Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

[thrillhouse700]

My personal opinion after being a Master tech for the last 5 years (Not toyota).
Just saw on the news that Toyota is being sued for a wrongful death lawsuit, due to the faulty gas pedal. I hope this family ends up owning Toyota. From my experience in the field these things are not accidents. As a tech you see the same exact parts break on every model car from generation to generation.


My guess is that Toyota wrote off the initial accelerator pedal complaints, or maybe threw a couple ecu flashes at the cars and called em "fixed" never really looking into the problem. If they knew about it I hope they fry in hell with the rest of the crooked politicians that are driven by greed.


I can think of numerous things on the vehicles that I used to work on that could become catastrophic and may cause an uproar like this. Makes me wonder if the engineers are using this as job security. I honestly wouldn't be surprised.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Can not give an opinion other than that a lot of the "issues" with other vehicle makes will only increase sales of domestically owned manufacturers. And yes, that would be the government in some cases eh ???? faster payback, more job security, re-election etc etc.
Just my thoughts though.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

My thought? Media sensationalism. Everyone hear about bad things because the media whipped it into a frenzy, average Joe thinks the sky is falling. The same pattern repeats over and over for every freaking time. You don't hear the media talking about the other millions of Toyotas that don't have any issue do you?

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

I think it shows maybe the electronics have gone a bit to far and that electronics are not always godlike, same thing for a certtain brand of cars.
The more you make, the more that can break and lets face it therse very complex mechanical beings have a lot of things that can go and do go wrong.

I think Yota is doing the right thing here and will probably be all fixed back up in short order, I mean anything can be fixed but the sheer number of best selling cars Yota has means it will take that much longer.
I'm mostly a Ford fan and I know when Ford had their Expoloder Vs. Firestone tire rollover problem Ford was sued bigtime and gave away lots of money, nobody owns them. These companies have more money than god.

I do find it funny that the captain of Yota was fired and a real live Yoda guy stepped in and took over only to verball pummel and blame the previous guy for turning Yota into company like GM.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Buddy of mine posted on his facebook page: "Toyota's new slogan should be Moving Forward......because you have not a choice"

 

[JB]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

I don't remember when we last did not have several Toyotas in the family. Currently we have a 4Runner, Tundra and a Prius. All have been reliable as a rock for high mileage, just like every Toyota we have had in the last 40 years.

These one-in-a-thousand failures are just that: one in a thousand. That is one tenth of one percent. How would you like to have a 99.9% perfect track record??

If you want to report actual experience. . .facts, please do so. Further hysterical screeching about how evil they are will not be allowed.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Scrapped

 

[paulspaddle]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Boys, boys, boys.....we all know that domestic car manufacturers can't compete with Toyota because they are top heavy, fat and unimaginative. Sooo, their solution was to hire the U.S. Army create nano-bots and released them in the air flow vents of Toyota factorys. These nano-bots are designed to create havoc. Toyota is working on a anti-Nano system. Its way bigger than a few break peddles man. I would tell you how I know, but then I would have to send 'Vinny' after you.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Toyota have made an excellent product for a long time....period. They have re-set the bar in quality that Ford/GM and Chrysler and the Euro makers have had to work to match and it has made all cars a lot better as a result.
This little media and bashing circus of Toyota is a bit of a farce and the best thing that has (suspiciously) happened to the domestic car makers in the last 10 years....hmm. (and I say that as a GM fan and owner as well as a Toyota fan and owner)
However, I am hoping that is devalues the Toyota brand a little bit so they are a little more affordable...and thus I can pick up my next one at a bargain instead or a premium.
Now lets see....a Tacoma or Tundra...hmm.
BP

 

[zoe'sdad]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

On my fourth Toyota, all of which have had electronic throttles. Never had a problem with anything on my vehicles except for the transmission on the 4x4 that I broke. The part they Id'd as the problem was built by a subcontractor in Canada. Wouldn't suprise me if that pedal mechanism is used on other brand vehicles too.

