Toyota woes driving away would-be buyers

Having had a meeting with a couple of senior Toyota executives this morning one of the points they brought up is that the core customer base has been overwhelmingly loyal. One comment has a couple of dealerships had customers bring them dounuts and cakes.

What they are concerned about is the first time Toyota owner. Those who have not had the opportunity to deal with Toyota and its qualities. Additional emphasis towards that group will be in current and future marketing plans.

 

Short term maybe. My girlfriend is looking at replacing her 2008 Honda Civic in March and likes the look of some of the UK Toyota models.

Why is she looking at Toyota?

Because she's seen how nice my Prius is and appreciates that all cars get recalled at some time or other and Toyotas are generally good cars and still very reliable.

This whole recall issue is a storm in a tea cup.

 

About 60% of toyotas owner base.

 

Could you explain where you came up with the 60% data? It would be nice to see a reference to that number on a credible document.

 

I am a first time Toyota buyer. I am being charitable when I say that I am annoyed that my Gen II Prius Touring edition has taken about a $2,000 to $5,000 (maybe more; I didn't bother to even price what kind of trade-in I could get on the Prius when I purchased the BMW) hit in its value due to what is arguably an unresolved safety matter with the Gen II Prius cars. I recently purchased a 2010 BMW 3 series Sedan. I was considering a Lexus IS 350, but decided to pass. A large part of my decision to pass was due to the current mess that Toyota/Lexus find themselves in.

 

It was an estimate from a recent Ford meeting. Mostly 1st time toyota owners from the last 5 years. The longer this goes on and the deeper it goes the more of the loyal base that will be in danger. What do you think will happen when the president of toyota is pitted against the head of NHTSA at the congressional hearings. You don't have to dig very deep to find evidence of Toyota stone-walling in various forms on this thing for months, even years.

 

As I see it there are four or five main components of the bell curve of vehicle buyers in NA. As regards Toyota, I see

1. Those absolutely opposed to everything Toyota stands for, who would never set foot in a Toyota showroom for any reason.
2. Those who prefer other brands and simply don't see anything that appeals to them in the Toyota lineup. But if something popped up like a Prius when gas hit $5 / gallon they would see value in that.
3. Those who 'graze' from brand to brand, from model to model with no apparently loyalty to any one or another.
4. Those who prefer Toyota's, but right now may be disappointed.
5. Those who have been treated well by their Toyota vehicles over the last 20-25 yrs and see no reason to switch....despite the current issues.

Put values on these segments as a game. MSNBC is doing just that in one poll. Through the end of 2009 #3, 4 and 5 totalled about 16-18% of all the buyers in the US on an annual basis.

In toto there are about 30 - 50 million current Toyota owners in the US ( + more in CA ). Keeping these 30-50 million current owners satisfied is the key.

In fact nearly none of these current owners is affected by these issues at all.

• 2000+ complaints of SUA out of ~25,000,000 vehicles sold in the last decade.
• 125 complaints on the brakes of the '10s out of about 120,000 units sold since May 09.

That's it!!

 

Of the 30-50 million there are maybe 5 million 'hardcore' toyota owners, most of these are repeat owners. The rest are on their first Toyota or have had toyota cars and a domestic truck for a number of year. There are still many variable, but the appeal of toyota over the years has been quality and fuel efficiency. This current crisis has the potential to destroy one of the main attractions of toyota.

 

What unresolved Gen II safety matter are you speaking of?

 

Brake issue. Here is but one thread on PC: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/75665-prius-brake-problem-confirmed-tech.html

The 'issue' was confirmed by a technician when the OPs car was taken for a test drive. It is not a figment of the OPs imagination.

 

Like apriusfan I am also a first-time Toyota owner. While the car itself is both reliable and built (in most cases) with long-term quality in mind (the recalls do not phase me at all), the treatment I get at Toyota dealership service is incredibly poor. Unfortunately, I am pretty much locked-in to going to Toyota service since I own a Prius, and honestly I would not be surprised if I were to be treated like this other poor Gen 1 owner (http://priuschat.com/forums/generat...-battery-dies-70k-toyota-wont-pay-repair.html) in the future. If I purchase another Toyota, it will be a model I do not have to bring to any Toyota dealer for service and I will assume the warranty is void upon driving the car off the lot (because the one time I figured something would be covered by warranty it wasn't, and the service department was aggressive about not covering it - this was the shield over the EV high-voltage wires running under the car).

 

I generally don't find the survey's to be valid as they are a small sample. Only time will tell what will happen.

 

Haven't been loving the toyota attitude of stonewalling for years on the unintended accelleration issue. Then all the talk about people not driving the cars right, blaming the driver. My dealer wasn't really knowlegeable on my car.

I bought this prius, car before was a Lexus.

My son has a toyota and will be buying a car in about a year. It won't be a toyota.

Reading from british papers that toyota UK spokesman (once we all knew a recall was coming) said no complaints (but we know there were) and the prius problems were probably driver error. Same story as we heard about unitended accelleration for years.

Then a guy in LA gets his software updated and the dealership isn't even conserned that he has brake problems again. I'm not saying they didn't fix it, and it may be acting alright, but if you don't consider it may be true, how do we expect you to fix the next problem. Are you listening to customer complaints? Some are, I'm guessing most aren't.

I mainly hear - so and so is worse. I don't really care if pugot lights there customers on fire. If you want me to buy again or encourage friends to get a toyota you need to do better.

THey'll be back. Awful attitude.

Fix your customer service and maybe you can retain customers. Fool me once......

 

You just haven't been infected with Toyota Love yet.

 

Toyota just better hope (pray) that one of the other auto manufacturers doesn't come out with a real competitor to the Prius anytime soon.

 

IOW ~ he pulled it out of his ...

GM book

whether the real number is 80% ... 90% ... or whatever

 

Good to hear from you....How do you think this effects Toyota short-term, long-term.

 

BINGO!
If anyone had a car that could match the mpg or better yet an EV, I doubt Toyota would be my next car.
However, since they don't, and since there is more danger on the roads from people texting on their phones while driving, I will be happy buying the most fuel efficient vehicle available.

 

What is the Volt?