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Are Toyotas still good cars?

MulysaSemproniusMulysaSempronius but also susienyRegistered User regular
Short tldr, had a bad experience at a Toyota service center, and I may need to buy a new car. Are Toyotas still considered good and reliable? I've been very soured by this experience, but liked my car until now. Below is the yelp review I plan to post for the service center
They broke my car and expect me to pay for it. I brought it in for an inspection. My check engine light has just tripped, so I knew there might be a problem. I had an 11 am appointment, and they didn't ask me why I was there until an hour later. Cue a song and dance which resulted in me going home and the issue not being diagnosed until the end of the next day. I consider not fixing it, since it was an old car. But I'm assured that is the only issue, and OK the work. I ask them to look at the air conditioner, since it had broken and I figure I could get fixed for the summer. Get a reasonable quote and OK the work. They assure me it will be fixed by Saturday, so my husband goes to pick it up. Waits 4 hours. No, not done, AC needs another part. OK, it was going to be cheap. And we were told this was it with massive apologies. We were told out car would be ok, and passed inspection. We emphasize that the car needs to be fixed by the next Saturday, since I have work. They said it would be done Friday.
Only, we call Saturday morning to come pick it up. They said the hybrid engine light turned on. And it would cost another 3k to fix. We would not have OK d the earlier repairs of we knew they would break the hybrid engine. After saying the car passed inspection, they now say that they cannot sign off on it. Now we have a broken car with 3k work done on it, another 3k needed. And the car is old, not worth 6k.

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

Posts

  • RayzeRayze Registered User regular
    edited June 2016
    I just think you had a shitty repair experience. It shouldn't reflect upon the car brand in general.

    My mom's Toyota lasted a good 15 years until we sold it and while it usually went to a Toyota dealership for service, it also went to an independent repair shop since it was closer. Do your research on what type of car you want and if it's another Toyota, don't go back to that service place. My Mazda goes to an independent place and they're great.

    Rayze on
  • MulysaSemproniusMulysaSempronius but also susie nyRegistered User regular
    Main problem this minute is that I need a car for Monday, so research may be minimal. May lease or rent a car a bit before buying new one, but I hate continually wasting money.

    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
  • RayzeRayze Registered User regular
    edited June 2016
    Well, I can't buy a car in a weekend without doing some research so you have to make your own decision on that. Have you tried to ask them for a refund or a loaner in the meantime?

    Rayze on
  • zepherinzepherin Russian warship, go fuck yourself Registered User regular
    edited June 2016
    Toyota cars and trucks are generally pretty reliable. I don't know enough about their SUVs to say one way or another. Hondas also pretty reliable. Avoid Kia and Fiat Chrysler. And generally their subsidiaries.

    zepherin on
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    If you're looking for a family sedan that is cheap and reliable, you simply cannot go past a Toyota Camry.

    As for maintenance and repairs, don't take it back to the dealer. Look around, find a local shop with an excellent reputation, and take it there. Dealers are fucking rip-off merchants.

  • MulysaSemproniusMulysaSempronius but also susie nyRegistered User regular
    I live in NYC, so I don't really trust anybody. It's hard to find a good local place without knowing people, and I don't know many people who actually even own cars, let alone anybody with good experiences with local places.
    And yeah, we've tried negotiating with the dealer, and it basically amounts to them shrugging.
    I had great dealer experience before this, knowing I was paying a bit too much, but would at least get good service.

    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
  • CauldCauld Registered User regular
    I live in queens and really like my mechanic, feel free to pm me if you're interested. But, I'm long past caring if my car stops working, I'm not sure if I'd be as happy with them if my situation were different. They've always been pretty reasonable though, and the first time I brought my car in they told me not to fix something... I liked that part.

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    I found my preferred mechanic just using Yelp. The experience with them vice the dealership is night and day.

    And yeah Toyotas are still reliable. At least my '07 Yaris is. It's almost at 100k and only needed routine maintenance.

