Toyota Suspends Sales of 8 Models

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Ford, Chevy, and Chrysler must all collectively be wearing s**t eating grins right now

Funny thing is, the plant that makes these drive shafts and reported the issue says they are used in Toyota, Nissan (who is also doing a recall) AND Ford. And Ford says they have no intention of recalling their vehicles.

Toyota Canada and Nissan Canada have recalled more than 2,100 pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles to check for cracks in drive shafts. But Ford, which has similar components, doesn't plan to follow suit.

A Ford official said Tuesday the automaker won't be sending notices for inspections and possible repairs in this country because the company doesn't consider the part in question a safety issue.

http://www.thestar.com/business/arti...ll-trucks-suvs

So it isn't that Fords parts are fine and won't have this problem, they just don't think it is a safety issue.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

I think you mean Honda. Anyone who would consider buying a Toyota would prob switch to a Honda before a Ford or GM car.

The thing is Honda is going through a bit of their own recall nightmare as well, but are lucky enough to be overshadowed by Toyota's. They just recalled over 600k Honda Fits to fix a defective master switch, and recently had to recall Civics, Accords, Odysseys, CRV's, Ridgelines for other airbag and HVAC issues.

It's the year of the recall it seems. Probably not the best timing considering the circumstances of the auto industry.

[Table 5]

So it looks like two of the biggest Prius runaways are now pretty suspicious.


The one Prius that ran into a wall in NY, the onboard data shows that the break wasn't even applied. And the guy who's Prius ran away on a San Diego freeway? The break damage to the front brakes was consistent with someone who applied them lightly but repeatedly - which goes counter to the driver's statement. Over the whole course, the guy didn't even try putting the car in neutral. Balloon Boy Part 2 in my opinion.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/co...tory/19400037/

There's clearly a breaking issue with these cars, but cases like this can't be helping the validity of those who actually have a real issue.

[amorak]

Here's my rant from the Bauer thread - Probably duplicates some items discussed, but it's good to get it off my chest

Originally Posted by CSharp

Heh, everyone's blaming the Chinese for their lead-based paints on imported goods, but no one blames the companies that are actually cheaping out, putting these products in the North American shelves, and then selling them at a marked up price 1000 times what they're produced at. Since Nike is the producer of these sticks, they should be questioned heavily on why these sticks aren't tested before they reach the markets.

I really don't get the redneck stance anywhere. For example, Toyota is a manufacturer of the cars that they have recalled because of brake failures. These brakes where actually manufactured by a Canadian company and yet Toyota gets blamed for all the quality of their cars. Even when the facts stated that the brakes that came from Japan actually had no problem, people in North America are still blaming the Japanese automakers for all their problems. So, let's turn this argument around and say that Nike-Bauer recalls their junior hockey sticks due to lead contaminants. Why the heck is everyone up in arms and blaming the Chinese? Shouldn't we blame this on Nike-Bauer?

Holy misinformation Batman!

1) Toyota's recall has nothing to do with 'bad brakes' - It's several different recalls, some involving the accelerator pedal (made by a Canadian company), one involving the floor mats falling forward and bunching up under the pedal, and then several of them are to install a brake-override module, so that when you hit the brakes, it kills the gas.

If you look around the net, you'll see that the claims of unintended acceleration (U.A.) are bogus. The NHTSA and Toyota have reviewed the cars and they can see the data from the Toyota black box in these accidents, and in all cases the driver was hammering the gas and didn't touch the brakes, or in the case of the swingers-website-owning 70 year old in California, he was gradually tapping the brakes, while flooring the car.

