Toyota tries to cover up problem...again
03-15-2010, 11:35 PM
#1
Toyota tries to cover up problem...again http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/t...7+in+San+Diego
Most have probably heard about the Prius that ran away in San Diego on March 8th.
The driver passed another car, and when he released the throttle, the car kept accelerating. The driver called 911 and the CHP had to use their cruiser as a buffer to slown down the car.
When I saw this, it just reiterated what I have known all along...that this problem has absolutely nothing to do with the throttle pedal itself. I've seen extensive tests with the US made pedals, and all have a very stiff return spring and show no sign of sticking.
By now its obvious that what is making these cars accelerate is the electronic throttle system. Its not the pedal, its not the driver, its the drive by wire. Toyota is trying to play the damage control game by replacing pedals instead of DBW systems in order to save money and avoid panic.
If you read the report, Toyota makes a bunch of bullshit claims:
- They say the pedal had no "mechanical binding or friction". Of course it didn't, that hasn't been the problem in any of the cases. Never has one of the crashed Toyota vehicles shown signs that the pedal was physically stuck.
- They say the front brakes show severe wear and damage from overheating. No kidding, the guy was riding the brakes trying to stop the car. Of course they are going to overheat and fail, they are small, shitty brakes to begin with (typical Toyota). Yet they claim the rear brakes were in "good condition" and functional - which makes no sense. If the front brakes were damaged and worn due to excessive heat, the rear brakes should show the same issue.
- They say the floor mats did not interfere. No kidding. Once again, that was never the problem. Back in November they blamed the floor mats to avoid a major recall...and look where that got them. It just caused more injuries and deaths to American citizens and they still had to recall 8.5 million vehicles anyway.
- Heres the best one - they claim there was no "trouble codes". If course there weren't any codes, none of the cars have shown any codes all along. The PCM thinks that the acceleration is normal, since it believes that the throttle position signal is being directly recieved from the throttle pedal. Of course its not, there is a fault in the system that causes the throttle to open even when the pedal is 100% released.
Most have probably heard about the Prius that ran away in San Diego on March 8th.
The driver passed another car, and when he released the throttle, the car kept accelerating. The driver called 911 and the CHP had to use their cruiser as a buffer to slown down the car.
When I saw this, it just reiterated what I have known all along...that this problem has absolutely nothing to do with the throttle pedal itself. I've seen extensive tests with the US made pedals, and all have a very stiff return spring and show no sign of sticking.
By now its obvious that what is making these cars accelerate is the electronic throttle system. Its not the pedal, its not the driver, its the drive by wire. Toyota is trying to play the damage control game by replacing pedals instead of DBW systems in order to save money and avoid panic.
If you read the report, Toyota makes a bunch of bullshit claims:
- They say the pedal had no "mechanical binding or friction". Of course it didn't, that hasn't been the problem in any of the cases. Never has one of the crashed Toyota vehicles shown signs that the pedal was physically stuck.
- They say the front brakes show severe wear and damage from overheating. No kidding, the guy was riding the brakes trying to stop the car. Of course they are going to overheat and fail, they are small, shitty brakes to begin with (typical Toyota). Yet they claim the rear brakes were in "good condition" and functional - which makes no sense. If the front brakes were damaged and worn due to excessive heat, the rear brakes should show the same issue.
- They say the floor mats did not interfere. No kidding. Once again, that was never the problem. Back in November they blamed the floor mats to avoid a major recall...and look where that got them. It just caused more injuries and deaths to American citizens and they still had to recall 8.5 million vehicles anyway.
- Heres the best one - they claim there was no "trouble codes". If course there weren't any codes, none of the cars have shown any codes all along. The PCM thinks that the acceleration is normal, since it believes that the throttle position signal is being directly recieved from the throttle pedal. Of course its not, there is a fault in the system that causes the throttle to open even when the pedal is 100% released.
03-16-2010, 02:20 AM
#2
The best part of this story is how Toyota is claiming the driver faked this so he could sue them. They said that technicians drove the car for hours and couldn't replicate the problem... seriously, they thought if they drove the Prius for a few hours it would take off on them, and if it didn't, then the owner was faking. 
Now, it's very possible that of all the complaints Toyota has gotten for this problem, at least a few of them are faking it or people who just hit the gas instead of the brake (elderly). There's no way of knowing how many of the complaints are legit, but it's safe to say the people who are just out to screw over Toyota are a small minority.
It's shameful that Toyota is STILL covering up the problem despite the people who have died due to their defective product. I see Toyota commercials on TV where they claim they're so benevolent and are working around the clock to fix the problem. Bullshit... they're working around the clock to cover it up.
Now, it's very possible that of all the complaints Toyota has gotten for this problem, at least a few of them are faking it or people who just hit the gas instead of the brake (elderly). There's no way of knowing how many of the complaints are legit, but it's safe to say the people who are just out to screw over Toyota are a small minority.
It's shameful that Toyota is STILL covering up the problem despite the people who have died due to their defective product. I see Toyota commercials on TV where they claim they're so benevolent and are working around the clock to fix the problem. Bullshit... they're working around the clock to cover it up.
03-16-2010, 11:19 AM
#3
80-90mph down the highway and getting the cops involved while he did it though?
Hmm.
Again I suppose that it is possible.
Now, it's very possible that of all the complaints Toyota has gotten for this problem, at least a few of them are faking it or people who just hit the gas instead of the brake (elderly). There's no way of knowing how many of the complaints are legit, but it's safe to say the people who are just out to screw over Toyota are a small minority.
Or maybe every single victim around the world actually knew each other and had all gotten together before hand to get their stories straight?
03-16-2010, 11:50 AM
#4
Last edited by Wesmanw02; 03-16-2010 at 12:01 PM.
