Recall or government attack?

[husker boxster]

A month or so back, there was a report on the national news about this. It was a 911 phone call from someone in a runaway Camry in San Diego. The caller was telling the 911 operator that they were out of control and what road they were speeding down. The road came to a T intersection and they were going too fast to turn. They tumbled down a steep embankment. Unfortunately there were fatalities when the police arrived. It does sound like the stuck accelorator problem is real.

However, if they had time to call the police on their cell, they should have had time to put it in neutral and shut their ignition off.

[stephen wilson]

OK, experiment complete. With my '94 Integra, in 1st gear, below 4000 RPM I could stop the car with full throttle, above that, the brakes couldn't over-ride the engines power. This is with a manual, an auto should have more available torque available at lower RPM. So, it looks like the ratio of H.P. to braking capacity is a factor.

[Mike_Yi]

The Pontiac Vibe is included in the recall I believe.

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by Mike_Yi

The Pontiac Vibe is included in the recall I believe.

Yes, it is.

[Perfectlap]

UAW built GM Buick Lacrosse: #1 in three year reliability after a decade of dominance by Lexus.

Toyota: 50 million car recall that could costs billions in lost sales and unecessary fixes.

Never thought I'd see the day...

[Cloudsurfer]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

UAW built GM Buick Lacrosse: #1 in three year reliability after a decade of dominance by Lexus.

Toyota: 50 million car recall that could costs billions in lost sales and unecessary fixes.

Never thought I'd see the day...

+1 on that!

[HDManny]

I just think it's shame that car manufacturers get away with waiting for some fatalities to occur then say they knew about the problem but did not think it was a major issue. Does anyone remember the Ford Pinto? I think the bean counter at Toyota did the same thing the one at Ford did many years ago, decided that the law suits from deaths would be cheaper than a recall to repair the problem.

[Quickurt]

Originally Posted by husker boxster

However, if they had time to call the police on their cell, they should have had time to put it in neutral and shut their ignition off.

One would think so, no?
I've taught my family from the time they're old enough to pay attention, all the things I've learned about staying safe while driving. The first and foremost is to never stop right on another car's bumper, so you leave yourself manuevering room, especially in a traffic jam on the interstate. So.......what happens to my younger daughter?? She gets in one of those situations on I-95, stops short like she is taught and see's the car coming from behind is not going to get stopped in time, turns to the girl riding with her and says, "This car's not going to stop." She then sits there watching in the rear view mirror as they are hit hard enough to put the license plate of her new Prelude up under the rear window and get knocked into the rear of the car she had stopped with plenty of distance ahead of her. I asked her why in the hell she didn't pull off to the side of the car in front of her, as she had been taught a gazillion times and she said, "I Never thought of it."

[Perfectlap]

"Toyota has also issued some Dukes of Hazzard style maneuvers drivers should use if they're cruising along and the pedal does, in fact, stick, such as shifting into neutral or turning off the ignition (but don't take the key out!). Do they teach that in driver's ed?"-yahoo.com

sign me up! LOL

Yeah I'm guessing econo boxes from Honda and the US are going to have good year.

[ARModen]

How on earth does turning the car off or taking it out of gear count as "dukes of hazzard" type maneuvers?

[Dave S.]

Toyota has really slipped amd fallen hard where quality is concerned. In 2006 I bought a new Tacoma because I believed their quality was above par.
Now I read on-line about the issues Tacomas have with frame rot (850,000 trucks recalled because the frame rots to pieces within a few years, in some cases trucks have broken in half) and while the recall only applies to 1995-2000 model years, several people are compaining about this issue all the way up to 2006 model year (primarily in rust belt states). There was once a time when the body would rot off the frame on these trucks and now the frame rots out from under the body.
There are also several complaints about accelerator pedals sticking on Tacomas and uncommanded vehicle acceleration including the 2006 model that I have. People have written that when it has happened to their trucks it was definitely not the floor mats causing the problem as Toyota originally claimed, but this vehicle is not included in the current recall.
I haven't had any issues with my truck, but I think I'll be practicing the turn the key off but don't remove it while driving thing before I need to do it for real.

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by Dave S.

Now I read on-line about the issues Tacomas have with frame rot (850,000 trucks recalled because the frame rots to pieces within a few years, in some cases trucks have broken in half) and while the recall only applies to 1995-2000 model years, several people are compaining about this issue all the way up to 2006 model year (primarily in rust belt states). There was once a time when the body would rot off the frame on these trucks and now the frame rots out from under the body.

http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php/34244-Toyota-Tacoma-Owners!/page2

[Lobo1186]

It obviously is a two-fold problem. one is that it is too easy for people to get a license without any real drivers ed. (I took a several month course for 1 thousand dollars my brother in law just took a test.) So we have many incompetent drivers on the road.

two toyota screwed up. plain and simple. they got people killed and should be held liable up to a certain point.

it only takes half a brain to figure out how to turn off a car. why some of these people did not is beyond me. not only that, the one case where the man called 911 he was an off duty trooper. Im sorry but that is just sad... this is someone who needs to make good decisions in a moments notice on a regular basis to save lives and he couldn't do something as simple as put the car in neutral or shut down the engine????

and if he is supposed to be someone who knows more about defensive driving and all the things about drivers safety imagine your average joe.

[Quickurt]

Originally Posted by ARModen

How on earth does turning the car off or taking it out of gear count as "dukes of hazzard" type maneuvers?

Consider the Yahoo.com source!
Anything that involves a "real" car, rather than a computer simulation is "Dukes of Hazard" to them!!