Posted on 03/04/2010 12:35:51 AM PST by myknowledge
DETROIT -- At least 15 Toyota drivers have complained to U.S. safety officials that their cars sped up by themselves even after being fixed under recalls for sticky gas pedals or floor mat problems, according to an Associated Press analysis.
The development raises questions about whether Toyota's repairs will bring an end to the cases of wild, uncontrolled acceleration or if there may be electronic causes behind the complaints that have dogged the automaker.
Although the allegations were unverified by the agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it was contacting people who have complained about acceleration problems even after repairs were done under two large recalls. The agency wants to hear from others who have had similar troubles, it said.
"If Toyota owners are still experiencing sudden acceleration incidents after taking their cars to the dealership, we want to know about it," agency administrator David Strickland said in a statement.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
In our car, a 2003 Lincoln, pushing resume when you are below 35 MPH does nothing.
They must have it locked out in the computer.
My first impressions were cruise control software or sensors and Obama and the UAW pulling strings behind the scenes. I see both are well covered here.
The real "fix" is to trash Toyota, that is, character assassination of Toyota. The reliability statistics for Toyota remain the best in the world. I am suspicious that the government and unions are behind this feeding frenzy to tarnish a great company.
If the problem is electronic, it will be a “glitch” in either the program or hardware. If it is, all of the diagnostic tests performed are of no use unless the glitch occurs randomly at the exact time that the device is under tests. Otherwise, the problem will never be found and corrected and a total redesign of either the software or hardware will have to occur.
The problem is that the glitch is not repeatable and occurs randomly which means that they can only guess at the cure since they can’t actually reproduce the problem.
I’ve been troubleshooting electronics since 1966 and I can tell you from experience that these types of random errors are the result of poor design and lack of collaboration among the designers.
I would never put my safety and life on the line by trusting any electronic device that I could not immediately override manually. And to that point, with these cars…you can’t.
So funny how it seems to be such a patriotic duty on here to support foreign cars. The irony.
I certainly support any manufacturer over Government Motors.
Ok, there were, what, dozens, or maybe a few hundred, complaints about acceleration before the news started talking about it?
And now we are supposed to believe that Toyota, having JUST SERVICED THE CARS, let 15 cars that were accelerating out of their repair shop?
This is where government used to step in and stop the mass hysteria, but our current administration is all about mass hysteria.
“the driver forgetting they turned on, the cruise control”
Now,,, I never use cruise control because I find it annoying, but,, I thought all you had to do to disengage it was to tap on the brakes???? So, the CC would have to turn itself on, while at the same time refuse to turn off when the brakes are applied, right?
The Union Workers at Toyota are going to suddenly wake up and realize that Obama is behind all of this, screwing them to elevate Government Motors. It’s so obvious, why isn’t it discussed? Toyota will have problems even if they don’t have problems ... the Administration will “find” people to say they have problems, and they’ll show up, just like the “white coats” when he discusses health care. This whole thing is turing into a bad joke ... and it is on ALL of us, even Union Workers!
They replaced 3 transmissions and the entire wiring in the thing before giving up on the problem. The extended warranty finally expired and I even took it to another mechanic that serviced Toyotas and he couldn't figure it out. The car never "acted sick"...but if that engine light ever goes off....then I'll worry! lol
I should have demanded my money back when it first came on after I bought it. But the company was very nice and appeared to be doing everything possible to remedy the problem. My only complaint is that they couldn't figure out what the problem was. Maybe the cars are too complicated these days.
Why is it that Toyota cars in other countries seem to be not affected by this “problem”?
Because most of the ones reported to be accelerating uncontrollably are Camries and Avalons (and their rebadged Lexus versions), which aren’t sold in many other countries.
That said, there have been reports of Toyotas and joint venture cars (with Toyota parts) doing the same thing in other countries.
There are no union workers at Toyota any more. Toyota had the one union plant in the US and they’re closing it.
Well, Toyota’s ‘fixes’ for the problem are absolutely absurd and pathetic. First it was floormats, then it was increasing the tension on the pedal return spring. Few people who looked at that who knew anything about modern cars thought that this was going to resolve the problems.
Also, Toyota has been caught out in a Ford Pinto moment; turns out that they wrote a memo last year bragging about the $100+ million they saved by avoiding a recall on these defective cars.
Now, I’m not saying that the Government isn’t persecuting them to protect their own interests and Government Motors - clearly, they are. The problem for Toyota is that the government has plenty of ammo to use against them, and it’s ammo that Toyota generated itself.
Interesting thing - the cars reported to still have problems have the ‘smart pedal’ patch now, where hitting the brake and the throttle (i.e., hitting the brake with a stuck throttle) is supposed to tell the computer to cut the engine back to idle. According to the reports, the cars are still ignoring that patch, so somewhere in their code is something that’s gone horribly wrong or there’s something causing EMI/RFI interference that’s confusing the hell out of the computer.
I wouldn't drive your car 10 feet that way , but I would put the car in in neutral and consider the demolished engine a blessing and just hope the flywheel didn't explode through the floorboards , before I would let a defective accelerator cause me to crash and kill my family and those in the other cars ..
Hold the gas to the floor and the engine sputters and sounds awful. It turns off the fuel injectors to limit
the RPM.
How about just turn off the ignition? You don't have to turn the key far enough to lock the steering.
What it sounds like is Borque Oinquebama and his union pals trying to simply get rid of Toyota in America.
That just about tells the story, doesn't it?
Not the way you think. They’re not offering it because they don’t believe that the problem is real, they’re offering it because they believe the problem is real and that Toyota is screwing up.
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