Toyota Accelerator Recall

[boardman]

Originally Posted by LexusLover

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7428952.stm

"Ford to open new plant in Mexico" .....

Ford parts have been made in Mexico for years ... and brought back to US for assembly .... FYI: It's the parts that break ... not the unit!

Now the "units" will "break"!

I owned a 2001 F150 that was "assembled in Mexico"

[mrhunt]

Toyota's new slogan. TOYOTA TRY AND STOP US NOW

[SofaKingFun]

Say what you will about Toyota. They make a hell of a vehicle. What many people don't realize is that Toyota's sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) recall isn't the top most damaging recall of all time..according to Popular Mechanics, Ford Explorer, Ford Pinto, GM's X-cars, Audi's 5000 and Dodge Aspen/Ply Volare filled out those spots.

1 The top five manufacturers of cars driven in the United States are General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chrysler.

• The NHTSA's online database indicates that every one of these five has received numerous consumer complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in more than one of its models. Each manufacturer has faced a formal investigation into these complaints by the NHTSA and as a result has had to recall vehicles to fix various conditions that led to the problem.

• Recalls due to incidents of sudden unintended acceleration are not limited to the big five manufacturers. According to the NHTSA database, recalls have also been issued for vehicles made by Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Mazda, Land Rover, Suzuki and Volvo.

• Bottom Line: Sudden unintended acceleration is not a problem limited to Toyota. Many car manufacturers, including the other four with the largest shares of the U.S. market, have had to recall vehicles because of this issue.


2 So why did Toyota's safety issues become front-page news when similar recalls by other automakers barely made the business pages? One is the scary nature of unintended acceleration itself, which taps into our almost instinctual fear that our machines will suddenly turn on us (HAL?). Another was the horrific 911 call from the passenger of a Lexus that crashed in Santee, Calif., in August of last year. And then there was timing. Toyota responded first to the problem of shifting floor mats (the likely culprit in the Santee crash), and only later to the much more subtle issue of accelerator pedals that are slow to return to idle. Those are two unrelated problems that needed to be addressed separately. Perhaps in a different climate, Toyota could have convinced the public that the accelerator pedal recall was an example of extreme diligence in pursuit of safety. Instead, the second recall struck the public as an admission of culpability—just another shoe dropping in a much larger scandal.

Now (and this is important) also consider into this the fact that the United States government owns 61% of General Motors and this administration's major funders own 17.5% of General Motors and 55% of Chrysler. Remember the Bailout? Is there really any question why a recall from a competing entity is getting overblown...especially since the ones fanning the media flame are experiencing the same recall issues themselves?

Without question Toyota has the most incidences of SUA related issues/ fatalities. There are more Toyota's on the road than the other manufacturers so naturally their percentages are going to be higher and the figures skewed.

The safety issues that lead to recalls generally occur in very small numbers, often barely rising above statistical noise. Toyota's unintended acceleration problem involved a handful of cases in literally billions of miles of driving. They're taking care of the problem. They've just got a shit-load of 'em to do to complete the campaign.

1)http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/05/sud...eck/index.html
2)http://www.popularmechanics.com/auto...s/4345385.html

[chicagoboy]

Conspiracy theories are always more fun, but here's some insight into Toyota's problems with the Feds, from the February 8 WSJ:

On Jan. 19, in a closed-door meeting in Washington, D.C., two top executives from Toyota Motor Corp. gave American regulators surprising news.

Evidence had been mounting for years that Toyota cars could speed up suddenly, a factor suspected in crashes causing more than a dozen deaths. Toyota had blamed the problem on floor mats pinning the gas pedal. Now, the two Toyota men revealed they knew of a problem in its gas pedals.

The two top officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration "were steamed," according to a person who discussed the meeting with both sides. As the meeting closed, NHTSA chief David Strickland hinted at using the agency's full authority, which can include subpoenas, fines, and even forcing auto makers to stop selling cars.

Toyota had known about the gas-pedal problem for more than a year. Its silence with U.S. regulators, and other newly uncovered details from the crisis enveloping Toyota, reveal a growing rift between the Japanese auto maker and NHTSA, one of its top regulators. Regulators came to doubt Toyota's commitment to addressing safety defects, according to interviews with federal officials and industry executives, and accounts of Toyota and NHTSA interactions the past year.

As is often the case, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up.

[Mokoa]

I remember long ago when I was driving a Ford Pinto for several months while my own car was being repaired. The good thing was...

No one ever tailgated me.

[Mr Clever]

Toyota just recalled the Tundra 4x4 --defective drive shaft. I told a friend about it and he mentioned that he thinks the tailgate is next.

I'm not familiar with either.