Toyota

[ccm911]

Now I am sure you all know that I find American AND Japanese cars to be inferior, but.........

I can't shake this feeling that Toyota is being set up.  I mean, any car company that puts out a bunch of cars will have problems, but it seems that the Toyota problems are just way too odd.  And the timing just seems suspicious.  I mean, how does Toyota go from making a decent automobile to having it all fall apart in a matter of weeks?

I can't put my finger on it, but I think there is more going on here than meets the eye.

Does anyone else feel this way?

[AMoore]

Dave, I am by no means a typical conspiracy theorist; however, I have the same concerns.  Americans have been driving quality Toyota products for more than 40 years.  Morevoer, you are more likely to find a Toyota that was made in this country than a Ford or a Chevy.

 

Another point for Toyota drivers who believe their accelerators are sticking . . . "N" means neutral. 

[cjbcpa]

I think a set up is unlikely (unless you mean ABC). I do find it a shame that a reputation that was built upon years of reliable, well built (albeit dull vehicles) can be struck down so quickly. I suspect once the problem is truly sorted out and fixed, their reputation will get back to pre-incident levels.

IIRC, don't most of these cars have a drive by wire throttle? I suspect these issues can be chalked up to the exponential increase in automobile complexity, particularly electronics. So many electronic/software driven interfaces and components, sooner or later some glitch or conflict was bound to occur. I really can't stand all the automatic this and that nowadays. Maybe I'm turning into an old fogey, but whatever happened to windows and sunroofs with hand cranks? Even the Miata has power windows, sheesh.

[ccm911]

cjbcpa wrote:

Even the Miata has power windows, sheesh.

Based on your reply, you will absolutely HATE the new Miata with the power Steel roof.

[Terry]

Strangely enough, power windows on my 2005 Elise were lighter than the hand crank version - and power windows are hardly new. Hooking them, and everything else, to the CANBUS, and eliminating much of the wiring harness, is new. Good in that it saves a lot of weight and complexity -  bad in that things can get unpredictable and chaotic.

[dmano]

Thats why I am driving my 1978 Honda Civic 1200 right now. No power anything 55+ MPG yah baby 8 gal. of gas every 3 weeks.

[Darren]

Just wait until cars are steer-by-wire.  As technology does more and more of the driving there are more chances for things to fail and in our society anytime something fails the manufacturer is liable.

Consider drugs that save millions of lives and then have a very small percentage of people who have serious adverse side effects -- the few that suffer sue and win with no balance given to how many people it saved.

It's a self-destructive path that ends with the lawyers getting all of the money.

[dmano]

Volvo's are already drive by wire. When I mean drive I mean steering and gas pedal. A real pain in the ass to work on. High speed, medium and low speed canbus fiber optic wiring.

[Darren]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rampagi...2010-03-11
 
From 2000 to the end of January 2010, the Transportation Department received 2,600 complaints of sudden acceleration from Toyota
 
By comparison, Ford Motor Co. has drawn almost 1,000 more complaints for the same problem over the same period, and General Motor Co. has triggered 2,250 complaints from drivers alleging unwanted acceleration.

[ccm911]

Am I mistaken, or did the AUDI 5000 issue turn out to be "pilot error" in the end?  I would imagine that most of these cases are due to poor driving skills.