Morning with Toyota Technical

Congressional hearing will turn up multiple smoking guns to various degrees.

 

I am new here as this is my first posting. I have read the forum for a few years now and have gotten a lot of good info from it. This thread caused be to register and respond. To me it seems that the "foreign" cars are not that foreign anymore. I read about Ford and GM using parts made in Canada and Mexico, and even having some assembly plants in other countries producing cars sold here. I believe that most of the cars that Toyota sells here, excluding the Prius, are assembled here in the US with parts made here in the US. Toyota has its home in Japan but they make their cars here using US labor. Ford and GM have their home here, but sell cars made in other countries. Kinda makes me wonder what cars to call foreign these days?

 

Not this again, you found the Toyota is american kool-aid. in 2008 Toyota accounted for a larger trade deficit with the US than all but 6 countries in the world. Yes that Toyota that has convinced you they sell only american cars built of american parts. I will get you all the data later.

Have you ever seen a photo of the port of Long Beach or Los Angeles? Do you think all those cars are assembled in the US and shipped via rail to the port for export to Japan?

The island of Japan assemble almost three times more cars, trucks and SUV's than are sold on the Island. Where do you think most of those vehicles end up? In China? FAt chance.

 

Is your transfer case leaking yet of your Chevy, mine is

 

Not this again!!
Why not post a link to your earlier posts?

 

Hi Malorn

Not this again, you found the Toyota is american kool-aid.

Not too sure of your reference to Kool-Aid. Does it have to do with Jim Jones and Jonestown?

In 2008 Toyota accounted for a larger trade deficit with the US than all but 6 countries in the world. Yes that Toyota that has convinced you they sell only american cars built of american parts. I will get you all the data later.

Would love to see it. By the way America and American should be in capital letters.

Have you ever seen a photo of the port of Long Beach or Los Angeles?

No I haven't seen this photo, would you share?

Do you think all those cars are assembled in the US and shipped via rail to the port for export to Japan?

Proabably not.

Sorry to get you all worked up.

 

Toyota's proposed new sales stategy..

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. is considering longer warranties and cash discounts to woo U.S. consumers after recalls that forced the automaker to halt sales of eight models, dealer executives familiar with the talks said.
Ideas being considered include warranties of as long as 10 years and rebates of thousands of dollars per vehicle that would start in March, said three executives from retailer groups with Toyota franchises. They declined to be identified because the discussions are private.





Toyota Is Said to Discuss Rebates, Warranties to Lure Customers - Bloomberg.com



Wonder how this will go over not only with consumers, but also the rest of the car manufacturers? KH...

 

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2009-07/47928393.jpg

2008 toyota sold 999,483 vehicles in the US which were imported from Japan. These vehicles tend to be weighted towards the higher end of toyota's lineup including almost 100% of Lexus.
If you use an average inventory value of $30,000 that would extrapolate out to $29,984,490,000, that is billion with a B. This does not include the parts used in the vehicles assembled in the US nor the parts used as replacement parts by toyota USA's dealer network.

Trade deficit by country in 2008( rounded up to the nearest billion)

China--$269,000,000,000
Canada--$79,000,000,000
Japan--$74,000,000,000(including toyota)
Mexico--$65,000,000,000
Saudi Arabia--$43,000,000,000
Germany-- $43,000,000,000
Toyota--$30,000,000,000
Ireland--$24,000,000,000
Russia--$18,000,000,000
France--$16,000,000,000
Taiwan--$12,000,000,000

 

Guys like you always use midgets and giants to try and make your point. Follow the money, toyota has been taking money out of this country by the boatload. How many hundreds of billions do you think toyota has pumped out of the US over the last 30 years?

 

Are you saying the reflash doesn't impact the performance of the car? If not, what DOES it do?

 

It changes the mapping of the brake pedal, making it more sensitive to user input. This makes the brake feel more like what drivers expect in a normal car (one without regenerative braking).

Tom

 

In one the threads about the Gen III brake 'repair', there was a statement that the stopping distance (after application of the repair) was shortened. If that is true, then there is a real quantifiable benefit from having the repair performed.

It is a shame that Toyota is staying silent about the Gen II cars....

 

It also makes brake transition force more consistent from normal to abs braking. This removes part of the requirement of the driver to notice reduced braking and react. At the same time it reduces abs stopping distance. This is more than just "feel". From this site

Prius Brake Recall ? A Little More Information | PriusChat
"
Q1. Does the update change the way the ABS works?
A1. We are shortening the braking force timing and the lowering the pedal pressure. These changes will make the Prius ABS equivalent to non-hybrid vehicles.
Q2. Will the software update affect full emergency braking?
A2. The stopping distance will be slightly shorter
Q3. Is there a fuel-economy impact or effectiveness change for regenerative braking that comes with the update?
A3. As this remedy involves the ABS braking force timing and pedal pressure, there is no impact to the regenerative braking system or fuel economy.
"

 

Tony at the dealership and I were discussing A0B and he used a very telling phrase, "... calibration ..." I've wondered if the patch is more than just a software change but incorporates elements of brake system calibration. This would go a long way to explaining how some of folks seem to be more impacted than others.

Bob Wilson

 

I saw one Toyota dealer in the Philly area offering $1500 discounts on the '10 Prius.
I checked ebay and found a number of '08 rentals with 30-50K miles available in the area for $17-18K--certified.

My preference would be for another '08 as a second car, since I'm more than satisfied with my '08.

That accelerator pedal/floormat recall is not really applicable to my car, since my OE mat is hooked to the floor and can't move. I regard shortening the pedal as a safety hazard for short drivers like myself, so I will not do that. The mat is about 2" away from the bottom of the pedal. Better than some other cars I have owned.

I don't know how the Toyota bosses feel about these so-called flaws, but I think they are frivolous. The brakes issue would also appear to be frivolous--from reading the so-called "fix." I sure have driven cars with a lot worse problems never mentioned in the media.

I just wonder who decided to pick on Toyota.

 

I'm not sure what the discounted prices on prii have to do with the techincal issues, other than telling us owners we paid too much and lost money.

I am not quite sure what your "safety" expertise is either. I'm sure the US and Japanese safety agencies will be happy to listen to your evidence. Can you share more details about your investigations so we know if your evidence has any merit.

 

I don't understand why a person doesn't like the Prius or Toyota would post thousands of times on Priuschat. It seems to me that they would have a better time on a Ford or Chevy site. Something strange going on here. Toyota has earned a lot of money in this country and worldwide because people made the choice to buy Toyota products. No one held a gun to their head and forced them to give up their money. Toyota produced what consumers wanted and the company became very successful because of that. That's how business works. I have owned a Chevy, a V.W. bug, a Ford Ranger, a Mustang, a Jeep Cherokee, and now a Prius. I bought each of these vehicles because it was the right car for me at that time. I have no brand loyalty in automobiles. My loyalty is to whoever produces the best quality car where I get the most bang for my buck. I know several people who put over 200,000 miles on Tercels and Corollas without major engine work required. Whining and moaning will not win anyone any customers. As the commercial says "may the best car win". The marketplace will reward the winners and eliminate the losers.

 

Toyota's new car sales in January were off 16%. More importantly, used prices at auction are off 10 to 20% from historical trends (much worse if you compare to where Prius auction prices were at in 2007; but I am not trying to skew the data). Maybe the market is speaking?