I am very interested in the recent Consumer Reports story that Toyota has had a decline in quality control, especially
with its best selling Camry.
My impression with the car is that materials quality is going down to keep the price down. But I don’t know about mechanicals.
Does anyone with a recent model Camry have a viewpoint on this?
I agree that Camry’s quality has slipped. My “take” is that some of the Toyota models, particularly those produced in American, are becoming more and more “American”.
I’ll bet that response generates no less than 100 replies!
Its the V6 Camry’s that slipped signficantly. The 4 cylinders are above average but not top tier since the redesign.
I was told about Toyota’s quality problems a few years ago by a Marketing and Finance professor who is also a car collector. He suggested that their problems were systemic and that they were made worse by Toyota’s growth.
All cars have improved in quality over the past 15 years. Some have come farther than others and Toyota seems to be regressing some.
A coworker has a new Camry too and has also had some hardware problems. I myself have read some articles in Automotive News magazine (a trade journal) and Toyota has acknowledged that their quality has begun slipping and is trying to correct the slide.
I have a Scion tC, a 100% Toyota product, and have had a sliding roof hardware issue, which was corrected. My Toyotas over the years have never had hardware issues before.
I’m still a Toyotaphile. I’m confident that they’ll get their house back in order.
From experience of family members who buy Camrys only it seems that since 2002 they are not that good. Some of the problems have also been somewhat major, like steering rack and some have been just annoying like lots of rattles.
The most recent Consumer Reports suvey confirms the Camry V6 quality has slipped, while the current Ford prodiucts have improved considerably. Toyota still uses top quality materials, but he assembly quality, due to high demand and breakneck production, has slipped. I have a new Corolla, and it is just about perfect; the only thing wrong was too much air in the tires. There is a difference between quality and durability. Years ago, when American cars were sloppily assembled, European cars, expecially British, had impeccable workmanship, but fell apart within 2 years due to poor engineering and materials. Toyotas are still extremely durable, but the near perfect assembly we got used to has slipped a little. On the other hand, the Ford Fusion, which is assembled in Mexico, has both improved materials and assembly quality. It will be the top rated mid size sedan along with the Honda Accord and 4 cylinder Camry. The Fusion is light years better than the old Taurus in most respects.
I don’t know anything about the Camry, but I do know that will never again buy a vehicle (of any make) produced in the U.S.
I’m wondering if this is just a snow job to get consumers to stop buying foreign and restart buying the domestics?
The Toyota Camry is built in Georgetown, Kentucky from nearly all US produced components. The US content is much higher than the Ford Crown Victoria, which Ford deliberately made into an import (less than 50% domestic) in order to escape the CAFE fuel mileage rules. It’s difficult these days to look at a car and say whether it is domestic or “import”. The Camry sold in the US is not even available in Japan.
I have known this for several years. Toyota tried to dethrone GM as the NUMERO UNO. In doing so, they produce & produce at the fastest rate they can to get to the top, thereby sacrificing quality along the way. I don’t buy Toyota anymore. I still have a 4-Runner, Corolla & 2005 Camry LE. The latter has, I believe, brake defects but Toyota wouldn’t fix it or admit it. They said it’s normal. My problem is brake goes down almost to floor especially freeway driving. The brake pedal is at the lowest point yet brake still doesn’t engage the way it should be. Lost arbitration, dealer also won’t fix (since Toyota won’t pay for the service). My wife already had accident when the brake didn’t engage while on freeway. I have since bought 2 cars (not Toyota, of course) & is trying to get rid of all my Toyotas.
Consumer Reports found this to be true in their survey data. The new Tundra 4wd was found to have significant issues along with the Lexus GS400 AWD. As a brand they have slipped down below the following makes in best to worse:
I wonder how Toyota would fare if the Prius wasn’t so popular among those that think they are doing the environment good by buying one.
Toyota was fare very well. They have many top or near top selling vehicles.
I have a 4-cylinder 2007 Camry that I purchased new. The problem I have with it is that when it shifts to a lower gear for example when I am slowing down or going around a corner, the car struggles to get back into a higher gear. It is very annoying because it does not move, and when it finally does it seems like it slams into the higher gear. I have taken it back to the dealer and was told this is how it is supposed to be and that I need to “plan accordingly” while driving. This is the 4th Toyota I have purchased and have never had a problem like this.
This is because of a narrower power peak WRT RPM. That is often the price you pay for higher HP. If you drive in a spirited manner, shift down before you enter the turn and then shift back up after acceleration. This is especially important on up hill turns.