  • CambiataCambiata Commander Shepard The likes of which even GAWD has never seenRegistered User regular
    Yes, Toyotas are still good, reliable cars. The Toyota manufacturing process is really ingenious - any worker on the line can stop the line by pulling a chain, so any problem that's noticed by anyone, no matter how "lowly" the employee, will not go through.

    NPR did a story on Toyota's production line and how they tried to implement it with GM here, it's really a fascinating listen. Near the end of the story, they do mention an issue with acceleration that Toyota had in 2010, but they aknlowedged the problem, recalled the cars, and it's no longer an issue on new Toyotas.

    "If you divide the whole world into just enemies and friends, you'll end up destroying everything" --Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
  • ToxTox I kill threads he/himRegistered User regular
    If you're going to a licensed Toyota dealership (So-and-so Toyota blah blah) there 100% is a food chain and you 100% can and should follow it. Toyota wants people going to their dealerships for everything and will work with you. If the service manager isn't helping, talk to the general manager, then the dealer. If you're still not getting what you want, you can follow up with the district or regional representative for Toyota (who basically works with dealers to make sure the dealerships are meeting Toyota's standards), and on up.

    Regarding the stated needed repairs, you can ask them to tell you, specifically, what work they want to do, and why they need to do it to get the car working. Then just google that shit, and make sure it's legit.

    As for a ride, if you think insurance will cover it (comprehensive might), ask them, if not ask for a loaner, if not just rent a car, you do not want to buy a car in those circumstances. At all.

    source: father, father-in-law, brother-in-law all have or do work in dealership service depts. They're not all bad, but there's a lot of bad ones out there.

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  • ceresceres When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning And the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderator mod
    edited June 2016
    We bought a Hyundai Sonata in 2015, test drove it vs a Camry of the same year. We compared a few other models and for most tiers preferred the Hyundai model. Pretty sure Toyota is still good, but you just aren't going to get 15 years out of newer model cars across the board.

    Similar price points but the Hyundai is slightly cheaper.

    ceres on
    And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
  • ToxTox I kill threads he/himRegistered User regular
    edited June 2016
    Hyundai also currently has the best warranty on new cars.

    Also Kia isn't bad, just cheap. They're basically "store brand" Hyundais (nowhere near as good a warranty). But if you keep them maintained, well, my Kia is 12 years old and the most expensive thing I've done with it is a routine timing belt replacement.

    What the best car for you is ultimately depends on a lot of personal factors, but I'd say Toyota and Hyundai are probably two of the current best brands, in terms of quality of product, customer satisfaction, price, and value

    Tox on
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  • Giggles_FunsworthGiggles_Funsworth Blight on Discourse Bay Area SprawlRegistered User regular
    I was stunned how much Hyundai has improved last year when I was renting a bunch of cars for work. That said, I fucking love my Prius even though that sounds like it might be what you had? Nine years old and over 150k miles and it is a champ that hasn't even needed even basic repairs other that maintenance. Actually, I take that back, the suspension has pretty much given up the ghost and I haven't made my mind up on repairing it or swapping it out for a new loan on a plugin yet.

    Toyota is generally considered a highly regarded brand. Dealerships can definitely blow though. I never go to them if I can avoid it. Currently I got this old Irish guy in San Francisco and he's fucking great. His quotes are always reasonable and more often than not he bills me for less afterward. Gonna suck when he retires.

  • MulysaSemproniusMulysaSempronius but also susie nyRegistered User regular
    Thanks for the input. We're going to lease a car from the dealership. Not ideal, but they essentially waved most of the the repairs and gave us a decent deal. Looking at our options, it cost us the least ( looking at other dealers, buying a used car, renting until we shopped around etc)
    Still stings, and annoyed at the sunk cost for leasing . But it's what we can afford.
    We did have a Prius... 2003 280,000 miles. So.. Very old. Got a fancy plug in used Prius. Much higher msrp that a normal Prius, but with rebates was the cheapest ( even when compared with other models).

