Quality of Tacoma in Mexico verses Texas built.

when I asked the tour leader at TMMSA (Toyota Motor Manu San Antonio) if there was a diff in quality between the two Tacoma plants she said "no", kinda expected that, later I noticed that the Baja plant built my '06 bought in SA, was there even a plan to build Taco's in Texas in 2006? I would assume the Baja plant might be more experienced therefore build better trucks, "MAYBE"? I sold my '06 and now have a Baja built '17, no issues with either so far!

 

Both plants use all the same supplies, machines, and "directions" if you will. It's all the same, just different location. The most you could see as far as problems is someone didn't tighten a bolt fully... any mechanical issues you have such as leaks and noises is going to originate from before the part even reached the Mexico or Texas factory.

 

Toyota's QC requirements are no different for their Mexico operations than they are for their Japanese and U.S. divisions. If their Baja plant wasn't able to meet those requirements, the company wouldn't be there.

 

I don't want Mexicans or anybody else washing my Tacoma.

 

There is little automation involved in producing these vehicles. You'd probably be shocked to see how little there truly is in a modern manufacturing environment.

Toyota is not an organized union company.

The vast majority of the parts that make up your vehicle are made in North America. They have casting companies that cast blocks, heads, and all sorts of other parts. Those parts are machined and assembled in North America.

The processes for assembly are carbon copies or as close to it as humanly possible across all of the company.

The quality issues seem huge here on this forum due to the small percentage of owners that actually visit this forum. There are a lot of companies in the world that have copied the Toyota way of doing things. There are books written on the subject. They know what they are doing.

 

some guy posted a picture of a tacoma that showed where all of the parts are sourced. Its all over the place and the key components didn't seem to come from the states if I remember correctly.

 

That would be incorrect, the article explained the differences between the Texas Plant and the Plant in Mexico. Texas has much more automation and the Plant in Mexico was much more hands on including welding the cabs.
http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2016/09/toyotas-tijuana-plant-pumps-out-tacomas.html

 

Fair point, but still producing trucks at the same quality. I don't see anything about welding cabs in that article? Either way, my point is they're assembly plants. They don't build the engines and transmissions there. So when people have complaints about that stuff, it has nothing to do with where assembly occurred.

 

That article is just a smaller portion of the main one, if you click the Automotive News it will take you to it and it talks about the differences between the Plants. Agree that they are both just final assembly plants and that it is up to the buyer to decide if he or she thinks there is any difference.

 

The culture in a Japanese work environment differs greatly from that of an American workplace.

While Americans generally have to be self-motivated, Japanese employees embrace a group mentality and look to their superiors for approval before making big decisions.

In Japanese companies, employees must get their superiors' approval whenever they make a decision.

American workplaces focus on the individual; Japanese workplaces focus on the group.

In his book "When Cultures Collide," British linguist Richard Lewis noted the differences among leadership styles around the world. He found that American workplaces generally follow a system of "structured individualism."

"American managers … are capable of teamwork and corporate spirit, but they value individual freedom and their first interest is furthering their own career"

East Asian countries, on the other hand, are more focused on the group.

 

And imagine yourself living in Japan, talking badly about Japanese culture and work ethic, and praising another culture.

Your nail head would be pounded back into the board, correct?

For all it's faults, this American society and culture offer great advantages....

 

Who's talking badly? Now you you can see why Chrysler and GM went belly up in 2008 and needed a bailout. They were horribly mis managed companies that were churning out too much junk year after year. Part of what made Toyota great was the Japanese auto worker that can never be replicated in the U.S. or Mexico.

 

Seriously?

Never?

And also, do you actually own a Tacoma?

 

Mismanagement has nothing to do with cultural differences, it has to do with misreading the economy and making poor prioritizations. Your point is valid when it comes to the UAW taking their "fair" share and putting financial strain on the companies but the larger reason for the bailout wasn't cultural. Having a stronger workforce isn't going to fix a company who prioritized SUVs and trucks up to the point the economy crashed and nobody could afford to buy/drive them like the Big 3 did. The "You Pay What We Pay" promotion had more of an impact on the failure than worker pride.

 

Tacomas have been made in the US since the 1st generation. They were initially assembled in California then moved to Texas. Now half of the tacomas produced are assembled at the Mexico plant.

The first gens were made in America and have been extremely reliable. Many trucks of all brands made in America have had no issues making it to 300k miles.

The Japanese work culture is very structured and they expect their workers to work around the clock. Many Japanese companies have their employees working 60-70 hours a week on salary and it’s frowned upon if someone takes a week off. That’s why the suicide rate is so high in Japan.

In America, work life balance is valued and that doesn’t mean companies skimp on quality here. Toyota’s American plants have the same strict QC and QA regulations that the Japanese plants have and I don’t have any doubts that my tacoma made outside of Japan won’t be reliable for many years to come.

 

Nope. When there reports of 2016 Tacoma's with TRD Sport Decals on one side of the vehicle and TRD Off Road decals on the other side, someone failed the QC hard. Hell, when I went to service my Land Cruiser, I went to check out a brand new 2018 on the lot and saw the right-side front black fender flare coming apart from the adhesive it was attached to. I'd rather have Japanese women check my truck.

 

And you have the freedom to choose whatever vehicle you please.

Freedom.

Not free.

Remembering those who died fighting to preserve our American way of life......on Memorial day weekend.

 

there is not a Mercedes plant in SC- there is one in Alabama.
I worked at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, SC, turning out their SUVs for the world market.

 

Sorry I mistook it for the BMW plant.

 

meh, that can happen anywhere regardless of QC level. There will always be issues, especially with a new product. That doesn't matter if its from the US, Japan, China, etc. There's always going to be mistakes, no place gets it perfect. There will always be people who swear by their brand though.

Always keep in mind QC doesn't usually check EVERY item, its inefficient and costly. They check a sample size and statistically analyze if there's an issue.