Toyota Recalls Straightline Archives

It's been a couple days since we've had some Toyota news, so here's a brief tidbit on the latest investigation. Some initial findings were released by NHTSA after looking over a Prius that crashed into a wall  in New York City. The driver had said that the car accelerated out of control while pulling out of a driveway.

Although the investigation isn't complete, NHTSA reported that the on board computer in the Prius showed that at the time of the crash the throttle was wide open and the brakes had not been applied.

That was about it. Draw your own conclusions.

AP
 

Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

In our continuing quest to defend all things Toyota, or cars in general depending on your viewpoint, we present another look at how hard it is to stop a runaway car.

This time we used a Camry instead of a Prius. We tried several different scenarios, all in an attempt to replicate a "runaway" situation.

Guess what? The car still stopped. In fact, the car stopped quicker than we expected. Even when we disconnected the brake vacuum hose to simulate a total loss of brake power, the Camry still stopped. Are you surprised? We weren't.

Camry Stuck-Throttle Brake Test
 

Categories: Sedans,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

The Toyota circus continued today. First Toyota discredited the story of one Mr. James Sikes by releasing the preliminary results of its own investigation. Turns out, the facts don't seem to support Mr. Sikes claim. Shocker that one.

Another bizarro twist came in the form of yet another class action lawsuit. This time the plaintiffs are asking a judge to award them complete refunds for their cars.

"When we talked with Toyota owners, they all voiced the same desire -- to drive the car back to the lot, hand them the keys and pick up a check," said Steve Berman, the Seattle-based lawyer who filed the suit.

Yeah, good luck with that one. Idiots.

SFGate

Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

We know you're probably sick of the whole Toyota acceleration thing. We are too. But in the interest of knowing a little more than the average consumer, we wanted to show you this video made by our Director of Vehicle Testing, Dan Edmunds.

Dan demonstrates just how it easy it is to get an "out of control" Prius back under control. First he shows that even with the throttle pressed to the floor, applying the brakes disengages the engine and slows the car down. And what about neutral? Same thing. With the car at wide open throttle, tapping the shift lever into neutral immediately disengages the engine an the car slows down. Is any of this surprising to you? We hope not.

For a full explanation, see Dan's post on Three Ways to Deal With a Stuck Throttle

Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

James Sikes has become the face of Toyota's alleged runaway acceleration problem and Toyota can't figure out why.

According to report by the AP, Toyota says all Priuses are equipped with a computer system that cuts power to the wheels if the brake and gas pedals are depressed at the same time - something Sikes says he was doing.

"It's tough for us to say if we're skeptical. I'm mystified in how it could happen with the brake override system," Don Esmond, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota Motor Sales, said.

You're not alone Don.

AP

Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

Another day, another story of an out of control Toyota. This time it was in San Diego and it involved a Prius. You can watch the news report after the jump, but the driver basically claimed that he pressed the gas to pass someone and "then the thing just jumped and kept going."

Thankfully, the Prius was eventually brought under control without incident, but there are elements of the story that left us scratching our heads. In other words, this is BS.
 

Continue reading...

Categories: Hybrids,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

Toyota held a press conference today at its Torrance headquarters to prove why an experiment discussed during a Congressional inquiry does little to implicate its cars in unintended acceleration accidents.

The issue at hand was an experiment conducted by Professor David Gilbert from Southern Illinois University. He testified to Congress that he had devised an experiment that produced an intentional short in Toyota's electronic throttle control system that would induce full throttle acceleration. More importantly, the experiment could be conducted without tripping any fault codes in the car's electronic control unit.

Well, according to Toyota, Professor Gilbert's experiment has no real world relevance. Its experts, as well as engineers Toyota hired to look into the situation, contend that the experiment involves far too many steps for it to simply happen by chance. Toyota also notes that the experiment produces the same result on virtually any car with an electronic throttle pedal, whether it's made by Toyota or not. Click through for a video of their demonstration.
 
 

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Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

The number of complaints filed by Toyota owners whose car have had the throttle pedal recall fix is up to 60, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

None of these complaints have been verified by independent examination, but tensions are running high. And NHTSA no doubt is looking to make a show of strength after taking criticism for being slow, disorganized and generally ill-equipped to deal with the level of technology in today's cars.

"We are determined to get to the bottom of this," NHTSA administrator David Strickland told the Detroit Free Press' Justin Hyde. NHTSA officials said tonight they would contact each of the owners directly.

If it's determined the initial fix was ineffective, NHTSA says it could order Toyota to come up with another repair.

Detroit Free Press

Categories: Auto Industry,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

Toyota owners whose cars have had the recall fix performed on their throttle pedals are now filing complaints with NHTSA to the effect of "it didn't work." At least 13 have been logged.

Representative Bart Stupak (D-Michigan) then added fuel to the fire today when he told Bloomberg that Toyota owners should feel "not very safe" when driving their cars.

"I don't think yet they have an answer [to reports of alleged unintended acceleration]," he said. "There's a glitch in either the computer, the software or the electronic system, and they haven't been able to narrow it down."

