Toyota's Once-Golden Resale Value Gets Dented

[DainBramaged]

Toyota owners looking to trade in their cars have little reason to sing the carmaker's old ad slogan, "I love what you do for me — Toyota!"

Recalls and a bungled response to safety questions are putting a dent in the resale values of their cars. For years, Toyotas have been praised both for high quality and maintaining their worth. These days, the Toyota in your garage is no longer like money in the bank.

Some dealers are refusing to accept Toyotas for trade, while others are paying considerably less than they did just two week ago. Kelley Blue Book has dropped the value of recalled Toyotas by as much 3 percent. The auto research Web site Edmunds.com estimates resale or trade-in values could fall up to 10 percent in the short term.

The decline will likely continue as long as uncertainty and defects continue to shadow the world's No. 1 carmaker.

Toyota Motor Corp. has so far recalled more than 7 million cars in the U.S., Europe and China over a sticky accelerator and floor mats that can get caught in the gas pedal. Its prized Prius hybrid — which is partially powered by electricity — is under investigation for momentary brake failure. The company is expected to announce its plan for fixing that model this week.

Kelley, which two months ago named Toyota the best brand for resale value, says recalled models are now worth $200 to $500 less per car. Another cut of the same magnitude is planned as soon as the coming week unless the recall controversy abates and demand for Toyotas stops declining, Kelley spokeswoman Robyn Eckard says.

Similarly, since the first recall for sticky accelerator pedals on Jan. 21, Edmunds' estimate for the trade-in value of a 2009 Toyota Camry has fallen by 4 percent to 6 percent to $13,967 while the 2009 Toyota Corolla has declined 6 percent to $11,233.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9774398

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Great Time To Buy A Toyota!

IIRC they have a great safety record overall - still very good cars, now cheaper, and any future issues are more likely to get fast recalls.

[DainBramaged]

2. Not yet, not the right time.......

In the early summer when the recall has shaken out and Toyota puts monstrous rebates and financing on their inventory is the right time. Right now their production stoppage is not looked upon as a reason to fix customer cars but to balance their inventories as they recover from the recall.



They are not stupid. Filling up their dealer's lots with unsalable cars isn't the path to recovery.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. The local Lincoln-Mercury dealer is offering a $1,000 bonus if you'll trade your Toyota.

[michreject]

4. I would like to see Toyota owners

get 3 cents on the dollar of blue book value in trade in exchange.

[OhioChick]

14. I think that Ford and GM are doing this nationwide..

GM offers $1,000 incentive to Toyota owners

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/27/autos/gm_toyota_incentives/?postversion=2010012716

Ford offering $1,000 trade-in cash to Toyota, Lexus, Scion, Honda, Acura owners

http://www.egmcartech.com/2010/01/28/ford-offering-1000-trade-in-cash-to-toyota-lexus-scion-honda-acura-owners/

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. And they'll clean them up and re-sell them, just like any other trade-in.

I doubt they'll crush them.
:rofl:

[cbdo2007]

5. I'd still take a Toyota or Honda over any other car in the market.

Notice how only "recalled models" are taking the hit financially. You're better off getting something just before the recall anyways. It's funny there hasn't been this much hoopla about an auto recall EVER, but since it's the best car out there it's understandable.

[DainBramaged]

6. Too bad the efforts of the UAW and the Domestic manufacturers

don't matter to you........


:eyes:

[cbdo2007]

7. It's not too bad. I'm ok with it. We've having trouble putting food on the table and

I can't afford having to go get my car fixed all the time.

There is absolutely nothing stopping the US automakers from making higher quality vehicles exactly like Toyota and Honda, but they don't do it. They're improving somewhat with some models, but it's not my responsibility to support companies who seem to refuse updating to the higher quality standards of the foreign cars.

[DainBramaged]

9. You're so wrong it isn't funny. Goodbye.

You can remain with your blinders on. I'm not going to try and convince you otherwise. We make GREAT cars and trucks, and it's folks like yourself who someday will wonder where all of the good jobs went when the foreign interests own everything and we aren't even capable of a service economy any longer.

I see ignored people

[cbdo2007]

10. And you'll blame ME for that? You're the one with blinders on then.

It was the American car makers who bet the farm that people would want bigger and bigger autos with higher gas mileage rather than smaller, more fuel efficient cars that would last longer without major problems. That isn't my fault they did that and lost billions of $$$ though you seem to be the type that like to pick out a certain group of people to blame for all of society's problems.