 

[thrillhouse700]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

My thought? Media sensationalism. Everyone hear about bad things because the media whipped it into a frenzy, average Joe thinks the sky is falling. The same pattern repeats over and over for every freaking time. You don't hear the media talking about the other millions of Toyotas that don't have any issue do you?

Very true very true, except people don't die from cars that don't have issues.

JB, my experience is from being a tech, and having friends that work at toyota, nissan, VW, ford, GM, list goes on. Every manufacturer is the same as far as "fixing" problems. Half the time the car manufacturer won't take complaints seriously until the DOT gets involved. By "seriously", I mean the engineers get involved in costly R&D to rectify a problem they don't see as that big of a problem.

The lawsuit says Toyota was aware of the problem but did nothing, and a lady died.........horribly. As of now your right that is speculation of whether they knew or not, but if it turns out they did it..............

So sorry to JB for doing a little bashing, will stick to personal experience from here on out.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

I bought a new Toyota Cressida in 1985 after suffering with Ford, Dodge, and Chevys. Best car I ever owned.
Well, the domestics have finally gotten better and Toyota has some problems.
I still have a Toyota thats been flawless and a Dodge diesel and a Jeep that have only had minor issues..............keeping fingers crossed.
Was Toyota slow to step up? Apparently, but then I can remember some serious safety issues with the big three that weren't addressed quickly either.

 

[rbh]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

On my fourth Toyota, all of which have had electronic throttles. Never had a problem with anything on my vehicles except for the transmission on the 4x4 that I broke. The part they Id'd as the problem was built by a subcontractor in Canada. Wouldn't suprise me if that pedal mechanism is used on other brand vehicles too.

Made in Canada YES, To toyota's spects of course.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

On my fourth Toyota, all of which have had electronic throttles. Never had a problem with anything on my vehicles except for the transmission on the 4x4 that I broke. The part they Id'd as the problem was built by a subcontractor in Canada. Wouldn't suprise me if that pedal mechanism is used on other brand vehicles too.

I understand that most high end vehicles with this sort of a throttle control set up the ECU so if it sees throttle and braking at the same time, It assumes that either the throttle signal is faulty, or the teenage driver is misbehaving, and in either case greatly reduces engine power. Yoda's flashing it in as part of the fix.

When a high government official makes a remark like "I wouldn't drive your Toyota till it's fixed" to the public, one has to wonder about unfair competition. I suspect, if Ford sales are any sign, that the public's reaction to the bruhaha will be to go buy Toyotas.

my 02
John

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Very true very true, except people don't die from cars that don't have issues.

That is also very true. They don't die because they have a good car but the media can't sell good news.

 

[kend301]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

What I posted on Dec 26th :
To all my friends here and those who I have not chatted with yet :
Please pay Attention to any recall to your boat or your car !
Today we had a very responsible woman hit her house with her car , The most likely cause was an open recall on her car , The throttle stuck . By no means am I saying that it caused it but given the circumstances and the fact that I watched her drive past my place at normal speed , I cant reach any other conclusion . She was hurt and transported to the hospital with what I hope were minor injuries.
Do NOT ask me for info as to the brand or the nature of the recall , I do not want this to become a part of a court case ! Please respect that and also NO pictures will be posted , I have too much respect for my friends than to do that .
Please pay attention to any notification you get concerning a recall of anything .. Looking out for my friends on here !
___

The car was a 2007 Toyota Camery !

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

I don't think politics has much to do with this issue and we tend to try to stay away from that subject here, so I'll suggest that we leave it alone.

As for Toyota's liability, I'd say it will depend on further development of the "what did they know and when did they know it" scenario. If they covered up a known and serious defect, they will pay dearly for that very bad decision.

The same is true of the pedal manufacturer, if that component is determined to be the root cause of the problems. Manufacturers of any other components that may have contributed to the accidents, will have lawsuit concerns too.

