Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Toyota-Execs-Being-Called-Out-By-Congressmen.html

[happy39]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

I think that everyone has looked to these companies like Toyota as leaders for way too long. If everyone would take care of their own business the world would be a better place. Without facts no one can draw an absolute as to what is wrong with these vehicles. However, in the court of public opinion no matter what the causer and possible fix there will always be skeptics. I believe there is way more to this story than we know.

[Falcon67]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

Toyota quality. Yeppers.

"U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday it took pressure from the government to get Toyota to take action over its sticking gas pedals.

"Since questions were first raised about possible safety defects, we have been pushing Toyota to take measures to protect consumers," LaHood said in a statement addressing the aftermath of the automaker's massive recall.

"While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point. DOT officials flew to Japan in December to remind Toyota management about its legal obligations and followed up with a meeting at DOT headquarters in January to insist that they address the accelerator pedal issue," LaHood said"

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/...ex.html?hpt=T2

[38P]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

The worst is over? OH PLEASE! It's just getting started! (YEAH, BABY!)

Here's some of the best from the web on Toyota's ACCELER-GATE:

11. "To paraphrase L.A. Confidential's Captain Dudley Smith, we wouldn't trade places with Toyota right now for all the whiskey in Ireland." http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/02/l...ffort-calls-a/

10. "Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told a crowd today of an unintentional acceleration problem with his 2010 Toyota Prius, which isn't under a recall. 'This is software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal,' he told the crowd. 'It's very scary.'"

http://jalopnik.com/5461945/apple-co+founder-claims-toyota-prius-has-scary-software-problem-he-can-dupilcate

9. "I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled. This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again--safely." --Steve Wozniak, Id.

8. "'It becomes a whole other ball game if it turns out to be an electronics issue,' said Autoconomy analyst Erich Merkle. 'Not only does it get more expensive to fix, but there's a trust factor between Toyota and its consumer.'"http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61206720100203

7. "In recent interviews, two former NHTSA administrators, Ricardo Martinez and Joan Claybrook, have said they believe that some kind of electronic glitch may be causing the Toyota problems. Similar conclusions are being drawn by independent automotive safety experts, forensic mechanics and automotive electronics researchers, as well as many consumers." http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...2.story?page=2

6. "Of more than 2,000 motorist complaints of sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the last decade, just 5% blamed a sticking gas pedal . . . ." http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...2.story?page=1

5. "Quebec car-owners are joining a class action lawsuit against Toyota, as the car company scrambles to repair faulty gas pedals on millions of vehicles worldwide." http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=MontrealHome

4. "The firm says it has received 3,000 hits on its website since Monday, and of the 400 Canadians who have signed up for the class action lawsuit, 25 percent are Quebecers." Id.

3. "CINCINNATI -- An area attorney has filed a major class action lawsuit against Toyota and its affiliates. The suit, filed Tuesday by attorney Stan Chesley, alleges the automaker fraudulently concealed safety hazards and breached its own warranties and contracts. . . . 'It is clear that Toyota is hiding something under the carpet,' Chesley said. 'Toyota has long known about the defect and has done too little, too late to correct it.'"http://www.wlwt.com/news/22414948/detail.html

2. "In a statement from the law firm filing the [California] class-action lawsuit, attorney David Wright said, 'Neither driver error nor floor mats can explain away many other frightening instances of runaway Toyotas.' Wright also said, 'Until the company [Toyota] acknowledges the real problem and fixes it, we worry that other preventable injuries and deaths will occur.'" http://www.leftlanenews.com/toyota-o...eleration.html

1. "Since November, at least 10 lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed against Toyota in U.S. courts and in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Canada. . . . David Owen, a law professor at the University of South Carolina and director of its Office of Tort Law Studies, said Toyota might be more at risk in U.S. states that impose on manufacturers of a "duty to warn" consumers about a defect. . . . 'If it turned out that Toyota delayed the recall beyond the point when a reasonable manufacturer would have done so, then punitive damages in substantial amounts might be available to whoever was physically injured,' Owen added." http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61060G20100201

And to think that all of this could have been avoided . . . .

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Barefo...ign=GoogleBase

[38P]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle


BTW, has anybody noticed that the 'Yoda pedal fix reduces pedal travel (not that full-throttle motoring is all that likely or rewarding in the WUSSMOBILES that 'Yoda sells . . . make that used to sell ;D)

[BangShift McT]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

Somebody check on the Japanese CEO to make sure he hasn't committed hara-kiri yet...

[squirrel]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

BTW, has anybody noticed that the 'Yoda pedal fix reduces pedal travel

Hard to say from the graphic....it might, it might not. They don't show the springs, or anything that looks like a real pedal stop.

Besides that last 1/16" of pedal travel on a toypet ain't gonna kick in no afterburner.

[Loren]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

We knew there would be problems like this when things like electronic throttle controls were first introduced. Hell, the electronic (not vacuum-diaphram) cruise control on my ancient '88 Chevy truck would suddenly kick in out of the blue and open 'er up, without even being engaged...you had to turn the key off then back on again to get it settled down. Unnerving.

