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Future RAV4s may be US-built [Canada]

17K views 34 replies 12 participants last post by  jabba2000 
#1 ·
I just saw in Automotive News that in 2004, Toyota/Lexus/Scion reached a U.S. sales goal (2 million per year) that it didn't expect to reach for six more years, in 2010.

The article said Toyota is looking to add North American production capability, probably in the U.S. (v. Canada or Mexico), and that the RAV4, the Highlander, and the 4Runner might be built there.
No decision whether it would mean building new plants or upgrading current ones in Kentucky, Indiana, and California.

RAV on.
 
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#2 ·
Just curious about how RAV owners feel about it being built in the U.S. Personally, I think it will be just as good as the imported models. I dont see Honda or Nissan sales suffering from poor U.S. build quality which leads me to believe its a management thing. I like the idea. More jobs is a good thing as long as Kelly's port doesnt lose work!
 
#3 ·
Dan Dahl said:
More jobs is a good thing as long as Kelly's port doesnt lose work!
Yes, I think ALL Toyota's should be built in JAPAN :wink:

Seriously... comparing a US built Camry to a Japan built Camry, side by side, I'd go with the Japan version. The plastic quality and overall build quality appear to be better on the Japan models. (Same goes for the Tacoma.) Hopefully, if the RAV4 is built in the US, this won't be true.
 
#4 ·
I hope RAV4s aren't built in the USA. All of the Toyotas we've owned (RAV4, LandCruiser, Echo, Corolla) have been Jap built and have showcased excellent quality and reliability.

We once owned an American made Mercedes Benz and boy was that a shocker! The only thing it had going for it was its engine and transmission which were built in Germany. The rest of the car was falling apart and cracking away and it was only 2 years old at that point in time!

Here in Australia we have the GM owned Australian brand called Holden. They make the Monaro which is sold as the Pontiac GTO in the States. All of the American reviews i've read say that the build quality is much better than most American brands. What makes it funny is that here in Australia Holden is known for its poor quality...which makes me wonder just how bad are American made cars? No offence intended to anyone.
 
#5 ·
Dan Dahl said:
Just curious about how RAV owners feel about it being built in the U.S. Personally, I think it will be just as good as the imported models. I dont see Honda or Nissan sales suffering from poor U.S. build quality which leads me to believe its a management thing. I like the idea. More jobs is a good thing as long as Kelly's port doesnt lose work!
I don't see Honda or Nissan sales suffering but the quality sure has. The new Tacoma's aren't exactly excelent either.
 
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#8 ·
it would be a shame to let the RAV4 be built in the US. I would rather it keep its excellent reputation for reliability and build quality. In my opinion US car manufacturers need to step it up and build better cars, as of now most everything the US produces is lacking compared to Japanese and most other foreign made cars. And the thing I am worried about is that if american car makers havent caught up to foreign car companies by now, they might never build as good of quality cars as Toyota and Honda(wouldn't buy one, but they're reliable.)
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
Yeah, because things like this are such reliability problems.... :roll:
Component: EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
Summary:
CERTAIN LIGHT DUTY PICKUP TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH A HEAVY DUTY SERVICE PACKAGE FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF FMVSS NO. 120, "TIRE SELECTION AND RIMS FOR MOTOR VEHICLES OTHER THAN PASSENGER CARS." A TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR OCCURRED RESULTING IN AN INCORRECT TIRE SIZE AND PRESSURE ON THE SAFETY CERTIFICATION LABEL FOR THESE VEHICLES.
Consequence:
IF THE TIRES ARE INFLATED TO THE PRESSURE INDICATED ON THE LABEL, THE CUSTOMER WILL EXPERIENCE A HARSHER RIDE.
Recall problems are fixed and since they contain things like that you can't exactly go comparing by number. F-150s run for freakin ever. Ford's willingness to conduct recalls for trivial matters is a good thing. Honda/Toyota cover up much more serious things.
 
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#16 ·
What about these
Summary:
      ON CERTAIN PICKUP TRUCKS, THE PITMAN ARM TO STEERING GEAR RETAINING NUT WAS NOT FULLY TIGHTENED TO THE REQUIRED SPECIFICATION.

