Category Archives: American Auto Bailout

Getting the Most Out of Toyota for your Troubles

Posted on March 14, 2010 | 5 Comments

(Follow Me on Twitter at watchingmarcitz)

(UPDATE  3/18/10: Toyota executive offices contacted me today, OK I actually contacted them first (310-468-4000), and offered to buy back the car.  We’ll wait to see the offer before deciding whether they are trying to help or just get rid of me.)

(FURTHER UPDATE: In a conversation with one of their executive analysts today (a representative for Toyota Executives) they said to me “I feel you are trying to swindle us”.  Not exactly a way to earn points for customer service.  OH and then they “call-blocked” me (a strange badge of honor).  No worries its simple to bypass, see below.)

Key Contacts at Toyota of North America

(If you call please tell them Marc sent you)

  • Jim Lentz – President/COO – 310-468-6285
  • Nancy Fein – VP of Customer Relations – 310-468-5277

You can also reach other executives by following these simple instructions to manage their voice mail system

  • Dial their direct line at 310-468-4000
  • Select “2″ from the first menu to dial-by-name
  • You can find a list of key Toyota executive names on this website
  • After finishing the message hit “#2#” to mark the message urgent and send it.
  • You can then dial another extension by hitting “*t” and then hitting “*a” to dial by name, again

IF you get “call blocked” (you call and the call just mysteriously drops) you can either use another phone OR simply find out how to do one-time caller ID blocking of your phone number.  For Verizon you dial *67 then the phone number then “snd”.  So if you are trying to reach Mr. Lentz its *673104686285 (Send)”

The problems at Toyota (much like the Camry and Prius) are accelerating out of control and just can’t be stopped.  Unfortunately the problems go from the ridiculous (stuck accelerator pedals, brief lack of braking control) to the sublime  (body rattles and creeks and groans on brand new cars).  My own 2007/2010 Camry Hybrid has spent 7.5% of its life until now at the dealership.  My most recent trip to the dealership (my 17th one in 3 years) proved that all too true.  

Yes there were many other Camrys there for their recalls but in striking up a conversation with those other owners I noticed they also had the same interior rattles and noises that I was (and have been) experiencing.  At that moment I decided to form the Camry Coalition.  Those are other Toyota owners (Prius and Lexus also welcomed) that have had the same ongoing problems.  I decided it was time to share my experiences so that others could benefit from what I have learned.  To date for my troubles I have received the following:
  • A new 2010 Camry for $2,500 (to replace my 2007)
  • $500 in dealer credits for service and parts
  • A 2 year/25,000 maintenance warranty that covers all standard maintenance for that period.
  • A free 15,000 mile tune-up
  • Did I mention the new 2010 Camry for $2,500?

Here is the background on what has happened.

My 2007 Camry Hybrid had been experiencing various rattles.  Most notably in the pillars between the front and back seat on both driver’s and passenger’s door and in the doors themselves as well in the dashboard center console.  I had been in about 12 times to have them repair it but they could never find the source.  As a result they offered to replace my car under the California Lemon Law  (check your own state for any equivalent  ”lemon laws”).  Unfortunately my 2010 is experiencing the same body rattle problems.  Throw in a badly designed trunk groan and my car is a relative symphony of sound.
 
Regarding California Lemon Law what that means is:
  • If Toyota is unable to repair the same problem a number of times (the amount is dependent, I believe, on the type of the problem, for my rattles it was 7 repair attempts) you can request Toyota investigate and make a claim.
  • If you are cleared under Lemon Law they will determine a “usage fee” (as dictated by the California law).  That is a fee you pay EITHER to have your car replaced or money refunded.   The fee is calculated based on the mileage on your car when you reported the problem for the first time.  For example I had reported my car problem at about 3000 miles and had it repaired numerous times over the following 2 years.  I opted to have my car replaced with a comparable 2010 model for a fee of $2500.  If I returned the car and didn’t take a replacement they would have returned what I paid for the car LESS the $2500.

