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 ...
The Toyotas most likely to do this often do not have a physical key; they rely on a ‘smartkey’ and a push-button ignition.
Yeah, that’s not the safest thing, but it’s one way to make sure the dealer sees the car while it’s having the problem.
In that same report, the dealer rep came out while the car was sitting in the service drive bouncing off the rev limiter and manually moved the pedal around by hand with no effect.
Thanks, makes sense if it’s mostly US-market cars.
Must’ve missed the reports from other countries, though. Perhaps they’re not so widely publicised.
The models most likely to have the problems are the Camry/ES350, Tacoma, Sienna and Matrix. None of which are popular outside the US and therefore do not appear much outside North America.
Also, have you checked our press lately? Yeah, they’re not reporting stuff from overseas lately - possibly to be able to overlook the AGW debunking that’s happening.
I saw one of the pedals they were fixing when I was at the shop getting my 90,000 mile checkup, and the fix made sense to me based on that specific problem.
Not that there can’t be other problems, and I am always nervous about fly-by-wire systems, but I know that when people are “looking” for problems, they think they find them. People are notoriously BAD at observation, but think they are very good at it. When you tell someone to look for something, they not only will find it where it doesn’t exist, they will also insist that what they are now experiencing is different from before, because they THINK they remember what it was like before.
It takes concerted efforts to overcome mass hysteria. Mass hysteria is real, and is a big problem.
If they were addressing problems with the pedal physically sticking, then yes, that was the proper solution - but the thing is, well before they announced the recalls (first the floormats and then the rebuilt pedals), there was plenty of evidence that the pedal wasn’t the cause of the SUA problem.
So funny how it seems to be such a patriotic duty on here to support foreign cars. The irony.
So funny that my family's present 'foreign' cars are made in Alabama and Tennessee. Whereinas our previous Cadillacs and Chryslers were made in Canada/Mexico.
Hmmmm ...so funny that my present 'foreign' cars are made by Americans , but my previous 'American' cars were made by foreigners!! ;)
Do they have to click on "Start" and then "Turn off Computer", then "turn off" like you do for windows?
If so, they need to click on "Setup" and then check the "disable runaway accelerator" box.
Why would the manufacturer not at least put a "Kill" switch like a snowmobile?
Because the Feds say you can’t have one on a new-sale vehicle. It’s in the FMVSS standards, no separate killswitches.
The procedure to turn one off while in motion isn’t standard either. Some cars you hold the start button for three seconds, others have you hit the button twice for a second each, others have you press it three times....
Street motorcycles are new vehicles and usually have kill switches/buttons. I just replaced one.
I was referring to cars. The Feds mandate them on motorcycles; but they’re banned on cars.
Personally, I’ve thought that cars with drive-by-wire should have a big red smash button somewhere conspicuous so that you can shut everything down if something goes wrong.
That sounds like how you reboot a computer if all else fails.
Press and hold the power switch until it turns off.
A car could travel quite a ways if it works like that.
What do they do when they get the "blue screen of death" like the Airbus did?
Is it as funny to point out that before the downturn, GM employed more Americans than all foreign car companies combined? (It was something like 110,000 in GM to a smidge over 100,000 for all foreign cars. Ford and Chrysler were 85,000 and 80,000 respectively, so domestic brands employed 275,000 Americans directly.)
But wait, it gets funnier. Part suppliers employ twice as many people as auto manufactures. And who uses domestic parts? The big three averaged 80% domestic part content, while foreign cars averaged 35% domestic part content.
The one caveat is that these are 2006 figures, so I know the GM claim is off a bit now. I think they are down to around 90,000 now...
Stop speeding, dummy.
Political mud slinging being brought to free (un free) enterprise.
Detroit has a long history of this kind of ****, witness the cases of Preston Tucker and DeLorean...
Yes, just tapping the brake will stop a properly functioning cruise control. However, I have been slightly startled if I forget that the CC is on, speed up above the set speed, coast for a stop and the car accelerates on its own at the last second when it gets below the set speed. I could see how some might overreact to that but be it that or an actual malfunction, hitting the brake will always stop the car no matter what.
I really don’t like cruise control. Makes me feel like I’m not in full control. I’m also one of those “two footed” drivers. Started out driving by racing go karts. Then into stick shift cars. I always have my right foot on the gas, and my left foot ready to stomp on the brake. Old habits,, and all that,,,,,
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