    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    My family was all about Honda's in the 90's and early 00's, because those things were really age resistant. Now they are Hyundai/Kia people, but I'm probably going to get another Honda. If I get a promotion hinging on medical paperwork, I would consider a Toyota Prius instead.

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  • bowenbowen How you doin'? Registered User regular
    judging by the link on reddit I saw the other day, toyota camry is still the car to own if you don't like a lot of maintenance

    not a doctor, not a lawyer, examples I use may not be fully researched so don't take out of context plz, don't @ me
  • ToxTox I kill threads he/himRegistered User regular
    Thanks for the input. We're going to lease a car from the dealership. Not ideal, but they essentially waved most of the the repairs and gave us a decent deal. Looking at our options, it cost us the least ( looking at other dealers, buying a used car, renting until we shopped around etc)
    Still stings, and annoyed at the sunk cost for leasing . But it's what we can afford.
    We did have a Prius... 2003 280,000 miles. So.. Very old. Got a fancy plug in used Prius. Much higher msrp that a normal Prius, but with rebates was the cheapest ( even when compared with other models).

    I'm only pointing this out because I see a lot of people miss it, and it's pretty much designed to be a "gotcha" but check your lease paperwork carefully and watch your mileage. Leases typically involve charges for going over a certain number of miles over the life of the lease, and it's not hard to do it (I've seen 10k/yr allowances).

    It's pretty much working as intended for leases, it's absolutely a gotcha, so make sure you read everything carefully. Too many people don't.

    Twitter! | Dilige, et quod vis fac
  • schussschuss Registered User regular
    ceres wrote: »
    We bought a Hyundai Sonata in 2015, test drove it vs a Camry of the same year. We compared a few other models and for most tiers preferred the Hyundai model. Pretty sure Toyota is still good, but you just aren't going to get 15 years out of newer model cars across the board.

    Similar price points but the Hyundai is slightly cheaper.

    Eh, disagree on the 15 year thing. Cars now are better than they've ever been, and toyotas are built to be basically bombproof.

    Some research sites around reliability:
    http://www.truedelta.com/
    http://longtermqualityindex.com/

    Repair stuff:
    http://repairpal.com/

  • Giggles_FunsworthGiggles_Funsworth Blight on Discourse Bay Area SprawlRegistered User regular
    schuss wrote: »
    ceres wrote: »
    We bought a Hyundai Sonata in 2015, test drove it vs a Camry of the same year. We compared a few other models and for most tiers preferred the Hyundai model. Pretty sure Toyota is still good, but you just aren't going to get 15 years out of newer model cars across the board.

    Similar price points but the Hyundai is slightly cheaper.

    Eh, disagree on the 15 year thing. Cars now are better than they've ever been, and toyotas are built to be basically bombproof.

    Some research sites around reliability:
    http://www.truedelta.com/
    http://longtermqualityindex.com/

    Repair stuff:
    http://repairpal.com/

    Yeah, I would be pretty surprised if the Prius we have now was unable to make it to around 20.

  • MulysaSemproniusMulysaSempronius but also susie nyRegistered User regular
    Tox wrote: »
    Thanks for the input. We're going to lease a car from the dealership. Not ideal, but they essentially waved most of the the repairs and gave us a decent deal. Looking at our options, it cost us the least ( looking at other dealers, buying a used car, renting until we shopped around etc)
    Still stings, and annoyed at the sunk cost for leasing . But it's what we can afford.
    We did have a Prius... 2003 280,000 miles. So.. Very old. Got a fancy plug in used Prius. Much higher msrp that a normal Prius, but with rebates was the cheapest ( even when compared with other models).

    I'm only pointing this out because I see a lot of people miss it, and it's pretty much designed to be a "gotcha" but check your lease paperwork carefully and watch your mileage. Leases typically involve charges for going over a certain number of miles over the life of the lease, and it's not hard to do it (I've seen 10k/yr allowances).

