Can Anything Stop Toyota?

Although it would make sense for an SUV to have an easy-clean interior
like the Wrangler or Element (or old SUV), as opposed to a "nice" interior
that gets dirty easily and is hard to clean.

 

This is not an accident. It's an intentional Years ago I studied
up on statistical quality control. The Japanese are the masters of
the game (yes, I know all about Deming). They are totally
Manic-Depressive. If a part DOESN'T break it is made too well and
should be cheapened up. If a part DOES break it needs to be improved.
The number of miles a car is supposed to last is a closely guarded
secret. 60K, 100K, 150K? Who knows? You want all the parts to have
the same lifetime. No use having your turn signal lever outlast your
trunk lid. They expect parts prices to go down 10% a year, or
whatever, through automation and more advanced production techniques.
They really put the fear of switching contractors in their suppliers.
These guys do not believe in waste. They make the people at
misc.consumers.frugal-living look like drunken lottery winners. They
sweat the small stuff. Productivity increases that eventually
eliminate your own job are just a fact of life. I did some of this as
an American engineer. I doubt much of this will ever go on in
American auto factories. Automation and productivity are so high that
you can have high unemployment and abundent goods and services.
Welcome to the post industrial society. Most people, by now, have
adjusted to the post agricultural society. Oops, wrong newsgroup for
that rant. Toyota works hard at delivering a good product. Nothing
wrong with that.

I absolutely agree.

Cheers,
Roadie Roger
Book of the month:
Dr. Hondalove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rev's

 

This is not an accident. It's an intentional Years ago I studied
up on statistical quality control. The Japanese are the masters of
the game (yes, I know all about Deming). They are totally
Manic-Depressive. If a part DOESN'T break it is made too well and
should be cheapened up. If a part DOES break it needs to be improved.
The number of miles a car is supposed to last is a closely guarded
secret. 60K, 100K, 150K? Who knows? You want all the parts to have
the same lifetime. No use having your turn signal lever outlast your
trunk lid. They expect parts prices to go down 10% a year, or
whatever, through automation and more advanced production techniques.
They really put the fear of switching contractors in their suppliers.
These guys do not believe in waste. They make the people at
misc.consumers.frugal-living look like drunken lottery winners. They
sweat the small stuff. Productivity increases that eventually
eliminate your own job are just a fact of life. I did some of this as
an American engineer. I doubt much of this will ever go on in
American auto factories. Automation and productivity are so high that
you can have high unemployment and abundent goods and services.
Welcome to the post industrial society. Most people, by now, have
adjusted to the post agricultural society. Oops, wrong newsgroup for
that rant. Toyota works hard at delivering a good product. Nothing
wrong with that.

I absolutely agree.

Cheers,
Roadie Roger
Book of the month:
Dr. Hondalove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Rev's

 

I'm confused by the response. The Prizm is a Toyota Corolla. So
naturally it is "as good as any Toyota". Sorry if I missed the point.

 

Sorry, but I disagree. ALL manufacturers are selling cars in the same
market and regulatory jungle, so you can't use that as a reason why do
what they do to quality. Price is obviously a reflection of quality, but
I dare say that dollar for dollar the US Big 3 are not delivering the
same overall quality as their foreign competitors. Look at Toyota sales!

 

Sorry, but I disagree. ALL manufacturers are selling cars in the same
market and regulatory jungle, so you can't use that as a reason why do
what they do to quality. Price is obviously a reflection of quality, but
I dare say that dollar for dollar the US Big 3 are not delivering the
same overall quality as their foreign competitors. Look at Toyota sales!

 

PHILIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please be more carefull when you snip posts!
I DID NOT MAKE THAT COMMENT, I REPLIED TO THAT QUOTE IN MY POST. YOU
SNIPPED THE MESSAGE AND ADDED YOU COMMENT RIGHT AFTER MY NAME AND EMAIL.

If you go back to my original post this is very clear.

 

PHILIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please be more carefull when you snip posts!
I DID NOT MAKE THAT COMMENT, I REPLIED TO THAT QUOTE IN MY POST. YOU
SNIPPED THE MESSAGE AND ADDED YOU COMMENT RIGHT AFTER MY NAME AND EMAIL.

If you go back to my original post this is very clear.

 

In

In fact, Disneyland is within 20 minutes travel time and holds no
interest at my age. The NUMMI plant is on the way to a relative in
Bay Point (45 mi east of the Bay Area). The foolishness in your
observation is revealed in the fact that the wheel bearing is a
"sourced" part AND that 6 dealers in my area did not even stock the
part as normal inventory. That should suggest to you something other
than the conclusion you drew.

