- Mark Dolliver, Adweek

During the Winter Olympics telecast, it was tempting to laugh at the numerous Toyota commercials that thanked consumers for standing by the brand in its time of tribulation. A couple of polls released this week give reason to think the premise of these commercials reflects wishful thinking on Toyota's part. But the surveys do find that people who already own a Toyota are more inclined than others to cut the company some slack.

In a CBS News survey conducted at the end of February and beginning of March, 54 percent of Toyota owners said they think the company has done a good job of "handling the problems with some of their automobiles," vs. 27 percent saying it has done a bad job. (The rest weren't sure.) Among respondents in general, the "good job" vote just narrowly exceeded the "bad job" tally, 39 percent vs. 34 percent.

In the same poll, Toyota owners split evenly on the question of whether the company's management is "telling the truth" about its vehicles' problems or "mostly telling the truth but hiding something" (43 percent apiece). Another 5 percent said Toyota management is "mostly lying." Lackluster as those numbers are from Toyota's viewpoint, they're better than the figures for respondents in general: 27 percent "telling the truth," 49 percent "hiding something" and 11 percent "mostly lying."

Still, the CBS News survey makes it clear that plenty of damage has been done to the loyalty of Toyota owners. If they were "in the market to buy a new car right now," 35 percent would be less likely to buy another Toyota. Then again, 22 percent said they'd be more likely to do so. Perhaps some consumers yearn for the thrill of uncontrolled acceleration. Among respondents in general, 49 percent said they'd be less likely to buy a Toyota if they were in the market now for a new car, vs. 16 percent saying they'd be more likely to do so.

A USA Today/Gallup poll, fielded at the end of last month, also finds Toyota owners shaken by all the bad news, though less so than respondents in general.  Among Toyota owners surveyed, 26 percent said they've "lost confidence in Toyota vehicles." Thirty-eight percent of non-Toyota owners said the same. Fifty-three percent of this poll's Toyota owners (and 56 percent of non-owners) believe the company has "not moved quickly enough in responding to possible safety issues with Toyota vehicles."

The comparatively good news for Toyota in this poll is that owners of vehicles made by the company believe it's "safe to ride in a Toyota vehicle" (including its high-end Lexus line) -- an opinion shared by a bare majority (53 percent) of respondents who don't own a Toyota-made car.