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Toyota Response to Consumer Reports' Survey
TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- This statement is being issued by
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.:
In survey results publicized by Consumer Reports, the 2002 Toyota Camry
was rated average due to complaints about minor issues with some aspects of
the car's interior and exterior trim.
Toyota responded to customer reports of uncharacteristic squeaks, rattles
and loose trim in early production of the redesigned 2002 Camry. Internal
surveys and independent reports confirm Toyota's confidence that the issues
have since been resolved and that Camry initial quality is back to its normal
high levels. Functional reliability is not an issue. In fact, Camry scored
well above average in all major operational categories of Consumer Reports'
survey including engine, transmission, brake and electrical systems, etc.
Camry remains a recommended model and Toyota and Lexus models continue to
be at or near the top of their segments as rated by Consumer Reports and many
other independent quality, reliability and customer satisfaction surveys.
SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issuers of news releases and not PR Newswire are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Copyright © 1996-2002 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.
A United Business Media company.
At least they admitted that there was a problem and didn't try to deny it. Not too surprising given the introduction of a new model. I'm sure future CR surveys will show vast improvement.
I suspect that whatever problems they had were addressed during the '02 model run.
~alpha
~alpha
For the first tme I sort of disagree with Cliffy1...while it might be better to have rattles than engine problems that is not what Toyota stands for. I encourage owners, dealerships and even Cliffy1 to let Toyota know about the dissatisfaction. Again look back in CR at the years when new Camry models were introduced...I see no degreagation in quality....until this year!
I feel better, I have vented!
so called carpet package and the catalog says some of this stuff the grocery net back is standard equipment
Just got back from the shop and the repair ticket listed the reprogramming of the ECU using their internal reference to the TSB. I had printed out the Edmund's notice and combined it with part of your message.
Don't know how one verifies the reprogramming. But I'll be trying to check for the "surging" -hesitation problem around 40mph to see if the problem is cleared up.
~alpha
One was about the type of plugs to use.
Another was a type of diagram/layout.
Third was tune up specifications info.
Basically what does this label look like?
When the car was released the managers were in a meeting so I didn't get to ask anyone about it. But if I can't find the label I'll be calling them on it.
Would something like this show up when you do a VIN number check?
So far I've not noticed the slight jerking motion but I'll be watching for it during the next week.
Also, it seems that Toyota is making a lot of changes to the standard/option equipments. It makes it difficult to figure out the real invoice. Anyone has suggestions regarding how to find out the most accurate invoice price? Thanks.
Thanks.
The only minor issue I have noted is a slight delay on initial cold starts. This issue seems to be taking care of itself. Any one else have a similar experience?
As for invoice pricing, one of the best ways to get it is to find a reputable dealer and ask them to show you an invoice on the car you're purchasing. If they are a dealership that doesn't mind being open and honest about their sales practices, they should be willing to do so. This isn't something that ANY dealer will do on every vehicle they have in stock, but if you know that there is a car that you're looking at specifically, they should be willing to show you the invoice if it will help facilitate the sale.
Another question that I am unclear on: Why does the "A/C" light always come on when the automatic climate control is in the auto mode? This happens even when the outside temperature is lower than the set cabin temperature. Is the system trying to send dehumidified air? Does it matter if I manually turn off the A/C light (the auto mode indicator continues to indicate auto)? I notice the same situation happens in my other vehicle which also has a automatic climate control system.
Thanks in advance for the help.
1) Sludge Issue - handled poorly by Toyota but does not affect the 2002/2003 4 cylinder engines...looking back perhaps a sign of things to come...Toyota eventually did stand behind their product but made fools of themselves in the process....I figured, hey, this was new territory for them and nobody's perfect....probably their ego did not want to believe the sludge issue was for real...
2) Side Impact saftey...to put it bluntly it sucks and should be better and if the NHSTA test was an anomoaly Toyota should be feverishly pettioning a new test....they are not.
3) Rattles: this one came un-expectedly for me but certainly has me (and now others) wondering if this will be symbolic of other aspects of quality and reliability.
