Poor Toyota

My Fellow Americans, after selling vehicles for GM for almost 13 years and for Honda for 2 I think I might be able to add something to the conversation about the gang-up on Toyota. As some of you might know, Toyota nudged Chrysler out of the number 3 position of the "Big 3" several years ago. When it happened I said, "Well, we're going to see some problems with Toyota's now." I don't have a crystal ball. It's just simple logic. When you make that many cars, there are bound to be problems. Just ask GM. And Ford. And Chrysler. Interestingly, although there have been hundreds of problems with the GM, Ford and Chrysler vehicles the press have chosen to focus on the Toyota fiasco. I may be a bit cynical but don't you find it interesting that this is happening right after the American public bailed out the "Big Boys" because they hadn't done anything new for about 20 years? I'm excluding Ford, by the way, because they are really humming along now. No bail-out money and some incredibly smart, hot and appealing cars.

For crying out loud, has anyone driven behind a Chevrolet Pick-up, Tahoe, Suburban, or any of their GMC counterparts in the last 10 years? Ever since the model change in 98-99 they have had one problem after the other, the most obvious is the constant 'burning out' of the real tailight/turn signal. Seriously, watch for it the next time you are driving. I would imagine the amount of revenue generated by tickets given to drivers for faulty equipment has passed half a million bucks.

Go to any of the American car maker websites and look, not for the recalls but the BULLETINS. This is the sneaky way that GM has of gauging whether or not they will call a recall. They only recall when they weigh the amount they will have to pay to settle law suits versus what they will have to pay their dealers to fix the problem. They have NEVER given a fig about the impact on customers. But, c'mon guys, you can understand that, right? GM sold 46% of all the vehicles in the WORLD when I went to work for them in 1984. Makes me think of Lily Tomlin playing the phone operator, what's her name. "We don't care, we don't have to--we're the phone company." Perfect.

I finally gave up on GM years after I should have. They kept producing ONE car or truck that was worth it's salt. And I'd get all excited. But, year after year, nothing really changed. And they had to be more and more deperate, er, aggressive with their financing campaigns to get folks to buy their vehicles. See, what people don't understand is that when they get a $3000.00 rebate on their car or truck? The value of their vehicle has just dropped by that amount and more. This is how is works: Hertz, Avis etc. buy an enormous amount of vehicles each year. They run the cars from 10k to 30k miles on them. Then they sell them to wholesalers, who have to buy them well so they can make a profit when the sell them back to the dealers. Ok, so, you have let's say, a Chevrolet Malibu whose sticker price is $22,000. Well, since it's not a Honda, you aren't going to pay sticker, are you? You are going to pay, well, close to invoice. So, let's say you pay $20,500. And then you get that fat rebate, right? So now you have paid $17,500 for a car that retails for $22,000. Now 6 months later a whole slew of rental vehicles are dumped on the wholesalers. The wholesalers KNOW that someone can buy a new Malibu for around $17,000-so what should they buy a used Malibu with 10,000 miles on it for? Hmm, maybe $11,000-12,000. Then the dealer buys it and sells it for, hmmm, $13,000-$15,000? Do you NOW understand why the car you bought that retailed for $22,000 is worth $13,000 as soon as you drive off the lot? almost a $10,000 drop, almost 50% of it's 'value.' YAY for rebates. Yeah, right. But, if you make crap, you have to sell it on the cheap. Way to go GM, keep on with those great finance programs that help ruin the value of your vehicles along with those terrific brake pads that last for 12,000 miles, if you are lucky. I had Honda owners that had not had to change the brake pads for 50-60k miles. Interesting.

So, yes, Toyota may have bobbled this politically. But I'm saying it's no surprise that someone said, "We HAVE to get GM and Chrysler back on their feet SOMEHOW, or we aren't going to get elected again." Shame on you. And shame on YOU, my Fellow American, if you fall for their shameful lies.