Now you know why, in my dotage, I’m so shocked to find myself facing a problem with a TOYOTA, for Pete’s sake. A grown-up car, too, practically a minivan. (The Renault was a convertible…sigh…very impressive when it was running). My old Corolla went about 250,000 miles and our other Toyota, a 2002 Echo, is a gem.
Other cars I’ve had and loved: a 1959 MG Magnette and a 1960-something TR-3 convertible. To be done in by a Highlander is just too much.
I know the perception is that an Asian car is near infallible but my perception is vastly different because I’ve been predominantly a “foreign car” technician.
(VW, SAAB, Subaru, Honda, Fiat, and Nissan as far as car dealers go, and just about everything else on a scattered basis)
I can assure you that Asian cars get their fair share of time on the service lifts repairing problems that “should not be” for want of a better term.
For every VW, SAAB, or Fiat on a rack there is a Honda, Subaru, or Nissan on the rack next to it. They all break.
Consumer Reports is often quoted as the authority on subjects like this and the CR story the other day really got a chuckle out of me.
CR reports that Toyota “still ranks No. 1 in consumer perception”. What does that tell you?
Apparently CR randomly called several thousand people out of a country of 300 million plus and asked their opinions about car model reliability with no concern as to whether the person they talked to had ever even owned what they were rating. What a crock.