Toytota: The most reliable car you can buy!

Lately, the press has been a bit busy knocking Toyota down because of some technical problems. Apparently, there is some problems with accelerator cables, and some trouble with brakes. I am not very aware of exactly what it is, mainly, because i'm simply not interested.

I know a thing or two about Toyota. I used to work in a roadside assistance service for nearly a decade, and I can tell you how many Toyotas I did rescued: Two. One was a straight-of-the-dealer Corolla, that had its negative terminal slacken, and the other, a rust basket case from 1973 that decided to pack in the middle of Lisbon traffic. Fuel pump diaphragm punctured.

I remember once reading a book published by the Swiss automobile club (TCS) called "fiabilité" ( reliability), that said the most common problem in Toyotas was that you would get bored of them, before they have any chance of breaking down. And yes, you guessed: Toyota is the supplier of the entire fleet of road side assistance. And its driving school. I got some thousands of miles under my belt driving Toyotas, and they could beat any time of the day some of the "repmobiles" company cars people are used to dream about.

Lets think about this for a while: In one side, we have a company that every car it produces, is a huge and immediate sucess. Corolla. The most ever sold model in the world, even overtaking the Beetle and the Golf. Celica. Dyna. Avensis. Yaris.Hilux.Hiace. Supra. Land Cruiser. Which SUV do you see in documentaries around the world? Carrying TV crews , humanitarian workers or gun-totting rebels ? Hilux or Land Cruisers. Simply put, there isn't a single rubbish Toyota.

In the other side, we have recalls. All right...Recalls. Who ever never heard of them. I had my 1992 brand new Fiat Uno recalled because of a ignition module. Recall is normal in the industry, and some contingency plans are always in place. Not a single make of cars is exempt from recalls, and everybody is doing them. Some end up in quiet letters to the owners, some end up in the press. Having a recall in a model has ceased to be unusual, and became a simple procedure.

The difference is, recalls are being done increasingly inside a mad health and safety insurance ridden society. It will become worse: Time will come, when you will need to tow your car from a petrol station forecourt to the main dealer, because you can only tune Chris Moyles . Today ,Toyota is having some stick, tomorrow, someone else, for sure.

My point is, even if Toyota decided to build a couple of boards with an engine attached, it would still be one of the most reliable cars about, and I would buy one. If I, as a car enthusiast and consumer, am not able to trust Toyota,who will I trust? I just give up enjoying cars and buy a fishing rod instead. Because simply, Toyota is still the most reliable way of spending money in a car. As some ancient Toyota publicity used to say, " It came to stay". Indeed.

Good luck, Toyota. Todays papers are tomorrows fish wrap...