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Toyota CEO Admits Toyota Marketed Camry With Bad Transmissions

Agent009 submitted on 10/18/2007 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 3:33 PM
from: www.autonews.com

[40] user comments | category: Misc News

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Toyota CEO Admits Toyota Marketed Camry With Bad Transmissions

Consumer Reports’ decision not to recommend three Toyota vehicles does not signal an end to the company’s bulletproof quality reputation, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief told Automotive News today.

Lentz said that despite the high-profile rebuff by the respected magazine, the Japanese automaker still placed first in reliability in six of eight categories, and 44 percent of the magazine’s recommended vehicles are Toyotas.

“The bad news from our perspective is we never want to see vehicles on the ‘not recommend’ list,” he said.

Lentz said that because of problems Toyota found with an automatic transmission, he was not surprised the V-6 Camry failed to make the recommended list. He said the problem was with design, not manufacturing, and was quickly corrected.

“We knew in the very beginning we had a transmission issue with that vehicle,” he said.

The problem caused the vehicle to either get stuck in second gear or shift past second gear roughly. The problem can be traced to a snap ring that holds the transmission housing together.

“I don’t think it’s going to have a long-term impact on the overall view of Toyota as a reliable product,” Lentz said.

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M35MT - 10/18/2007 4:06:15 PMView My AgentSpace

-2 Boost

Do you search for bad Toyota PR all day?

reply to this comment

M35MT - 10/18/2007 4:13:02 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

009's Recent Submission:

Toyota CEO Admits Toyota Marketed Camry With Bad Transmissions
Has Consumer Reports Tarnished Toyota's Reputation?
Has The Mercedes S63 AMG Knocked The Lexus LS460 Off The Top Rung?
Recall Wednesday: Toyota Recalls 470,000 Japanese Vehicles

You should call it "Toyotaspies.com" ;)

w209w114 - 10/18/2007 4:44:19 PMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

Its ok 009... I actually really appreciate your bold posts. The truth needs to be put out there to bring the "toyo/lex supremacy" group down from their quality cloud.

answer - 10/18/2007 5:54:31 PMView My AgentSpace

+4 Boost

Since Toyota/Lexus is still doing quite well compared to other brands even with a slide in current rankings, what does that say for the other guys though?

That "cloud" you speak of might not be so much higher than other companies now, but there was a time it most certainly was.

answer - 10/18/2007 5:57:26 PMView My AgentSpace

+6 Boost

Sorry, I do have to speak up for 009 though.

I used to think he was pretty biased for posting all the negative Toyota stuff, but if you really look at his postings in whole, he isn't that bad at all.

He just seems to post the most stuff in general, Toyota-related or not.

M35MT - 10/19/2007 8:42:11 AMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

w209,

I dont think Toyota/Lexus is all that supreme, for the following reasons:

No one has yet to de-throne the 3 series
MB has more panache and cache than Lexus
Land Rovers look much better than Toyota's SUVs
That Camry is ugly! I dont care what you think!
The tC could be a better performer in the sub compact segment
No affordable AWD options other than SUV's

Agent009 - 10/19/2007 9:02:00 AMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

I see we have a few insecure people out there. I post articles about all makes usually in waves as it does in the press.

The only people that EVER get bent are the Toyota/Lexus boys.

So what could be the issue?

Agent009 - 10/19/2007 9:06:21 AMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

answer- Thanks for noticing. But you are correct I am probably the top poster so you will see the most pro and con posts from me.

Human nature is to pick out the negatives. For instance this was a bad PR week for Toyota (sorry but true). But two weeks ago is was a banner week for the IS-F. The others fans were talking about how pro Lexus/Toyota were were for covering it.

So you can't really win when it comes to pleasing everyone. It all ebbs and flows but in the end it balances out.

If Fiat were number one and Toyota was number 5 then all of the press would be about Fiat.

EnnNorak - 10/19/2007 10:23:44 AM

+1 Boost

I'd rather buy GM. At least they deliver on the promise of the brand as far as transmissions are concerned. It takes a real crook to pawn off a whole production run of cars with bad trannys on unsuspecting consumers. I say jail the bastards.

LJ745 - 10/18/2007 4:41:56 PM

+2 Boost

I think Toyota, in its bid for the top, cut a lot of corners, over-extended itself financially, and compromised its origninal values. They are simply now facing the reality of those decisions.

