In the past, I've considered Toyota, but bought something else because Toyota was pricer than other selections.

Right now, my pick is a used Honda CR-V with all wheel drive. The new ones are beyond my budget.

But my neighbor bought a Prius a few months ago. I've decided not to mention the subject unless he brings it up. The whole thing is just so unimaginable to me; how could this happen?

Sue

I'd buy from them even now. They have a good track record for reliability. DD had a older Celica... it was an excellent car. No major problems besides a clutch going out and the resale value was very good when we sold it.

I think a lot of this has to do with the US government OWNING General Motors. How many recalls have THEY had?????

the whole thing makes me suspicious about toyota since even i had heard about the prius problem last fall and it only caught my attention because my uncle bought 5 of them 3 yrs ago for he & his kids. what would keep me from ever owning a toyota is the smple fact they really screwed up this problem by ignoring the US govt's request to investigate this problem last fall. the US corp office of toyota ignored the govt and our govt had to send someone to japan to convince the main corp there was a problem LOL how pathetic is THAT!? there have been 18 deaths in the last 2 yrs and more than 5,000 crashes and toyota did not voluntarily do this recall... that alone says something. ~ liz

We have a Toyota mini van. It is our third, no, fourth Toyota and we were totally happy with all of them.

Personally, I think the whole thing has been whipped up to a frenzy, maybe by the UAW union? so they might sell more American cars?

Moni

The Toyata commercial during the Super Bowl was so strange -- it was a big apology about how they have always tried to be so good but recently things haven't gone right and they're going to do their best to fix it all. Fine, but the whole ad was showing ordinary employees working on the automobile production line -- workers who have no control over car design or specifications. So it seemed to me like they were saying the ordinary workers failed us, not the muckety mucks who do the designing and make decisions about quality. No Toyotas for us.

I have an even lower opinion of how the manufacturer treats their suppliers. I spent 14 years working for a company that supplied parts to a Toyota assembly plant. They had no respect for suppliers, every year they threatened to take away contracts if the supplier did not lower their prices, but the cost of the cars kept going up (more profit for Toyota, less for the supplier). They would dangle the prospect of new contracts in front of the supplier, and then, after the supplier had spent money readying the factory for the new business, Toyota would cancel. They constantly had suppliers jump through all kinds of hoops to "be compliant" to their "standards" (ISO certified, environmentally green, energy efficient, etc.). All of that is quite costly to the supplier - and they were already cut to the bone to meet Toyota's cost demands.

The place I worked also supplied parts to Honda, GM, Nissan, and Ford - none of them made the ridiculous demands like Toyota. I never cared for Toyota, but after seeing how they treat suppliers (just "because they can" and while putting more profit in their pockets) I never would own a Toyota.

We might trade it in this spring for a vehicle with better gas mileage and more cargo room because the 2nd kid is coming, but honestly, it has more cabin room than my Subaru Outback.

Glenda, I had a Nissan and hated it, too. It was a 5-speed and the clutch developed a problem where it would stick to the floor ever time I stopped at a light. I'd have to take my foot and push it up from underneath. Scary! It was in the shop more than out of it.

I have no "Buy American" feelings because lots of "American made" car parts are made overseas and lots of "foreign cars" parts are made right here. Go figure!

My next car purchased will either be a classic 68/69 Camaro or a newer/used Passat...Likely the Passat will be cheaper..

We have a Mazda MPV, an old Ford Ranger and a Jetta..

They've all served us well...very well...

Linda

First car I ever owned was a VW Beetle.

Had 4 Mitsubishi's that I loved.

Sue