These are people who want, for one reason or another, to get out of their lease, sue Toyota, get 15 minutes of fame, whatever. It's exactly the same as in the 1980's, when Audi was accused of the same thing and it turned out to be Bogus - it nearly bankrupt Audi in the USA, and their sales took 15 years to get back to their pre-U.A. sales figures


Here are some supporting links for the Toyota recall being A) Bogus and B) Nothing to do with the brakes (other than people claiming they 'cant stop') - They are old people who think they are hitting the brake, but are hitting the gas, as is proven with every car the NHTSA and Toyota have reviewed:

Here is a particularly good article on how stupid American drivers brought this on themselves by completely forgetting how to drive: http://jalopnik.com/5493693/america-...ax-on-yourself

According to recent studies, only 2% of Americans know how to drive manual - 2%! They view their cars as status icons and transport pods, they don't take any responsibility for knowing how to drive their cars. Hell, go ask your under-30 daughter/GF/mistress/many dudes as well - I bet if you ask them what the different slots on their automatic mean, they'll tell you "D means drive, P means Park, and R means backwards" They have no idea what N is for, nor what any other markings are - god forbid it have OD lockout or 1/2/3 low gear selections - They just don't know what their doing in their own car.:



http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/19/f...y-prius-in-ny/

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/18/t...an-ross-repor/

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/15/o...nswer-questio/

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/15/t...prius-but-not/

http://jalopnik.com/5496864/new-york...ybrid-hoax-too

http://jalopnik.com/5493549/anyone-e...a-pattern-here

http://jalopnik.com/5493829/toyota-p...ius-was-a-hoax

http://jalopnik.com/5493011/this-mem...ius-was-a-hoax

http://jalopnik.com/5492199/exclusiv...iver-a-scammer



Note: I don't own a Toyota and don't own their shares - I am just a car enthusiast and weekend racer who is sick and tired of the road to utter stupidity North American drivers (in particular) have taken... Incidents like this Toyota-gate just prove to me, by and large, how dumb the general populace is behind the wheel


and for s and giggles, here's a hilarious youtube video (NSFW) of a guy in his Prius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4PtafRB9c

[amorak]

Originally Posted by table 5

so it looks like two of the biggest prius runaways are now pretty suspicious.


The one prius that ran into a wall in ny, the onboard data shows that the break wasn't even applied. And the guy who's prius ran away on a san diego freeway? The break damage to the front brakes was consistent with someone who applied them lightly but repeatedly - which goes counter to the driver's statement. Over the whole course, the guy didn't even try putting the car in neutral. Balloon boy part 2 in my opinion.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/co...tory/19400037/

there's clearly a breaking issue with these idiot drivers (usually old people), but cases like this can't be helping the validity of those who actually have a real issue.

fyp.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by amorak

According to recent studies, only 2% of Americans know how to drive manual - 2%!

Damn, where did you see this from? That's pretty pathetic if so, it's surprising that they would even sell manual cars here if so.

Makes me even more determined to teach the gf to drive a stick. Then again, she is barely comfortable driving an automatic, so maybe I shouldn't.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Table 5

So it looks like two of the biggest Prius runaways are now pretty suspicious.


The one Prius that ran into a wall in NY, the onboard data shows that the break wasn't even applied. And the guy who's Prius ran away on a San Diego freeway? The break damage to the front brakes was consistent with someone who applied them lightly but repeatedly - which goes counter to the driver's statement. Over the whole course, the guy didn't even try putting the car in neutral. Balloon Boy Part 2 in my opinion.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/co...tory/19400037/

There's clearly a breaking issue with these cars, but cases like this can't be helping the validity of those who actually have a real issue.

That guy in san diego is for sure lying or extremely stupid to the point where he shouldn't be allowed to drive. So his prius is booting off, he is on 911 and the operator tells him to put it into neutral. He won't because he thinks the car will flip? hahahahaha

They should check his trading account and see if he shorted toyota stock.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

That guy in san diego is for sure lying or extremely stupid to the point where he shouldn't be allowed to drive. So his prius is booting off, he is on 911 and the operator tells him to put it into neutral. He won't because he thinks the car will flip? hahahahaha

They should check his trading account and see if he shorted toyota stock.

