China Net Automobile, March 9 (Reporter, Li Chi) Corolla, as a global strategic model under Toyota, has sold more than 50 million vehicles globally since its release 56 years ago. In the domestic market, Corolla has also sold 4.50 million vehicles, becoming the absolute sales force of FAW Toyota. However, since 2022, the China Net Car Quality Complaint Platform (I want to complain: http://315.auto.china.com.cn/) has received a number of complaints about the 2021 FAW Toyota Corolla model. The most common problems are the setbacks and abnormal noises of the CVT transmission, which are concentrated on the Corolla models equipped with 1.2T turbocharged engines.
Corolla was affected by the low speed of the gearbox and the abnormal sound "haunted" FAW Toyota just passable in response to complaints
Mr. Pan, the owner of the 2021 FAW Toyota Corolla 1.2T S-CVT Elite Edition model, said: The CVT gearbox experienced a very serious setback at low speed. The new car bought in June last year had no problems when driving normally, but the setback was severe at low speed, or when it slowed down and accelerated, the setback was also very serious. The 4S shop actually said it was a common problem, suggesting that if there was a problem, the gearbox might need to be replaced.
In 2021, a 2021 Corolla owner in Tangshan, Mr. Zhou, described: "The manufacturer told me that it is normal, saying that there is a gear gap after the gearbox gear expands. They also said that all CVT models have this problem, but many CVT models I have driven do not have this sound. When the car stereo is not particularly loud, you can hear the sound of the gearbox gear hitting, and you can record it with your mobile phone in the car. Generally, when refueling and collecting oil at medium and low speeds of 20-30, you can hear this abnormal sound, accompanied by obvious frustration. If this sound is within the acceptable range, I may not look for them like this. Especially when driving in the community, this car is constantly thumping…, just like driving a tractor. "
After checking major complaint platforms and forums in China, the reporter of China Net found that the abnormal noise and setback of the CVT transmission of the Corolla model are also the problems that the owners have strongly reported. Since February 17, 2022, the "Pony Talk Car" column of China Net Automobile has also been tracking the Corolla’s transmission setback and abnormal noise problems. "Pony Talk Car" tried to mediate between the 4S store, the official customer service of FAW Toyota 400 and the owner to find the best solution, but in the end it was fruitless. Like the reply received by the owner, the manufacturer insisted that there is no problem with the quality of the vehicle.
Compared with the high response rate and high case closure rate of car companies such as Changan Ford and Great Wall Euler, FAW Toyota’s data on the China Network Automotive Quality Complaint Platform is not "good-looking". The latest data shows that the platform received 10 complaints about FAW Toyota in February, and the number of replies was 4, and the response rate was 40%. The performance of the case closure rate is just passable. FAW Toyota received 10 complaints in February, and the number of closed cases on the platform was "0".
Corolla has carried out a large number of recalls one after another, and the outlook is not optimistic
The latest data shows that Corolla sold 12,564 units in January 2022. Although the figure of over 10,000 units in a single month is not bad, it has dropped by as much as 65% year-on-year, and the monthly sales decline of 30,000 units in December last year is equally amazing. Throughout 2021, Corolla sold 318,303 units, with an average monthly sales volume of more than 26,000 units. However, in the traditional peak sales season, Corolla sold only more than 10,000 units in August and September last year, and sales have taken a sharp turn.
Although the domestic auto market is still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lack of cores, the decline in Corolla sales may be more closely related to its own product performance. In June 2021, FAW Toyota issued a recall of over 191,900 Corolla models. Due to the insufficient compression of some components of the vehicle’s high-pressure fuel pump, abnormal wear may occur inside the high-pressure fuel pump during use, and fatigue cracks may occur at the welding of the high-pressure fuel pump, and there may be fuel seepage. Then in July, FAW Toyota recalled 116,500 Corolla dual-engine models. Due to the imperfect braking control computer program of the adaptive cruise system installed in the vehicle, the brake light was not lit when the system performed slight braking in some speed ranges. In extreme cases, it may cause rear-end collisions. In January this year, 162,301 FAW Toyota Corollas were recalled due to engine ignition coil manufacturing problems. In extreme cases, it may lead to flameout during driving.
According to industry analysis, car recalls do reflect the responsible attitude of car companies towards product defects, but too frequent recalls undoubtedly also expose Corolla’s shortcomings in quality control. Combing through the complaint data of China’s online automotive quality complaint platform, Corolla’s complaints account for about 40% of FAW Toyota’s total complaints. Complaints mainly focus on abnormal noises and transmission setbacks.
At the same time, on the China Automobile Quality Complaint Platform, FAW Toyota’s 2019 Asian Dragon 2.0L fuel version was also reported to have a failure of "the engine continuously turned off for no reason, and the fault light was on". Earlier, FAW Toyota Asian Dragon was plagued by abnormal noises and "increased oil". In fact, shortly after its launch in 2019, the Asian Dragon has frequently experienced abnormal noises in the sunroof, abnormal noises in the car, and abnormal noises in the central control, which has also triggered a large number of complaints from car owners. At the same time, the problem of "increased oil" in the winter dual-engine models has attracted strong attention from the outside world. Mainly because the engine is used repeatedly in the winter when it cannot be fully warmed up, a small amount of condensed dew in the engine cannot evaporate, and is mixed into the engine oil, so that the engine cannot be fully lubricated, which has caused the owners to worry about the service life of the engine, and asked Toyota to provide extended quality assurance service for the engine of the dual-engine vehicle, but it was not adopted in the end.
Since Toyota entered China, its products have accumulated a good reputation in China for their high reliability, and the reputation of "Toyota that can’t be broken" has also spread. In 2018, FAW Toyota released a new brand slogan of "True to Extreme", in which "Extreme" represents FAW Toyota’s ultimate precision and perfection in production quality. However, a series of complaints may put FAW Toyota’s "True to Extreme" quality aura to the real test.
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