It is relevant. Ignore the all-time historical data, if you like. Toyota is the most poorly engineered vehicles made and it shows in the stats. Recall=engineering mistake; some small(Chrysler's airbag warning stickers for instance), some huge(1988-1991 Camry pw/pdl relay fires that killed 32 mostly elderly). It doesn't matter if a car company produces 10 or 10,000,000 cars, a recall means the model(s) recalled had a production or engineering mistake. But like Toyota has proven, if you slap some soft vinyl on the dash and advertise for 30 years that your company equals quality, stupid people will overlook all the engineering problems and swear by your quality, even when their own experience proves otherwise. It's always, "Except for this one problem, it's the best car I've ever owned." Then again, and again, and again.

 

Again, those people saying this is valuable data are missing the point. Sure a recall means that there is something wrong with your vehicle. On the other hand a lack of a recall does not mean there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. Al it means is that the manufacturer is not fixing anything for free. This either means there is nothing wrong, or that there is something wrong and he manufacturer does not think it is a big enough issue to warrant fixing.

This is not an exact analogy but: the 2010 Texas High School Football State Champions did not have any losses (recalls) the 2010 Detroit lions had nothing but losses... I doubt anyone would argue that Abilene High had a higher quality team than the Lions. Again, not an exact analogy but it shows that raw data like this is generally completely useless, especially so if interpreted by anyone without significant training in statistics.

 

http://ca.askmen.com/cars/car_tips_60/93_car_tip.html

 

I am not surprised by Ford's poor record all thru each category. I have a friend who gets such a good deal because he waits till the end of the model year and buys his trucks for his business off the lot and the prices are down, or some kind of incentive but he pays later because he gets the f250 with diesel and on one truck alone has had motors, in another truck 2 dash fires and many front end problems but since he plows snow I will give that one to ford because snow plows are rough on ball joints I know I have a 85 gmc 3/4 ton had to put ball joints at 30000 kms. But out of the 3 trucks I believe he has now at least one is in the shop always and not just for maintainence, always big problems. So I can believe that chart

 

Toyota to me, equals scrap metal, and the dealership didn't give a hoot, I've had my fun with them.

Ford, currently, still not happy with our '07 4.6 LTD. Explorer. Tranny problems, and Ford has done nothing to rectify the situation, other then reflash the TCM.

Our '11 Regal Turbo, had some minor issues and GM has resolved all problems thus far without one excuse! Top notch, I'm picky about vehicles.

Dodge, I'm on the fence now, my old dealer was cut of their license, which was a terrible mistake for Chrysler, seeing thus dealership was TOP NOTCH as well.

Bottom line, I base my vehicles status based on how manufactures, or dealerships pride themselves with quality customer service.

 

I agree, service after the sale is more important than what the vehicle actually is.
You can have the best vehicle in the world, but it isnt worth the metal its made of if they wont take care of you.

 

Frankly, I don't think we'd be hearing that recalls are irrelevant to quality from a Ford owner if it were Chrysler having the highest rate of recalls.

Of course recalls are relevant and manufacturers are very sensitive to the issue, not just because of the impact to revenue, but because it inconveniences owners, erodes consumer confidence and tarnishes brand reputation. Look what happened to Toyota sales during the months their unintended acceleration problems were in the news. Sales fell and lawsuits were filed against them because resale values on certain Toyota models dropped considerably.

Regards,
Dusty
2010 Ram Big Horn 1500 Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 545RFE, 3.92 LSD, dual exhaust, 20” wheels