Loved Ones - Toyota

[Coyote machine]

Currently have 3 Toyotas. A 2003 Tacoma double cab 4x4 with about 95K miles. It is on recall for possible frame rust through potential-( mostly covers New England climate and a few other parts of the country where road salt affects frame longevity). Toy will determine if it can be coated or bought back from me if not salvageable. If coated with their frame rustproofing it will be guaranteed 15 years from date of sale to me. I'm not worried about them taking care of me on this- they did a huge buyback of a similar series of trucks a couple of years ago.
Next vehicle is an '07 Forerunner- no recalls. Next is my wife's '08 Highlander 6 cyl normally aspirated, NON- hybrid suv. According to serial number it is NOT part of the recall on floor mats or sticky accelerator linkage/pedal, whatever.

As it turns out my grandfather founded the Washington, DC office of GM and we had ALL GM cars till I bought my first vehicle- a used Jeep 1955 that could do about 55mph top speed following a tractor trailer downhill!
We were a loyal GM family and got our cars at factory to dealer cost because of my grandfather's position at GM. My point is, I don't and never have owner a GM vehicle and probably never will. Nothing against them per se, however I refuse to reward any company for it increased ineptitude, foreign or domestic.
Toyota is stepping up to the plate and taking tremendous heat; and some of it may be Japan bashing by 'our' government; you know, the government that decided to take our money to bail out behemoths like GM and Chrysler, etc. etc. without giving us a say in the decision(s).
Whatever ends up being the end result Toyota will come back around to face yet another day of worldwide car dominance. They are determined worker bees and will set things right because it makes sense to do so and any other alternative would be met with even more animus than what they are currently doing.
In the meantime hide the women and children, run for the hills and jump like lemmings off high cliffs just because some idiot in a high government position says so

 

[dcyrilc]

eepete,
I know that your posts have been long, but I for one, have to say that I appreciate your take on this issue.

 

[eepete]

Tnx Cyril (<--- Look! a short post! )

Pete

 

[dave1949]

Nothing against them per se, however I refuse to reward any company for it increased ineptitude, foreign or domestic.
Toyota is stepping up to the plate and taking tremendous heat; and some of it may be Japan bashing by 'our' government; you know, the government that decided to take our money to bail out behemoths like GM and Chrysler, etc. etc. without giving us a say in the decision(s).
Whatever ends up being the end result Toyota will come back around to face yet another day of worldwide car dominance. They are determined worker bees and will set things right because it makes sense to do so and any other alternative would be met with even more animus than what they are currently doing.
In the meantime hide the women and children, run for the hills and jump like lemmings off high cliffs just because some idiot in a high government position says so

Good points and logical IMO. I wonder what the results would have been if there had been a national referendum on the auto bailouts. Any WAGs ?

We really ought to have instantaneous internet referendums - could make life interesting.

Thirty years ago GM/UAW (and the others) were signing labor contracts that didn't take an Actuary Ph.d to know they wouldn't be possible to sustain. It takes two to tango.
Dave.

 

[dfkrug]

If he had vacuum assisted brakes and pumped them overmuch it could have depleted the vacuum assist, which would reduce the effect of his braking.

That won't happen with the engine running....that is one of the reasons
I am no fan of turning the engine off.

People should try a few experiments on their own (in a safe setting). That
is why I am glad I learned to drive in the Rust Belt (snow!), and have taken
a few race track driver's schools. One thing to try is turning off the engine.
Steering and brakes both get much harder. As for overpowering the
brakes with the engine, that is an experiment you can do, too.

I am not a fan of doing "burn-outs" with my cars, but they do seem to be
popular when you buy a car or PU with 400 or 500hp. There is a special
technique used to feather the brakes to let the rears spin enough to
do that. Not easy with ATs, and you have to turn off the ubiquitous
traction control systems. As I said earlier, this will not be like overcoming
the engine power at-speed and under accelleration.

