Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Doesn't matter the brand, there's always someone here to knock 'em...
Except Toyota. Nobody every knocks them, in spite of all the horrors that were uncovered in the civil cases over "unintended acceleration." Oh wait, knocking Toyota is MY job on this forum... forgot that for a minute ;-)
In all seriousness, all manufacturers seem to average about the same. Recalls are a natural part of putting any complex product on the market and supporting it properly. Toyota had a rough stretch of years with Sienna transmissions, oil deterioration (sludge), and the whole UIA flap. GM was looking great, but turned out they SHOULD have been doing some recalls over quite a span of years. If they had, (and fixed the underlying issue sooner) they wouldn't look so horrible this year. It gets under my skin a little when the Japanese manufacturers continue to get treated like they're perfect, opposition to numbers that CLEARLY show they're no better (or worse) than the others, at least not in the North American market. Case in point- Honda. You *never* see "another Honda recall!" or "What's with Honda, all they do is make recalls!" on this forum, but the data clearly shows that they've recalled more vehicles (in total, and even more so when corrected for market share) than Chrysler over the years covered in that graph.
We all have our favorite manufacturers, and that's fine. Its fun to poke barbs at the others, and I do it to. But honestly, I know I wouldn't be screwed and in the garage all the time if I replaced all my Mopars with Toyotas, Hyundais, BMWs, or Fords tomorrow. To correct the old bumper sticker, would NOT rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy! The market pressures today are such there just ISN'T that much ongoing quality difference between the manufacturers anymore. Some models and some years are problematic, but it can happen to any manufacturer. Especially since so many recalls these days are related to third-party vendors, like the airbag maker.
Doesn't matter the brand, there's always someone here to knock 'em...
Except Toyota. Nobody every knocks them, in spite of all the horrors that were uncovered in the civil cases over "unintended acceleration." Oh wait, knocking Toyota is MY job on this forum... forgot that for a minute ;-)
In all seriousness, all manufacturers seem to average about the same. Recalls are a natural part of putting any complex product on the market and supporting it properly. Toyota had a rough stretch of years with Sienna transmissions, oil deterioration (sludge), and the whole UIA flap. GM was looking great, but turned out they SHOULD have been doing some recalls over quite a span of years. If they had, (and fixed the underlying issue sooner) they wouldn't look so horrible this year. It gets under my skin a little when the Japanese manufacturers continue to get treated like they're perfect, opposition to numbers that CLEARLY show they're no better (or worse) than the others, at least not in the North American market. Case in point- Honda. You *never* see "another Honda recall!" or "What's with Honda, all they do is make recalls!" on this forum, but the data clearly shows that they've recalled more vehicles (in total, and even more so when corrected for market share) than Chrysler over the years covered in that graph.
We all have our favorite manufacturers, and that's fine. Its fun to poke barbs at the others, and I do it to. But honestly, I know I wouldn't be screwed and in the garage all the time if I replaced all my Mopars with Toyotas, Hyundais, BMWs, or Fords tomorrow. To correct the old bumper sticker, would NOT rather push a Ford than drive a Chevy! The market pressures today are such there just ISN'T that much ongoing quality difference between the manufacturers anymore. Some models and some years are problematic, but it can happen to any manufacturer. Especially since so many recalls these days are related to third-party vendors, like the airbag maker.
