Posted on 02/02/2010 7:18:08 AM PST by deport
It's always something, "deadly" Pine Nuts (and we love pesto) or an airbag that bursts into flames upon impact. Your average consumer is perpetually getting screwed.Then there's poor old Toyota. The gas pedal isn't really faulty. Sure Toyota, whatever you say. The car manufacturer that's been kickin' American tail for decades now has their very own consumer nightmare keeping them up at night: faulty accelerator pedals that may, or may not, stick; depends on what spokesperson you ask. So they issue a massive recall and give owners the night sweats.
One such owner is Louisianan Mikel Valviva. Like many, he wanted to return his new Toyota truck. He no longer wanted the cotton-pickin' thing, what with the bad mechanical mojo and all. So he figured he'd return it, and get him a well-made American vehicle. One that, while having a perfectly proficient gas pedal, has atrocious resale potential.
Great! Perfect! Awesome!
The dealership that sold him the heap -- All Star Toyota in Baton Rouge -- says that Mr. Valviva wanted a new truck and his money refunded. No can do. They offered to fix his vehicle and provide him with a loaner for as long as the repair required, but they would NOT accept a return. Mr. Valviva was adamant. He wanted to be rid of the truck, his money back. The dealership says they informed him of their "no return" policy three times last Saturday.
To no avail.
That's one side of the coin. As Mr. Valviva tells it, he's on his way to All Star Toyota, when he -- oops! -- plum loses control of the darn truck. The pedal sticks and he speeds ahead, unable to slow down. Thankfully, no one was in his path. Well, except for this building. He ducks, covers and the truck slams into a wall.
The wall of All Star Toyota.
Sorry fellas, you should've just refunded the man his money. Bad customer service will screw you every time.
And lookie look, time for a new truck anyway. Investigators say they found no evidence that the incident was intentional. Of course not, it was unintentionally hilarious.
Lol! Funny.
BUY AMERICAN. :)
BUY AMERICAN. :)
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He did. But he wasn’t satisfied. He probably meant to buy Union.
I thought I read there were 16 incidents, and Toyota was recalling 4.5 million vehicles. That seems like there’s about a 1 in 250,000 chance of a malfunction.
And anyways, how would I know it was malfunctioning, since I pretty much drive like that all the time?
I don't know. How many?
My son in law recently had a bad accident with his 2009 Toyota Camry. He rear-ended a car at a high rate of speed and totalled his car. He said that he tried to hit his brake, but it seemed like the car kept going faster. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but this happened before he knew about the recall, so now he’s wondering if that had anything to do with his accident. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the car any longer. The insurance company took over his note, so technically it belongs to the insurance co. now, and it is no longer in his possession.
It may take some doing but I bet your son could find out if that vehicles accelerator matches the recalled ones. I’d think the insurance company knows or would want to know also because if it matches then it is an avenue for them to get money from Toyota. Also the vin number maybe able to trace back as to recall or not.
No, it means that roughly 1 in 250,000 have had an incident. You can’t determine the chance of a malfunction based on only these numbers.
Was there a reason that he couldn’t put the shift into neutral or turn the engine off?
“Ford recall has been out since 2005 but you don’t hear much if anything about it.”
You’re kidding. Right?
meaning?
I have wondered why the simple act of reaching down and turning the ignition off wouldn't be effective. I saw someone suggest stomping the brake while shifting into neutral, also.
It reminds me of the old joke about what would you do if the water wouldn't turn off when you are filling the bathtub....turning the water off seemed to be the last thing a lot of people would think of.
It was all over the news, for a very long time. When you say that it didn’t get coverage, I had to assume you were kidding.
You must have been living under a rock. Ford was getting lambasted in the media, at a minimum on a weekly basis, up until about a year (maybe 2) ago. Toyota was the media darling during that time period.
These things go in cycles and the current coverage is not any more than the beating the next OEM, or the past OEM (Ford) target of the media.
In quite a few cars, if you turn the key off, the steering column locks and you can't turn the wheel anymore. Might not be a good idea to do that unless you know if you could still control the steering wheel. Next time you get in your car, try turning the steering wheel before you turn the key.
I think its better to brake, then shift into neutral, slow as much as possible, get to the side of the road if possible and then turn off the key.
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