EVEN if you can’t get qualified under Lemon Law (or its just too soon) you can work with the Toyota Customer Experience Center (or your manufacturer’s customer satisfaction line) to get some form of retribution for your troubles as I have done above.  Please note just having to have the rattle fixed once or twice won’t get their attention but if it goes 3 or more repair attempts you definitely have a credible gripe that they will find embarrassing and want to provide some form of compensation.  The types of compensation that they are likely to do are:

  • Some form of credit for further service at a Toyota dealership.
  • A free service (e.g. free 15,000 mile service)
  • If things get really bad a maintenance contract where they will handle all standard maintenance (oil changes, tune-ups, etc…) for a certain period of time or mileage (e.g. 2 year/25,000 miles)

So a few pointers:

  • Report problems early and often so if you have to go to Lemon Law you will minimize the usage fee.
  • Keep all service receipts FOREVER.
  • Establish an ally at the dealer.
  • Contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center (or your automotive manufacturer’s customer care line) at 800-331-4331 and tell them WatchingMarcitz sent you.  Establish an ally there as well. 
  • For my own personal cause PLEASE when you are at the dealerships approach other like-minded Toyota owners and tell them about these tips.  Also please forward them to me at watchingmarcitz@yahoo.com .  I used to work in the auto industry (General Motors Corporate Marketing in the late 80s and early 90s) and I know how to pressure the automakers.  More people singing from the same hymnal will help and I will gladly organize the choir.
  • Please also keep me posted on your progress so I can gather all the information together.

Regrettably Toyota 2010 feels very much like GM felt back in the late 80s when they were presiding over falling quality and being overtaken by a foreign competitor.  For GM it was Toyota.  For Toyota it is now Kia/Hundai or Ford (both worthwhile considerations for your next car).

BONZAI!!!

Follow Me on Twitter at watchingmarcitz

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Posted in American Auto Bailout, Sense & Sensibility

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The (Scary) Math Behind the GM Taxpayer Bailout

Posted on June 1, 2009 | 11 Comments

Why are the taxpayers only going to get a few pennies on the dollar for its GM investment?  Its very simple math that goes something like this

The government effectively will get 60% of General Motors in exchange for $50 Billion in aid.

This, using standard investor math, means that GM has an implied value of:

50 Billion/.60 = $83.3 Billion

Currently (or as of last Sunday) GM had 610 million shares outstanding.

That means that for the taxpayer to break-even GM shares (in the pre-bankruptcy world) would need to be worth $136.55 PER SHARE (83.3 Billion/610 Million)

The lifetime HIGH for GM is $93.62 back in April 2000 when the going was good. So good luck with that.

Oh and to complicate matters the government will see its holdings diluted if the bondholders take the extra 10% that they were promised as part of setting up the bankruptcy filing.  If GM is doing well one would assume they would exercise these options and taxpayer shareholders would get diluted.

In that case the taxpayer stake goes to 54% which means an assumed market cap of $89.3 Billion or a per share price of $146.39

So even if GM were to return to its lifetime high of $93.62 the taxpayer would only get back $34 Billion 0r 68% of its investment if GM got as BIG as it ever was.

This of course is impossible based on the Government’s own admission that they are structuring GM to compete in an economy where car sales are 33% less than they are now. 

Sure these numbers are approximations and some of the debt might be repaid like a normal loan (and I hope most of it is) but you can tell that there is no way that the taxpayers will see even HALF of their money returned even if all the right things happened (in a short-period of time as President Obama doesn’t want to hold on for long).

Well look on the bright side.  We got rust-protection and under-coating free with the deal and we know how important those are.

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Posted in American Auto Bailout, Recession, Sense & Sensibility

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Missed it by One Day…

Posted on June 1, 2009 | Leave a comment

Well in a previous article talking about my predictions for GM I said:

Now I’m ready to double down.  GM goes into a pre-arranged bankruptcy by the end of May 2009.

Well I missed it by 1 day (forgot that May 31st was a Sunday).  Did I mention we were using “The Price is Right” rules.

