy was already dead (or at least incapacitated) before the accident with a heart attack or something similar. In any case, its sad.
It is sad as he was my age. It makes you realize your immortality. I would say he died doing what he loves to do. Test drivers and Test pilots should have regular medical exams. If he had some known heart condition and Toyota allowed him to drive it will be another black mark on their already soiled image.
That would make it a lot less boring. I have never seen the reason people get excited by Soccer. They run back and forth for it seems like hours without anyone making any points. I guess that is why the horns. To keep people awake.
Did you watch the USA match yesterday, against Algeria?
It rivaled the USA Hockey team's Olympic win against Russia for EPIC WIN.
You really missed out. This team was down 1-0 in the first game, came back, 2-0 last game, redeemed themselves, had a goal robbed, then had to win again and had ANOTHER goal robbed, then scored in extra time in fantastic fashion.
I was in a cafeteria with 100+ people screaming and cheering, that moment was so incredible it's one of those things where you'll never forget where you were when you saw it happen, and who you were with.
USA plays Ghana on Saturday at 2pm, if you're interested in joining in on the fun.
Funny thing is I'm from Brazil, but I still got excited.
I met Pele's ex-wife here in San Diego, does that count for anything? I even played a little when I lived in Lake Havasu. Our team won, no fault of mine. This was in the early 1980s. Our best players were all illegals working at Casa de Miguel restaurant. I also think hockey is boring. Went a few times in Anchorage with some real nutty friends. I just don't get excited with watching sports.
It's a genuinely exciting (and bizarre looking) car...but I agree, the price is insane, and the real price will be even higher. For the money (and if I had to buy a new supercar) I'd rather buy an SLS AND a lowline Ferrari or an Aston etc...but that's just me.
Soccer is just not sponsor-friendly, that's why it hasn't taken off in this country.
Look at successful sports in the USA - you get a few seconds of action, followed by 7 minutes of beer commercials. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :shades:
That's basically the formula for football, baseball, and heck, to make this car-related, drag racing.
I guess that tells us how the best Japan has to offer compares to German engineering, when it comes to safety
The news gets worse: "The two drivers in the BMW sustained lift-threatening injuries and one is in critical condition".
German engineering does not mean squat in such a high speed crash. The A-pillar and roof of the Bimmer were severely compromised. It's a blind curve, and there are no skid marks, so it looks like they hit head on with both cars going at full tilt. Incredibly, both drivers were wearing helmets.
Naruse has logged more time at the 'ring than another other person from Japan. He developed the MR2, Supra, MR-Spyder, AE86, Celica...basically every interesting Toyota from the last 30 years.
Tragic and very sad.
To understand, this would be like Shelby dying behind the wheel of a GT500KR prototype, or perhaps Walter Rohrl crashing the latest Porsche GT3.
Hockey (and soccer as well, actually) are by far best appreciated live. They don't translate nearly as well to TV as do baseball and football. Football could have been invented for TV.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
if would find it hard to believe the LF-A wandered into the wrong lane due to driver inattention. the BMW right rear is scraped up, so i think it was in the correct lane. that is just my opinion. I hope the investigator's don't bring nationalism their analysis.
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
I've been reading your posts for years, & I've always wondered why you never use the "Reply" feature when you're obviously responding to someone else's post.
In this case, your post is clearly a reply to Gary's post #9253. Wouldn't it have been easier for you to simply click on "Reply" instead of starting an entirely new thread?
Comments
You would think so, but GM and F had less content for the most part in the late '90's and early 00's and they were LESS reliable. Also the Prius is more complex and it is one of the most reliable vehicles as tracked by CR (notwithstanding the UA issues).
Possibly.... Although, I seriously doubt many would want to take the American equavalent of armor at the time and go mano-a-mano against an 88MM or a Tiger tank.
Remember, the Allies won by have tons more men and material, and would quite probably lost the war if it had been fought on a 1 to 1 basis.
I've known far too many unhappy VW owners to buy one. To be fair, it seems it's love or hate - plenty of people are delighted with them.
One last comment on the subject from me...
