Thursday, February 26, 2009
After a week we finally received our van from Shoppers Home Health Care. For some reason the two side doors decided they would no longer operate automatically which meant you could open the door manually and unfold the ramp yet I could not utilize the van on my own besides they required repair.
We brought it in at Shoppers Home Health Care, of course the diagnostics pointed to an electronic module which was not in stock and had to be ordered from Braun the company who modifies the vehicle. My wife picked it up yesterday after work and everything works fine.
I've always loved Toyota vehicles "I'm on my sixth" because quite frankly I've never had a serious problem with them, you turn the key and they return the favor. Maintenance is predictable and breakdowns are a rare occurrence. Since we've had this modified Toyota van we've experienced two malfunctions the first one well it simply wouldn't start, made a clicking noise but that was it. When CAA opened the hood to boost the vehicle I noticed the original Toyota battery was replaced by another manufacturer's battery.
The first thing I did was go to Toyota and have an original battery installed, you can't tell me both are compatible when one carries a two-year warranty and the other a seven year warranty. There is a difference there, apparently the cheque for the Toyota battery is in the mail.
The automatic door and ramp problem was caused by a module manufactured by Braun or a subcontractor and not an original Toyota part.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that from our brief experience with this vehicle it appears that the majority of problems we will encounter throughout its life will be caused by parts not manufactured by Toyota.
It is difficult to turn on the television today and not here something about bailing out our North American auto industry, GM is looking for an additional $10 billion and I'm not certain what Ford or Chrysler are doing. I can't help but wonder why we should pour billions into the automotive industry while companies such as Norton are permitted to go bankrupt and lay off thousands of people even without severance.
The way I see it if you build reliable products you may suffer a dramatic decline in sales during a recession yet your previous customer base and reputation will support you. On the other hand if if you build unreliable products you will fail plain and simple no matter how much money is injected into your company, couldn't our money be spent in a better way?
Over 95% of Toyota owners say they would purchase the same vehicle if given the opportunity, if my memory serves me correctly the percentage for North American vehicles from the big three was something like 60%. Doesn't that say something?
There I've vented and feel better for it.
As for the MS side of things we are still trying to raise funds for our walk, it amazes me how people will send you $50 + bouquets of flowers when you die of a disease yet they have a hard time coming up with two bucks to sponsor you when you're living and need it most don't understand I just don't.
On the construction front apparently all the parts and items have been ordered, work should start in approximately 2 weeks. I'll believe it when I see it.
Have a great day
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