I'm sure many people have positive experiences with American autos, but all I know is that NEARLY ALL of my friends/family who have American autos are getting them fixed all the time. Those with japanese made cars are not. There is nothing stopping American auto makers from doing exactly what the japanese makers are doing to make more reliable vehicles. This isn't my fault, its theirs. I don't make the cars. If I did run Ford or GM the first thing I would do every morning is say, "Why are toyota and honda so reliable? Find out what they're doing it and make ours the exact same way."

[divideandconquer]

11. Yeah , use slave labor like their "halo Prius"

The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are “stripped of their passports and often forced to work — including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota — 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.” Workers are forced to live in company dormitories and deported for complaining about poor treatment, the report finds.

Low-wage temporary workers make up one-third of Toyota’s Prius assembly-line workers, mostly in the auto-parts supply chain. They are signed to contracts for periods as short as four months, and are paid only 60 percent of a full-time employee’s wage.

Parts plants run by subcontractors advertise standard, nine-hour, five-day-a-week jobs. But according to the NLC, “the typical shift was 15 to 16.5 hours a day, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. or 1:00 a.m.”

In 2002, Kenichi Uchino, 30, died while working at the “green” Tsutsumi plant that assembles the Prius. During the 13th hour of a routine 14-hour day, Uchino collapsed on the shop floor of the internationally lauded “sustainable” factory, which uses sulfur-oxide-eating paint and boasts 5 percent emissions reductions. A Japanese court ruled that Uchino’s death was caused by exhaustion from overwork.

His wife, Hiroko Uchino, described a grueling lifestyle that included an 85-hour workweek prior to his death. The NLC published his time cards, which reveal that he was “putting in 106.5 to 155 hours of overtime … in the 30 days leading up to his death.”

Much of this overtime went unpaid. (Toyota explained Kenichi’s extra hours as “voluntary quality control activities,” says the report.) But in court, his survivors were able to win pension payments.
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<ttp://www.bloggerradio.com/2008/07/toyota-prius-ju.html>

[divideandconquer]

12. Yeah , use slave labor like their "halo Prius"

The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are “stripped of their passports and often forced to work — including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota — 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.” Workers are forced to live in company dormitories and deported for complaining about poor treatment, the report finds.

Low-wage temporary workers make up one-third of Toyota’s Prius assembly-line workers, mostly in the auto-parts supply chain. They are signed to contracts for periods as short as four months, and are paid only 60 percent of a full-time employee’s wage.

Parts plants run by subcontractors advertise standard, nine-hour, five-day-a-week jobs. But according to the NLC, “the typical shift was 15 to 16.5 hours a day, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. or 1:00 a.m.”

In 2002, Kenichi Uchino, 30, died while working at the “green” Tsutsumi plant that assembles the Prius. During the 13th hour of a routine 14-hour day, Uchino collapsed on the shop floor of the internationally lauded “sustainable” factory, which uses sulfur-oxide-eating paint and boasts 5 percent emissions reductions. A Japanese court ruled that Uchino’s death was caused by exhaustion from overwork.

His wife, Hiroko Uchino, described a grueling lifestyle that included an 85-hour workweek prior to his death. The NLC published his time cards, which reveal that he was “putting in 106.5 to 155 hours of overtime … in the 30 days leading up to his death.”

Much of this overtime went unpaid. (Toyota explained Kenichi’s extra hours as “voluntary quality control activities,” says the report.) But in court, his survivors were able to win pension payments.
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<ttp://www.bloggerradio.com/2008/07/toyota-prius-ju.html>

[lbrtbell]

8. I once rented a Toyota for two days

Most miserable POS I've ever driven. The seats were so uncomfortable that I had a backache for a week afterward, the controls were hard to reach, the ride felt as if it had no shocks/struts, and it was overall a miserable experience.

I drive a GM car, and from now on, I only rent GM cars. None of today's automobiles are as well-made as those of the past, esp. in terms of comfort, but GM's are the least of all evils, I guess.

[KillCapitalism]

13. Toyota's problems will be forgotten when the next big recall comes.

Pretty much ALL automakers have went through huge recalls at one point in their history. The recalls seriously hurt sales in the short term, but once the problems were fixed & the media blitz died down, things returned to "normal." Suzuki had the rollover problem with the Samurai, GM the problem with DEX COOL, Ford Explorers & Firestone tires, and now Toyota's problem. The next big recall will take the heat off Toyota and put it on another car maker. Remember, these are machines created by humans, NONE of them are perfect.

[DainBramaged]

16. Toyota has had THREE this decade, THREE, when does it stop?

1)Engine sludge

2) Rusting frames

3)Unintended acceleration


Look them up, when does it end, and when does the public get tired of the lies????

[MadHound]

17. The top American made car, Toyota

Only beaten out by a Ford truck.

<http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&subject=ami&story=amMade0707>

So, do you hate American made cars, or just this particular brand?