GM is the landlord and primary customer, Toyota is the product
designer and production manager, and NUMMI is the legal entity acting
as liaison between GM, Toyota, UAW, and the IRS. I toured NUMMI in
June of 2002 and purchased the Corolla in Sept of 2002. Liked what I
saw over all. I've also toured the Ford plant in Atlanta (was a
Taurus plant in 1989) and the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY.
The Ford tour did nothing to favorably impress me. Come to think of
it, I also had several "backdoor tours" of the GM plant in South Gate
.... years ago (1978?). Yikes! You are making accusations that are
not universal and particularly so regarding NUMMI. Perhaps you don't
know the history of that plant when GM ran it ... and finally had to
close it down. Cling to your bigotry, it's your comfortable zone.

 

In

In fact, Disneyland is within 20 minutes travel time and holds no
interest at my age. The NUMMI plant is on the way to a relative in
Bay Point (45 mi east of the Bay Area). The foolishness in your
observation is revealed in the fact that the wheel bearing is a
"sourced" part AND that 6 dealers in my area did not even stock the
part as normal inventory. That should suggest to you something other
than the conclusion you drew.

GM is the landlord and primary customer, Toyota is the product
designer and production manager, and NUMMI is the legal entity acting
as liaison between GM, Toyota, UAW, and the IRS. I toured NUMMI in
June of 2002 and purchased the Corolla in Sept of 2002. Liked what I
saw over all. I've also toured the Ford plant in Atlanta (was a
Taurus plant in 1989) and the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY.
The Ford tour did nothing to favorably impress me. Come to think of
it, I also had several "backdoor tours" of the GM plant in South Gate
.... years ago (1978?). Yikes! You are making accusations that are
not universal and particularly so regarding NUMMI. Perhaps you don't
know the history of that plant when GM ran it ... and finally had to
close it down. Cling to your bigotry, it's your comfortable zone.

 

I read that CR report. The author implied that had numerous other
real life ownership factors been included in the Regal evaluation
that it would NOT have surpassed Camry or Accord.

 

Latest Car and Driver had a great letter. In it someone pointed out,
Japan

I am not dreaming the letter. It was really there.

I am really not so sure brightest minds work for Microsoft, because if this
would be true, why did it take them 15+ years to finally have a stable
operating system? Apple is hanging onto 1% market share and NEC is Japanese
(so it should not even be here).

While we can bomb the crap out of any small object, and had stealth
fighters, put a man on the moon, all before any other country? So I thought
this made sense.

 

Latest Car and Driver had a great letter. In it someone pointed out,
Japan

I am not dreaming the letter. It was really there.

I am really not so sure brightest minds work for Microsoft, because if this
would be true, why did it take them 15+ years to finally have a stable
operating system? Apple is hanging onto 1% market share and NEC is Japanese
(so it should not even be here).

While we can bomb the crap out of any small object, and had stealth
fighters, put a man on the moon, all before any other country? So I thought
this made sense.

 

Well, they ARE budget cars. That's the problem - and why Mitsubishi, Honda,
and Toyota are suffering lately. They are putting all of their real quality
and value into their real badges/names(their upper lines) and the lower basic
lines are just that - their equivalent of Timex watches. Well built, but not
a Seiko or Citizen.

Honestly, 20K is a lot of money. You should get more than a $50 plastic
dash that looks like it came out of a Neon. The new Camrys are not made
as well as the previous generation. My neighbor has had an older Camry
and a nweer one - and the newer one is almost twice as expensive per year
to maintain and impossible to work on. He says it's the last Toyota he
buys.

If I was to buy a new car, I'd go with a maker that only makes one line
of vehicles. Their "top" omodels are exactly that and the technology
and interiors of their midrange models shares a lot of simmilar traits.

BMW and Volvo are prime examples of this. Subaru and Nissan are more
budget minded versions as well. All make good vehicles that range
from budget to luxury, as well as sporty.(much droolage over the Z)

 

I personally love the Element except...

What were they thinking putting AWD in it and no real 4WD? Ag. So
close to getting everything right and worthless off-road.

 

I personally love the Element except...

What were they thinking putting AWD in it and no real 4WD? Ag. So
close to getting everything right and worthless off-road.

 

When did Microsoft come up with a stable operating system? What
happened to that XP thingy?

Apple holds about a 3% overall PC market share and a 7% laptop
share:

http://www.macnn.com/news/21595

They have been as high as 3.8% this year.

The fact remains, however, that the effective life of Macs is more than
double that of commodity PCs, which means Apple loyalists buy less often.

 

When did Microsoft come up with a stable operating system? What
happened to that XP thingy?

Apple holds about a 3% overall PC market share and a 7% laptop
share:

http://www.macnn.com/news/21595

They have been as high as 3.8% this year.

The fact remains, however, that the effective life of Macs is more than
double that of commodity PCs, which means Apple loyalists buy less often.

 

In

The PRIZM ... was .. built in Fremont, CA. 2002 model year was the
last Prizm.

 

In

My apologies. I'll be more careful. |^ (