Actually, there were over 19,000 T-34's made and over 60,000 Shermans made. And, of course, many other series as well as the British production. The entire German production was right at 50,000 for ALL of its tank production. It wasn't unheard of in battle for a Tiger to take out 30 tanks before being put out of commission. At Kursk, even though the Germans were halted in their advance, tank losses were 5 to 1 (in Germany's favor). Even at a 5 to 1 kill rate, Germany couldn't overcome the Allies in tank battles.
At some point, quantity overcomes quality.
Like one German general commented during the Stalingrad campaign about the endless onset of Russian soldiers, Germany was like an elephant fighting off ants...The elephant may kill millions of ants, but at the end of the day, the ants will eat the elephant.
You answered your question in the same post:
But I do think its a smart decision Ford is making since Mercuries are pratically rebadged Fords
Mercury's failure is due to the marketing positioning too close to Ford; not because it's reliability. Ford is doing much better than Toyota or Honda, with or without Mercury.
I'd say just 5 years ago it was really difficult to find any press or survey placing an American cars on top. Now American cars win more and more reviews; gain more and more market share; and even win the overall rating by JD Power for the 1st time.
Just look what you Toyota fans are doing on this board; facing one bad news after another of Toyota, you have to now list what's left not bad (yet). Clearly the tide has turned and Toyota is on the run. Of course just like the retreating Germen and Japanese putting up big fights in the end of WWII too; Toyota is no exceptions. But like I wrote before, it's the beginning of the end.
Heck, all manufacturers are practically using slave labor already.
An article last week in USA Today told of a Honda plant in China that was allowed to strike in order to get better pay and working conditions. Yes, a strike in China.
Also, in the article, it mentioned that many western and Japanese companies are moving deeper into China (where globalization hasn't arrived, and the labor is really cheap) as well as other low-labor-cost countries, such as Viet Nam, etc. These companies include components used by the Big-3 as well.
Can North Korea be far behind?
Maybe we'll see a Dear Leader Hyundai model in a few years...
Also, China itself has shown that it has serious aims in getting into global auto production, and it certainly has that capability. So, it will be chasing Hyundai, which in turn is chasing Toyota, and the list goes on and on.
Talk about a quotable quote.
Remember when Iacocca said they were going to kick them back in to the ocean? Look what happened back then.
Even in the unlikely case that this is "the beginning of the end" of Toyota, look no further than Hyundai to see who will pick up any market share they may lose.
Toyota grew too fast, and in their cost cutting made the same mistakes the big three made in the 80s.
Two of their vehicles just earned Top Safety Picks from IIHS and sales are up several months in a row, and you're calling this "the beginning of the end"? You sound like Iacocca did back then.
it comes back to bite you in the a#$
I too am curious to see how Toyota responds next year with the 8th Gen Camry! The new Camry is going to tell a whole lot as to whether or not Toyota can get back in the game, because right now, the Camry, and few other models to lack several features that Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, and Chevy offer in their vehicles and it will be interesting to see how they add features to either match or overtake their competition on features when they are suppose to cut costs?
Agree on that.
>don't want to poke a animal when its injured! you know what happens
it comes back to bite you in the a#$
That's when you shoot it or hit it on the head with a big stick to kill it.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Remaining the same is the Toyota Camry in the No. 1 spot. But the real surprise is the second spot going to the Honda Accord. Not just because the Accord debuts so high on the list, but because it supplants Ford’s F-150 pickup, the best-selling vehicle in the country. The F-150 dropped off the index because it didn’t meet our minimum requirements for domestic content. The F-150 fell from 75% domestic content last year to 55% this year, despite maintaining the same design.
1. Toyota Camry
2. Honda Accord
3. Ford Escape
4. Ford Focus
5. Chevrolet Rentabu
6. Honda Odyssey
7. Dodge RAM
8. Toyota Tundra
9. Jeep Wrangler
10. Toyota Sienna
Full List
Last year, when my daughter was shopping for a new car (trading out her 2004 Corolla, which had been an excellent ride - no problems at 90,000+ miles) we looked at several models. Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai and Kia made the final list.
Hyundai and Kia local dealerships had, at the time, poor quality ratings (plus bad experiences by some friends who bought from them), so they were axed...
She eventually picked the Nissan Sentra. It appeared to have mort attention to detail, a nicer interior overall, and more options for less money. So far (almost 25K miles, not a single issue) the car has performed well.