Another article.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toy...mepagetoprated

I'm also extremely skeptical about this "sudden acceleration" garbage. Even the vehicle that started this whole thing, I'm pretty convinced that the driver thought she was slamming the brakes but was actually flooring the accelerator. The fact that all 3 or 4 people in that SUV didn't know that putting the car into neutral would've saved their lives even with a ######ed driver makes the incident even more tragic.

I hate dumb drivers. Reminds me of the "Driving pet peeves" thread, where someone was so pissed off at other drivers because he always thought he did the right thing on 4 way stops, but it turns out he was completely wrong, and everyone was right to lay the horn on him. At least CP fixed him good!

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by amorak

According to recent studies, only 2% of Americans know how to drive manual - 2%! They view their cars as status icons and transport pods, they don't take any responsibility for knowing how to drive their cars. Hell, go ask your under-30 daughter/GF/mistress/many dudes as well - I bet if you ask them what the different slots on their automatic mean, they'll tell you "D means drive, P means Park, and R means backwards" They have no idea what N is for, nor what any other markings are - god forbid it have OD lockout or 1/2/3 low gear selections - They just don't know what their doing in their own car.:

Who cares if they know what 'N' in their car is for, or for that matter how many know how to drive manual transmissions? Is being a gear-head a pre-requisite to drive? Not knowing how to use turn-signals or the brake is one thing, not knowing that a car has Neutral, that position that 99% of people just skip, is quite another.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Who cares if they know what 'N' in their car is for, or for that matter how many know how to drive manual transmissions? Is being a gear-head a pre-requisite to drive? Not knowing how to use turn-signals or the brake is one thing, not knowing that a car has Neutral, that position that 99% of people just skip, is quite another.

Knowing what the N means and when to use it has nothing to do with being a gearhead. It's essential information that could save your life.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Who cares if they know what 'N' in their car is for, or for that matter how many know how to drive manual transmissions? Is being a gear-head a pre-requisite to drive? Not knowing how to use turn-signals or the brake is one thing, not knowing that a car has Neutral, that position that 99% of people just skip, is quite another.

Dude, seriously? Neutral is now considered too complicated for the general population? What type of ######ed society are we turning into....no wonder our grandparents think we are bunch of pansy idiots.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Dude, seriously? Neutral is now considered too complicated for the general population? What type of ######ed society are we turning into....no wonder our grandparents think we are bunch of pansy idiots.

Dude, seriously?

How many people have ever used Neutral? Same question can be used for how many people ever use the Emergency Brake... I'd be willing to be not very many.

Who are the pansy idiots who can't set the time on the VCR or Microwave again?

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Dude, seriously?

How many people have ever used Neutral? Same question can be used for how many people ever use the Emergency Brake... I'd be willing to be not very many.

Who are the pansy idiots who can't set the time on the VCR or Microwave again?

wow. So if a person does not what N does, should they really be behind the wheel for a 4000 lb vehicle?

I hope Toyota sues the crap out of him.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

I hope Toyota sues the crap out of him.

Dude, seriously.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Dude, seriously?

How many people have ever used Neutral? Same question can be used for how many people ever use the Emergency Brake... I'd be willing to be not very many.

Who are the pansy idiots who can't set the time on the VCR or Microwave again?

Your VCR is not a 5000 pound machine that can kill you or those around you. Just because a lot of people are too ignorant to understand their car and what it can do at the basic level, does not make it any less dangerous to ignore it.

Man, no wonder people in the rest of the world think we are idiot drivers. Turns out, we are.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Dude, seriously.

Dude, seriously?

[Table 5]

Put it in H!

[calumniate]

Dude, I used neutral all the time in my 86 grand marquis when stopping on ice. So much torque going on idly clutching when the car was in drive, it did wonders when when trying to stop that sled on ice

But yeah, if you don't know neutral you shouldn't have passed drivers ed.

[burn_this_city]

You dont need to be a gear head to know what neutral is. It takes a special kind of oblivious moron to drive around everyday and never question what that letter means.

[Frequitude]

It's all an American lead conspiracy to protect their auto industry.