I can only say this. My 4cyl auto accelerates quickly, smoothly and effortlessly. The car is quiet in terms of engine noise and wind noise. It is quite comfortable and has a very roomy trunk. I would be VERY satisfied if Toyota would own up to the rattle problems and offer dealers a fix; as opposed to simply saying the issue has been addressed, early owners are now satified and the problem corrected. By the way, I called Toyota and they could not eloboarate on any of these, ie could not reference a single internal survey, have not provided the dealers any fix information to the door pillar rattle problems - or any other, and finally could not descibe ANY design alteration that would eliminate the rattles on the 2003 models. (In case you missed it there was a press release referenced a few posts up)
Anyway, hopefully they will come up with a fix for the rattles and more focus can then be spent on the above mentioned 'positives' of this vehicle instead of worrying about future reliability and percieved quality defficiencies.
That said, why not concentrate on the positives? If you had gone with the new Accord, for example, you'd likely have the same probability of a rattle, judging from that board.
Is yours an LE or XLE 4? Ours is LE, (2002) Pkg 1, ABS, Alloys, MVID. Strat Mica, 16K + miles. Great car. FAR improved over the former generation.
Enjoy!
alpha
A few days later (during daylight hours), I opened the hood to replenish my windshield solvent and I noticed some dried fluid on top of the coolant reservoir. Since the coolant is also red, I thought that maybe it was coolant that I saw on the driveway, that leaked out. Or worse, overflowed? Again, no warning lights, but this made me a bit nervous.
I took my car for an oil change yesterday and asked them to check it out and see if I had a leak and/or find out why it would have overflowed. The service tech claimed that this is "normal" for Camrys, that it does happen on occasion and the mechanic who said so has been doing this for 15 years, blah, blah, blah. They cleaned up the reservoir container and that was that. It was late in the evening and they were about to close.
This didn't sound right to me and I know that dealer service can sometimes make poor excuses for a problem and even lie on occasion. Especially when dealing with women, so many mechanics treat us like we are brain dead. I'm not happy with this rather pat answer and I don't believe that a car should have any type of coolant overflow problem and that be considered normal.
This is the dealership where I bought my car in 1999, but I normally have it serviced at another dealership closer to home. I have generally been satisfied with Toyota dealer service, but this bothers me. I feel like they are trying to pull the wool over my eyes and I'm not having it. I'm not letting this go until I have a better answer or have been assured that it's been fixed. I haven't had any major problems with my car and I don't plan to start now, especially as it's getting cold and winter is fast approaching.
I have an appointment with my usual dealer to fix my trunk release, since there wasn't enough time for the other dealer to look at it yesterday. This trunk release issue is an annoying (although small), recurrent problem with this car, but that's another story. I'm going to ask them to look at the coolant reservoir, hoses, etc., as they will have more time with the car.
Has anyone else had this type of problem? If so, did you get this kind of response? What do you guys think about this?
TIA,
SilverCrown
Now lets get the rattle thing taken care of...and don't tell me about Hondas!
Thank you big.
I think it's high time Toyota adopted a simpler system like Honda has. Or else, offer a true build to order system to give customers what they really want.
I actually toured the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety two weeks ago. It was incredible, and they crashed a new Mini Cooper while I was there. The lady kept referring to Toyota and how they "strive for perfection." They had a 2002 Camry on display that had been crashed into the offset barrier at 40 MPH, and the front windshield wasn't even broken. They crashed a 2003 Corolla earlier in the week, and were retesting it the next week after Toyota made some changes. It looked like it did fine, but apparently they weren't happy with something. All of the results from the Institute's lastest round of testing will be available on December 10th. www.hwysafety.org
The cars that I saw on display (Mini, new Accord, A4, Corolla) did very well.
Some prefer this, seemingly because they don't want to know what else they might be able to get. I agree that it can be frustrating when the exact configuration you want is not sitting at your dealer's lot with your name on it, but that doesn't mean it is a bad system. It allows Toyota to meet regional demands.
Thus, either there was an issue in the front dummy positioning in the test, or that there was indeed some kind of change made to the 2003's to help the front passenger.
carguy000- how were you able to tour the IIHS center? do they typically run tour groups, or was this some kind of special event? I want in! That would fun as hell! As a side note, I think that ever since that one Dateline NBC show aired in 1996 with the disatrous IIHS performance of the Previa minivan, Toyota has realized that SAFETY is a selling point.
~alpha
Regardless, I still think that the relatively new Camry should do better at side impacts. A number of older vehicles get a clean 4-stars (some closer to 5-stars) without side airbags.
Yes, '95 Camry wheels will fit a '97. All 1992 through 2001 Camry wheels are interchangeable. I think the 2002-03 wheels will also fit those models and vice versa, but I'm not positive.
-Andrew L