WTF is happening at Toyota?

Once upon a time, Toyotas were the most reliable cars on the road. But their reputation has been rocked this year by a series of high-profile recalls and catastrophic failures. How did this happen, and is it as bad as it looks? We're digging into the truth about Toyota's reliability.

At first, yeah, it's bad. In 2024 alone, after owner complaints piled up, Toyota recalled 100K Tundra pickups and Lexus LX SUVs for a manufacturing defect that could destroy the engine. It recalled over 200,000 Tacomas because the rear axles weren't put together correctly and parts could fall off. And even outside recalls, issues are popping up with the new Tacoma's transmission, continued GR86 engine failures due to oil starvation, and mysterious engine fires in the GR Corolla.

So Toyota has had an unusually terrible run, made worse by the way it's handled a lot of related warranty claims. But at the same time, there are specific causes behind many of these problems that aren't all that complicated to address. There's a bigger picture here. And ultimately, we think Toyota is going to figure it out.
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[stephencavanaugh]

Mazda sent letters to their dealers, saying that they were not to deny warranty repairs to Miata's that had been used at time trial, autocross and open track day driving, as that was part of the reason the Miata was built. The only exception was full sanctioned racing as there would be too many modifications and potential damage due to fender to fender racing.

[miketypeeach]

Blaming customers for their broken Toyotas is an American phenomenon; Toyota wouldn't dare do the same in Japan. My thought is the only new Toyota I'd have is a good used one.

[CammieGee]

Imagine selling a sports car and telling customers their warranty is voided if they drive over 85mph. IT'S A SPORTS CAR TOYOTA!

[Nick-Lipples]

Never buy the first year of a new car or engine! Even if it’s a Toyota! You don’t wanna be the guinea pig!

[a_stray_dog]

Gonna give you guys some insider info, as someone who's done contract work for the Toyota Motor Corporation on and off for the last 10 years... It's a customer service issue.

Now, I'm not saying manufacturing has *nothing* to do with it (it definitively does), but there's something to be said about the shift in culture in Toyota in the last decade. When I started working with them, if their CS department got a complaint, they were on it like HAWKS. There was this understanding that their reputation for reliability was one of their biggest assets as a brand, so it was in their best interest to quiet down those complaints and make sure they didn't gain traction in the media (especially as social media started to grow).

With time though, and increasing demand from shareholders for exponentially larger profits, sacrifices had to be made. Where do you go once you've cost cut in materials, engineering, R&D and stretched your manufacturing to a breaking point? You chop heads off at corporate! The CS teams I used to work with nearly all got "streamlined", and the talent that survived slowly phased out over the following couple years, I suspect due to low salaries / untenable work conditions.

Nowadays, work's overwhelmingly outsourced and what little support infrastructure still exists in the US gets worked to the bone. It's gone from a prestigious, specialist position to something they churn fresh graduates through.

It's sad, but since you can't calculate the return of good brand perception, it's mathetmatically better for them to sell shitty cars at high prices and do their best to squirm their way out of warranties. What are you gonna do?

[AndrewMalkin]

As you had mentioned, I think that the biggest problem is not the reliability issues that Toyota is having, but how they are failing to support those who have had issues

[davcuts]

People buy Toyotas because of their reputation for reliability. That should remain their focus, whether they are trying to make more fun and sportier cars or not. If they stop being reliable, there is no reason to buy a Toyota.

[arqammanzoor]

The more American Toyota is becoming, more unreliable they are

[LilyBoinks]

I daily a 1996 Camry LE - has some lovely modern features, like cruise control, power mirrors/windows/locks, and a bangin' stereo set. It's also survived 5 crashes, 1 mudpit incident, and years of me learning to drive. Its only breakdowns are user-caused (left the headlights on & killed the battery, stuff like that). Absolutely bulletproof, and I got it for $2800.

[fgjewbjlvwgl]

Toyota did exactly what they wanted to learn from those million miles cars. They learned what made them reliable, deliberately engineered down the new engine, and put them out for sale.

But it backfired too early, as they wanted them to go out around 100K miles mark, not immediately.

[RealHeyMark]

No one looks to Toyota for innovation. Their refusal to break new technological ground is a huge part of what made them so reliable. That's why the Prius was so surprising, since it worked so well right out of the box.

[canuckfobroader]

Thing is, if your F-150 blows up, its normal, when your Tundra goes with next to zero miles, people are gonna talk.

[SOURMlLK]

All the way up to the 90s it was “how can we make it even better” after the 90s its “how can we make it even cheaper”.

[Jdnicks]

Toyota and Lexus have experienced a decline in their quality control and reliability. Notably, even my 2024 LC500 exhibits a deterioration in quality compared to its predecessor, the LC500 before the facelift, which has left me deeply disappointed. Incidentally, Lexus’s official stance is that customer satisfaction is not a priority.

[dorianf]

Toyota Technician here. In the past couple months Toyota has become natzis with warranty. Every warranty claim must have photo or video evidence of the issue. If not than claims get kicked back or the vehicle doesn't get fixed. If we diagnoses a warranty complaint but cant fault the issue the customer is 100% liable to cover the cost.

[UmmYeahOk]

There’s a highway in Texas that has a posted speed limit of 85MPH. To not void the warranty, you would either have to 1) stay in the right lane with your cruise control set at 85, and hope you don’t go down any hills, 2) stay in the right lane with your cruise control set 5-10 mph BELOW the limit with your hazards on, or 3) never drive on such highways.

[SkywhiteChannel]

Toyota has been cutting corners in the last few years. Parts are made to lower price points that Toyota is demanding from suppliers. Cheaper parts equal worse quality.

[eterrnnoly]

I remember being a Toyota technician in the late 90s and being amazed at what was covered under warranty. This was when engine sludge was an issue with Camrys. They were giving away engines even though we(techs) were saying it was the owners' fault. Different times back then.😊

[michaelkajer]

Recalls are to common now. We NEED to stop allowing companies to make recalls like this.

[coltonbriggs]

Since the original CEOs, engineers, and their top teams businessman have retired, the new CEO and his inexperienced team lack the skills of their predecessors, leading to these outcomes. Same thing with the Nissans, Mitsubishi and so on. Old teams were legendary.