Heck I think that’s still pretty good ;-)

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Posted in American Auto Bailout

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Tooting My Own Car Horn…

Posted on March 29, 2009 | 4 Comments

On December 31st, 2008 I posted a sarcastic (and hopefully not too offensive) post about how GM’s Rick Wagoner could very well have been Jesus.  In that I offered this little prediction:

  • Rick (at least his job) will likely be killed by foreigners (the same ones who have been persecuting “his people” for years)…
  • …and it will happen in the spring (end of Q1 2009)…

Well the end of Q1 2009 is March 31st and today March 30th Rick Wagoner resigned from GM.    DAMN, I missed it by 1 day…

Now I’m ready to double down.  GM goes into a pre-arranged bankruptcy by the end of May 2009.

Please make sure to reread some of my other GM commentary:

Its Time to Demote the General (from November 10th, 2008) in which I say (as a casual aside) that the AIG bailout will get larger and yet still fail (WOO-HOO, two-for-two)

An expose (of sorts) showing that many “Japanese” cars are actually more “American” than those made by GM, Ford or that company that begins with a “C”.

 A humorous look at how GM can save not just auto industry but also retailers and home owners.

And, of course, the original is Rick Jesus article

One final thought:

Chrysler is already a Japanese company.  Afterall who else but the Japanese would partner first with the Germans (Mercedes-Benz) and then the Italians (Fiat) in what will turn out to be a failed effort for world (economic) domination.

Thanks for listening.  Do us all a favor and please buy cars made in America (by Toyota, maybe Ford).

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Posted in American Auto Bailout

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They’re Cool…

Posted on January 7, 2009 | 1 Comment

bailout1

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Posted in American Auto Bailout, Parody

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Is Rick Wagoner Actually Jesus?

Posted on December 31, 2008 | 1 Comment

Speculation has been rampant on this point.  Here are the facts from General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner’s recent past.  You decide for yourself:

  • Both Rick and Jesus are part of a “Big 3″
  • Jesus upset the merchants (John 2:16), Rick upset the entire economy (WSJ 12/17:A1)
  • Rick received presents right around Christmas delivered by “men from the east (coast)” (although they weren’t considered to be “wise”)
  • Rick (at least his job) will likely be killed by foreigners (the same ones who have been persecuting “his people” for years)…
  • …and it will happen in the spring (end of Q1 2009)…
  • …and his career will likely be resurrected (as implausible as that sounds)…

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Posted in American Auto Bailout, Parody

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GM Announces Plan to Save Homeowners, Auto Industry and Retailers

Posted on December 21, 2008 | 3 Comments

Not long after receiving a federal bailout General Motors announced today their new “Mortgage too heavy? Move to a Chevy!” program to provide a lifeline to victims of foreclosure while turning around failing demand for its line of cars.   The new program is designed to allow underwater homeowners to swap out their homes and move into a brand new vehicle from General Motors.

With the price of the average American home hovering around that of a 2008 midsized sedan, General Motors Rick Wagoner thought the time was right for this innovative program.  “Remember when you had to be a wealthy Hollywood star to live in Malibu.  Well now even the poorest former homeowner can too just by going to their local Chevy dealership, where there are enough Malibus for everyone, at bargain basement prices.”  Wagoner then went on to highlight the advantages of living this way,  ”…unlike a typical home, with only a front and a back door,  this one has four doors.  Think of it as a private entrance for each family member.  Now that’s luxury!”

Retailers have also applauded the move.  Ellen Davis, Vice President of the National Retail Federation, saw an opportunity.  “Empty stores have meant empty parking lots”, said Davis.  To deal with this problem NRF and GM have partnered to rent those spaces to new GM homeowners.  Davis went on “Its a win-win situation, our customers get a home, a place to park it and access to the clean bathrooms in our stores which means we’ll finally be able to generate foot traffic in time for the next holiday season.”

When asked about GM’s past failures to improve fuel efficiency Wagoner responded, “We are now providing a way to reduce green-house gas emissions from homes by 100%.   You know how much less fossil fuel it takes to heat a Buick than a 2000 square foot house?  Lets see Toyota top that!”

Wagoner expects to capture 20% market-share of the 10 million foreclosures expected next year leading to a net increase in vehicle sales of 2 million in 2009 alone.

Executives and workers at cross-town rival Chrysler have alredy expressed interest in the program not as competitors but as actual buyers.  Executives for Cerberus, Chrysler’s owner, could not be reached for comment.

