Toyota shuts down production and halts sales

Roy Munson

Toyota isn't reporting "may have"....the media is!

Just saying.

wz2p7j

Toyota has been hiding their crap for years. We long suspected it. Read this:

http://www.freep.com/article/20100131/BUSINESS01/1310523/?imw=Y

:eek::eek:

Roy Munson

"I think Toyota is still scrambling to find the root causes of all the sudden acceleration that's been reported to them," said Don Slavik, a Milwaukee attorney representing a California man whose wife died in a crash off a cliff in their 2005 Toyota Camry that he blames on sudden acceleration.

Soooo, a lawyer is reporting sudden acceleration. :rolleyes:

Well, I guess that's conclusive proof enough right there of a cover-up. lol

wz2p7j

Roy Munson wrote: »

Soooo, a lawyer is reporting sudden acceleration. :rolleyes:

Well, I guess that's conclusive proof enough right there of a cover-up. lol

Yer right, 2.3 million vehicles recalled for the gas pedal, 5.4 million recalled for the floor mat problem. All of Toyota production ground to a halt. Issue being "sudden acceleration" Not likely anybody died. Yeah right.

dorourke07

^^^^+1. The article in the Free Press pointed out that Toyota "had more complaints than all other manufacturers combined".......guess the wizard didn't want us to look behind the curtain.

Serendipity

Interesting article:

http://www.freep.com/article/20100201/BUSINESS01/2010368/Toyotas-problem-in-other-vehicles

I'm taking a course right now on E&M waves and it seems that this could be possible. I have built circuits on to have them work perfectly fine in one location, but work differently when close to a cell phone or other EM source.

Can anyone explain if the above link is accurate or not?

Serendipity

concealer404 wrote: »

But no, i guess to answer your question in a serious manner, i can't think of one. But it may be warranted. After all, the Denso parts aren't failing.

Are you sure about that? There was an interview on the news of a guy with an old(er) Toyota Highlander that accelerated suddenly and then crashed. If I understand correctly, 1999-2005 Highlanders are not part of the recall.

Besides, a sticking gas pedal is VERY different than "sudden, unexpected acceleration." If the CTS pedal failed, shouldn't it get stuck in one position, not go WOT unexpectedly?

concealer404

Serendipity wrote: »

Are you sure about that? There was an interview on the news of a guy with an old(er) Toyota Highlander that accelerated suddenly and then crashed. If I understand correctly, 1999-2005 Highlanders are not part of the recall.

Besides, a sticking gas pedal is VERY different than "sudden, unexpected acceleration." If the CTS pedal failed, shouldn't it get stuck in one position, not go WOT unexpectedly?

They could fail in any number of ways... so i can't really speak to that. I don't know about the Highlander either, but the official fix is "remove CTS parts, install Denso parts." That's about the last i've followed it. I haven't been able to find a screaming deal on a 2000-2005 MR2 Spyder, so i don't care anymore.

tonyb

Went out to dinner with a neighbor last night, he had just bought a new Toyota crossover,can't remember the exact model. Just For giggles,I asked him to keep his foot on the gas pedal, 60 mph, and try to shift into nuetral. Without a glitch,worked like a charm. However, if you have a sticky gas pedal and your a tailgater, that might be a problem. With all the beaters/rat traps I drove as a kid, by todays standards,wouldn't even be allowed on the road. Manufacturers bear a certain amount of responsibility for auto safety, but the other half of the equation is ..you. Did Toyota drop the ball on this one? Yeah, but some act like it's the end of the world. Exploding gas tanks from the Ford Pinto didn't put them out of biz, neither will this for Toyota.

Jstas

Toyota's official fix:



A larger view can be found here: http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/12/2010/02/toyota_pedal_fix.jpg

From Jalopnik:

Toyota today announced it will begin fixing accelerator pedals in all of this week's 18.4 billion-gazillion (approx.) recalled vehicles with a "precision cut steel reinforcement bar." Details below.

Toyota claims they've finally pinpointed the issue that could, on rare occasions, cause accelerator pedals in recalled vehicles to stick in a partially open position. The issue involves a friction device in the pedal designed to provide the proper "feel" by adding resistance and making the pedal steady and stable. The device includes a "shoe" that rubs against an adjoining surface during normal pedal operation. Due to the materials used, wear and environmental conditions, these surfaces may, over time, begin to stick and release instead of operating smoothly. In some cases, friction could increase to a point that the pedal is slow to return to the idle position or, in rare cases, the pedal sticks, leaving the throttle partially open.

