Toyota is going to be fucked for some time...

I don't think anything matters from this point on. They will probably lose at least 20% of market share for the next couple years. Would be interesting to sit in the room with the number crunchers and listen in :). They will survive though...

That video of the Avalon over-riding it's brakes is pretty damning and they have been playing it on the local channels morning and night. It's easy to see now if you are in a crowed surface road situation how it could cause you to wreck. Everyone should through their car in neutral on the way home for a second and back in D to get used to it.

I guess all of us don't get to grow up doing rolling neutral drops at 4grand in a 71 Skylark :rofl:

I just realized my exgirlfriend who's a friend just got a corolla. and older one but I haven't checked out the model dates to be looking for.


I hope she took it to the shop

That's how they got to the top spot in the first place. Will take more than one scandal to bring them down.

When they are fixing cars across the board without reporting the problems to the NTSB or the customer there is this illusion of quality.

The blind trust the Toyota faithful have amazes me.

The blind are supporting Toyota because they don't want to admit they were duped by them.

They do build pretty good cars but this is just a bad issue all around. For all the electronics in a car..for this system to be at fault. Remember GM electrics of the 80's :rofl: The fact that their engines are great helps them a lot. (wish I still had my 93' toyota pickup with the 22RE engine)


Also, all cars basic functions should be purely mechanical. Just like the emergency brake. No electronics, just a cable. Same should be for the throttle.


What next.... A little stupid green touch sensor on the floorboard and you just apply more pressure when you want to go faster? :eyes:

Never going to buy from them again. Ever.

n/t

Except when they aren't.

It's a great car. As soon as they fix this problem I am going to buy a brand new Toyota. I doubt they will ever do anything like this again, the cars are great and they will be giving them away.

Do they use a unique throttle design in the Rav4? If not, I'd assume it has the same problem as all the rest (especially since Toyota is still claiming they don't know the root cause.)

There haven't been any reports of problems. I'm not worried.

You don't seem to have much info for somebody speaking like an expert!

I was TERRIFIED until my sister's car was finally called in for the recall. "My car isn't even affected!" she assured me. Until it was. :hi:

I am not terrified but if the car is called in I will bring it in. I hope no one in my family is sitting around all terrified. I am more worried about drunk drivers and idiots on the road.

I'm saddened to see Toyota in this situation, but they did it to themselves. Some more quality control and repairs would have seen them through this situation.

On the other hand, there's an entertaining right wing-nut theory as to the root cause of Toyota's troubles. I've read that some right wing-nuts claim that Toyota is in its present pickle because Democrats (gasp) are going after Toyota because (shudder) Toyota is mostly non-union (horrors). That the defects came up while Dubya was present and Dubya was never much either for new regulation or enforcing the ones on the book is a thought that doesn't enter far right wing-nut minds.

I also doubt that most of them have ever been trapped in an accelerating Toyota, either.

:crazy:

:tinfoilhat:

OK..... I would love to say "Let's eliminate regulations for Toyota and others. Toyota will be blameless for any injuries to occupants of their vehicles. Toyota will not be responsible for any repairs to their vehicles. Owners of Toyotas will be totally responsible for any and all damages to their vehicle and liable for the deaths of any as a result of their vehicle." Of course, that would put others at risk by doing that.

That Toyota's trouble are being fabricated to help the bailout of the Detroit Automakers.

Some actually told me that one yesterday

:crazy:

The problem wasn't the power - it was the fact that the fucker had a posi rear. It damn near spun the thing out to the left and I was lucky I was on a wide road with nobody next to me. Note: I did that exactly ONCE.