Consequence:
      IF THE PITMAN ARM TO GEARBOX ATTACHMENT NUT LOOSENS, A NOISE AND A LOOSE FEEL IN THE STEERING COULD OCCUR. IF THE CONDITION PROGRESSED AND SERVICE WAS NOT SOUGHT, THE NUT COULD BACK OFF COMPLETELY AND THE PITMAN ARM COULD SEPARATE FROM THE GEAR CAUSING A LOSS OF STEERING. IF THE WARNING IS NOT HEEDED AND STEERING IS LOST, A CRASH MAY RESULT. .
Summary:
      ON CERTAIN TRUCKS EQUIPPED WITH 4.2L, 4.6L AND 5.4L GASOLINE ENGINES, THE FUEL TANK MAY HAVE A DEPRESSION AT THE SEAM BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM HALVES OF THE TANK. IF A DEPRESSION IS LARGE ENOUGH, FUEL MAY PERMEATE THE FUEL TANK WALL RESULTING IN A FUEL ODOR, ILLUMINATION, OF THE "SERVICE ENGINE SOON" INDICATOR LIGHT, OR A FUEL LEAK.


Consequence:
      FUEL LEAKAGE, IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE, COULD RESULT IN A FIRE.
Dress it up how you like but american made cars are just plain poorly engineered and even worsely executed vehicles with a few exceptions here and there. As a whole America is lagging far behind most foreign made cars.
 
#17 ·
I agree with JDub.

And "may result in a harsher ride" is just a euphemism for "your tires may explode and kill the occupants just like all those Ford Explorers did". I know it was debated to death whether that was Firestone's fault or Ford's fault, but regardless, I don't remember ever hearing about this happening repeatedly with a Toyota, Honda, etc. as it did with the Ford Exploder. They're trying to cover their a$$es and not get sued with that one...they probably now call for all their tires to be under-inflated.

Becky
 
#18 ·
Um...they're popular, but I sure wouldn't say they're reliable based on all the recalls!

http://www.recall-warnings.com/auto-category-V.FORD.F150.html

Here's the Tacoma:

http://www.recall-warnings.com/auto/category/V.TOYOTA.TACOMA.html

For the 1995-2004 timespan...40 compared to 8. This is why I don't buy Fords.
Gasp! Scary. During the 5 1/2 years that I've been living in the US, I never thought of hearing so many recalls for american cars. My mom drives a Pontiac and it got recalled 2 times already. The first time, my dad took it to the dealership and they fixed whatever problem there was. We thought the car was ok, but several months later, another recall.. this time something to do about the ignition :?. My mom has always loved japanese, but when money's short, there's no room for preferences.
 
#19 ·
Becky J. said:
I agree with JDub.

And "may result in a harsher ride" is just a euphemism for "your tires may explode and kill the occupants just like all those Ford Explorers did". I know it was debated to death whether that was Firestone's fault or Ford's fault, but regardless, I don't remember ever hearing about this happening repeatedly with a Toyota, Honda, etc. as it did with the Ford Exploder. They're trying to cover their a$$es and not get sued with that one...they probably now call for all their tires to be under-inflated.

Becky
The problem there was under-inflated tires not over-inflated. Which absolutely is user error. If you don't check your tire pressure every month at a minimum, you're just inviting such problems. But there's no sense of self-responsibility in this country anymore so they'd rather sue the manufacturer for tire blowouts, McDonald's for making them fat or whatever else rather than using products properly or having a lick of common sense.

Most of those years only had a few recalls, just like the Tacoma. But whatever happened in '97 that resulted in those 13 recalls skewed your tally.

In any case recalls are not a reliability indicator. Most of the time they're an isolated problem a user never sees, they just take it to the dealer and get their free fix. Doesn't change the fact that there are 20+ year old F-150s still found on farms, construction sites, and the road running just fine after all their hard work with several hundreds of thousands miles on the odometer. To call them unreliable because of a few recalls is ridiculous.

Even when you run into a problem that needs to be repaired, I guarantee it's much cheaper to fix on the F-150 than the Tacoma. Couple that with the higher initial price of the Tacoma and it's a toss up for your money anyway.
 
#20 ·
The problem there was under-inflated tires not over-inflated. Which absolutely is user error. If you don't check your tire pressure every month at a minimum, you're just inviting such problems. But there's no sense of self-responsibility in this country anymore so they'd rather sue the manufacturer for tire blowouts, McDonald's for making them fat or whatever else rather than using products properly or having a lick of common sense.
Actually Ford's recommended tire pressure was too low in an attempt to make the highly unstable explorer more stable on the road, so it didn't matter if you had them "properly" inflated. That's why you didn't hear about the same problems happening on other SUVs even when running exactly the same tire.

