Toyota Owners-Who's Next?

I have been a loyal Toyota owner since I started driving in 1977. The first vehicle I owned was a 1979 Toyota Celica GT that I bought in 1985. I loved that car. It drove nicely, and I felt "cool" driving it. It was the first time I had taken out a loan in my own name and paid it off. That car gave me my independence and a good credit score.

As a result of the good feeling I developed for my Toyota Celica, that is the only brand of car I have owned (except for one) since then. Since that Celica, I have owned a 1988 Toyota Tercel bought brand new, (and tragically totalled by a tree falling on it during Hurricane Bob), a 1990 Camry, bought brand new, a 2000 Sienna, bought brand new and a 2005 Sienna, bought brand new. I have never had any problems with any of my Toyotas at all. None of the cars that I bought brand new ever spent any time in the service department. I kept them on the average of 5 years each. I did the routine maintenance only, but they all served me well.

Then, recently out of the blue, just as if it was a stealth attack by an American automobile industry struggling to survive economic disaster, the great and powerful Japanese Toyota Corporation has fallen from its throne as the automotive superpower. I don't think anyone could have written this story any better if it had been a page out of a novel. American corporate giants (Ford, GM, Chrysler) on the verge of bankruptcy, unable to sell their product because of the perception of the inferior quality of the product; enter some "incident" to knock the king of the industry off of it's throne and offer new hope for the American corporate giants to finally get some market share.

Every day lately, we have heard new reports on the news about whether the "fix" for the sudden acceleration problem in some Toyota models is actually fixing the problem or simply easing minds of consumers who have these models. Some are complaining that their "fix" didn't actually solve the problem and they are still experiencing sudden acceleration. There have even been some reports that Toyota knew about the problem more than 5 years ago and did nothing about it until it was forced to. If that is true, it would suggest that Toyota management actively weighed the cost ($$) of a recall to repair the issue versus the cost in lives of waiting until this problem reared it's ugly head en masse. If that is the case, that gamble has cost them big time.

The perception in the auto industry of Toyota as the one to beat-- the level of quality that other manufacturers should strive for, may be a fallacy at this point. Even if it is not the case and that this malfunctioning acceleration situation is an isolated ding on Toyota's otherwise unblemished reputation of reliability, Toyota's reputation for honesty and integrity has been seriously damaged and that will take a long time to recover from, if they ever do. This whole mess has cost them far more than it would have if they had issued a recall when they first suspected a problem existed with their cars.

So back to me. I have been a loyal Toyota owner and driver for most of my life. I have put my trust in Toyota's integrity and the reliability of their automobiles. I have always felt safe in my cars. Actually I have felt that I was safer in my cars than in most other people's cars. Was that a faulty perception now that I know what I know about the lies and deception on the part of Toyota? Possibly. One thing is true: Toyota is working HARD to try to regain some of it's credibility and market share. They are aggressively advertising on TV; trying to show that they still have loyal customers. They are offering financing deals of 0% for 60 months across almost all of their models to try to attract new customers. This is unprecedented for Toyota. The lowest financing rate that was ever available for any of our purchases was 2.9% for 48 months.

Traditionally the Toyota dealers we have dealt with (and there have been MANY) have been hard pressed to offer the best bottom line prices on any of their models. Overall most have been pretty arrogant in their price negotiations. I am relatively sure that if you were interested in buying a new Toyota right now, you could walk into any Toyota dealership and name your price and make a great deal. The question is, and will continue to be, do you trust the Toyota brand now?

My current Toyota-the 2005 Sienna, is not included in any recall at this time. Do I feel any differently about driving it though? Do I feel less safe when I am cruising along on the highway thinking about those poor souls who were doing the same in their Toyotas -and their cars took over and killed them? Maybe a little. I am wondering what information will come out next. Will my car be in a recall down the road? Should I pay more attention to the "what to do if your accelerator takes over" information?

Bigger picture: I wonder, which other automakers have lied or deceived their customers to save money and save face. It may all be a house of cards that is just starting to tumble. Maybe the perception of safety and quality was just that-a perception. Maybe the reality of this situation is that more autos will have massive problems and more cover ups will be revealed. We will all need to stay tuned to this and pay close attention to the actions of the automakers. Our lives could depend on it.