标题: The Toyota Effect - Will It Trickle Down To Motorcycle Manufacturers? [打印本页] 作者: 飞驰滑板 时间: 2010-7-23 03:08 标题: The Toyota Effect - Will It Trickle Down To Motorcycle Manufacturers? The Toyota Effect - Will It Trickle Down To Motorcycle Manufacturers?
Over the past few weeks, we've witnessed the once all-powerful Toyota fall to its knees and beg the forgiveness of its customers over the methods in which it handled, or more appropriately, did not handle a potentially dangerous defect in many of its cars.
While I'm still not convinced that the full story and the extent of the defects has been revealed, much can be learned by what Toyota did and did not do and when they first realized a defect had occurred.
While I've had my issues with a Toyota Avalon I purchased a few years ago and was "jerked" around in the methods they handled it, I was fortunate that I spotted the issues during the first day of ownership and within a few weeks was able to reverse the purchase. To my knowledge, the defects found on my vehicle were not life threatening, but the methods in which they dealt with legitimate customer complaints spoke volumes in what they thought of the end user. Simply stated, they used a multi-tiered bureaucracy to stall the complaint process.
Instead of continuing to criticize Toyota for its methods in which they conduct business, allow me to attempt to make this relevant to motorcycle riders:
As we've learned, there's no such thing as a perfect product and in these days when manufacturers "farm out" various parts and other items to outside sources, there have and will be situations where defects will occur. However, unlike a car that provides a somewhat protective envelope for the driver, motorcycles don't provide the same level of protection. So what could be considered a minor defect in an automobile could translate into a recipe for disaster for a motorcycle rider.
When I owned a Victory Vision, there was one Do Not Ride Recall. I'll state that initially, the Dealer was slow to respond. In fact, although I read about the recall in an online forum, when I contacted the dealer, he had no knowledge of this situation. That was a big red flag for me as in this day and age of instant, electronic communication, how could a factory not contact a dealer in a timely manner? There's no excuses for this t**e of situation. However, once the Dealer contacted the Factory, the fix was communicated, the replacement parts were shipped and the repairs were made in a timely manner.
The only snafu that I experienced was I was told that the repair could not be made until I received the written Do Not Ride recall paperwork.
What? They knew about the issue and understanding that it fell in the "Do Not Ride" category they wanted me to wait until the Post Office delivered the paperwork? That's just not right in my book.
When the paperwork did arrive and seeing the words Do Not Ride in the title, I contacted Victory's VRA to provide a tow truck to transport my bike to the dealership. I was told by the operator that the towing services were only provided for break-downs and not recalls. Instead of getting upset, I simply requested to to speak to a Supervisor and to tell him/her that I'm in possession of the recall paperwork and it would be totally irresponsible for me to ride my bike after receiving that paperwork. Riding AFTER receiving the paperwork would be irresponsible on my part.
I was placed on hold and around ten minutes later I was told the tow was approved.
Can-Am recently had a recall over a power steering situation on its GS/RS models. While I'm not sure if the final fix has been found, I have not yet experienced this issue on the newer RT model I'm currently riding. Knowing that this steering problem was found on the previous model, you can bet that I'm keeping my eyes open for any behavior that may signal a potential problem.
I do know that with the Spyder RT I am riding a new model and sometimes early adopters of any t**e of product can expect these t**es of situations. I can only hope that if a defect is found that the factory will contact its customers of the affected units directly and not depend on the dealers to spread the word, so that the notifications and the repairs can be made in a timely and safe manner.
For whatever reason, it seems that manufacturers can be a bit slow to respond to consumer complaints about specific vehicles. But with Toyota seeing its market share and net worth fall before its eyes, and with many potential buyers staying as far away as possible from Toyota Dealerships, much can be learned from this situation and hopefully all manufacturers will open the lines of communications to make sure they do not fall victim to what I'm now calling The Toyota Effect.
I can only hope that what happened to Toyota will trigger all manufacturers to start openly communicating with not only its dealerships, but with the end users as well to let us know, in a timely manner, that a potential defect could adversely affect the safe operation of our vehicles. After all, we're living in the 21st century and the old methods of communication have been replaced by newer methods. Yes Factories, you do have our telephone numbers and our email addresses. To me, this falls under the category of being a "No Brainer."
While I would like to think that just the thought of doing the right thing would be enough to motivate any manufacturer to notify its customers of a potential problem, it's not that simple as in this day and age of a global economy, just the announcement of a recall to repair a problem will negatively affect the companies balance sheet. I can only guess that the Corporate Boardrooms are weighing the cost of recalling vehicles against their bottom line. Hopefully, after seeing Toyota apologize to the world for its handling of these issues, and the losses are are sure to follow, other manufacturers will wake up and realize that the fallout and loss of credibility can cost them much more than just the price of repairing the problems.
It can cost them a valued reputation and future business.
As consumers, we have long memories. Even if Toyota abandons its goal of being the worldwide leader in auto sales and goes back to its original mantra of producing high quality, reliable, affordable and safe automobiles, it could take many years for them to outlive this spot on their resume.
So, to all manufacturers, if you start hearing about a potential problem to your products, please think of us, your current and future owners and realize that we have choices and we take the safety and reliability of our products seriously. Please do not jerk us around or make us jump through hoops to make our products operate in a safe manner. Sometimes the problems we experience may be isolated, but other times they could be your early warning signal that possibly a bigger problem may be on the horizon that could threaten the lives of your most loyal customers.作者: 飞驰滑板 时间: 2010-7-23 03:09
什么意思？谁懂？作者: 如君 时间: 2010-7-23 03:37
TNND 搞什么飞机 通篇翻译！！！！！！！作者: 7737 时间: 2010-7-23 07:31
楼主是海龟头？作者: zxzdm 时间: 2010-7-23 08:53
丰田的影响将流传到摩托车制造商？