Wen\Wei WuXian
In April, the "Vehicle Quality Network" complaint ranking list has been announced, and in the April list, GAC Toyota Highlander ranked second in the SUV complaint list and the first place in the fuel SUV complaint list with more than 200 complaints.
The explosion of Highlander's complaint problem stems from its engine noise and frequent body resonance problems, especially some car owners say that Highlander has been recalled in the North American market due to problems such as engine noise, and the relevant accessories have been replaced for the owner's free warranty, which has caused consumer dissatisfaction.
Specifically, the main problem of Highlander is the design defect of the rear windsel, and the owner of the 2022 Highlander complained: "The design defect of the rear windsel: 1, the engine vibration is large, the noise is large, the reason is the design defect of the rear foot of the car engine." The US market has issued a recall announcement in December 2021, replacing the owner with the same rear foot of the Xena car free of charge, and the problem has improved. 2, the rearview mirror folding when the sound is too large, 4S shop after processing or the sound is loud, in addition, when the mirror is closed, there are signs of shaking. It is strongly requested that the State Administration of Market Regulation order GAC Toyota to face the design defects and replace the rear feet for consumers free of charge in a responsible manner. ”
Coincidentally, in the car quality network and car friends forum, most of the complaints are also concentrated here, for example, there are also car friends who complained: "GAC Toyota's fourth-generation 2.5L hybrid Highlander engine noise is large, and the cab throttle pedal, body, steering wheel all feel obvious resonance." The same engine did not have Highlander's engine noise, steering wheel and other resonance problems on the Toyota Sena that was later released. The current US version of Highlander has begun to recall the replacement of the engine after the foot glue to solve the vibration problem, but GAC Toyota Highlander also has this quality problem, and has not seen the manufacturer recall replacement parts. Manufacturers are strongly requested to improve this problem. In addition, there are many abnormal noises in the interior of the car, and the front gauges, A-pillars, and thin middle and rear seats are extremely serious. ”
From the complaints of car owners, it is not difficult to find that there are two main problems of Guangfeng Highlander, one is the suspected product problem, that is, the engine noise caused by the engine foot behind the engine that the car friends say is too large; the other is Toyota's "double standard" problem, which is recalled in overseas markets and rarely done in China, thus causing consumer dissatisfaction.
In fact, Highlander in the field of 7-seat SUV has always had a very high degree of recognition, belongs to the leader of the same level of SUVs, sales data show that Highlander sales in March reached more than 7,000 vehicles, January-March cumulative sales of more than 25,000 vehicles, from the sales performance, its performance can be described as very good.
But with the fermentation of the engine noise gate incident, Highlander's reputation may be affected. Previously, Toyota Camry and other problems due to the increase in oil have been criticized by many consumers, causing certain damage to Toyota's brand reputation, and this time falling into the noise gate will undoubtedly have another impact on its brand.
It is worth noting that not long ago Toyota has just been recalled in the North American market and in China due to vsC body stability control system problems, involving a number of heavy models including Willanda, Highlander, Xena, Wesa, Crown Land Release, RAV4 Rongfang, etc., with a cumulative recall of more than 100,000 vehicles, and the Highlander engine problem complaint fermentation is also after the Toyota recall due to VSC body stability control system problems.
Write at the end:
Regardless of the reason, for GAC Toyota, at this time Highlander's engine noise problem is showing a continuous fermentation trend, if the manufacturer can not solve as soon as possible, as soon as possible, then it is likely to have a negative impact on its brand, and even make Highlander gradually walk down the "altar", for car owners, will also lose favorability to manufacturers, while reducing GAC Toyota's mental share in the domestic market.
(This article is originally produced by the editorial department of [Auto Industry] New Media, the author of this article is Wei Wuxian, and the reprint should indicate the source)