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j-dawg
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Joined: 12 Apr 2001
Posts: 12177
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 Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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Mike - that's also an interesting point with Toyota. As we know, the Toyota's of the 70's 80's and 90's were pretty much bulletproof. Now with production and profits at it's highest, it seems to be losing steam with it's reputation of being reliable.
It may have something to do with more and more Toyota's being made in the states, IMO. Corollas were the first Toyota's made in the US back in the mid 90's, followed by Camry's. Nowadays, I think only the Toyotas still made mostly in Japan are the Highlander and maybe the Rav4. I believe all RWD Lexus' are still made in Japan. I don't think it is a coincidence at all that while Toyota has slipped in reliability as more and more cars are being built in the states, while Lexus, their luxury brand and still mostly built in Japan, have remained high in Consumer Reports, JD Power, etc. Some may disagree, but that's just my opinion.
And the Koreans have made large strides in popularity and reliability as well. They might be in the same stage that Toyota and Honda were in the 1980's. They've come a long way in convincing the average auto consumer, what they need to do now is make some cars that will attract enthusiast. That should take them to the next level. |
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Mike@LG
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Joined: 10 Apr 2001
Posts: 65135
Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 6:53 am Post subject: |
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I don't think it's as much about the cars being made in the US.
Honda for example, makes plenty of cars in the US. Before they even begin production, they bring in crews from Japan to assure build quality in every product. The car doesn't leave factory until it passes a rigorous inspection.
Toyota uses lean production to keep things efficient. But when demand skyrockets, there aren't enough resources to keep up with recent demand, so quality suffers.
Now, while Toyota should actually open up another plant or two in the US to keep up with production, I don't think they'll take that risk just yet. They already had the Camry, FJ Cruiser, and Rav4 planned out for production and their focus is now on the hybrid Lexus LS. Toyota has been profiting at insane rate, unexpected by all the motor companies. They produced the Prius expecting that to be a profit loss.
Hyundai and Porsche are the surprising companies that up their quality. Hyundai now seems to be where Toyota was in the early 90s. Not exactly record production, but just now getting recognition for build quality and reliability with good products coming out of the factory floor.
Porsche is almost at its limit with build quality and peak production. Any more demand and their production is going to hurt a bit. It helps when the 911 shares so many principles with previous cars, and the fact that the Boxster and Cayman are so similar. Where do they have the most problems? Cayenne.
| Quote: |
J.D. Power: Lexus Wins Top Quality Award, Followed by Mercury and Buick
Date posted: 08-10-2006
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Lexus was the highest-ranking brand for the 12th consecutive year in J.D. Power's annual survey of vehicle dependability, as parent Toyota took top honors in eight of 19 individual vehicle categories.
That's good news for the Japanese automaker, which long has been the industry's quality standard-bearer, but recently has been plagued by a series of recalls and quality issues.
In Power's survey of nearly 50,000 owners of three-year-old vehicles, Lexus owners reported an average of 136 problems per 100 vehicles, well below the industry average of 227 problems per 100 vehicles. Ford's Mercury brand finished second, with 151 problems per 100 vehicles, followed by General Motors' Buick brand, with 153 problems per 100 vehicles.
In last place was Ford's Land Rover brand (438 problems), below GM's Saab brand (326). European brands in general, including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi and Volvo, scored below average.
What this means to you: Based on a survey of three-year-old vehicles, European brands, especially luxury models, still lag behind both Japanese and mainstream domestic brands in terms of long-term dependability. Better buy an extended warranty with that new Cayenne. |
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=116447
_________________
Resident Car Nut.
https://lakersdraft.substack.com/
I am not an economic advisor nor do I advise economic strategies or plans. |
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postandpivot
Retired Number
Joined: 16 Sep 2003
Posts: 36822
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:32 am Post subject: |
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| skumbag wrote: | I agree with Postandpivot about the SUV thing. Statistics shows that an average American family has less than 2 kids. Yet, something like 60% of households have SUVs. These numbers don't indicate that American family use their SUVs because they need it! Don't tell me you need an SUV haul 2 adults and less than 2 kids in an average family. Soccer moms don't account for this 60% because on average even a soccer mom only has 2 kids.
