The IT Nerd

Okay. I’ve given Toyota a very hard time over the years because of my experience with my Toyota Matrix shortly after my wife and I bought it. Though, I did offer them a qualified apology on that front. But I’m a guy who will cut someone a break if they do the right thing. Here’s an example: Toyota in a brilliant demonstration of how to use social media for good, has posted a YouTube video called Meals Per Hour which is a short documentary on what a little organization can do to help feed those still reeling from the affects of Hurricane Sandy.

Toyota originally pledged to hand out one meal per view to a maximum of 250,000 views. But they’ve now extended it to a maximum of a million views. As I type this, they’re up to over 792,000 views. So take a look at this video and help Toyota reach their goal of a million views which equals a million meals.

Kudos to Toyota for doing this. You’ve improved my perception of you simply by stepping up to the plate like this.

About the time I started this blog, my wife an I bought a 2009 model year Toyota Matrix. It had a weird electrical issue that I documented on this blog. I admit that I was not a happy camper. They also had recall after recall after recall. All of this meant that I didn’t have the warm and fuzzes about the world’s number 1 (at least as I type this) carmaker.

But I’m man enough to admit that maybe I’ve reacted wrong to this.

I deal in facts, so let’s look at the facts. Since the electrical issue that I spoke of, have I had any trouble with the Matrix? The only thing that’s happened is that the car died in the middle of an intersection last summer. I admit that after having to get a few people to push the car out of the way and wait for roadside assistance for over an hour, I was not happy. But the problem was traced to a battery that was over 4 years old and if age hadn’t killed it (car batteries should be replaced every 4 to 5 years), the out of sight temperatures that were present that summer likely did. You can’t blame Toyota for that. But other than that, I’ve had no problems. Zip, zero, nada. This takes into account that the Matrix is five years old and has this mileage which I hit last week:

So does that make me think better of Toyota? Yes, but let me qualify this. I think that Toyota makes quality cars given the fact that I’ve had only two real problems with the car. I’ve spent a fair amount of time bashing them when that was perhaps not deserved. For that I apologize. However, I think the electrical issue that I had was handled poorly by both Toyota and the dealer I was dealing with at the time. One thing that I will say is that the dealer in question really stepped up to the plate and they have provided me top shelf service after I had gone elsewhere and they reached out to me to make amends. Kudos to them for doing so. As for Toyota, I’m not expecting miracles. But I am pretty certain that in the age of Google Alerts and companies using software that does nothing by hunt for postings, stories, and Tweets that relate to an corporate entity, I’m pretty sure that Toyota is aware of what I’ve written. They would score some points with me if they reached out to me to ask about my experience at the very least. If they did that, this apology would go from an qualified apology from a unqualified one.

Am I being harsh or fair? Post a comment and share your thoughts.

I have to admit that until I got this question, I had not heard about this. I then found this story on the CBC which gives the details:

Toyota Canada is recalling more than 157,000 vehicles to fix airbags and window wipers.

They include more than 140,000 Corolla and Matrix cars from 2003 and 2004 and almost 17,000 Lexus IS models from 2006 through 2012.

The Corolla and Matrix cars are being recalled because of concerns their airbags could be deployed inadvertently due to a possible short circuit in the control module.

The automaker also says the wiper arms of the Lexus vehicles may not be sufficiently tight and may stop working if their movement is restricted, by a buildup of snow for example.

At least it isn’t the Matrix that I have seeing as my Matrix is a 2009 model. But I am starting to wonder if Toyota is taking the attitude of “There’s a risk here that could get us in trouble. Let’s do a recall.” rather than them finding an actual problem. Given the beating they took a couple of years ago with lawsuits and congressional hearings, I don’t blame them if that’s the case.

Still, this isn’t going to help their public image. And the timing couldn’t have been worse seeing as they have once again become the number 1 carmaker on planet earth.

I guess that I have to comment on this seeing how much I’ve written about my experiences with Toyota extensively. First of all, this is the third recall that we’ve had on the 2009 Matrix that my wife and I own. This matches the number of recalls that we’ve had with any of the four GM products that we owned prior to getting the Matrix. Here’s how that breaks down:

GM Car #1 (1997 – 2000): 1

GM Car #2 (2000 – 2003): 2

GM Car #3 (2000 – 2003): 1

GM Car #4 (2003 – 2008): 3

Given that we went to Toyota to avoid endless recall issues, this is a #fail.

This latest recall is huge. It’s the biggest recall in 16 years. The core issue is this:

The latest recall is the result of a problem with a potentially defective power window switch on the driver’s side of the affected vehicles which, the maker says, “may experience a ‘notchy’ or sticky feel during operation. If commercially available lubricants are applied to the switch in an attempt to address the ‘notchy’ or sticky feel, melting of the switch assembly or smoke could occur and lead to a fire under some circumstances.”