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w209w114 - 10/18/2007 4:46:40 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Exactly!

Well said LJ745. I said the same thing quite a few months ago and everyone was offended and argued with me that Toyota was not like GM because they had always put quality before production.

Agent009 - 10/19/2007 9:08:56 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

Exactly, They went to production and when they figured out, rather than go public that there was an issue they just let it ride.

This probably was not a safety issue though.

Porschinator - 10/18/2007 5:51:47 PM

0 Boost

When it rains it pours...lol. I guess 009 is trying to cover all angles...hehe. Well it is hard to be #1, see GM. hate to say it but a part of the problem may be the US workers building the cars. Typically US auto workers prefer high wages and benefits over loyalty and quality.

reply to this comment

Will_ - 10/18/2007 6:02:07 PM

+2 Boost

Toyota needs to stop focusing on world domination and keep its focus on quality, which it knows how to do better than anyone. And due to that, even with these slip-ups, their quality is still above average. I think they'll refocus before they end up like...say..GM or Mercedes.

reply to this comment

Will_ - 10/18/2007 10:10:09 PM

0 Boost

I'm not worried one bit.

Star - 10/18/2007 10:18:01 PM

+1 Boost

You are right, Toyota will never end up like Mercedes, but that's because no matter how hard they try they will never be able to build cars at such high level of quality and performance. Toyota will always be the car for the blind masses, the cheap appliance made for people who don't care what they drive.

M35MT - 10/19/2007 8:44:30 AMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

When will we begin to associate 'quality' with reliability? If you buy a couch and it snaps in half, but was $5000 imported from Italy, is it still 'quality'? No.

EL34 - 10/18/2007 6:19:49 PM

-2 Boost

This type of thing happens to many companies when they grow to big for their britches.

I have been playing the guitar for decades and one guitar I would never buy is a Gibson guitar and the reason is they charge a lot and they move them like McDonalds hamburgers down the assembly line.

That's why I play Thorn guitars, all hand made and everyone sounds great and made in the USA.

http://www.thornguitars.com/

reply to this comment

AntiHybrid - 10/18/2007 6:30:36 PM

+1 Boost

Has Toyota started outsourcing to China??? That would be ironic!

reply to this comment

speedmaster - 10/18/2007 6:35:04 PMView My AgentSpace

+6 Boost

I am still reconciling over the fact that a high level Toyota exec made the statement,

“We knew in the very beginning we had a transmission issue with that vehicle,” he said.

reply to this comment

truckmen - 10/18/2007 7:55:30 PM

+1 Boost

Toy has been slipping for a while! I can't wait until they improve! Honda is the best!

reply to this comment

EL34 - 10/18/2007 11:03:06 PM

-1 Boost

Oh what a tangled web Toyota weaved, When first Toyota practised to deceive!

I feel sad now.

:(

reply to this comment

EnnNorak - 10/26/2007 12:09:25 PM

+2 Boost

Who cares if it is design, manufacturing, or problems in the supply chain and faulty selection of component suppliers -- the bottom line is that Toyota screwed up royally and should be punished for it. A public apology with crocodile tears is simply not good enough.

reply to this comment

DieselRules - 10/20/2007 3:16:30 AM

+2 Boost

Yes, but when you pay tens of thousands of dollars for a product, you expect it to be tested.
Toyota saves piles of dollars by letting the consumers test their cars, a lesson they learned from the consumer electronics companies, who only spot-test items off the production line (if your iPod or digital camera doesn't work out of the box, you just take it back on warantee).
I would never buy the 1st year of a new model Toyota, because they let the defects surface in the market.
However, they DO fix the problems quickly, and by the 3rd year they are very solid indeed.
At least they've become very predictable in what is crap and what is good :)

reply to this comment

DieselRules - 10/20/2007 12:47:48 PM

+2 Boost

" they "justified" this by saying the warranties will handle the problem later."
I love that! "We can't afford to fix it now ... let's wait till it costs 10 times as much to fix" :)
Sounds like an upper-management decision.

610looper - 10/20/2007 4:00:09 PM

0 Boost

You mean Toyota, which has built its reputation on reliability, didn't design their transmissions to be reliable, they would not defraud the public for car sales, not cute, cudly, never do anything wrong Toyota

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