One other point...She didn't like the feel of the steering in the new Corolla, which is a common complaint about that model now. From what I can tell, it seems Toyota has turned a blind eye to those customer complaints. Other models with electric steering don't seem to be garnering as many complaints, so I'm thinking its more of a "tuning" situation than a "mechanical" one.
Isn't that a "problem" on par with brake dust. A simple $100-$150 fuel injection cleaning system takes care of it I believe.
And that's not only the steering.
The funny thing is they replaced the 2.0 FSI with a newer 2.0 TSI engine. If you pop the hood you'll note even the engine covers look completely different.
Fans of VW keep saying "the new ones are better" but I'll wait to see it to believe it.
Pic of a bad case of carbon build-up at 100k miles (though it's reported as early at 10,000 miles):
http://homepage.mac.com/jonathanireland/.Pictures/_IGP6156forFB.jpg
I haven't had any issues with my 2.0 FSI other than being strongly recommended a "fuel system cleaning" at 62,000 miles.
Lexus driver killed
I guess that tells us how the best Japan has to offer compares to German engineering, when it comes to safety. When it rains it pours. No mention of SUA with the LFA. Of course they wouldn't. It could be the steering problem that so many drivers of Corolla have complained about.
You have to wonder if this guy was already dead (or at least incapacitated) before the accident with a heart attack or something similar. In any case, its sad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16hPBsw2Uy4
Exciting enough to generate over half a millions hits worth of people who disagree with you.
I wonder if that LFA was outfitted with a full roll cage? Probably not.
A shame, may he RIP.
Did you watch the USA match yesterday, against Algeria?
It rivaled the USA Hockey team's Olympic win against Russia for EPIC WIN.
You really missed out. This team was down 1-0 in the first game, came back, 2-0 last game, redeemed themselves, had a goal robbed, then had to win again and had ANOTHER goal robbed, then scored in extra time in fantastic fashion.
I was in a cafeteria with 100+ people screaming and cheering, that moment was so incredible it's one of those things where you'll never forget where you were when you saw it happen, and who you were with.
USA plays Ghana on Saturday at 2pm, if you're interested in joining in on the fun.
Funny thing is I'm from Brazil, but I still got excited.
Are you kidding me? 500 units worldwide for $350 000 a pop. and now you think that makes toyota synonymous with excitement?
Soccer is just not sponsor-friendly, that's why it hasn't taken off in this country.
Look at successful sports in the USA - you get a few seconds of action, followed by 7 minutes of beer commercials. Not that there's anything wrong with that. :shades:
That's basically the formula for football, baseball, and heck, to make this car-related, drag racing.
Have you test driven an IS350? The only thing missing is a clutch.
Heck, too bad they took the drift out of the Lexus GX!
Prius (green category) and Aygo (sub 1 liter).
It basically competes with the 3 cylinder in the Smart, and killed it.
These engines are huge in countries where gas isn't almost free (i.e. outside the USA).
The news gets worse: "The two drivers in the BMW sustained lift-threatening injuries and one is in critical condition".
German engineering does not mean squat in such a high speed crash. The A-pillar and roof of the Bimmer were severely compromised. It's a blind curve, and there are no skid marks, so it looks like they hit head on with both cars going at full tilt. Incredibly, both drivers were wearing helmets.
Naruse has logged more time at the 'ring than another other person from Japan. He developed the MR2, Supra, MR-Spyder, AE86, Celica...basically every interesting Toyota from the last 30 years.
Tragic and very sad.
To understand, this would be like Shelby dying behind the wheel of a GT500KR prototype, or perhaps Walter Rohrl crashing the latest Porsche GT3.
RIP.
Unless it's certain NBA or NCAA basketball games, or any NFL game, or some MLB games. Otherwise, sports like hockey and soccer are boring, I agree.
I even like watching (and playing) tennis, more exciting ta me than any soccer or hockey game. Or match. Or...whatever.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
that is just my opinion. I hope the investigator's don't bring nationalism their analysis.
In this case, your post is clearly a reply to Gary's post #9253. Wouldn't it have been easier for you to simply click on "Reply" instead of starting an entirely new thread?
Just wondering...
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick