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What I was getting at is that Toyota now enjoys a loyal group of customers that feel Toyota's have a reliability edge over all other manufacturers, and that is simply not true.
The current Camry holds no reliability advantage over the Accord and the rest of the serious contenders at this point. In the past, sure, I will concede that Honda's and Toyota's were far better cars. That is why they are still top contenders, but Toyota's recent resting on their laurels is showing.
My 94 SHO had one stock, for example.
My roommate at the time was a Jiffy Lube store manager, and he went to clean my injectors and told me the intake looked like brand new after 44 k of my driving, plus the 50 k the previous owner had on it.
That is a price cut of $71,000 off Google's system!
I really do think self drive will be out by 2025, if only in certain areas with less risk and where tunnel vision can develop in human beings, like the arrow straight roads of the South West.
For folks who think the technology will not trickle down enough so the average consumer can afford it in 12 years? Well, 12 years ago traction control, stability control, Bluetooth, rear view camera's, voice activation, throttle by wire, and GPS were all not available to the average consumer. Now every mid size sedan has all of those things.
The self -drive technology is already legal in Nevada, and I don't think that legislation was passed so that we could wait another 50 years.
But in your own words, "Not very many people are as meticulous with their cars as I am."
I wish I could find the pics I took of the 'clean' side of the air box on my vfr after checking it just a 1000 miles after installing a K&N after having drank the kool-aid.
There was a surprising amount of dirt stuck to air box intake trac, that the OEM filter had not allowed to happen in 7000 miles. And no, it was not due to an install or filter lip flaw and seal.
That was it for me, and I've never looked back. I think people become swayed by very influential advertising that became necessary due to slacking sales from poor feedback that has escalated since internet has been in more wide-spread use. But regardless, it really is not complicated...anything that lets more air in, lets more dirt in. I'm not sure why some find this so hard to grasp.
Some system designs will work better than others. Maybe your SHO was one of those. And just because your mechanic said things looked clean, do we really know that they were? Does he 'sell' K&N's? Does he 'rebuild' engines that wear? Do these practices perhaps help support his business?
I am curious which new cars "come" with a drop-in K&N? They wouldn't happen to be models that are reputed to be ones that have an extra intimate relationship with their dealer maintenance and service dept would they?
YMMV - it is almost a certainty that if a piece of helpful info is shared on a car forum, there will be yeas and nays and each side of the fence will attempt to defend their position. Sometimes you get false info..sometimes you get correct info. It is up to the reader to take in all findings and judge for themselves who is correct. Sometimes the right answer sits atop that fence. And if all else fails, common sense should prevail.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/performance-tuning/256000-trd-air-filter-good-b- ad-idea.html
"main thing, stay away from oiled filters.........they can kill the MAF sensor, properly oiled or not.
back in the day I had them kill 2 celica MAFs and 2 maxima MAFs"
and the next guy didn't agree
and the next guy argued that..
and so on and so on.. :sick:
I think what is built in to many us, especially us in particular..us being us here on a car forum, is that we are naturally enthusiasts to one degree or another. Otherwise we probably wouldn't be here..or certainly not the ones who return often, which again is most of us here.
And as enthusiasts our basic character when it comes to vehicles, is our incessant desire to tinker, or make better...make it more ours if you will. And as men, we have all the goods to make us want to be better, faster, stronger than the next guy..and so it goes..
No offense to any women here though, who may like to tune too
That, indeed, has been what formed the reputation back two decades ago. Lots of folks bought and were scared to take their cars anywhere but the dealership for service. They followed every little suggestion and the good maintenance made the reliability reputation. And sometimes things were replaced under warranty or recall without the owners' realizing it. So the owners didn't realize there had been a problem item--helps the reputation.
Folks buying US-based brands had less commitment to the dealer and less committment to the service schedule. That leaves things not replaced, not serviced, and not noticed at the mechanic (dealership) before they later became problems.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
I don't think you're right. I have a different opinion.
>I'm sure that's the experience of most people in the US car market.
That's also your opionion to which you are welcome just as I'm welcome to have my opinion based on things that I have observed through the decades.
>They buy what has worked well for them and don't repeat what hasn't.
There are different types of buyers. Some study what's there and decide what they choose to buy. Others buy based on historical and word-of-mouth reliability opinions as to what a current car purchase will do in the future.
