Toyota Quality?

[Jordan Petry]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Toyota Quality?

Did you buy it new or pre-owned? Mine was an ex lease when I bought it and came with all the service records from the Toy dealer , everything had been done according to Toyota's maint. schedule. No matter what gen , how its been treated is a issue too.
Ya and like the other poster said , sometimes its just luck.

so ya dont feel bad , my drivers seatbelt is getting lazy too but it has 231,000 KM's on it now .

Haha, thanks man! Mine started out lazy, and then got to the point where it wouldn't retract at all. I bought it pre-owned with most service records. The compression is excellent on all 6 cylinders so I figured that whoever owned it before me took good care of it. That wouldn't explain the Cat or MAF going bad though, I think that was just bad luck. I know they are good cars I just think I am having extraordinarily bad luck with it.

I must say I am happy as can be that my cat went bad. I replaced it with a magnaflow and my gas mileage has gone up significantly. I got 18.5 on my last tank of aprx. 70/30 city highway!

 

[XJeepguy]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Toyota Quality?

I've never looked into , what did that cost to fix? I assume that's just a easy unbolt and then toss in the new one? You buy it new or used , the seat belt ? Cause one of these days mine will fail and it pisses me off right now anyways , its irritating to have to push that damn belt along all the time.

Thanks

Haha, thanks man! Mine started out lazy, and then got to the point where it wouldn't retract at all.

 

[Jordan Petry]

I purchased one from a junkyard that retracted with ease for about $125... they are damn expensive from toyota brand new. It's very easy to change... just involves removing the pillar cover and then unbolting the two bolts that hold the retractor in place and then unplugging the airbag sensor... easy as pie! :bigok:

 

[XJeepguy]

Thats cool . Wow 125 used , wonder what new ones are ?
Thanks !!!

I purchased one from a junkyard that retracted with ease for about $125... they are damn expensive from toyota brand new. It's very easy to change... just involves removing the pillar cover and then unbolting the two bolts that hold the retractor in place and then unplugging the airbag sensor... easy as pie! :bigok:

 

[G.I.G.]

Well coming from back-to-back Jeep GC's to a 4Runner, I have to say that Toyota quality is top notch! But to keep things in perspective, I bought both of the Jeeps when they had about 40k miles on them but I bought my 4Runner brand new and it hardly has 30k miles on it now. Reliability aside, I just think the overall build quality of the 4Runner is much better than the GC's.

Take something as simple as a door for example. My 4Runner's doors closes solidly with a nice "thwump" sound. My GC doors always closed with a "clank" sound like it was going to break every time. Not to mention, I started getting door sag from the hinges, especially on the driver's door, at under 60k miles on each GC. My 4Runner doors have zero sag at 30k miles. Also, the vinyl armrest on my GC Limited's driver door started to crack at about 60k miles. The only way to fix it was to replace the whole interior door panel (all one-peice) for $800! So I just lived with the crack even though it was sharp on my elbows when wearing short sleave shirts. Finally, the power window regulator on my GC limited broke IN THE DOWN POSITION at 70k miles. And this is just the stupid door! :bash:

Long-term reliability of my 4Runner remains to be seen. However, it has not given me any indication that it will be anything less than stable and reliable for a long time to come.

 

[Stick Figure]

The other thing to look for is where the Toyota in question is made. The older cars were all Japan, it seems the more they make in the states, the more problems they have. Not to say anything bad about the workers here, but that seems to be the trend, that i as well as some Toyota techs i've known have noticed. I would guess Toyota knew this as well since they kept the Lexus line built in Japan longer than pretty much anything other than the 4runner.

 

[toto]

I don't know that North American production is really to blame. The 2004 Lexus RX 330 had tons of first-model-year issues, and cars had the same problems whether they were made in Japan or Canada. I believe that design - good or bad - is a bigger factor in how well the assembled product comes out.

Nonetheless, it is interesting that the 4Runner is one of the few models still made in Japan for the North American market, and I'd say the 4Runner is one of the most well-built products that Toyota offers today.

 

[EH007]

I don't know that North American production is really to blame. The 2004 Lexus RX 330 had tons of first-model-year issues, and cars had the same problems whether they were made in Japan or Canada. I believe that design - good or bad - is a bigger factor in how well the assembled product comes out.

Nonetheless, it is interesting that the 4Runner is one of the few models still made in Japan for the North American market, and I'd say the 4Runner is one of the most well-built products that Toyota offers today.

I agree. There have actually been studies done on this very subject. For many years, Toyota made Camrys in the U.S. and also imported them from Japan. I used to work at a Toyota dealer (as a tech) and we could tell which were the Japan cars and which were the U.S. cars when they came in because the Japan cars were shipped with their side mirrors in the trunk, while the U.S. cars were shipped with them already installed on the vehicles. There were other differences as well, such as covers over the rotors on the Japan cars, to protect against rust from sea salt.

But anyway, when the data was collected, it was pretty much proven that the U.S.-made Camrys were equal to the Japanese-made Camrys in terms of owner's complaints and vehicle service histories. So I think it's fair to say that U.S workers can assembly a Toyota every bit as well as Japanese workers. I believe it has more to do with the components & design/engineering than it does with where the car is assembled.

 

[Falls]

Im pretty damn happy. Good solid truck for me .

 

[madbomber08]

More modern engineering and advanced technology does not mean better quality. Everything is cheaply made yet way to expensive in this day. Toyota undoubtedly had better quality vehicles in the 80s and 90s than now. As far as someone offering me a new Toyota over an older one, I think I'd have to pick performance over reliability though.

 

[034RUNNER]

I'm pretty happy with the quality of my 2003 4Runner. My dad bought a 2008 Tundra, and it's quality seems a little less than that of my 4Runner.

It's a nice truck to drive, fast, handles good for a pick up, etc. But the interior quality is a joke. Not that my 4Runner is amazing, but I really don't like the plastic of the dash (feels cheap), stereo looks like a toy with it's giant, ugly buttons and knobs, the shiny plastic on the stereo also is a joke. Fingerprints forever. The paint on the truck is also not so good.

That's the only other Toyota I can really comment on. I mean, besides that kind of small-ish stuff (well, maybe not the paint issue), it isn't absolutely horrible. It wouldn't keep me from buying another, and he doesn't regret the Tundra.