Even with this innovative program GM’s famous marketing strategy “A car for every purse and purpose” has not been forgotten.  For those that haven’t been hit as hard by the economic downturn GM offers a a more spacious 2-bedroom Homevee which sleeps both you and your foreclosed neighbors comfortably, although your comfort may vary.

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Posted in American Auto Bailout, Parody

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Bush – In Like a Lion Out Like a Pelosi

Posted on December 19, 2008 | Leave a comment

So today President Bush in his last (we can only hope) in a string of failed crisis management efforts proved that he couldn’t even get being a Republican correct. “Non-binding” was often the strategy used by the Pelosi congress to enact “concessions” from the Bush administration on the war in Iraq. How’s that working?

Well the proposed “non-binding provision” laden loans given to auto-makers, I can only assume , will have the same success.   March 30th watch for the headline “over 4000 have died in effort to save the Auto Industry, loan surge proposed to stop the bleeding”.    Thank you President Pelosi!

DAMMIT where are my shoes?!?!?!?!?

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Posted in American Auto Bailout

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Congress Takes a Page from GM Playbook -WHY???

Posted on December 7, 2008 | Leave a comment
On Saturday there was an article in the New York Times entitled “At GM, Innovation Sacrificed to Profits“.  The headline of this article should have been “At Congress, Innovation Sacrificed to Profits” and it should have been about the House’s current proposed solution to GM’s “problem” because the parallels are prophetic, ironic and downright scary.  According to this article, GM, when faced with a chance to innovate, would eventually take the money for innovation and redirect it to fund the base business.


If the current proposal goes through to reassign the $25 billion fund, which is slated for innovation, because, and I quote the article, “the money was needed elsewhere” then Congress will be following in GM’s footsteps (a set of footsteps it has been criticizing strongly for the past two weeks) and, one can rightfully assume, will be doomed to the same fate – That’s the PROPHETIC.


Are Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Frank aware that they are behaving just like GM in their current actions? That’s the IRONIC. 


While GM can go to Congress when it fails who can Congress go to when it makes the same bad decisions?  We the taxpayers – That’s the SCARY.


Is anyone else concerned that Congress has shown no ability to learn EITHER from its own mistakes (how’s their last financial bailout plan going?) let alone the mistakes of others? That’s just SAD. 

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Posted in American Auto Bailout, Deja View, Sense & Sensibility

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I Couldn’t Have Said It Better Myself

Posted on November 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

I recently stumbled upon this excellent response to a misguided New York Times editorial that argued that GM needed to be protected from bankruptcy.  The response, posted by Mr. Lancelot Fletcher, argued that, in fact, bankruptcy was exactly the remedy that is needed, is not all that bad and is the best course for GM and the economy.  While these were the exact points I wanted to make Mr. Fletcher beat me to it and I like to give credit where credit is due.  To that end I have reproduced Mr. Fletcher’s comments below:

Isn’t this — the current plight of the big auto makers — exactly what Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code was designed for? Chapter 11 is not the “drop dead” option. (That would be Chapter 7.) A Chapter 11 debtor normally proposes a plan of reorganization to keep the business alive, pay creditors over time, and ultimately return to profitability. Many large companies have entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy without ceasing operations and some (e.g. Delta Airlines) have subsequently emerged as profitable enterprises.

I don’t think the opponents of a Washington bailout for the auto industry are proposing that the Big Three should be simply liquidated under Chapter 7. Hence talk about the millions of jobs that would be lost if bailout legislation is not enacted is misleading and exaggerated.

If the opposing sides on this issue would listen to each other, they might discover that they are not that far apart. The advocates of the bailout are not proposing to have the government simply lend money to the auto companies with no strings attached. They are proposing to require, as a condition of the loan, that the industry agree to a far-reaching reorganization of the industry. On the other hand, reorganization is precisely what is required in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It’s true that in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy the US Congress does not normally get to dictate the terms of the reorganization. But most Americans would probably agree that having the government specify the terms of business organization is not a good idea. So the argument of the opponents of the bailout might be that we should not enact new laws to do what the existing laws are already capable of accomplishing.

Thank you Mr. Fletcher!

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Posted in $700,000,000,000 Bailout, American Auto Bailout, Sense & Sensibility

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