New to Forum, not to Camry
 

Hello, I have had my Camry since December. It now has 47,xxx miles on the odo. I just replaced both of the rear hub bearing carriers. They were humming obnoxiously. I had to do the same replacement on my '01 at 150K. The '11 is US built. The '01 was Japan built. Has anyone else had similar quality/reliability issues? Is it newer vs older or US vs Japanese build? I'm a long time Toyota owner, but a little disappointed with this car. Is it just a lower build anomaly or are the newer cars just not as good as the older ones? Not saying the car is bad, just not up to my previous experience. I tend to keep my cars a long time.
Thanks for listening.

My opinion is between the 01 and 11 a lot changed in manufacturer direction and intent and it has shown up in the difference between the two cars. I doubt the issue is between build locations as US workers can (if allowed) make quality products.

The 01 was a solid car having a proven engine/transmission and simple engine/trans/ systems controls. Things started to change in 02 not only with a new generation of Camry but Toyota's goal to be No 1 in car production.

Typically with increased production comes decreased quality and Toyota was no different as it soon lost its way in being able to build quality cars. This caught up to them and they have have never fully recovered.

Then there were yen/dollar exchange issues and growing competition from US car makers and others requiring the need to cut prices to compete and something had to give.

The differences in quality between the two cars are the result of all of the above and you are not the first to notice the difference.

That was my thinking as well. Just wanted to get other opinions. Thanks for the feedback. The '11 has been a good driving car so far, just noticing a few things that don't live up to the '01. I do like the oil filter placement better. I guess time will tell how much the quality has changed.