Toyota Initial Quality

Is Toyota losing it? Or is JD Power just full of shit,?

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2019-initial-quality-study-iqs?src=homepage

 

Stock is junk, that's why we mod them.

 

I’m not too alarmed. Looking at the chart, Toyota fared better than the industry average. As a whole new car complaints are up across the board.

 

IQS measures Initial Quality in the first 90 days of ownership. This is more relevant for the automakers in that it measures the work the plants and the dealers’ do prior to delivering the vehicles.

JD Power does another study after three years of ownership called VDS, which measures Vehicle Dependability. That is a more relevant measure for us consumers in terms of long-term quality.

VDS is published earlier in the year; long-term Toyota vehicles still hold together much better than Koreans. However, Hondas and Acuras have slipped quite a bit in the rankings.

 

That looks better.

 

The first 90 days of ownership is not necessarily indicative of how a vehicle will perform over the course of it's life.

 

https://youtu.be/zSBsq6HBBzw

https://youtu.be/rZKUbzAdb7E

 

Indeed.

Having said that, years ago Toyota and Honda used to lead in IQS...

 

I don’t pay much attention to JD Power, or Consumer Reports, or any other of those automotive honey traps at this point in the game. Both have proven time and again to me, that their data and my opinions and experiences almost never correlate.

Bought my ‘06 Taco in September of ‘06. Not a single issue outside of normal wear and tear (tires, brakes, filters, etc) for 72k miles before I traded it. Bought my ‘18 Taco in March of ‘19, and so far after 6200 miles, it’s been perfect. Sure, I’ve made some cosmetic mods and upgrades, but not because of any real issue or functionality problem. According to most of the trade rags, my truck should’ve fallen apart and I should be hating it by now.

 

OMG! That was hilarious!!!!

 

Ironically, Chevrolet is right behind Toyota in long-term dependability —see post No. 4.

Chevrolet has been demonstrating solid dependability for several years now. Way ahead of Honda and other Japanese.

 

True. I actually like a few models in the Chevy lineup.

To me, those videos are more pointing out the obnoxiousness of the videos themselves.

 

True, rear diffs usually dont start seeping/fail until around 10k miles and frames don't rust out until around 80k

 

What the heck is up with Honda lately? Have they always been that low?

 

Nope. They’ve been slipping.

I know that Acura’s been having lots of issues with the 9-speed automatic.

Two friends of mine have been having issues with their HR-V and CR-V.

A common complaint with Hondas these days is constant road and tire noise. Their electronics have been having some issues. And I heard people say the 1.5T + CVT don’t work very well on CR-Vs.

 

I believe it. I have a 2018 DCLB and its by far the most unrefined (I drive a lot of cars) vehicle I've ever driven. Vibrates at 35 MPH and below, spongy brakes, outdated tech, transmission and engine FIGHT each other (the firmware updated helped a little), and recently my rear left suspension began to squeal (wish I could upload a video of that). Oh, and the windows screech when I lower them and I'm taking it in next week for the radar recall. And the engine knock which is normal sounds like crap.

Oh, and another honorable mention -- and had I known that my TRD DCLB didn't have auto headlights, which is something I've had for 20 years on other cars, that might have been a deal breaker.

Not all these are reliability issues... mostly rideability issues. I wonder how "perceived problems" people address with the dealer factor into these rankings.

Some have said this is classic Toyota... all around meh compared to other brands but that it'll definitely be on the road for 30 years. And the Taco looks good and is bad ass off road.

My refrain is "Toyota doesn't even try"... because it doesn't really have to... they sell like hotcakes so these ratings will never matter.

 

Given the problems and dislike that you are experiencing and the fact that no other vehicle holds its value like a Tacoma, wouldn't you be better off selling or trading in your Taco?

 

No need to sell... I’ve learned to most ignore the hard shifting (except when it slams from 2nd to 1st gear coasting to a stop when engine is about 1/3 warmed up) and vibrating ride that many others have mentioned as well.

There’s no question that Toyotas stay on the road forever. The point I was making is that it seems like there are lots of people (perhaps myself included) who take these in for perceived problems when in fact they might just be in many cases (certainly not all) characteristics of the truck. I don’t really know where JD gets its data.

Also, people complain more than they praise (I’m guilty there as well) so I wonder if more of the disgruntled participate in surveys and all that.

 

Just don't put 1" taller than factory tires, or pull a trailer 100 pounds over their listed weight.

 

I think the results have to do with money and the new demographics and what they think they want/what they think a good vehicle is now.