Problems Continue for Toyota

GM is more responsive to the issue than Toyota. That is awesome!!!

 

Toyota... Moving Forward... even if the driver doesn't want to!

 

I'll take the lead pedal ES350 over those crapboxes any day. And isn't that the same offer they always run? They're actually pretty sucky deals if you look at them.

"$1,000 lease termination assistance" is the exact same as "$1,000 cash back." It's $1,000! Surprise.
And who wants to own any of those Sloth stand-ins for 5 years? HEY YOU GUYS!

GM = General Motors....really...they're just general, bland cars...thats it.

 

The Toyota meltdown is really hurting you , isn't it? Their quality has been in decline for years, the cover-ups are exposed daily, others have caught and surpassed their "quality", they have a massive Washington lobby squad frantically calling in favors to mitigate the damage, the "solution"s are in doubt, the lawsuits will be epic and widespread, KBB dropped their resale value, their stock sank, losses in the billions and climbing, super techie Steve Jobs claims their solution/customer service stank, NHTSA investigations, Congressional investigations on the way-and the best you can do is try and refer to GM's product line as "bland"? Priceless.

 

I couldn't have described Toyota any better - their stuff is either boring or downright offensive. Definitely not style "to die for".

 

Interesting the direction of this thread.

As for the defense of GM products as not being bland ... heck wake up and smell the roses. 99% of what GM produce are only just cars made for the bear minimum requirement, ie. moving people. Utterly aimed at the non-car person.

The worst car my parents owned was a GM product ... I'll walk before I ever own one, and yes I fully accept they make better cars now, but I don't agree with their concept of a car. Cars don't have to be just cars ...

This is also why I will likely never own a Toyota Camry, but the Toyota Corolla has a little bit of character because it is aimed at a younger market. But saying that my next car won't probably be a Toyota.
Pete

 

Nope. In the business world, my caring is for sale and Toyota isn't paying.

With that said, it would be awesome if they folded and left town. Imagine the southern hillbillies now without a job because they couldn't build a crapbox Camry right. Or better yet, Toyota should stick around and do a GM. Build **** for three decades, get on government assistance, and then pretend they've changed their act. That'd be priceless.

GM has been a ****pile for decades. Too big, too bland, too corporate. I'm not naive enough to believe they've changed in anyway. And since I don't own stock in them, I don't care much about their place in the world. Well...besides my taxes they took and haven't paid back yet. Hell, even Citigroup was kind enough to do that in a timely fashion.

F GM and F Toyota. Citigroup I like...their stock made me money.

 

..because it didn't have to happen.The accident was the Off. Saylor incident in San Diego last August when he and his wife and brother in law all talked to 9-1-1 in an attempt to find out how to stop their runaway Lexus but to no avail.It crashed at 120 mph.
I started a book on Toyota problems soon after that and Toyota keeps adding a new car every few days to the fix it list but I will be done in a month. 'Preciate it if anybody knows any literary agents or publishers who might be interested.

Ironic that I have stepped to the consumer activist side from enthusiast cars....

 

anything in the book about how a trained officer didn't know how to put a car in neutral?

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100222/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall

 

...ahhh, always liked Hondas better anyway.

 

"anything in the book about how a trained officer didn't know how to put a car in neutral?"


A hard, cruel question that needs to be asked.

I predict that many of not most unintended acceleration events will eventually be attributed to driver error.

Things that don't prove a defect caused a particular accident:

- Toyota coverup, lobbying, PR efforts
- # of deaths

Where is the science that shows the cause of even one of these crashes? That's a serious question!

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q1/toyota_recall_scandal_media_circus_and_stupid_drivers-editorial

 

the best line:
"...you don't know to shift to neutral if the engine races unexpectedly, you're going to succumb to what can only be described as natural selection. "


I do agree w/ the writer that Toy is screwed. Its just a matter of how much. IMO Toy will comeback but not w/o a heavy price. I think some or all of the following incentives will be offered:
1. Price cut
2. SPecial Financing rates
3. Longer Warranties


and I'll be inline to buy.

 

Gotta get your aggravation out somehow.
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Yea I thought that was a little too graphic.

It is extremely easy for us to say WTF didn't he put it in neutral. When panic sets in you just don't think as clearly. That is precisely why the Military trains extensively for panic scenarios. They just don't say, "when your Helicopter touches water it will immeadiately flip over. Be prepared and remember you will be upside down. "

Sitting down at your desk and talking about it is a hell of a lot different than being in that situation.

 

But don't you think maybe this country should take some responsibility? Our driver education is absolutely pathetic. You drive around at the speed limit, you get on the highway for a couple miles. I took my driver's test 3 years ago and I remember there being nothing about what to do in an emergency other than slam on the brakes. The test was far more concerned with the exact length of distance between you and another car for when to turn your high-beams off, 500ft. (I had to look it up)

 

The guy was a cop. Shouldn't he have had some training about staying cool in a crisis? It's a fair criticism in this case.

 

I'm not a hwy patrolman but I had my accel. get stuck ... in city traffic. I hit the brakes and kicked away the floor mat (which I then got rid of). Had that not worked I would have put the car in neutral. (I drove some crappy cars in college and had that routine down anyway, whenever the engine stalled .. shift into neutral, turn the key to restart the engine, shift back into Drive).

A hwy patrolman whose JOB is to drive in many critical situations has NO EXCUSE for not putting the car in neutral. Unfortunately, more than him paid the price in that case.

Again, to be clear: Toyota (or anybody else) should not be making defective cars and should take action immediately when defects become apparent. They are responsible for making defective products. HOWEVER, it is EVERY DRIVER'S DUTY to realize that cars are man-made objects and thus subject to many forms of failure. When we take our families on a car ride we are responsible for them. It is our duty to be prepared for a number of failure scenarios.

 

I was speaking of all drivers involved in this issue. One would assume the cop would know what to do in that case. Assuming can have dire consequences though.

 

Is the shiftlever in a modern toyota connected to the autobox, or is it a by wire system, and if so will it allow a shift to neutral at highway speeds.

I was always curious about the pushbutton starts on many modern cars. My guess is that they are cheaper to produce than a key and barrel. If you were driving down the road at speed and hit the engine start/stop button would it stop the engine.

Seems we are at the point where there is no manual mechanical overide for many things on modern cars. Ever had a computer freeze, not may immediate options.

Drive by wire is a product of fuel economy and emissions regs, keeps the talking heads in Washington bussy with yet more regs on regs..

 

I am also pointing out in very clear words that all drivers are responsible for what they do and don't do.

 

Listening to one of the drivers today that experienced uncontrolled acceleration, the driver with both feet on the brake, emergency brake engaged, shift in reverse and the ignition in the off position had no control. I also heard a tape of the police officer as he entered the intersection that took his life telling the 911 dispatcher he had no control of the 120 mph car. Dam computers!

 

Only on a Toyota if you hold the button in for 3 seconds ... and who the heck would know to do that?

And also traction control, etc. Basically assuming control of the vehicle ... because of course it is cheaper to make the car more complex than to do the right thing and improve driver training.

Pete