WSJ/Edmunds: Customer Complaint Data Shows Toyota Ranked 17th (among the best)

There was a time long, long, long ago when Toyota was in the top 3. I read an article recently that tracked Toyota's slide in quality surveys to when it decided to toss the incremental growth model to leapfrog GM and Ford to become the number 1 sales volume company. Then the mantra became just be good enough.

I guess they are now good enough to be able to claim the title of Recall Champion.

 

Actually for this ranking, the larger the number, the better performing the company is. Toyota did better than those companies that were ranked 1 - 16.

Perhaps spwolf might post the list of names to benefit those readers who don't subscribe to wsj.com?

 

So does a lower ranking mean fewer complaints for that manufacturer .... which would be good?

The figure needs to be normalized to market share somehow.

 

Yeah, that was a little confusing to read... 1st place = worst (MOST complaints per % of market share)

So in other words, 16 other manufacturers (including Detroit's big 3) are WORSE than Toyota, i.e.: they have a higher percentage of complaints despite having a smaller market share.

Toyota: 9.1% of all complaints, 13.5% of the market (ratio: 0.67)
Chrysler: 16.3% of all complaints, 13.0% of the market (ratio: 1.25 - almost twice as bad)


At some point (if there aren't any other stories to cover) the newsies will dig into the other companies records - and probably find far more dangerous (and more widespread) issues than Toyota's.

 

Here's the source article (does NOT require a subscription/registration on WSJ):
Toyota Recalls Put into Context by Edmunds.com

 

Look who's #4 - the "clean diesel" champions. (ratio: 1.7 - almost triple Toyota's rate)

 

And Honda vs Toyota?

Toyota WIN (ratio: .67), Honda FAIL (ratio: .72).

 

Thanks Tom .... an interesting chart, lending some perspective again to the media hysteria.

 

Tks for the heads up, spwolf. Tks to Edmunds and to the WSJ for balanced reporting as well ( as opposed to ABC for example ). This certainly puts things in proper perspective.

 

Spurious argument - unless you can prove that owners of a particular brand are more prone to complaining, while owners of another brand are less prone to do so.

It seems far, far more likely that the propensity to complain is proportional to the level of defects.

 

P.S.: if this forum is representative, Toyota owners are MORE likely to complain, despite fewer actual defects... And the opposite may be true of crappier brands - people are used to them having more flaws and are less likely to complain.

But I still think it's more probable that more defects = more complaints.

 

Hmm... Without your disclaimers, I might think you were disputing the authenticity of the data because it would require changing your world-view...

Sounds like a lot of people these days...

 

Finally! It is sooo good to read an objective article based on empirical evidence.

I'm asked about once a day if I've had accelerator or brake problems and I'm sick to death of it. I usually just say something about media hype but now I have something credible to point to. Thanks for the heads-up.