I've stood next to the service mnager (not writer, manager) as he told what was wrong with cars brought in far too late at the GM dealership, and then when something has deteriorated to a large repair folks are disappointed and blame the car rather than the lack of earlier, regular servicing which is their fault.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Fat, sloppy ,lazy Americans lol... But very true . the unions have a strong hold on how things are done in Detroit probably for the worst.
The American car companies are building better cars today..... thank god... but there not there yet... until American cars can compete with the [non-permissible content removed] there not getting my hard earned money. We are the number 1 country in this world.. We invent and Create here . Other countries steal our good work. There is no reason why our American cars should not be world class leading.
23 Telluride SX-P X-Line, 23 Camry XSE
Yup. And those unions are still in control after the silly reformat in bankruptcy the government gave GM. Shoulda put the unions in zero and let them try to renegotiate. The high cost of the unions helped slow the US-based companies down. Add to that GM's management's lack of effort and competency at times through the last 40 years, and you have someone who shot themselves in the foot. They did put out some cars that were not as good as they should have been.
But as the original poster, CSKI, to whom I was replying had said, the foreign companies were much more successful at getting the owners and the car back into the dealership and keeping them up-to-date on recalls and fixes as well as regular maintenance. (>"I recently started researching just what makes the Toyota Camry (and Corolla) so reliable. I found Toyota mechanics that said it is mainly the owner, and his willingness to perform scheduled maintenance.")
I recall listening to a radio talk host several years ago discussing the success of the foreign mass brands with 3 principles or general managers from dealerships in a major city near here. The dealership experience was a big factor in the success of the car sale and then a successive sale to that individual. The US brands in the Midwest here tended to be older because the stores had existed longer than from 1980s and the attitudes tended to be older. Now the GM stores are being refurbished or built new at almost every store around this area. And they are taking on a uniform appearance in terms of color and general style. I was recently inside a new Buick store in Fairfield that looked more like an upscale shopping mall. Even the car prep and service area was light colored floor with white walls. Don't know if the floor was tile or not like the sales area.
>There is no reason why our American cars should not be world class leading.
Exactly right.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
But otherwise, I do agree with your statements...never having owned an American vehicle (American company vehicle that is...) I plan to put a few on my list next time I'm in the market.
Chrysler's and Dodge's are still a sea of black dots in the April 2013 issue of CR. Okay, so the sea of black is also a sea of asterisks because so many models are discontinued every few years.
I remember the same exact thing. It was like Chrysler infected Benz with the poor quality bug. I predicted it too.
It turns out some perceive that I can get greater and better retribution and revenge against Chrysler not by boycotting Mercedes for their former association, but by buying a new Mercedes now.
I am extra friendly to the service department guys, and I try to build relationships with them and keep my mouth shut when I want to be Mr-know-it-all, which as you all know is hard for me!
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
23 Telluride SX-P X-Line, 23 Camry XSE
https://pictures.dealer.com/j/jdpower/1048/d113c91c0a0d02b701d3ac6eb051e9f9.jpg
Many of the Big 3 autos are made in Mexico, Canada or elsewhere. I looked at a new Camaro when they first came back out. Advertised as the "American muscle car", it had a drivetrain built in Mexico and was assembled in Canada (same line as the Impala IIRC). I think if the manufacturer was to tell the union they will no longer take $$ from the paychecks and give it to the union, but required the individuals to make individual payments of their own to the union we would see how many people REALLY want to belong to the union.
Maybe I don't know what the word means, but I do.
I recall comparing two sets of JD Power reports a few years back. A new Audi had the same reliability as Toyota's did 5 years earlier.
Still, the newer Toyota was ranked higher, but if 5 years ago it was cream of the crop the new Audi seemed pretty-reliable even if not ranked the highest.
Bill G
2017 Accord Sport CVT Mod Steel Metallic
What do you guys think about wiper blade changes? I use Rain-X on all my windows, and the current blades seem to be cleaning OK. There are so many opinions out there that I am not sure what the right move is. They tend to degrade slowly, so I may be really surprised at how much better new ones perform.
There are daily thunderstorms down there, and I remember many trips where it rained so hard we had to pull off the road as vision dropped to zero.
I am leaning towards Rain-X blade style units....so if anyone has those installed let me know what you think.
Actually, I was at my servicing dealer yesterday with the CX-9. Quick sidebar- If you ever take your car thru an automatic car wash and you have Rain-sensing wipers, MAKE sure that they are OFF!!! The Service Manager was kind enough to replace both wiper arms under Warranty....
