When you want to buy a reliable vehicle, you’ll probably be met with a recurring chorus of folks chanting “Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Acura” over and over. Sometimes, you’ll get people who’ll switch it up and maybe toss in a Mazda as well, but Toyota and Honda, along with their luxury offerings, are usually touted as some of the longest-lasting cars on the market.
However, according to TikToker Robert Montalvo, who goes by Robb the Car Guy online (@robbthecarguy), these brands are “some of the hardest cars to sell…by a mile” in a viral clip he posted.
The content creator repeats near the top of his video, stressing that in his “14 years of experience” Hondas, Toyotas, and Lexuses are “by far the hardest used cars to sell.”
Why Toyota, Honda, Lexus are hard to sell
The reason? Price. Because these brands’ resale values are so high, this often puts consumers in a position where they must either pay upfront for a quality vehicle that won’t leave them with hefty repair bills, or a planned obsolescence hunk of junk that may cost a little now, but will leave you stranded.
“They are just too expensive,” Montalvo says. “You can get a 2018 Kia Forte, cheaper than you can get a 2010 Corolla.”
Montalvo says this outlook on buying cars may be a generational issue: “You know, today’s generation doesn’t care about depreciation. They don’t care about reliability. They care about motherf*cking Apple Car Play…lane change assistance, and cruise control. You know Toyota lacks features man, yes it has dependability and reliability and it holds its values, but Toyotas only do good at the auction. They don’t do good retail.”
To elucidate his point, he transitions his video to show a green screen of a car sales page and begins to narrate prices: “You can buy a 2018 F-150 with 115,000 miles cheaper than you can buy a 2007 Toyota Tundra with 324,000 miles. Now this is just an example. I’ve been in the industry 14 years and I’ve sold hundreds…thousands of cars, right?”
@robbthecarguy #robbthecarguy #moneymanweems ♬ original sound – RobbTheCarGuy
The TikToker then pointed to another reason that folks may not be buying used Hondas, Toyotas, or Lexuses: “I’ve never, ever, ever made money on a Toyota, Honda, or Lexus. Lexus it’ll sit on your lot till it rots. Toyota, it brings the cheapest, the cheapest, the cheapest people on the planet. Honda, brings the thugs and the youngsters.”
According to Repair Pal, Toyota ranks 4 out of 5 for repairability, an “above average” score according to the website. Fletcher Jones automotive group referenced Toyota’s “legendary” dependability on its website stating that the only other brand that ranked higher, according to Consumer Reports was Lexus—which is technically a fancy Toyota.
Slash Gear also echoed these glowing reviews for the brand, mentioning that it wasn’t just Consumer Reports that gave Toyota a massive thumbs-up for its reliability, but J.D. Power and Associates too: “The reliability was measured based on the number of problems per 100 vehicles, and they had 11 fewer than the second-place finisher. Toyota does not come in second here, though. They fall to seven, which is still great considering its vehicles encounter about 18 fewer issues per 100 vehicles than the industry average. To get even more granular, J.D. Power specifically lists the Lexus RX and Toyota CH-R as the most dependable cars on the market in a tie.”
Robb the Car Guy weighs in
The Daily Dot spoke with Montalvo via email, where he responded to one of his commenter’s claims that shoppers who go for Toyotas are necessarily more intelligent buyers than others who opt for different car brands.
“I don’t believe that the buyers of these Japanese models have a higher IQ,” he wrote. “I believe initial buyers are more conscientious of how far their dollar will go 5-10 years down the line. The 2nd-4th owners of these vehicles still want reliability and dependability, as well as easy to work on and fix, which these brands are known for. “
He did address that in different used car market areas there is an overabundance of Toyota and Honda models for sale: “The market is over-saturated in certain areas. In my market, Orlando Fl, Toyotas and Hondas can be found on every street corner and back alley. This makes it extremely difficult to turn profits.”
The salesman also further explained the problems he comes across purchasing these particular makes at auctions: “When purchasing Toyotas and Hondas at the auction, dealer are paying what others will pay on FB MARKETPLACE, making it difficult to recondition a vehicle for resale.”
The Daily Dot has also reached out to Toyota and Honda via email for further comment.
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