A car salesman is curious about the legacy of what he calls “some of the most reliable brands on the market” in the wake of a developing story shaking the automotive world.
TikTok creator Keshawn (@lifewithkey_), whose TikTok channel is dedicated to “selling cars the right way,” posted the video on Thursday and it has amassed more than 45,000 views since then. In the video, he tells the story shared by multiple media outlets about the raid on Toyota headquarters in Japan.
According to the CNN account, “Japanese officials flocked to Toyota headquarters on Tuesday, after the scope of the safety testing scandal at a number of automakers in the country expanded this week. The Japanese Ministry of Transport told CNN that the inspections in Toyota offices in central Japan will continue during the next few days. This comes at a time when the world’s largest automaker in terms of sales faces increasing concerns about the approval of some of its cars.
This article also noted that “the department said five automakers — Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha — provided incorrect or tampered with safety test data when they applied for vehicle certification.”
Kishon continues, “Toyota was using modified cars when they were using their safety tests and they were manipulating the data to show that their cars were safer than they appeared to be. Toyota claims that this does not affect any of the vehicles currently on the ground. Only the cars Which was in production, which they have since stopped.”
Kishun also pointed to a press conference on Monday in which Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder and the company’s president, apologized for his company’s actions.
According to CNN, he said: “I intend to expand our efforts across the entire group and restore on-site authority to create a solid corporate culture that makes cars better than ever before.”
Is Toyota still the leader when it comes to reliability?
Kishon wondered how this would impact consumers’ perceptions of brands. “Does this change your opinion of some of the more reliable brands?” Asked. “Or do you guys think it was just a mistake?”
Commenters had ideas.
“They are still running forever,” one of them opined. “It’s still safer than most others on the road. I have a Honda and a Toyota in my garage. I’ve owned several over the past 25 years and there’s never been a problem.”
Another said: “I still believe in basic Toyotas, but these newer cars with bells and whistles are not reliable because there are more breaking points.”
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Another person said: “This is just my opinion, but Toyota is living up to its legacy now. It’s still good, but nowhere near the peak of quality in the 80s and 90s.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Keshawn via email and Toyota via the online form.
Phil West
Phil West is a veteran professional writer, editor, and author of two soccer books, USA Soccer and I Think We’ll Win, both from The Overlook Press. His work has recently appeared in The Striker (where he serves as managing editor), MLSSoccer.com, Next City, and Texas Highways. Based in Austin, he is also a lecturer in the writing program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
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