But here's a reality check on all this: Inside Line's parent company, Edmunds.com, reports that purchase intent for Toyota vehicles increased 38.5 percent from March 1 to March 2, following Toyota's announcement of its March sales program.

The automaker is offering 0 percent financing for up to a 60-month term on the 2010 Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Highlander, Matrix, RAV4, Tundra and Yaris.

Stupak, if you're wondering, served as a Michigan State Trooper for over a decade and holds a law degree; he is not, however, an engineer.

Edmunds.com press release

Inside Line News -- Toyota Recall: "It's Doing It Again, Mom!"

Bloomberg

Categories: Auto Industry,Hatchbacks,SUVs,Sedans,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

You can rest easy now: NHTSA says it has purchased the 2007 Lexus ES 350 once owned by Rhonda Smith and will evaluate it at its test center in East Liberty, Ohio. No word on how much the second owners were paid for their Lexus, but the ES reportedly has about 30,000 miles on its odometer.

Meanwhile, over on Capitol Hill, U.S. Representative Edolphus Towns, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to Toyota North America President Yoshimi Inaba today, laying into the big automaker for its "systematic disregard for the law and routine violation of court discovery orders in litigation."

This didn't have a thing to do with alleged unintended acceleration incidents. Rather, Towns had just finished poring over internal Toyota documents related to rollover crash litigation.

"People injured in crashes involving Toyota vehicles may have been injured a second time when Toyota failed to produce relevant evidence in court," he wrote. "This also raises very serious questions as to whether Toyota has also withheld substantial, relevant information from NHTSA."

Finally, from Pittsburgh, a Carnegie Mellon Professor, Paul Fischbeck, says that driving a Toyota or Lexus with a potentially sticking throttle increases your risk of death by only 2 percent. Walking a mile, Fischbeck says, is 19 times more dangerous than driving a mile in a recalled Toyota.

"There hasn't been a discussion about the actual risk of driving one of Toyota's recalled vehicles," he says in a Carnegie Mellon press release. "Even the messages from the Transportation Secretary have been confusing.  First, it's a recommendation not to drive the cars in question at all. Then, that was retracted. I think it's important for people to realize that when you look at the actual risk of driving one of these cars, it's actually very low."

You can read the full press release here and, for further enlightenment and encouragement, visit Fischbeck's Death Risk Rankings Web site.

You can read Rep. Towns' letter to Inaba here.

Detroit News

Wall Street Journal

Categories: Auto Industry,Lexus,Sedans,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

You may have seen the tearful testimony of one Mrs. Rhonda Smith a couple days ago. She was one of many witnesses called to testify in the congressional hearing on Toyota's unintended acceleration problems. She described a harrowing incident in which her Lexus ES350 took off down the highway despite her best efforts to stop it.

Now. Mrs. Smith seemed like a perfectly honest and articulate woman, but elements of her testimony made us a little bit suspect of the story. For one, she told the House panel that she shifted the Lexus "into all available gears, including reverse, but nothing happened." Think back to the last time you shifted into reverse while a car was moving forward. Did anything happen? Even the congressmen on the panel wondered aloud why the transmission didn't just fall out of the car onto the highway. No explanation was given by anybody. 

One point that wasn't brought up, however, is the fact that NHTSA looked into the situation and found out that the Smith's Lexus, which they sold promptly after the incident, is still on the road. In fact, the new owners have racked up 27,000 trouble free miles without incident. We suspect Mr. Lentz might have wanted to cite that fact during his testimony. Oh well.

WSJ

Categories: Auto Industry,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

But wait, there's more! Yes, after parts 1 and 2 of our look at the most ridiculous NHTSA complaints, there are still a few left. Never underestimate the stupidity of the public, or its willingness to complain. Enjoy.   

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Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

In just a few minutes here, the first of many congressional panels will convene to look into Toyota's recall issues. In the hot seat today will be Toyota U.S.A. chief Jim Lentz. He's going to be raked over the coals by various politicians who may or may not know what they're talking about. Should make for an interesting morning.

It begs the question though: What would you ask Mr. Lentz? Are you more concerned about Toyota's explanation of the problem? Or would you be more interested in the conspiracy theories that say Toyota knew it had problems all along? I've got a feeling we'll be getting plenty of both lines of questioning today.

Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls

In the middle of this scrum is Bob Carter, head of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. He's attempting to answer the tidal wave of questions from reporters regarding Toyota's "issues" after the company's press conference here in Chicago.

During the press conference, Carter jumped right into the subject, saying that his dealers were working around the clock to fix the sticky pedal issue. "Our dealers are currently fixing cars at a rate of 50,000 cars per day," Carter said.

Carter even acknowledged that Toyota considered foregoing today's press conference to focus on the company's problems. Instead, he came out, addressed the fixes and moved on to the refreshed 2011 Avalon, noting that "customers always want to see new products, so we're continuing to deliver."

Categories: Chicago Auto Show,Toyota,Toyota Recalls

Think this will help?
 

Categories: Toyota,Toyota Recalls