All Cars, All the Time

Toyota’s Press Discusses Quality Issues

In a recent interview with Automotive News, a just about to be promoted Jim Press discussed some of the issues facing Toyota. I’m skipping over most of the interview, you can read the full interview here, and focusing on the question that got my attention: quality issues at Toyota. The new Avalon was dinged in a recent AN article about startup quality issues and even the new Camry has not been immune to teething problems. Press responds that the warranty claims for the new Camry are down for the same period when compared to the previous generation Camry. The primary issue with the new Camry dealt with the transmission. Press said that comparatively few units had been impacted and that changes were made within a couple of weeks. According to press, Lexus’ sister ship the ES350 only had “One transmission fail and we gave that customer a new car.” Press makes similar claims about the Avalon’s issues.

It all sounds plausible, but tell that to the folks who ended up with the affected cars. It’s no fun constantly hauling your brand new car back to the dealership for fine tuning. The reservoir of good will built up by Toyota is enviable, but why waste it on issues that should have been caught in development? At the time of the Camry’s introduction, Toyota was bragging about how the lead engineer had brought the program in ahead of schedule. Perhaps a bit more time in the oven would have resulted in a more fully baked product. Much ado about nothing? Maybe. I’ll be keen to see how Toyota’s next launches proceed. I’ll give Toyota a benefit of the doubt for now, but by the same token I would be hesitant to buy a first year vehicle from them (or just about anybody else for that matter).