BTW, Toyota's official response to an unintended accelleration event is
steady pressure on the brakes. No mention of clutching, shifting, or turning
the engine off. That is from their full-page ad campaign.

If TM hits 60 again, I am buying.

 

[ccsial]

*i think*-see above, its not a hydraulic pump, its a vacuum pump
.

I'm not sure what your trying to say but I can assure you that a 97 Dodge RAM diesel uses hydraulic a pump for steering and brakes. I know, I own one.

The reason Dodge went to hydraulic instead of vacuum in 97 is because lenghtly braking down hill would drain the vacuum tank and the pump could not keep up. On a 97 there is a vacuum pump and it runs the cruise, 4WD cylinder, and possibly the heater controls, but not the brakes.

I also own two new Camry's and a Lexus and I'd buy another in a heartbeat. I gave up Lincolns and Caddys around 1990 and never looked back. I live far from town and I really like not going in for service.

 

[aczlan]

That won't happen with the engine running....that is one of the reasons
I am no fan of turning the engine off.

Actually, it can IF the throttle body is open. Vacuum is created when the engine wants more air than can get past the throttle plate. When you open the throttle plate the vacuum in the manifold drops use the the easing of the restriction on airflow, thus the check valve on the power assist for car brakes.
Diesels (which do not have a throttle plate) and cars that do not produce enough vacuum to run a brake booster (17" or so) require a vacuum pump to use vacuum assisted brakes. If your engine is running at high rpms it is possible that it is making less than 17" of vacuum this is why Toyota recommends "pressing hard on the brake pedal, not pumping it"

Aaron Z

 

[Renthal]

I love how some people claim that Toyota is stepping up to the plate and that they are so concerned about the safety of their customers. Nothing is further from the truth. They were basically forced into the latest recall as well as their production stoppage by our government. Toyota USA totally ignored the requests to address the latest safety concerns which date back to 2007 possibly 2004. The DOT Secretary had to fly to Japan where he said "Toyota is safety deaf" and said "it took enormous effort" to get them to issue a recall. All this after how many individuals and or whole families died?

Now it turns out there has been a history of hiding defects and destroying related documents at Toyota. There is currently federal racketeering lawsuit against the company accusing them of failing to turn over and or destroying documents relevant to accident victims' lawsuits against the company. They are also facing congressional hearings and civil penalties from the NHTSA. Toyota is a very corrupt company that doesn't deserve a blind following by anyone especially since there are currently better vehicles out there from both domestic and or other foreign companies.

Report: Toyota only issued recall after tremendous pressure from federal officials

 

[Dmace]

I love how some people claim that Toyota is stepping up to the plate and that they are so concerned about the safety of their customers. Nothing is further from the truth.

I couldn't agree more with everything you and the article said. Toyota is a business just like every other business out there, as soon as their name was recognized for reliability and quality both of those went out the window as their MSRP's went up. It's unfortunate but it's business.

Time to buy a Hyundai before they do the same...

 

[jinman]

The reason Dodge went to hydraulic instead of vacuum in 97 is because lenghtly braking down hill would drain the vacuum tank and the pump could not keep up. On a 97 there is a vacuum pump and it runs the cruise, 4WD cylinder, and possibly the heater controls, but not the brakes.

I have a '96 Dodge Cummins with the large vacuum pump and vacuum assisted brakes. It's easy to spot because of the big bell-shaped pneumatic actuator on the brakes and the associated pneumatic hoses. There's also a pneumatic pressure sensor inline that monitors vacuum and lights the "BRAKE" and "Anti-Skid Brakes" warning lights when the vacuum is low. On my truck with 380k miles, that pump is getting weak and the brake warning comes on from time to time even though the system still works fine. However, the pneumatic actuators for my air conditioner and heater have always been problematic in that truck. I've checked for leaks and checked the vacuum level many times, but the actuators like to hang until I give them a little "finger assist."