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Automotive News & Views Toyota in decline in 2009?
3715 messages, Last post on Dec 02, 2009 at 8:36 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 06, 2009 4:35 pm) NHTSA did deny a petition by an individual for a formal defect investigation of sudden acceleration in certain Toyota and Lexus cars. NHTSA however did not close the books on the inquiry, and Toyota earlier stated that they would provide owners with an INTERIM letter recommending removal of the driver's floormats on 3.8 million vehicles. Toyota also stated it fully intended to send out another letter (including a recall notice) once a better solution to the problem could be found. |
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And here is what I found: The instructions state that the pushbutton start (optional) has 3 modes -- Off, Accessory, and On and explains how to toggle between the 3 modes. Notably, ON can't be activated unless your foot is on the brake pedal (good idea of course). To start the engine, you push ON and then release the button once the starter begins to crank. Cranking will continue for several seconds (with your finger off the button) until the engine fires up. However, there isn't a single word about what it takes to turn the engine off if the car is in motion. Do you press the button twice, hold it down for x seconds, or something else? No mention. The instructions appear to always assume the car is stopped whenever you touch the button. I also noticed GM removed the rather lengthy chapter about defensive driving that they had provided in recent years. Maybe they figured that no one really reads the manual anyway, so why waste space with something that doesn't pertain directly to the car itself? A pity, because it was actually well written IMO. |
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Replying to: 210delray (Nov 06, 2009 7:09 pm) |
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Replying to: 210delray (Nov 06, 2009 6:44 pm)
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Toyota is not going to be able to just cover this one up. We are hot on this case and we demand true answers to what happened. This has me feeling good that I didn't buy that 2006 Scion xA in Polar White that I test drove. That was a 5-speed, though. Perhaps it would be easier to stop a runaway Toyota if it's a manual tranny, huh? This is a tragedy that is under investigation that needs to be solved. And Toyota needs to step up, admit they did people wrong and fix each and every bit of it. I can't help wondering that these automatic transmissions and the ECU's controlling everything are too "automated" overall. If they fail you may really be screwed as to stopping them in an emergency. |
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Replying to: gagrice (Nov 06, 2009 5:00 pm) How about we blame the driver/operator of the vehicle. The owner/driver is responsible to make sure his equipment is installed and operating properly.
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U.S. criticizes Toyota statement on floor mats ‘Very dangerous problem’ still under review by federal safety regulators Associated Press, Wed., Nov . 4, 2009 WASHINGTON - Toyota Motor Corp. released misleading information about an investigation into problems with stuck gas pedals that led to a massive Toyota recall, the U.S. government said Wednesday, stressing the issue is still under review by federal safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was still investigating the case and meeting with Toyota to hear about the company's plan to redesign the vehicles and fix "this very dangerous problem." Toyota recalled 3.8 million vehicles in the U.S. last month over problems with gas pedals that got stuck on floor mats and told owners to remove driver's side floor mats and not replace them until the automaker had determined a fix to the problem. Toyota said in a statement on Monday that NHTSA had confirmed "that no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver's floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured." But NHTSA said that was inaccurate and the government was investigating possible causes of the acceleration problem. Removing the floor mats was "simply an interim measure" and "does not correct the underlying defect in the vehicles involving the potential for entrapment of the accelerator by floor mats, which is related to accelerator and floor pan design." "The matter is not closed until Toyota has effectively addressed the defect by providing a suitable vehicle based solution," NHTSA said in the statement, which the department said was issued to correct "inaccurate and misleading information" from the automaker. Toyota spokesman John Hanson said "it was never our intention to mislead or provide inaccurate information. Toyota agrees with NHTSA's position that the removal of the floor mats is an interim measure and that further action is required. We continue to discuss an appropriate vehicle remedy or remedies." The recall includes 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250/IS350. |
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Replying to: 210delray (Nov 06, 2009 7:09 pm)
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Replying to: 210delray (Nov 06, 2009 6:33 pm) The group doesn't come across as ambulance chasers. Indeed if there's a wrong done to me or my family, I could think of noone better at finding the little facts hidden away about what really happened than a crack group of attorneys used to delving into the hidden corners of a company's secrets. I'd want Stan Chesley, Cincinnati, as a class action suit leader in that kind of case. A friend who suffered as a result of either doctor, hospital, or staple gun manufacturer error has one of the best attorneys checking on his case. At least the posting got our Toyota salesman's notice!  Do the Toyota sales people really, really believe that people will buy the theory that the reported cases of unintended acceleration are due to floor mats OR due to being made up?
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Replying to: andres3 (Nov 06, 2009 10:11 pm) And when it fails by no fault of the owner? The Brakes just burn up trying to stop the car. That is what happened. The brakes were inadequate on that ES350 to stop the car at high speed. They were according to eye witnesses ON FIRE. So is that the drivers fault? I don't believe that it is. Toyota has a history of denial until they are routed out by shear numbers of complaints. I have not forgotten the 100s of Prius stalling for no good reason other than poorly written code in their ECU. The accidents caused by that Toyota failure had nothing to do with the driver's making sure his equipment was in good condition.
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Automotive News & Views Toyota in decline in 2009?
