Posted on 02/09/2010 3:49:38 PM PST by JoeProBono
If complexity were the problem, BMWs would be death traps, especially the iDrive models.
It is more about how prodigious they are. There are just so many cars out there, statistically there will be issues arise. I would bet though that the number of incidents as of a percent of the model on the road would be microscopic and statistically in line with other models.
This is not about Toyota’s engineering. This is about getting UAW workers from dead GM and Chrysler into Toyota’s non-union (transplant) factories in the USA. This is about the UAW getting in ALL the transplant factories - Nissan, Honda, BMW, Hyundai, etc etc.
People are so dumb because they cannot see what is really going on.
I noticed this was from the EE Times. You can’t spell “geek” without a double E.
Excuse my naivte, but how do you get from a massive recall to the UAW organizing foreign car builders with plants in the USA? Can you illuminate the intermediate steps for me?
Actually, the only thing Toyota is doing is making a physical fix, adding a small shim at the end of the accelerator pedal. However, the famous case that brought this to public attention (the horrifying incident involving the CHP member and his family) was actually a result of the fact that the car, which was a loaner they had never driven before, had a keyless ignition and they didn’t know how to turn it off once the mat, an extra long one that had been added by the dealer, got stuck under the pedal. They were calling for help in turning it off, but nobody knew the answer.
So the complexity is a problem for the user, although I’m sure once keyless ignitions become common, we’ll all know how to manage them - or perhaps a safety switch of some kind will be installed.
That said, this is a combination of Bambi’s desire to attack Government Motors’ biggest competitor, combined with total ineptitude on the part of the Japanese when it came to handling publicity. Toyota should not have kept silent but should have been out there immediately trying to handle this and prove its integrity. Instead, they dallied and let Obama seize the moment.
There is a report out there that State Farm warned the government back in 2007 of an unusually high number of claims involving Toyotas.
An outstanding article. Absolutely spot-on.
(BTW - what ever happened to Travis T. OJustice?)
I’d love roll down windows...and that little vent window. I also think the high beam on the floor was a better option. And I’d like a governor, too.
Those of us who closely follow the industry are only surprised by the magnitude of the recalls. Toyota tried to do the impossible: dramatically increase production, open new plants, enter new markets and launch new brands - all at the same time.
I don’t know...he hasn’t posted to me in a while!
Go back to carburetors and purely mechanical engines...they sound better
Haven’t seen him either.
Isn’t clamming season either.
Ehhh...simple things screw up too.
A sticking gas pedal in a Toyota can’t be any more scary than the throttle return spring breaking on my ‘68 vette.
That got my attention.........
I used to drive way out in the boonies, before cellphones, with a handful of spare parts in the glove box, and be pretty confident of solving the most likely problems. If you break down in the boonies now you are probably SOL if you’re out of cellphone range.
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