Loved Ones - Toyota

[bosshoss]

You did not get hit in the recent heated WWF system recall?

No don't have heated wwf on my truck and I don't believe it was an option


Last I checked a recall by Ford of 14 MILLION vehicles over 10 years (15 years since the part was first used) for the same cruise control switch issue beats a recall of 9 MILLION vehicles in 6 years since the part was first used by Toyota for the biggest recall ever and on dragging their feet.


You are right I was thinking of all the recalls in the last few months and not just the throttle issue. Thinking one thing and typing another.


In the words of Car and Driver executive editor Mike Dushane:
So, you are 25 times more likely to die from a fatal car crash than you are to die in a out of control Toyota
Sources: 2009/10 Toyota vehicle recalls - Wikipedia
Toyota Recall: Scandal, Media Circus, and Stupid Drivers - Editorial - Car and Driver[/url


Car and Driver numbers are for people getting killed and does not count the people getting hurt, like the eariler post I posted a link to a guy that is maybe going to be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. I'm sure he would love to know that his accident is being blown all out of perportion by the media curcus and it is not really that big a problem.



Aaron Z

Later

 

[aczlan]

Car and Driver numbers are for people getting killed and does not count the people getting hurt, like the eariler post I posted a link to a guy that is maybe going to be in a wheelchair the rest of his life. I'm sure he would love to know that his accident is being blown all out of perportion by the media curcus and it is not really that big a problem.

While I feel sorry for the man in the link you posted, from the video and the story from the station that broke the news (Louisville man crashes in recalled Camry) it sounds like his car went from idle to WOT unexpectedly in the parking lot, causing him to go over the wall.
It is not physically possible for a recalled AND sticking (not all recalled pedals have started to stick) gas pedal to cause this unless he pressed the gas pedal to the floor. It might be caused by the floormat recall, but it is unlikely as again, the floormat causes the pedal to stay where you left it, not suddenly go to the floor on its own.

As such, unless there is another recall on the way for a software bug that causes the car to go to WOT, that crash will probably be found to have been caused by operator error. It may be operator error compounded by a sticky gas pedal or floormat entrapment but the root cause will be operator error.

Aaron Z

 

[Heywood Jannockitov]

Has this ever happened to anybody? I'm driving along at a rather sedate speed on the road with the cruise set at, say, 95 kmh in the slow lane. I approach someone going even slower, so I override the cruise by stepping on the accelerator to speed up and pass traffic.

I continue to drive at a higher speed for awhile, forgetting that the cruise is still actually engaged at a lower set speed.

I either come to my exit or approach slower traffic again, requiring the need to gradually coast down in speed without yet applying brakes. Then, when I've coasted down to the set cruise speed, WHAM!, the vehicle surges forward again. Of course I'm on the brakes in a split second, but it sure takes one by surprise when it happens.

Now, if the same situation occurred wherein the cruise did not disengage when applying the brakes, simulating a stuck throttle, the extra couple of seconds to react to that scenario could spell disaster. A lot can happen in a couple of seconds.

 

[Bird]

Has this ever happened to anybody?

Yes, I've done that. Like you said, you realize what you've done it a fraction of a second.

 

[ccsial]

This thread has outlived is usefulness.

 

[BobRip]

my first question about the toyota accelerator problem is simple:
why didn't any of the drivers just kick the trans into neutral and let the motor blow?

Good question. The motor would not blow, there is a rev limiter to protect engine and the limit is lower in neutral than when the transmission is engaged.

 

[patrick_g]

One Toyota and 50000 miles that is impressive. I have a Chevy Silverado with 50000 miles(and 25000 of that is pulling a trailer up to 8000 pounds) and no problems AND NO RECALLS. I still say all the manufactures make quality products these days and GM or Toyota can make a bad one here and there.