We haven’t noticed the notchy or sticky feel, and as far as we know “commercially available lubricants” haven’t been applied to the switch. So we don’t currently have any worries. about a fire breaking out in the car anytime soon. But my wife and I were less than impressed upon hearing the news.

As I’ve done in the past, I’ll report on what Toyota does to address this latest recall. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: My wife pointed out to me that we have smelled smoke in the car on a few occasions. No clue if this is related to this issue or not though. But it is is food for thought.

I got an e-mail from a reader of this blog asking the above question. It’s a fair question as I’ve spent a fair amount of time being very mad at Toyota. First over my issues getting my car fixed. Then over the recalls that Toyota has had this year. But it didn’t start out that way. My wife and I were fed up with owning or leasing crappy cars from “the old GM” and we wanted a change. At the time Toyota was the #1 car maker in the world and had a reputation for making quality products. We saw the then new 2009 Toyota Matrix at the Canadian International Car Show in 2008. We were impressed with it for the following reasons:

• It had the option for front wheel drive or all wheel drive. The latter was “borrowed” from the RAV4 which meant it was a proven system which was a plus for us.
• Two engine choices exist. A 1.8L four cylinder engine “borrowed” from the Corolla and a 2.4L 4 cylinder engine “borrowed” from the Camry of the day. Again we thought that was good because they were using a proven pair of engines.
• The platform is a modified version of the Corolla platform. Again, a proven platform which should be a good thing.
• You can fold the front passenger seat down and stick large objects into the car and close the rear hatch. Plus everything is plastic which is easy to keep clean.
• The interior space is massive. It is classified as a compact wagon, but feels much bigger.

So with all of that in mind, we test drove it and we cross shopped it against the only other hatchback that had all wheel drive at the time which was the Subaru Imperza. Though Subaru had slightly more horsepower and torque (170/170 vs 158/162 for the Matrix), it was slightly smaller. Thus the Toyota won. You can read about what happened after that.

Now, I’ll be fair. Even with all the problems that we’ve had, we still like the car as it is extremely versatile. If I want to toss a couple of bikes in the back, help someone move, or deliver some computer equipment to a client, it can handle it. It’s easy to park and all wheel drive gives me that extra layer of security. But the recalls, the lack of customer service, and the early electrical problems have really given my wife and I a really negative impression of Toyota. As I type this, we have to admit that we’re unlikely to purchase another Toyota product.

So what would we purchase? If we were looking for another compact wagon with all wheel drive, we’d only have two choices. The aforementioned Subaru Imperza and the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart would jump to the front of the line. Something else that would get some consideration would be the Nissan Juke. I haven’t seen one first hand, but it might be a contender if it were big enough. We’ve been considering something bigger and the Ford Edge has gotten our attention. We test drove a Ford Fusion a while ago and we were really impressed with what Ford is doing.

So I hope that answers that question. If not, post a comment and I’ll answer it. Oh, if someone who works in Canada for Subaru, Nissan, Mitsubishi, or Ford happens to read this and is willing to show us why their vehicle is a better choice than our current set of wheels, please send some electrons our way. We’re willing to listen. And to be fair, if someone from Toyota Canada is reading this, please drop us a note and tell us why we should give you guys another chance. We’re open minded enough to listen to what you have to say.

It’s been over a year since my nightmare getting my Toyota Matrix fixed, which at this point is still working fine and has not had an issue since that experience. The one thing that I note is that my postings about my experience are still attracting page views and comments. Mostly from Toyota owners who have problems of their own. Here’s a sample of some of the comments that I’ve received:

Thanks for posting about your experiences with the Toyota Matrix. I bought my 2009 Matrix AWD 7 months ago, and I am having the same malfunction. Specifically, I have a blinking VSC light, check engine light, traction control light, and 1 other warning light start out of nowhere.

I had an ECU sensor replaced for this same malfunction 3 months ago, and all of my warning lights are back on again today.

I searched for recall information, but couldn’t find anything. Bringing my Matrix to the service dealer tomorrow. They won’t give me a loaner vehicle (they said it takes up to 3 weeks to schedule a loaner)!

Keep me posted if you learn anything new about this issue!

And:

Toyota Corolla Steering Problem:

I gave up on Toyota Corp on fixing my problem and just took $1300 loss and traded it on the same make/model and the steering is great (after only 1 month). I kept my recepts on both. I promus if someone dies my report that I made with NHTSA website will be proof that if someone dies on my old 2009 Corolla the VIN will be proof there was a problem.

