Quote:
Originally Posted by TrackRider54
Toyota is a VERY large company. They make large amounts of money. The cost of replacing every component in an 86 is pocket money to them.
Here's where they are missing the boat. Most people who buy an 86 probably fall into two categories. 1) They are young and buying their first car, or 2) They are older and buying a weekend fun car. In either case, from a marketing standpoint, you have the ability to create brand loyalty. The younger buyer will buy several cars over the years. The older buyer may be purchasing cars for family members as well as themselves.
Regardless of the failure, Toyota would do well to replace it. Now...if the same person is always making warranty claims and is clearly abusing and misusing the vehicle, then deny them and hide behind the lawyers.
Why a company will spend millions on advertising, but not spend a few thousand helping a customer I'll never know.
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How long have you worked for a major automotive company? I am on my third in the last 28 years and believe me they count every single penny. The Shareholders insist on getting every cent back that they can. It may seem like "pocket change" to change every part on one car but they make millions of cars a year. One individual vehicle means NOTHING to them.
I think your extremely narrow view of who buys these cars is way off base. Yes there are some in each of your categories but the range is much, much broader than just those two segments. They will create many loyal customers from those that have no issues or have their issues corrected quickly and efficiently. Once again though if there are one or a thousand cars where the owners can not get their issues resolved for one reason or another it means nothing to Toyota as a whole. Any sales lost due to those few that are dissatisfied are probably equal to the corporate toilet paper budget for a week. People are individuals and think on a personal scale but automotive companies (not just Toyota) do not think on that same scale. They can't think that way any more that the individual can think on the levels they need to. If enough people get fed up to reach the corporate mind set they will indeed take action but those numbers are so high that we as individuals cant even think that way.
It sucks for that one or a thousand people but that is the reality of the business.