    It's pretty much working as intended for leases, it's absolutely a gotcha, so make sure you read everything carefully. Too many people don't.

    Thank you for that. It's 45k for three years. I'll keep an eye on it for sure, since my current commute is a decent amount, hence the wanting a Prius. My husband signed the paperwork, and wasn't explicitly warned.

    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
  • mRahmanimRahmani DetroitRegistered User regular
    Another thing to keep in mind is with a car that old, it's entirely possible for one problem to be masking others. I program diagnostics routines (aka check engine light) for a major auto manufacturer, and depending on how systems are interlinked, fixing a problem can suddenly reveal many others.

    It's entirely possible that the dealership fixed the initial problem, the vehicle ran its self tests at startup, and was now able to discover additional faults in the hybrid system it hadn't previously been able to test for.

  • ElvenshaeElvenshae Registered User regular
    Tox wrote: »
    Thanks for the input. We're going to lease a car from the dealership. Not ideal, but they essentially waved most of the the repairs and gave us a decent deal. Looking at our options, it cost us the least ( looking at other dealers, buying a used car, renting until we shopped around etc)
    Still stings, and annoyed at the sunk cost for leasing . But it's what we can afford.
    We did have a Prius... 2003 280,000 miles. So.. Very old. Got a fancy plug in used Prius. Much higher msrp that a normal Prius, but with rebates was the cheapest ( even when compared with other models).

    I'm only pointing this out because I see a lot of people miss it, and it's pretty much designed to be a "gotcha" but check your lease paperwork carefully and watch your mileage. Leases typically involve charges for going over a certain number of miles over the life of the lease, and it's not hard to do it (I've seen 10k/yr allowances).

    It's pretty much working as intended for leases, it's absolutely a gotcha, so make sure you read everything carefully. Too many people don't.

    Thank you for that. It's 45k for three years. I'll keep an eye on it for sure, since my current commute is a decent amount, hence the wanting a Prius. My husband signed the paperwork, and wasn't explicitly warned.

    My wife drives an '05 Prius with something like 150k+ miles on it at this point.

    The biggest problem we've had is that she's at the dealer getting her taillight LED thing replaced because it's got a short in it.

    Still getting ~50 miles to the gallon, week after week.

    I've got an '09 Yaris, which has also had 0 actual issues.

  • Space PickleSpace Pickle Registered User regular
    That NPR thing was very interesting.

  • Element BrianElement Brian Peanut Butter Shill Registered User regular
    There's always going to be a lot of factors going into a car. If you're buying used, that kinda means you have to trust that the previous owner didn't treat the car like shit, even if it was, originally a nice car.

    Toyota's overall, are extremely cheap to maintain, and with proper maintenence and care can last a LONG time.

    I saw this article last week explaining as much.

    http://twocents.lifehacker.com/the-car-brands-with-the-highest-maintenance-costs-over-1781639773

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  • emimonsteremimonster Silicon ValleyRegistered User regular
    edited June 2016
    wow that experience is terrible.
    Well, my family have driven Toyotas for decades. My first car was a camry with 200k miles on it when I got it. A friend's corolla lasted forever (though the A/C broke and he never bothered to fix it). I bought a 4door Yaris sedan new for 13k + tax in 2009. A new 4 door toyota for 13k! It's super light, which I like (I dislike driving my mother's Prius V when I visit her because it's soooooo heavy). It rattles sometimes now (the frame in the roof) and entering 1st gear isn't the smoothest I've ever driven (it's a manual). A tow truck dropped a BMW on it once so the rattling may or may not be related to that. Really can't complain!
    Haven't had trouble with Toyota service centers, though the Toyota my mother visits I feel charges a lot per hour for labor. For my old corolla they were honest with me when they said various repairs it could use and said "it's probably not worth it compared to the value of the car; you can drive without them."

    emimonster on
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