Go to Europe and Asia and you'll see that most families of 4 do not own SUVs.
The fact is Americans own SUVs because it's partly convient but more importantly they can because gas prices are relatively low compared to the rest of the world. I guarantee you if gas prices were like $5/gal like in some part of Europe, you can forget SUV, you'd hard pressed to find people driving even mid-sized cars.
hmm, but another factor as to why Americans could be attracted to large vehicles (not just SUVs) is due to their size. Statistics show that 2 out of every 3 Americans are clinically obese. Yes, we are a fat nation. Go to Europe and you can't help but say, "damn, we are a fatass nation", (and ironically, Americans are exercise freaks copmared to Europeans, but apparently exercise can't compensate for all the McD and In-n-out burgers). I've heard one study that suggests that because of the extra weight Americans are carrying around, it is costing us something like $260 million/yr in additional gasoline cost to haul that weight. Perhaps weight is also a factor in determining the trend of cars (in conjunction with gas prices). |
^^to piggy back on this stat. Americans as a whole I believe are larger in height and weight. perhaps I'm incorrect.
as for us being all about Billy Blanks tapes. well lets just be honest. If you're not Billy Blanks himself. You're probably not going to be in the gym on a daily basis longer then 3 months straight. You get on a regi, then hop off. back on, then back off, then back on again.
The reason that most of us are not the same or close weight we were in high school or Freshman year in college. is because We were probably walking like crazy on a daily basis. minus the athletic activities.
Just plan old, strolling regularly to get from point A, to point B. will keep you at a certain size forever.
I went from walking around campus and around the city i live in. to driving around the corner to get ice cream.
let me explain how bad it is.
parking is bad over here. not ucla bad. but parking is tight. so i park outside on the street. usually a block and change away from my residence.
baskin robins is 2 blocks away (straight shot). I most of the times will walk to get my car(at least I'm walking some i guess). then drive to baskin robins. Why? Who knows. just cause i can i guess. if i couldn't i would be strolling to and fro.
I used to ride my bike to the grocery store from time to time. No more bike. no more riding. driving only. we used to ride to In and Out burgers. we would eat the meal there, and ride back home. Thats cutting off half the fat already before you get back home. now you drive there, sit on your butt, and drive back, then sit back on your butt and start eating the burger. then you say to self, "man i need to get in the gym". no you need to do something thats an everyday normal task. that is a work out/calorie burner.
anywho,
back to cars.
I wish sometimes I was a short guy, so i could scoop up a small ride and not think twice. but 6'2, mixed with a hint of fatboy. a Civic is never going to cut it. I mean never. and anything even close to a Civics size aint going to cut it quiet as kept. I have a small ride now. and the only reason It works, is because the drivers seat can go back pretty far. so to give me the room i need. sure i can get 4 people in there. but 4 what sized people? under 6 feet. otherwise it better not be a long ride.
thats the thing about these cars. "can seat up to 5 adults". 5 of what sized adults? |
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MyKRo
Star Player
Joined: 15 Jun 2003
Posts: 5750
Location: Los Angeles
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:05 am Post subject: |
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If you're going to buy a truck, here's some advice: buy a DIESEL. You wouldn't believe the MPG difference between Diesel and Gas.
My friend owns a Dodge 1500 with a Hemi engine: 11 mpg on a good day.
My dad owns a 2500 with a Cummins diesel engine: 23 MPG average.
Also, Diesel engines could easily go over 500,000 with no problems. |
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Mike@LG
Moderator
Joined: 10 Apr 2001
Posts: 65135
Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:19 am Post subject: |
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^And if you know you're going to get a diesel for long term, reflash the ECU to max out the gas mileage.
| Quote: | | thats the thing about these cars. "can seat up to 5 adults". 5 of what sized adults? |
Considered average of the population of whatever country they want to sample.
_________________
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https://lakersdraft.substack.com/
I am not an economic advisor nor do I advise economic strategies or plans. |
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