The fact that Toyota has a long history of building quality products is, to a large degree, little more than "feel good" information, when it comes to the lawsuits that will come. If its your family member who was killed and you find out someone who designed and built something that killed them, covered up a known defect, you don't give a hoot how many didn't die using it. Further, you tend to get very, very angry at the thought that your loved one probably would not have died, had the defect been remedied earlier.

Next on the list, is whether or not it is reasonable for the average person to believe that a car manufacturer would cover up a known defect. Given how many times these companies have been caught red handed doing exactly that, I would say that it is not only reasonable, but is to be fully expected. In fact, not to believe such a thing, could be considered to be incredibly naive. From skidding Corvairs to exploding Pintos to modern day problems, these sorts of issues are not exactly unprecedented.

Once again, where this thing goes in terms of fault/liability, remains to be fully seen and until it is completely understood who did what (or didn't do, for that matter), its pretty hard to fairly assign blame. For that reason, my opinion is that a "wait and see" attitude is probably best.



???

 

[zoe'sdad]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

Wasn't bashing Canada, just trying to point out that this part could be in other manufacturers vehicles. Good example is an Aisan transmission. Used in Hyundai's, Buicks and several european makes. One thing that was pointed out is that other car compainies program their throttles to close when the break pedal is applied. Toyota does not.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

it has been slow for the news media, can someone arrange another tsunami, or something. i think Toyota's are great cars in their there respective price ranges.

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Your guys' take on the Toyota recalls?

it has been slow for the news media, can someone arrange another tsunami, or something. i think Toyota's are great cars in their there respective price ranges.

I think it has already been done- The Big Snowstorm in Washington DC!

I agree with the media hype. Gonna scare people back into walking again! Get em fixed, move on....Hopefully before another unit fails.

My Dodge Sprinter has a fly by wire pedal, and when at full throttle , it will actually push my foot back if the motor does not have any more power ( or I hit the governed max. speed) Kinda freaky. It ecu will shut power down to a minimum if the wheels slip too much as well. Weird to get used to.

I wonder if the failures in the Yota system are/weere driven by anybody who have ever experienced a failure in ANYTHING while driving, especially something as important as a stuck throttle?

At the risk of fanning the fire,(pun intended) I find the comment on at the very bottom of this report to be telling.

Story Created: Feb 3, 2010

Story Updated: Feb 4, 2010
Greenfield Woman Survives Mattress Explosion Under SUV
By Diane Pathieu

GREENFIELD - A mattress got stuck under her car, and it exploded.

She and her passenger lived to tell about it.

Now back home safe and sound in Greenfield, Kathy Rich has quite the story to tell.

"I was in the left lane the car ahead of me," said Rich.

"It was really packed, there were so many cars on the freeway, and all of a sudden I saw this car swerve a little bit. It caught the far end of this mattress, and I was next and went right over the center of it."

Kathy was on I-494 leaving the Minneapolis area on Sunday night with her friend Marsha Rodgers, when it happened.

Kathy accidentally drove over a mattress on the freeway, and it got lodged under her Toyota RAV-4.

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

"We heard this bouncing and plunking, and we thought 'Good, we made it over it,' " said Rich.

"Little did we know that all these cars were tooting their horns, waving us off the freeway, and I turned down the radio and I said to Marsha, 'You know what? I hear a swishing sound. I bet you I hit that radiator.' "

Kathy pulled over to the shoulder, with seconds to spare.

"By the time we stopped, my friend opened her door and the flames just shot up," explained Kathy.

"It was like, 'Oh, my God, this thing is on fire!' People behind us were shouting at us to get out of that car get away from that car. It's going to explode."

It did explode, right before their eyes.

"I was in a daze i couldn't believe this car was blowing up in front of me."

Kathy and Marsha walked away without a scratch. The car was totaled, but she couldn't be more relieved.

"It wasn't until I saw the pictures on the internet last night that I realized, 'My God, I am so lucky to be alive because this thing could have exploded while we were still in it!"

Kathy's RAV-4 does not fall in the Toyota recall category.