While they were replacing the wiper arms, I went to the showroom and didn't see a single salesman...but literally 10 seconds later, three were almost running from different directions to pounce! I announced loudly, "I'm just a Service Customer killing time....and two of them vanished, but one came over to chit-chat. We were less than 20 seconds into a conversation when I realized he was actually going to try the "Gee, your car's in for service? Maybe it's tiime to think about a new one?" But I stooped him cold and said, it's a 2012 CX-9 GT wih 12k miles on it getting an oil change" and he went away....I didn't feel the need to share my wiper issue...
But then I spotted a friendly looking young fellow who hadn't jumped me and he smiled so I walked into his little glass cubicle/office. I asked him when they expected the 2014 Mazda3 to show up and he said they'd probably get a 'show' car late this month that was only for display. Then the inventory cars start arriving in late Sept.
I also asked why they didn't have a new Mazda6 on the showroom floor (but wasted spacce with a Mazda2) and he said that every single one they've put in the showroom didn't last 48 hours before it was sold and they had to deal with getting it out and replacing the empty spot....then he said all of the Touring and Grand Touring Mazda6 models they get are selling in less than a week. He sold two last week while they were still on the car hauler. The Sport sells at a liittle slower rate, but still don't sit more than two weeks or so at most!
And Mazda has stated that they're building them and loading them on ships as quickly as they can. The CX-5 SUV has been exceeded all expectations in terms of sales, so they're trying to build and ship them as fast as possible, too...
Mazda's goal for the 2013 calendar year (for the 2014 model) was 30,000 units. At the end of July, they're at 25,115 so they'll hit their target no problem. I had originally expected them to sell 60k+ next year, which they might, but the 2014 Mazda3 will steal some of would-be 6 buyers when it shows up. It has the looks, moves and features on the Mazda6, like a 7/8 version of the larger car. I'm very anxious to see and drive the 2014 Mazda3 s 5-door which will have the same 2.5L SkyActive 184hp engine as the Mazda6 but weigh in at 500lbs less...with the 6AT, it is still expected to hit 60mph in 7.2 seconds....Zoom, zoom!
I used Rain-X and had it start streaking on my windshield. Tried to remove it. But I think it has deteriorated my blades along with sun. I usually replace blades with ANCO blades from Walmart every year on both cars.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Bill G
2017 Accord Sport CVT Mod Steel Metallic
Have you experienced any problems with your CVT? That has been one of the cars I'm watching for the replacement, midsized or smaller, for two cars I have.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
That's not exactly true. The 3-speed and 4-speed versions of the Hondamatic served hundreds of thousands very well for many miles! Especially the Accords thru 1997 and Civic at least thru 2000. The '86-'89 Accords (LXi models, in particular) were known for shifting VERY firmly (in cold weather, it might jar your teeth during a full-throttle downshift) but they were still rock solid. The '86-'87 LXi and '85.5-'87 Prelude Si were the ones that would throw you thru the windshield with each shift, but the '88-'89 LXi wasn't nearly as abrupt even though it had an extra 10hp (120hp total). My theory is that they didn't adequately adjust or tweak the transmission as the Accord (and 'Lude) engines gained hefty bumps in power during those years.
Since 2000-ish, the 5-speed automatic has been a nightmare from hell....and the V6/5AT combo in any Honda/Acura was akin to playing Russin Roulette! I have a cousin who works for North American Honda HQ in Torrance, CA. I know for a fact that the conservative estimate for the total number of A/T failures on 2000-2005 models is AT LEAST 1.1 million!!! And Honda only warrantied 640k of those....
Meanwhile, my dad's 2004 Accord LX 2.4L/5AT just passed the 240k mark and the original 5AT still shifts like new....
I was a Honda/Acura devotee for 17 years and never foresee owning another one for several reasons, one being the way they ignored the massive A/T failures! Only the owners who were willing to raise sheer HELL got warranty replacements past the 36k warranty...Soichiro Honda would roll over in his grave or urn or whatever he's in.....
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
'17 Chevy Volt Premiere
One interesting feature some of them have is a plastic dot on then that turns yellow when it's time to replace them.
If they are working ok and I'm at the dealer for service, I just peel off the dot so the service writer doesn't tell me they need replacing.
The more reliable comes off as an attempt at quality, the less reliable comes off as an attempt to rip off the consumer.
JD Power only measures reliability of nearly new cars. Add another 3 years to those cars and suddenly the problem rates skyrocket by another factor of 10 in those problem vehicles. Get back to me when JD Powers measures 6 or 9 year old vehicles.