What available statistics? Show me or is this keyboard hypothesis


Hey you like Toyota and I like GM, I like green tractors and you like orange tractors. That is the way it is and the way it always will be, competition make all the brands better.
The real issue here is TOYOTA is in trouble and making it worse by dragging their feet and trying to cover it up. NOT GM or FORD. This isn't about gov. loans or someone who had a bad GM or Ford years ago it is about people getting killed and hurt and the BIGGEST RECALL IN AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY.
Toyota stock is down and sales have dropped so even if you think Toyota is the best car built others are changing their minds.

I never claimed Toyota was the best car built. I know I am an easier target if you put words in my mouth but...

I also don't expect to do any heavy towing with a Prius. I just reported a fact, the car is doing great (not part of any recall no sudden acceleration problems, no brake problems) and it has been the most trouble free car we have ever owned.

Frequency of repair records and owner satisfaction statistics are available from a number of sources including but not limited to Consumers Union and J.D. Powers and Associates.

I am not a Toyota fanatic. I also own an '08 F-250 PowerStroke 4x4, an '89 Dodge Dakota 4x4, a '62 VW bug/street legal dune buggy, and '97 Dodge/Cummins 4x4 Ram3500 1 ton dually. I like all these vehicles, each has a purpose in my affairs, if I didn't like any of them they would be gone. That said, each of them has had several issues that have needed more than minimal correction.

I have had only two unrequested/sticky full throttle events. One was in cruise with the Ram 3500 and was a cruise glitch not a sticky throttle when it was fairly new with well under 10K miles and the other was a throttle cable on the dune buggy. It failed in the WOT position. I made it back several miles through the desert using a boot lace tied to the butterfly and later replaced the cable.

Pat

 

[bosshoss]

I never claimed Toyota was the best car built. I know I am an easier target if you put words in my mouth but...

Sorry I guess I didn't understand what you meant when you said. "Available statistics do not support the hypothesis that Toyota is "just another manufacturer, just like all the rest."




the other was a throttle cable on the dune buggy. It failed in the WOT position. I made it back several miles through the desert using a boot lace tied to the butterfly and later replaced the cable.

That was a neat story, good thinking with the shoestring. I bet that was fun to drive and shift gears and pull on the throttle string

Pat

Later

 

[two_bit_score]

Not to be snarkey...but..as a longtime owner of numerous classic cars from the '60's and '70's I can tell you that the possibility of a stuck throttle on a Holley double pumper is always in the back of my mind as it has happened to me. People need to get into a little bit of a state of preparation when they are driving anything. After all, you're not in your living room.

This kind of thing can happen on a quad, motocycle, tractor, car or cement truck.
They really don't teach defensive or hazardous driving anymore.

my dad cut me loose in an empty snow covered parking lot with a '76 GMC 4x4 and had me doing spin-outs and doughnuts to see what loss of control feels like.

Because of that, and other things he taught me and let me experience, I now know how to handle a vehicle in many adverse conditions. I also have an internal early warning as to when I have lost control, and how to respond. This kind of thing should be manditory for all drivers before they get their license.

No 'snarkiness' taken at all.

But, reality is, as you say, that they "don't teach defensive or hazardous driving anymore".


Also, as you say, "This kind of thing should be manditory for all drivers before they get their license" reality is that it's not a part of getting a license.

So, no matter how well prepared you may be. Most other driver's you are meeting on the highway are not.

 

[Bird]

as a longtime owner of numerous classic cars from the '60's and '70's I can tell you that the possibility of a stuck throttle on a Holley double pumper is always in the back of my mind as it has happened to me.

Not just '60s and '70s, but some even earlier. This reminds me of a time when I was 18 years old and a friend and I were double dating. We were in his 1952 Pontiac convertible. My date and I were in the back seat when we got stopped by a police officer and my buddy got a ticket for speeding. He just sat there until the officer drove off, then he told me I needed to help him find a problem. He said his throttle had stuck, but that he wasn't about to tell the officer that because he didn't think the officer would believe it. We raised the hood, and right away I saw the bent linkage scraping against the side of the carburetor.