03-16-2010, 01:25 PM
#6
The part that is dumb is why would a toyota tech actually admit if they did get the same result? They've been trying to deny that there is still issues for a while. They've been trying to hide the real issues here since the beginning. I don't really care about toyota but i highly doubt all these people are out to get them. Alot of people were Toyota loyalists until this.
03-16-2010, 02:13 PM
#7
That is an excellent point, it's kind of a 'catch 22/double edged sword' situation, if they find/agree that the cars being investigated have the issues then their past claims of "no problems found" suddenly lose validity/credibility in the process.
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03-16-2010, 05:05 PM
#8
i know. I mean i really don't care what happens with them but it's just dumb for people to say, "well look toyota said they couldn't get anything to show up" Well duh, they don't want to because then they would be called liars worse then they are already
03-16-2010, 05:20 PM
#9
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It's funny how they say that since they couldn't get a problem that has happened once in the past 3 years to repeat itself in a 2 hour test drive is proof that the guy is faking.
Toyota hasn't been able to duplicate any of the instances of this happening. The only time they've seen the problem first-hand is when the one guy brought the car to the dealer while the problem was still happening and the floormats weren't pushing the pedal, the pedal wasn't stuck, and pressing the pedal had zero affect on the WOT condition.
Toyota needs to stop ******* around and fix this problem. They'd save more face by fixing the problem then by denying it and calling everyone stupid.
Toyota hasn't been able to duplicate any of the instances of this happening. The only time they've seen the problem first-hand is when the one guy brought the car to the dealer while the problem was still happening and the floormats weren't pushing the pedal, the pedal wasn't stuck, and pressing the pedal had zero affect on the WOT condition.
Toyota needs to stop ******* around and fix this problem. They'd save more face by fixing the problem then by denying it and calling everyone stupid.
03-16-2010, 06:57 PM
#10
It's funny how they say that since they couldn't get a problem that has happened once in the past 3 years to repeat itself in a 2 hour test drive is proof that the guy is faking.
Toyota hasn't been able to duplicate any of the instances of this happening. The only time they've seen the problem first-hand is when the one guy brought the car to the dealer while the problem was still happening and the floormats weren't pushing the pedal, the pedal wasn't stuck, and pressing the pedal had zero affect on the WOT condition.
Toyota needs to stop ******* around and fix this problem. They'd save more face by fixing the problem then by denying it and calling everyone stupid.
Toyota hasn't been able to duplicate any of the instances of this happening. The only time they've seen the problem first-hand is when the one guy brought the car to the dealer while the problem was still happening and the floormats weren't pushing the pedal, the pedal wasn't stuck, and pressing the pedal had zero affect on the WOT condition.
Toyota needs to stop ******* around and fix this problem. They'd save more face by fixing the problem then by denying it and calling everyone stupid.
And thats why they are in their current situation.
03-16-2010, 07:02 PM
#11
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To be honest, there have been many reports question the guy who reported this. Some people who have worked with him or know him say he would likely do something like this.
This entire incident sounds fishy. The guy wouldn't try to shift the car into neutral (he was afraid of shifting into reverse WTF?), and how did the car safely come to a stop when the tires should have been spinning or something?
I think many people out there are going to try scams like this, but there have been 271 cases of unintended acceleration in Prius models, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of them were real.
This entire incident sounds fishy. The guy wouldn't try to shift the car into neutral (he was afraid of shifting into reverse WTF?), and how did the car safely come to a stop when the tires should have been spinning or something?
I think many people out there are going to try scams like this, but there have been 271 cases of unintended acceleration in Prius models, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of them were real.
03-16-2010, 07:14 PM
#12
Thats the Japanese culture though...never admit when you are wrong, cover the problem up, blame somebody else, maintain that its not your fault or your problem. Pretend your products are bulletproof, and it must be the fault of the operator.
And thats why they are in their current situation.
And thats why they are in their current situation.
i could not agree more.
03-16-2010, 09:37 PM
#13
To be honest, there have been many reports question the guy who reported this. Some people who have worked with him or know him say he would likely do something like this.
This entire incident sounds fishy. The guy wouldn't try to shift the car into neutral (he was afraid of shifting into reverse WTF?), and how did the car safely come to a stop when the tires should have been spinning or something?
I think many people out there are going to try scams like this, but there have been 271 cases of unintended acceleration in Prius models, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of them were real.
This entire incident sounds fishy. The guy wouldn't try to shift the car into neutral (he was afraid of shifting into reverse WTF?), and how did the car safely come to a stop when the tires should have been spinning or something?
I think many people out there are going to try scams like this, but there have been 271 cases of unintended acceleration in Prius models, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of them were real.
Hes a 61 year old guy with no interest in causing a scam. When the media asked his lawyer if he was going to sue, he said no, he just wants his car fixed. That doesn't sound like a gold digger to me.
03-16-2010, 10:54 PM
#14
If he was truly only going for the cut & dry quick bucks he certainly did a **** poor job of it LOL.
03-16-2010, 11:25 PM
#15
I gotta throw this out there, I thought it was hillarious. I was talking to a guy the other day and he said he's heard the whole recall is a setup by GM. Because the government now has so much stake in GM they needed to find a way to decrease toyota's sales. This is how they're doing it. LOL!!!
03-16-2010, 11:27 PM
#17
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I'm not trying to say whether or not this guy is trying to scam them or gain publicity or whatever, but it seems fishy. I know if my car was accelerating out of control and I was scared for my life, I wouldn't care about my transmission and I would be trying to shift into neutral, or reverse, or park.
03-17-2010, 09:54 AM
#20
A point I have made in other posts about this crap.