Most of those years only had a few recalls, just like the Tacoma. But whatever happened in '97 that resulted in those 13 recalls skewed your tally.

In any case recalls are not a reliability indicator. Most of the time they're an isolated problem a user never sees, they just take it to the dealer and get their free fix. Doesn't change the fact that there are 20+ year old F-150s still found on farms, construction sites, and the road running just fine after all their hard work with several hundreds of thousands miles on the odometer. To call them unreliable because of a few recalls is ridiculous.
And none of them drive in a straight line unless they had a front end job ever 2 years. There is nothing on this earth that wears as fast at a F-150 ball joint.

Just about every Ford car has a couple pages of recalls just on the seat belts. But recalls aren't really an indicator of anything since non safety recalls are voluntary, and what company is going to voluntarily recall something unless there's a threat of losing more money by letting it go.
 
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#21 ·
American and Japanese

"Being a truck of the year" has nothing to do with reliablity and durability. If you look at the RATINGS section in the APRIL consumer reports it is very different than the RELIABILITY section.

Just because People are more loyal to FORD, as FORD started in business more than a century ago, and FORD represents the " US FLAG " and more people buy it because it is FORD, does NOT............... I repeat... "does not" ... make it more reliable than the TUNDRA or the TACOMA...
Toyota has just not built a V10 engine in production for a truck yet if that is what will make the TUNDRA more RUGGED?????? Really?
IF the there was a FORD TUNDRA, or FORD TACOMA, then I want to see the sales of these trucks. TRUST ME.. the numbers won't be the same. I don't blame anybody for it. FORD represents America to many people. That is fine with me. Take FORD ESCAPE for example.. people here in DETROIT complain about its reliablity but they want a small SUV and will not consider any other BUT FORD because it is FORD. People have known my RAV4 and see how reliable it has been but at the end of the day.... they will prefer the ESCAPE.... There is quite a bit of DISRIMINATION involved in cars. THAT is what makes FORD trucks popular, NOT because it is any better than the TUNDRA or TACOMA but because their great grand fathers drove FORD. That is just human nature.
 
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#23 ·
I own a 2003 RAV 4 L which was made in Japan. I have had it back to the dealership 4 times to correct the dash/cowl rattle without any permanent success. Definitely a structual design flaw which has not been corrected at the Japanese manufacturing facility.

My 1999 Camry LE which was made in the USA in Louisville, Kentucky is probably the best car I have ever owned. No rattles, quiet and zero problems since the day I purchased it.

I conclude that the RAV 4 was not engineered properly when it was designed for cold weather. All the various TSB's to fix the rattle are nothing more than temporary fixes. Why haven't the Toyota Japanese engineers corrected the obvious design flaw on the RAV 4 after 4 years? :!:
 
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#24 ·
I agree with you and Toyota's response with a repair kit at the dealer level shows a lack of refinement for a problem that has been there for years. It tells me that they just don't care. My Japanese made RAV has the worst initial quality I've seen in a vehicle yet. With so much outsourcing happening with globalization, parts or preassembled units can come from just about anywhere and I believe it's pretty much the luck of the draw as to what you will get.
 
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#25 ·
Canadian Built

My great grandfather drove a milk wagon pulled by a single horse. I drive a RAV4.

I've read they are building a RAV4 plant near Woodstock, Ontario, that should go online in 2007 or so.

The new CJ Cruiser is supposed to be built in San Antonio Texas.

Have you tried spraying the creaking areas with silicon spray. That often works.

What is the dealer fix for rattles in the dash?
 
#26 ·
If you research the F150 you will find it is one of the only things Ford does good.

I have mentioned in the past that up at our farm the farmers and other trades people tell me it’s the Toughness and Durability.
I would not double that they probably have issues on new models and then fix them, that’s typical Ford.

My good friend is in the construction biz and his takes a hell of abuse.
Plus there was a time I needed that favor and loaded it up over the ton limit with interlocks. :roll:
With every squeak I was waiting for a big bang but thank goodness it was a tank. :lol:
 
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