Another fun time with that car was when I picked it up from the shop. I got in and it wouldn't move. No matter how much I ran the engine, it acted like it was in park. I opened the door and looked out and the rear wheel was not moving - not at all - but I could hear something moving. With it in drive, I got out of the car and walked around to the other side. The passenger side rear wheel was on ice and slowly spinning as if it didn't have a care in the world. Damn posi! I had to get a mechanic to come out and give it a shove to get it off the ice! Posi is great for cornering and that car would climb any hill in the snow, but it does have some downsides.

nt

The basic idea of shifting the torque to the wheel in need is great when there is at least some friction. If a wheel is on ice or burning rubber off the line, the concept breaks down. Like I said, it would climb any snowy hill and only a posi will give you the serpentine track as it shifts torque. For its size, it was incredible on curves as well. A buddy of mine had a 73 Mustang with posi and his didn't kick out left as badly as mine. He attributed it to Buick making a shitty rear end but I think he might have been a bit biased.

Ironically, my late and very Republican grandfather bought it new with a full towing package to haul around a huge travel trailer. I have the original invoice and posi is one of the options, along with a $5 waste bucket option. He loaded it with damn near everything EXCEPT FOR A DECENT SOUND SYSTEM! It had a basic AM radio with one crappy ass speaker in the dash board. I didn't get the car until after he died so I wasn't able to question him about that decision.

A true posi both wheels spin at all times...A couple welds on the splines will do the trick :)

A true posi will tear through tires as well with normal driving

It had been used to tow a monster trailer all over the country. It also suffered from that shitty GM paint from the late 60's to early 70's - turned dull within a few years - but that's obviously a different issue.

Ford less than one year ago was forced to recall more than 4 million cars based on 550 vehicle FIRES

The recall concerned cruise-control deactivation switches that were installed in 16 million Fords. Part of the recall included nearly 1.1 million 1995-2003 Ford Windstar family van models.

Was there a congressional hearing?

Fords kind of suck anyway so no one would feel good about dancing on their grave. Toyota has to be crucified in public because they had a reputation for making great cars. This wouldn't even be news if an American brand did it.

Americans like to see their idols go down in flames. It passes as news.

Bottom-fishing is a valid investment strategy. They will be back.

After their next earnings report may be a good time

http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2010/02/audis-experience-could-foreshadow-toyotas-troubles-ahead.html

Audi's Experience Could Foreshadow Toyota's Troubles Ahead

As Toyota looks at the difficult path that lies ahead, it probably does not like what it sees in the example set by Audi. In the ‘80s, Volkswagen’s luxury brand ran afoul of consumers due to similar issues of sudden acceleration in its 5000 sedan.

After the Center for Auto Safety linked that vehicle to six deaths and roughly 700 accidents, a string of recalls began, lasting from 1982 to 1987 and eventually leading to a class-action lawsuit that remains unresolved to this day.

The result in Audi’s sales was more or less catastrophic. After reaching a peak of 74,061 units sold in the U.S. in 1985, sales plummeted to 12,283 by 1991 — an 83% drop. It took Audi 15 years to rebuild its brand name, finally topping sales of 80,000 vehicles by 2000. It only managed to do so six years after launching a turnaround strategy that introduced new A4 and A8 models and reorganizing its distribution networks.

performance car company.

Most of the cars they have produced have sucked.

People forgive and forget, whether they should or not... just ask any GOP pol

edited to add: Just pointing out the foolishness of counting Toyota as DOA now. People have short memories. Media helps that along.

It will be forgotten and cars will get sold.

A HUGE part of the appeal of buying a Toyota is the appearance that one has "done their homework" and made a "smart choice".

That's all gone. :wow:

(Or should I say good choices :rofl: )

nothing like getting on a good flat highway covered in snow and ice where you can see and there is no one around and take a vw beettle and twitch the steering wheel at the same time as pushing the clutch in and pulling on the emergency brake and hang the fuck on. All you have to do is make sure the road is a level one with no cars around and you move to the crown of the road and get it up to about 60 mph, (if you got the gonads) and let'er rip. You'll find out just what kind of a person is that is sitting it the passenger seat too, let me tell you. At sixty miles an hour and a good frozen base the vw would make about 20 circles before it comes to a stop.
I just had to tell you that, done'r a many a time

:scared:

when we were teenagers. It helped if you had at least four people in the van. Doughnuts on Ice!