Toyota, once known for making quality vehicles, has struggled with its image this year following a rash of recalls. In fact, the issues surrounding numerous vehicles' troubles with unintended acceleration were so damaging that the non-profit Consumer Reports removed its recommendation for nearly all Toyota vehicles.
The automaker got a double dose of good news today when Consumer Reports announced two movements on the automotive front. First, the organization decided to reissue its recommended status for eight Toyota vehicles, including the Camry, Corolla, Avalon, RAV4, Sequoia, Tundra, Highlander and Matrix.
The non-profit wrote on its website: "We believe that Toyota has adequately addressed the problem of unintended acceleration and that its new vehicles on sale now are fundamentally safe." It went on to state that the problem had been fixed in all new vehicles and the vast majority of used Toyotas. However, it still recommended that a driver interested in shopping for a used car check with the dealer to ensure that the recall-related maintenance has been performed.
The other good news was that the issues didn't appear to affect their standing among consumers in terms of reliability. The company released its annual Car Reliability Survey, which polls drivers on issues with their cars, and Toyota, along with Japanese rival Honda, remained on top.
The survey is a good resource for those considering buying a used car, as they detail the real-life experience with a car over time rather than a simple review that details performance characteristics.
The overall top brand was Scion, Toyota's youth-oriented brand. The nameplate obviously benefited by having a small sample size of just a few vehicles, but the main Toyota brand's sixth-place finish showed that the Japanese automaker is still ahead of most rivals. In fact, Toyota cars took home the top honors in several categories, including the Yaris for small cars, Tundra for full-sized pickup and Lexus LX for luxury SUV.
Honda posted a strong showing as well, with both the main brand and luxury Acura nameplate among the top four models. The Honda CR-V and Acura RDX were singled out as especially reliable compact crossovers.
Domestically, Ford and GM both made significant improvements to their vehicle lines. GM was able to successfully rid itself of poorly performing brands like Pontiac and Hummer, increasing its overall score, while Ford now has 90 percent of its entire lineup with scores of average reliability or better.
"There's a difference between actually having problems and having your car recalled," Jake Fisher, senior automotive engineer at Consumer Reports' vehicle test center, told Bloomberg. "While the recalls were widespread, the actual problems people were having associated with those recalls were much smaller."
Toyotas have long been a favorite among those shopping used cars, as the models are known for their longevity. Although the recalls were surely a stumbling block, drivers who buy a used Toyota now may be able to get a great deal because of the recent damage to the company's reputation.