Toyota Suspends Sales of Recalled Models

@1487: I thought I applied an appropriate amount of smugness in my first post on this matter:

http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/01/toyota-announces-recall-for-sticking-accelerator-pedals.html

Objection overruled. Clear case of smugness demonstrated.

LOL

"The Toyota free pass continues unabated. "

Everyone writer in the country has been tripping over themself trying to write as much negative as they can about Toyota ever since they stopped being the under dog and became a top player.

I know it's hard to shed that huge chip on your shoulder but you must have noticed that by now.

At least they are fixing the problem. Past experience leads me to believe GM would not be so quick to do so.

To counter 1487's point, the Buick web chat needed embellishment to put a negative spin on it because beside a few moments of old GM mentality there was a lot of good stuff there. With this, you could show pictures of Toyota employees rescuing puppies and they'd still come off as bad guys. Toyota needs no help looking pathetic.

firstwagon: "Everyone writer in the country has been tripping over themself trying to write as much negative as they can about Toyota"

1487 may have colored glasses, but so do you. Toyota has long been a media darling. The media is hardly going after them even now, but they are writing negative. The tide is starting to shift.

"Everyone writer in the country has been tripping over themself trying to write as much negative as they can about Toyota ever since they stopped being the under dog and became a top player.

I know it's hard to shed that huge chip on your shoulder but you must have noticed that by now.

At least they are fixing the problem. Past experience leads me to believe GM would not be so quick to do so."

spoken like a true apologist. Yes they are taking action after facing numerous articles and an ABC news story that painted them as negligent. Here's a hint: you are only proactive if you take corrective action BEFORE the media gets a hold of the story and paints you as negligent. This would not be one of those cases. PAst experience? You know about GM or Ford or anyone else denying this kind of issue for this long? Do tell.

The media has NOT been going after Toyota and that fact that you say otherwise shows you are far from objective. IN 2009 Toyota got more good press than any other automaker except perhaps Ford. Ford got a lot of attention for not taking a bailout but Toyota got plenty of positive press as the supposed prime beneficiary of the bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler. The media took pains to contrast Toyota with the failing Big 2 from fall 2008 until it became obvious that Toyota was losing billions in spring 2009.

"The Toyota free pass continues unabated."

tell me more, 1487. enlighten my day!

I'll jump in.

Several years ago, I read an article about Toyota executives getting sentenced to prison (meaning they were found guilty) because they persistently lied to the Japanese government about quality issues. Now, I can't even find a Google reference. That's a hell of a free pass in the media.

The pendulum is swinging back, but it still has a ways to go.

^ thats an interesting story, brn. That is a big free-pass indeed!

A good analysis of the woes of both Gubmint Motors and Toyota(I'm blessed in that I have absolutely no desire to own a vehicle built by either company):

http://www.autoextremist.com/on-the-table1/

"tell me more, 1487. enlighten my day!"

check out the story on cnn. They dont even mention the fatalities reported by ABC news LAST WEEK. The CNN story takes Toyota's word that no deaths are related to this and then they quote an Edmunds analyst who puts the best possible spin on the situation. The article doesn't even go into the history of complaints and pending lawsuits. In my local paper the Toyota recall stories haven't been on the front page and in some cases there havent been actual articles- just news briefs buried amongst other stories. Today the story is in the business section. When the auto bailout and bankruptcies were happening that stuff was front page in bold print. The editorial page in my local paper has taken Detroit to task MANY times over the past 14-15 months and has held up Toyota and Japanese automakers as examples of how you do things the right way. Toyota's loss in 2009 was also downplayed in the US media which makes sense because we were told that making gas guzzlers is what causes car companies to lose money.

Ed,

I'm going to partially side with 1487 (shudders) on this one, but only because I find the dry wit and sarcasm you inject into your posts to be extremely risible. So please don't pull any punches if only for my amusement.

thanks 1487. interesting stuff.

I am interested to see if this affects Toyota the way Audi's unintended acceleration saga affected it back in the late 80s/early 90s. I say it won't, because Toyota has soooo many loyal customers. Oh well.