Some general Questions for Toyota Owners, Helping a friend with a term paper Options

[barterj]

Here are some interview questions, please answer 1 or 2 of them, or all if you want. Copy and paste the question you are responding to so I know which question the response is for.

Have long have you had, or did you have, your Toyota, what made you buy it? What year, model?

Why do you like your Toyota, and what do you use it for (driving, racing, towing stuff)?

Do you know any myths, superstitions or conspiracies involving Toyotas? What about jokes, inside or about Toyotas (like the punch bug or dub, depending on the year, for VW)?

Is there any rivalry that you know of with other car companies?

Is there a special recognition factor you get from begin a Toyota owner (like the "Wrangler Wave" for jeep owners)?

If Toyota owners could fall into one or two "general" stereotypes what would it/they be (Like Subaru owners are known to be like outdoor hippies, and VW owners are generally awesome...)?

Their current Ad campaign "Moving forward", and their promises off reliability?

How do you feel about the Prius, and the people who drive them?

During the Cash for Clunkers thing, the Corolla, the Camry, and the Pruis were all in the top 10 sellers, ranking at 1, 3, and 7. Any thoughts, or comments regarding this info?

How do you feel about the current issues surrounding Toyota, such as the recalls, the guy with the "run away Prius guy" and the lawsuit, such as the recent $16 million one?

Why do you think the recall got so much media attention, and do you think the massive media coverage could have been part of a conspiracy trying to get people to buy American?

Are there any other noteworthy things that you've noticed about Toyota, or the people who drive them, or anything else you want to add?

[Galcobar]

Have long have you had, or did you have, your Toyota, what made you buy it? What year, model?
1990 Toyota Celica GT, liftback. Purchased August 1998 -- based on reliability and price, I had to choose between a 95 Nissan Sentra XE, a 94 Honda Civic DX, or a 90-92 Celica. I picked the more unusual, curvy one. Glad I did so -- looking at the other options now, I'd not want to be driving them.

Why do you like your Toyota, and what do you use it for (driving, racing, towing stuff)?
Daily driver, and use working on it as a hobby

Do you know any myths, superstitions or conspiracies involving Toyotas? What about jokes, inside or about Toyotas (like the punch bug or dub, depending on the year, for VW)?
The true origin of the original Celica dragon logo (company chairman was a fan of dragonboat racing)

Is there any rivalry that you know of with other car companies?
Honda, at the owner level. Relative rarity of sporty Toyota models versus the wide availability of Honda models.

Is there a special recognition factor you get from begin a Toyota owner (like the "Wrangler Wave" for jeep owners)?

If Toyota owners could fall into one or two "general" stereotypes what would it/they be (Like Subaru owners are known to be like outdoor hippies, and VW owners are generally awesome...)?
Current stereotype, courtesy of Toyota abandoning any attempts to keep exciting cars in its lineup, would be the beige sedan with equally uninspired owners

Their current Ad campaign "Moving forward", and their promises off reliability?
Required to persuade people who don't actually research the facts

How do you feel about the Prius, and the people who drive them?
Depends upon why the owner chose that model. If it was because the car, performance and economy were all to their liking, then great. If it was a fashion statement, then I feel about them the same as I do about the stereotypical BMW owner.

During the Cash for Clunkers thing, the Corolla, the Camry, and the Pruis were all in the top 10 sellers, ranking at 1, 3, and 7. Any thoughts, or comments regarding this info?
Small fuel efficient cars, a no-brainer given the program's requirements -- especially when Chrysler had minimal small cars to offer, GM was being ridiculed for the size of its bailout, and Ford is still fighting to get its quality reputation up

How do you feel about the current issues surrounding Toyota, such as the recalls, the guy with the "run away Prius guy" and the lawsuit, such as the recent $16 million one?
A modicum of research demonstrates that most of the screaming is courtesy of hype and predatory behaviour; see Audi and the false dilemma over acceleration. That said, Toyota did not handle the issue as well as it could have -- but the damage is more to Toyota's corporate ethics than to its reliability record.

Why do you think the recall got so much media attention, and do you think the massive media coverage could have been part of a conspiracy trying to get people to buy American?
It doesn't require a conspiracy for a lot of people to act the same way. Unfortunately, it's more a symptom of American media, which in order to maintain audiences has had to drop coverage which includes details, nuances, and shades of gray. Instead, to feed the demand, they have to offer black-and-white morality tales, with clear identification of the bad guys. And it's no fun reporting that one of the Detroit Three is on its umpteenth recall -- such as the 6.2 million GM trucks and vans recalled over brake line corrosion and failure. This would be the fourth-largest recall in North American auto history, as far as I can tell. Toyota's floor mat recall, to put that in perspective, is all of 3.8 million. Of course, the problem with the Toyotas could be fixed a tad more easily by the owner.

This post has been edited by Galcobar: Apr 12, 2010 - 12:08 AM