And:

In the same boat as you. Our 2009 Rav 4 has problems that the dealership service people have not seen before and they just reset the computer and want us to take the car back. This after we had to hand brake the car to a stop!! They have the car for 5 days now and no rental as the warranty doesn’t cover it!!! Toyota Canada basically told me I should deal with the dealership. When i asked if I could talk to some one higher up I was told it will take 7 business days….waiting for the GM of the dealership to return my call.

That last comment caught my attention and made me want to want to write this post because it was posted a few days ago. So it really seems that Toyota hasn’t taken my advice and improved how they react to customers. They really should consider what I said in this posting:

The fact that it takes “a few days” for somebody at Toyota Canada to call me to discuss this issue shows that there’s a real lack of customer focus. If I were in their shoes, I would call the customer back within one business day or less to not only get their side of the story and flesh out the details, but to also explain what the next steps in the process are and to set the expectations of the customer.

That lack of customer focus still appears to be present. Too bad for Toyota.

Why? I’m in the market for a new car as a compact hatchback doesn’t fit my needs. I really thought it would and I wanted a smaller displacement engine with all wheel drive to carry all the stuff that I need to do my job. But the fact is a mid sized crossover is what I really need these days as I really need the room. Had I still liked Toyota, perhaps a Highlander would be on my radar screen. But given that I still have a bad taste in my mouth from my problems with the Matrix, I’m looking at other options like the Ford Edge. I had a good experience test driving a Fusion a while back, and Ford has received a ton of positive press lately. So it’s made me want to give them a closer look.

But all is not lost for Toyota. I’d love to hear from Toyota Canada to give me a reason why I should trust them again. E-mail me, call me, do something and tell me how you’re improving your customer service as well as making sure that these sort of issues go away. After all, when someone spends tens of thousands of dollars on your products, they need to know that you’ll be there to help them when they need you.

So how about it Toyota?

Frequent readers will recall that I have had a rocky relationship with Toyota in regards to my 2009 Matrix. I’ve had problems with it that required the intervention of Toyota Canada to solve, as well as a couple of recall notices. I just had the latter one done and I have to admit that I am not impressed. According to Toyota Canada, they needed to do the following to my car:

• Modify the the accelerator pedal and the floor so that the accelerator pedal doesn’t get stuck.
• Ensure that OEM floor mats are properly secured and that the proper ones are being used.

So when I took it in for an oil change and some other service last night, they did just that. This is what my pedal looked like afterwards:

What it appears that they have done is cut the bottom corners off the pedal and trimmed the size of the pedal down so that it doesn’t touch the floor. It also appears that they pulled the carpet and did something to the floor to increase the clearance between the pedal and the floor. However I cannot tell what they did specifically. Now on the drive home, the pedal didn’t feel any different and the car drives the same. But this really doesn’t look like something a major car company should be doing. It’s has a “ghetto engineering” feel to it that my wife and I are not impressed with. We’re going to drive it like this for now, but we’re thinking of asking them to replace the pedal as it is becoming clear to us that their recall fixes have more to do with cost containment rather than customer satisfaction.

UPDATE: My wife drove the car today and she finds it impossible to do the heel and toe between the gas pedal and brake. She is not a fan of this and is considering calling Toyota about it. I pity the human who gets her call.

Yesterday, we got another recall notice from Toyota, and it yet again relates to the accelerator pedal potentially getting stuck. Toyota wants to do the following:

• Modify the the accelerator pedal and the floor so that the accelerator pedal doesn’t get stuck.
• Ensure that OEM floor mats are properly secured and that the proper ones are being used.

The recall notice had a bunch of diagrams to show how to properly secure the floor mats as well as a sheet to tell you what to do in the event of “unintended acceleration.” Oh yeah, we’ll be contacted again when Toyota actually has a fix available. If you want the complete 411 on what Toyota is talking about, click here.

You know for a company that has built a reputation on having a quality product, Toyota really has dropped the ball here. So far they’ve shown that at best they were incompetent, and at worst they were lying about their quality. The latter seems credible given what Dimitrios Biller who was a lawyer for Toyota has had to say to the CBC:

“Toyota has a system of deception and hypocrisy,” Biller said. “I have the evidence to disprove [them] and I look forward to doing so.”

And…

“I knew Toyota was knowingly keeping information from people,” Biller said of his stint with the automaker.

During that time, Biller said, he was frequently called upon to mislead and hide information in the company’s favour. “My boss … informed me not to produce any documents, any electronically stored documents or emails because that would violate the golden rule: ‘Do everything to protect the client even if it means committing criminal acts.'”

All of that combined with our previous experience with Toyota due to their lack of quality really doesn’t make me want to buy another Toyota product ever again. I would also say that if you’re in the market for a car and you have Toyota on your list, perhaps you should take them off your list. Clearly, they really don’t deserve to be there.

UPDATE: Toyota has a pair of new recalls to deal with. Sigh. Suddenly the Detroit three don’t seem so bad.