Comments on: Toyota Takes Over the World…But is it a Good Thing?

By: theunchosen

theunchosen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:28:01 +0000

Honda FTW.

-in a chazzmichaelsmichaels voice- Honda boom!

Honda’s are more reliable than Toyota’s in my experience(2 corrollas one manual one auto vs 2 Honda Del Sols(manual) 1 Honda civic(auto)). The Corrolla auto is having trans problems at 130K miles(doesn’t shift properly jerky), the steering assembly has problems(both) and they both wear tires in patterns that makes the steering additionally jerky. Neither Del Sol has any problems, both have more than 200K miles have owned both for a combined mileage of 120K miles, civic has 145K miles no issues whatsoever. None have had any replacements other than fluids. Corrolla is going to have to have a new trans and the manual is going to have to have a new clutch.

Also. . .Honda brought us the Insight with EPA highway of 70 mpg. . . Also one of the first mass market hybrids to speak of. Also Honda was the only manufcaturer for a long time that mass produced a lean burn car.

Final arguement if we include other brands by the same manufacturer Honda’s counterpart(Acura) is about on par with scion for FE, but lexus is likely to stall Toyota up some more.

Honda has more than less joined other manufacturers lately, but for old time’s sake Honda parts were virtually completely interchangeable with other models and years and even some cross-pollination with Acura. Toyota. . .not so much.

By: hugh owens

hugh owens — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:18:05 +0000

Toyota’s trucks and suvs are no winners on economy but they are sound quality vehicles. The big chevys get good economy but the terrible poor quality pistonslap engines negate any economy. Our first toyota, a “97 camry easily gets 35 mpg and the build quality is first rate. What people seem to miss on this site is the automobile culture in the US is coming to a close. Oil and asphalt highways will be a memory this century and it’s time to think about transportation using systems thinking. Electric powered trains and some cars will be the future.

By: Debra

Debra — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 22:08:49 +0000

Toyota may not be the best at being fuel efficient, then again, none of these companies are the best at it either!! Toyota is the best, however, in overall efficency! They have way less problems, recalls, breakdown, etc., then most of these other idiot companies! I think so anyway! That’s why the have the most sales, because they have they are of the best quality! I would rather have a little bit of a less fuel efficient car or truck, then have a car or truck that is being recalled, braking down, anything like that, I have to buy fuel, all the time, no matter what, electric cars, don’t do anything for me! I don’t see them helping out the Earth at all, anyway! All of that charging, oh, electricity and all of the stuff that comes along with it, that doesn’t effect global warming, at all, right?! Uh, no! Like I was saying, I have to buy fuel anyway, so I would rather be more concerned with, interested, grateful and happy when nothing goes wrong, EVER(w/ my Toyota!), when I don’t have anything to worry about happening or going wrong with my vehicle, ever!! That is the way it is supposed to be, they way Toyota is! Now, keep in mind, everyone that is going to read this post of mine, I am, as you can tell by my name, a girl. So, I really do not understand all of this car stuff, auto maker stuff, fuel efficiency, the technical stuff, I’m not into! I don’t pay too much attention to the deep stuff, I just know the basic facts, the stuff that I see first hand, that’s the only stuff I can have an opinion on anyway! So, in my woman, non-car/truck enthusiast, I believe, and love, that Toyota has not ever given me or anyone that I know that has one, any problems, whatsoever!! To me, that is what counts, after all, isn’t that the biggest, maybe the only reason why we buy whichever make that we do, quality! Well, TOYOTA = QUALITY!!!

By: GOZR

GOZR — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:59:18 +0000

Well that it ’s sad that the news doesn’t even included french or Italian cars which are much more fuel efficient than this Mini , look at for example Citroen, Renault and Peugeot etc…

It seems that this review is to boost only some car for sale inside the US sadly they are blinded.

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:55:47 +0000

Hi,

Enjoyed the article. One thing I have noticed is that fleet mileage stats can be twisted in many ways. I work for a company called Greenopia who published its own green auto guide this year and our results are very different than what this article suggests. Granted, we look at more than just mileage (although it is very important), but companies like Lotus do not deserve to be called efficient. They only make a few cars and none of them are capable of getting even 30 mpg (not to mention poor emissions). While I certainly concede that companies like Toyota and Chevy make trucks, SUVs, and vans, at the end of the day they have some of the greenest vehicles available. Also Toyota and Honda publish some of the best sustainability reports and are very transparent where companies like Lotus don’t publish anything. I think it’s great to alert people to inconsistencies with mileage, but at the end of the day statistics like this can be a little misleading.

You can check out our ratings below and feel free to give any feedback on them on our site as well.
http://www.greenopia.com/USA/auto_search.aspx?category=Automobiles&Listpage=0&input=Name%20or%20product&subcategory=None

Cheers.

By: Benjamin Jones

Benjamin Jones — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:08:50 +0000

Hey Andrew -

While I appreciate your sentiment, I think if you’ve been to LA you might agree that fewer cars and more public transportation could do this country a world of good. Even if we have cleaner cars they still require massive infrastructure and create lots of traffic problems.

By: Tango Charlie

Tango Charlie — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:04:21 +0000

Hockey mom? What’s a hockey mom?

By: Andrew Rickart

Andrew Rickart — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:34:32 +0000

We don’t need fewer cars or trucks. We need electric cars and trucks powered by electric chargers at night with Nuclear plants producing the electricity and the waste stored at Yucca Mountain safely for 1 million years. This is all obvious and doable stuff but only if we start thinking clearly out of our washed brains.

By: RH77

RH77 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:01:30 +0000

Are these highway figures only, or combined? Chevy’s highway MPG numbers seem to be a bit inflated vs. some personal tests.

Still, I will have to agree that Honda has it figured out (or at least more than most).

By: Nick Richards

Nick Richards — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:04:58 +0000

John –

No, their list is not flawed. It is a list by brand, not by manufacturer. If it were by OEM, then MINI would be under BMW; Acura under Honda; Lexus and Scion under Toyota; etc.

Additionally, you only cite two of Toyota’s truck models in your monthly sales figures. You’re forgetting the FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Tundra and Tacoma, which get worse fuel economy than the Highlander.

By: Benjamin Jones

Benjamin Jones — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:42:44 +0000

Hey John -

That’s a good point, I checked the numbers and they do sell more cars. Still, they’re no Honda,

By: John Gartner

John Gartner — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:29:46 +0000

I agree that the CNN list is flawed because of the way it separates out GM’s brands to the benefit of Chevrolet. Also, the data averages the MPG across all models, but does not reflect the number of each type of vehicle sold, which would be a much more accurate reflection of fleet-wide efficiency.
One correction: Toyota does sell more cars than trucks (68,000 to 46,000, per November sales data). If you focus on its “best” and “worst” vehicles, the split is even more dramatic: 15,379 very fuel efficient cars (Yaris, plus the Prius and Camry hybrids) versus just 8,853 of the gas guzzlers (Sequoia and non-hybrid Highlanders). Toyota isn’t all green for sure, so it is right to point out how they profit from the large SUVs.