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Toyota found to keep tight lid on potential safety problems
LA Times ^ | 23 December 2009 | Ken Bensinger and Ralph Vartabedian

Posted on 12/23/2009 6:03:04 AM PST by Erik Latranyi

During a routine test on its Sienna minivan in April 2003, Toyota Motor Corp. engineers discovered that a plastic panel could come loose and cause the gas pedal to stick, potentially making the vehicle accelerate out of control.

The automaker redesigned the part and by that June every 2004 model year Sienna off the assembly line came with the new panel. Toyota did not notify tens of thousands of people who had already bought vans with the old panel, however.

It wasn't until U.S. safety officials opened an investigation last year that Toyota acknowledged in a letter to regulators that the part could come loose and "lead to unwanted or sudden acceleration."

In January, nearly six years after discovering the potential hazard, the automaker recalled 26,501 vans made with the old panel.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Japan
KEYWORDS: coverup; defects; recalls; toyota
Many of us knew the Japanese automakers conducted secret recalls and witheld data on defects in an effort to maintain their illusion of superior quality which was supported by a lapdog media......reminds me of Obama.
1 posted on 12/23/2009 6:03:04 AM PST by Erik Latranyi
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To: Erik Latranyi

So solly.


2 posted on 12/23/2009 6:05:06 AM PST by A. Morgan (The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. Lawrence)
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To: Erik Latranyi

OK how many of these cars were made in the US? Houston do we have a problem?


3 posted on 12/23/2009 6:06:50 AM PST by US Navy Vet
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To: Erik Latranyi

Please spare this thread from anecdotal stories of how great your Toyota is.


4 posted on 12/23/2009 6:08:30 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Erik Latranyi
reminds me of Obama

What will really remind you of Obama will be the way the faithful will ignore the information reported in this article (10 years of building evidence of multiple problems and coverups) because it conflicts with the narrative in their head.
5 posted on 12/23/2009 6:10:36 AM PST by chrisser (Tweet not, lest ye a twit be.)
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To: Erik Latranyi

To me, it reads like a sour grapes hit piece by a Government Motors supporting writer, who uses tortured or outright made up evidence.


6 posted on 12/23/2009 6:18:11 AM PST by ZX12R
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To: ZX12R
To me, it reads like a sour grapes hit piece by a Government Motors supporting writer, who uses tortured or outright made up evidence.

...and you prove the point of the post above yours...

7 posted on 12/23/2009 6:25:40 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: chrisser
What will really remind you of Obama will be the way the faithful will ignore the information reported in this article (10 years of building evidence of multiple problems and coverups) because it conflicts with the narrative in their head.

See the post after yours!

8 posted on 12/23/2009 6:26:31 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Erik Latranyi

My Toyota is better than your Pinto.


9 posted on 12/23/2009 6:27:31 AM PST by Leo Farnsworth (I'm not really Leo Farnsworth...)
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To: Erik Latranyi
...and you prove the point of the post above yours...

I'll bet you never miss any of those ghost hunting shows. The evidence for them is just as convincing.
10 posted on 12/23/2009 6:34:39 AM PST by ZX12R
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To: Erik Latranyi
in an effort to maintain their illusion of superior quality

Sorry Skippy, it's no illusion.
11 posted on 12/23/2009 6:43:10 AM PST by WackySam (To argue with a man who has renounced his reason is like giving medicine to the dead.)
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To: ZX12R
The evidence for them is just as convincing

After Toyota this fall announced its biggest recall to address the sudden-acceleration problem, it insisted publicly that no defect existed. That drew a rare public rebuke from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which chastised the automaker for making "inaccurate and misleading statements."

http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/template.MAXIMIZE/menuitem.f2217bee37fb302f6d7c121046108a0c/?javax.portlet.tpst=1e51531b2220b0f8ea14201046108a0c_ws_MX&javax.portlet.prp_1e51531b2220b0f8ea14201046108a0c_viewID=detail_view&itemID=38d803e5fa0c4210VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD&pressReleaseYearSelect=2009

The automaker knew of a dangerous steering defect in vehicles including the 4Runner sport utility vehicle for years before issuing a recall in Japan in 2004. But it told regulators no recall was necessary in the U.S., despite having received dozens of complaints from drivers. Toyota said a subsequent investigation led it to order a U.S. recall in 2005

http://nhthqnwws112.odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/docservlet/Artemis/Public/Recalls/2005/V/RCDNN-05V389-7164.PDF

I can keep going. Can you show how this is unconvincing?
12 posted on 12/23/2009 6:46:15 AM PST by chrisser (Tweet not, lest ye a twit be.)
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To: WackySam
Sorry Skippy, it's no illusion.

First, statistics show no significant difference in defects among the major car manufacturers (foreign and domestic).

Second, like Obama, the media has contributed to the positive Toyota image. Just as liberals will defend Obama to the end, you will defend Toyota because anything different conflicts with your nicely packaged world-view.

13 posted on 12/23/2009 6:52:12 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: ZX12R
I'll bet you never miss any of those ghost hunting shows. The evidence for them is just as convincing.

How is your kool-aid?

14 posted on 12/23/2009 6:53:44 AM PST by Erik Latranyi (Too many conservatives urge retreat when the war of politics doesn't go their way.)
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To: Leo Farnsworth
My Toyota is better than your Pinto.

So your new Toyota is better than a 30+ year old Ford?

I remember the Toyotas of the 70s. They were no grand accomplishment, and they certainly didn't do well in keeping the passengers safe in a high-speed rear-end collision, even when they didn't explode.


15 posted on 12/23/2009 6:57:52 AM PST by chrisser (Tweet not, lest ye a twit be.)
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To: Erik Latranyi

Not from me! We bought a new Sienna van about 10 years ago and it was one of the worst POS’s I’ve owned. The engine sludged up, even with faithful 3,000 mile oil changes. Every time it started, it blew out great clouds of blue smoke. Toyota was telling people there was no warranty for this well-known engine defect. Sometimes you would be able to badger the company into fixing it, but if you changed your oil just ONCE at 3,001 miles, you lost all company warranty coverage for the engine problems.

When we sold it, the buyers took it to a dealer for a check and they reported it had a remanufactured transmission in it. We had never serviced the transmission ourselves, so it must have come that way from the factory.

Our one experience with a Toyota product was just awful. Almost as bad as with the two Volvos we once owned.


16 posted on 12/23/2009 7:17:08 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Leo Farnsworth
My Toyota is better than your Pinto.

My Vega is better than your... no, wait... sorry, I almost misspoke - I don't think the Vega was ever better than anything.
17 posted on 12/23/2009 8:16:05 AM PST by Quality_Not_Quantity (A half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth. (J.I. Packer)
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To: Quality_Not_Quantity

Vega was real good with a Buick V6 installed.


18 posted on 12/23/2009 8:21:07 AM PST by bmwcyle (Free the Navy Seals)
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To: chrisser

Up yours.


19 posted on 12/23/2009 1:42:08 PM PST by Leo Farnsworth (I'm not really Leo Farnsworth...)
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To: Leo Farnsworth
Up yours

Quod erat demonstrandum.
20 posted on 12/23/2009 3:33:46 PM PST by chrisser (Tweet not, lest ye a twit be.)
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