Problems like what Toyota is experiencing happen at various levels all the time as manufacturers are continually pressured by the market and regulations to push technology limits while producing millions of units at lowest cost. I was involved in a distant way with an airbag issue with the Honda Ridgeline a while back...after putting their system through hell in testing and making many revisions as is not uncommon, as the vehicle went into production there still was an issue that popped up where if you happen to smack the front at a certain angle in a certain way, a certain buckling would occur in the sheetmetal which pinched a wire. Honda freaked, it was hugely expensive to stop the whole train and go back to screwing with a bracket shape as would be done in prototype phase. They got in under the wire (no pun intended) and you didn't hear about it in the evening news. Hey, remember "active suspension"? One of the things that killed it was the inability of the tech to always follow the bump right, every time. Once out of a million times it fails, and members of Congress may suddenly become auto industry experts as they fight for their public and climb over each other to get their names in the news. Better to just skip the whole thing. God knows, if active suspension had worked, the same Congress would be demanding all cars have it as a safety feature, and BBQ'in any manufaturer who didn't participate.

Of course, electronic throttle control is neccesary for a stability control system to work, and these days cars without that are being flagged by the media and government as less-safe. You can believe that Toyota, who in my experience is probably THE most difficult and demanding auto company to work under, tested the crap out if theirs, whether it was made by them or a supplier, and it's killing them to have this issue arise. There are a thousand other little things on their cars which are highly developed and working perfectly. In my opinion they ought to stop apologizing and get the stuff fixed and move on. Now that they have gotten themselves into this level of attention, that's going to be difficult.

[squirrel]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

Interesting views, Loren.

Seems we're slowly legislating what used to be our personal responsibility to drive well, to the automakers to make idiot proof cars.

The problem is that it requires cars so complex that they can't be built or programmed well enough to work right all the time, and instead of being a few bad drivers causing a few problems, the cars have systemic defects that affect millions of them.

[38P]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

BTW, has anybody noticed that the 'Yoda pedal fix reduces pedal travel

Hard to say from the graphic....it might, it might not. They don't show the springs, or anything that looks like a real pedal stop.

Besides that last 1/16" of pedal travel on a toypet ain't gonna kick in no afterburner.

That's not an afterburner? ;D

That tang on the bottom of the pedal looks like a stop to me. Of course, since it uses a pot controlling Reddy Kilowatts (or perhaps in Toyota's case "READY KILL-A-LOTS") unless we know the full throttle voltage and the effect of reduced travel on it, we really don't know the effects of Toyota's fix. But it was still a fun way to set up another cheap shot at 'Yoda . . . .

[squirrel]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

This is a pair of afterburners



Don't worry, I got it

[threedoor]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

We should be thanking Toyota for furthering human evolution. If you are too stupid to simply shut off your car, brake and calmly pull to the side of the road when such a rare failure happens you owe it to the rest of us to no longer spread your genes.

[dieselgeek]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

We should be thanking Toyota for furthering human evolution. If you are too stupid to simply shut off your car, brake and calmly pull to the side of the road when such a rare failure happens you owe it to the rest of us to no longer spread your genes.

ON many of the models, that doesn't work FYI.



Speedzter, man do I wish you were not such a Ford diehard. I am thinking how truly entertaining you could be if you opened yourself up to the brands that supply the most fodder for this kind of fun :D

[Thackdaddy]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

Not the floor mats eh? If you think about it, Nations that make cars have, or could have the ability to produce nuclear weapons. Cars are the most advanced, non weapons technology available in this world. If Congress needs to know why GM takes so long in design this is why. And to hear Chrysler brag that under Fiat they will roll out new model in 18 months makes one wonder about the future quality and number of recalls to come.

But after an experience I had yesterday I have decided to give all manufactures a big pass on some of the silliness. Who, I ask do the factories depend on for their front line intelligence...Dealers. We will call them the Bureau of Dealer Intelligence or, BDI. This BDI has proven it can diagnose a flat tire as a loose lug nut. This BDI will stand behind it product for just as long as it is covered by a factory warranty, the minute that expires they will install a new computer system "last year" which you are not in.

Does anyone really think that anyone but the BDI could have come up with the initial idea that this problem was caused by floor mats..I mean really, those brains at corporate could be fighting a thermo nuclear war and these NASA type geeks are gonna first start sniffing around floor mats. No, that gem could have only come from the BDI.

Well now we find ourselves with stuck gas pedals...and Pinkerton told McClellan he was facing 200,000 Confederates. If you want to believe in such things, ghosts are real.

And dealers...remember the 1979 movie Breaking away. Refund, Refund!

"Dad: I dreamed all last night, that everyone I ever sold a car to came back for a refund. And there you were, handing out the checks! One for you, and one for you..."

Or in 2010, Gas pedal, gas pedal, you just need a new washer!

[squirrel]

Re: Toyota Execs Being Called Out By Congressmen for the Recall Debacle

If you think about it, Nations that make cars have, or could have the ability to produce nuclear weapons. Cars are the most advanced, non weapons technology available in this world.

Seems that more people in the world have been killed by cars, than by nuclear weapons.

Think about it.