Toyota Tops Recalls Third Year in a Row

[Gofirstclass]

Like someone stated in the other thread... The drivetrain is sub-assembled at a suppliers factory and then packaged up in crates and sent to Lake Orion, MI. Then a GM assembly worker unloads the system and loads it to a fixture. Once in the fixture the sub is bolted up and the car moves on to the next station. It would be very unlikely that the human would be able to discover a missing brake pad. There are hundreds of small parts in this package. GM has to rely on its suppliers to deliver a quality part everytime.

Ummm, Mr Pirate, are you trying to tell me that the drive train sub assembly is not put together by union workers? Not likely.

 

[230CC]

I stilll say what I said before in the missing brake pad thread....these are issues that were discovered well after the cars had been sold and driven for thousands of miles. That Toyota claimed to never have been able to duplicate the floor mat issue doesn't surprise me. What manufacturer would?

IMO that still pales in comparison to parts such as brake pads not being installed at the factory, and even worse is the cars with the missing brake pads making it through the final assembly inspections.

Then, when someone suggested the pads weren't installed because they lacked the union label was simply stupid. Whoever didn't install the brake pads should have the pads removed from the cars they drive every day. Except that would probably kill some innocent driver and his familly when the a^^hole couldn't stop in time.

But it took zero deaths to get the recall on the Sonic, how many Americans died due to the Japaneses before the American government force the Toyota recall, because it was evident that Toyota only wanted to sweep it under the rug and save their own image?

 

[Gofirstclass]

I'm not excusing anything Toyota did, but keep in mind that the problems that caused Toyota to recall their vehicles were only discovered after they'd sold hundreds of thousands of the cars and trucks and those vehicles were likely driven hundreds of thousands of miles.

Automakers have for many years tried to backpeddle away from having to do a recall, or even from admitting any fault/blame. That goes back to the mid 80's when Audi had the unintended acceleration problems with their cars and they denied it for years. Same thing for Ford and the Pinto, Ford with the Explorer, and the list goes on and on. A car maker will spend millions trying to prove something didn't happen that caused the problem. It's pretty tough to claim that the missing brake pads didn't happen in the manufacturing process.

We could argue the one-death vs millions of deaths all day long and that has little bearing on this discussion. Hell, I could bring up the fact that Teddy Kennedy's cars have caused more deaths in this country than nuclear power, but again, it has no bearing on this discussion.

 

[jason78]

GFC, you make some good points and I would tend agree with you to some extent.

Everyone knows that anything engineered by a human and built by a human is subject to flaws, even if it has a Toyota or Honda emblem on the hood or whether the human is a member of a labor union or not. My opinion is (and based in no small part of plenty of recent evidence) that the Japannese automakers, particularly Toyota have been sweeping problems under the rug for years giving some people the false sense of absolute perfection and getting away with it because of a keen marketing strategy. They have about the best marketing department around and a seemingly unlimited budget to boot. You can't watch a Football Game, Soccer Game, Ball Game, NASCAR Race or just about any other sporting or public event without seeing those damn Toyota emblems all over the place. They are a marketing giant and I respect their right to spend their money however they want. To be honest it is a good thing they do that because in reality that is money that is being returned to America as revenue to American companies.

I think the wave of recalls they experiencd lately will probably improve them as a company and I think that is great if it sparks innovation and increases safety because it will be good for everyone. I wish the same for GM. As much as anyone here may like or dislike a particular auto manufacturer I think we can all agree it is in out best interest as consumers for all of their products to be the best they can be.

 

[Great lakes pirate]

Ummm, Mr Pirate, are you trying to tell me that the drive train sub assembly is not put together by union workers? Not likely.

Yes, the drive train sub assembly for the Sonic being built in Lake Orion is built outside. Chances are it is a non union plant.

 

[KayKook]

Same with the new Buick Regal transmission. Made in China, by non union workers.