Oh What a Feeling!

The recent onslaught of Toyota commercials on TV are worth commenting on. We all know they are in response to the recent assault on Toyota's reliability based reputation due to issues with their recent product flaws. We all know what they are and why. But having worked for a car rental company that seems to specialize in domestic brand vehicles for a bit now, (I would estimate 89% of our fleet) I think that I can shed some light on the matter.

A large percentage of our rental contracts are made with vehicle replacement customers. These are customers whose personal vehicles are replaced by one of our vehicles because of recalls, scheduled maintenance, and or warranty repairs done by the manufacturer usually at a local dealer. Our vehicle is offered as a courtesy by said dealer. As a rule, the branding of the rental has to match the manufacturer as well as the class of vehicle that the customer owns.

As a point of courtesy I often ask customers what their vehicle is in for and I am often astounded by the issues they have encountered. From malfunctioning computers to burned out pistons, from self firing auto starters to blank GPS screens, from failing wheel ball bearings to random power steering loss and the list continues. However there are two characteristics that all these contracts share 1. A single visit to the dealer is usually not enough to fix the issue (so much so customers are considered regulars). 2. The vehicles in questions are unnervingly new (some well within the first six months after purchase).

So why aren't domestics being pursued and badgered with the same zeal as Toyota is?

I leave it to you.