Toyota's solution for current owners includes a precision-cut steel reinforcement bar being installed into the assembly that'll reduce the surface tension between the friction shoe and the adjoining surface. With this reinforcement in place, the excess friction that can cause the pedal to stick will supposedly be eliminated.

And, hey, why not also get your floor mat fixed while you're in getting yer pedals fixed.

Notice how the article mentions nothing about replacing CTS parts with Denso parts? See, that's because that's not what's happening. CTS redesigned the part and is producing the all new parts.



Also, in similar news:

Toyota is attempting damage control with full page newspaper ads...and failing miserably.
http://gawker.com/5461049/how-not-to-convince-people-your-cars-wont-kill-them

Toyota CEO apologizes profusely in a news conference and then...drives away in a black Audi.
http://jalopnik.com/5461311/toyota-ceo-apologizes-drives-away-in-black-audi

Toyota's ad agency attempts to find a slogan less indicative of current problems. Apparently "Toyota: Moving Forward ->" brings up too many bad memories for folks.
http://jalopnik.com/5461478/agencyspy-tries-to-find-toyota-less-scary-tagline-than-moving-forward

A dissatisfied Toyota customer "unintentionally accelerates" his recalled Tundra through the front door of the Toyota dealer.
http://jalopnik.com/5461514/man-unintentionally-accelerates-recalled-truck-into-toyota-dealer-showroom

And finally:
Toyota exec. Jim Lentz, lies about the level of Toyota's knowledge of the problem in direct contradiction to the "Defect Information Report" filed with the NHTSA on Jan 21, 2010.
http://jalopnik.com/5461734/how-toyotas-president-lied-to-matt-lauer


Oh, wait, I'm sorry, was that too biased? Well, do me a favor and notice how none of these stories are my opinion but rather news reports readily available online for anyone to peruse. But I guess it's a double standard, huh? I'm glad this has turned your worlds upside down. It's honestly nice for once to see the media in a feeding frenzy over one of their darlings and going for the jugular instead of an American company.

AsSiMiLaTeD

From the first sentence of the first article, "Toyota today announced it will begin fixing accelerator pedals in all of this week's 18.4 billion-gazillion (approx.) recalled vehicles ".

That's CLEARLY unbiased information!

Jstas

OK, a Mac fan I am not but one thing I and probably no one else can not ignore is the genius and impact Woz has had on the computer industry as a whole, not just because of Apple, is pretty large. So when he speaks about a computer software problem, people tend to sit up and listen.


Just saw this:

February 1, 2010 5:55 PM PST
Wozniak cites 'scary' Prius acceleration problem
by Brooke Crothers

More problems may be lurking for Toyota. Speaking at an event in San Francisco on Monday, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak waxed eloquent about a "very scary" problem with his 2010 Toyota Prius.

Wozniak was speaking at Discovery Forum 2010 when he went off topic for a few minutes and spoke about problems with his 2010 Toyota Prius.

"I don't get upset and teed off at things in life, except computers that don't work right," was his segue into the Toyota comments. Then he said he had been trying to get through to Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for three months but could not get anyone to explore an alleged software-related acceleration problem--as described below.

"Toyota has this accelerator problem we've all heard about," Wozniak said. "Well, I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled. This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again--safely."

"This is software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal. It's very scary, but luckily for me I can hit the brakes," he said.

Toyota said it investigates all complaints. "We're in the business of investigating complaints, assessing problems and finding remedies," said John Hanson, national manager environmental safety and quality communications at Toyota. "After man years of exhaustive testing we have not found any evidence of an electronic [software] problem that would have led to unwanted acceleration."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10445564-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


I saw this on Jalopnik which has this to say:

Apple Co-Founder Claims Toyota Prius Has "Scary" Software Problem He Can Duplicate

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told a crowd today of an unintentional acceleration problem with his 2010 Toyota Prius, which isn't under a recall. "This is software. It's not a bad accelerator pedal," he told the crowd. "It's very scary."

When speaking to the Discovery Forum 2010 he spoke about the software issue with his new Prius:

I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn't get recalled. This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again—safely."

He's not the first one to bring up a potential software issue related to the acceleration problems, but his word carries extra weight because of his experience with software and computers. It's important to note cars like the Toyota Camry have a drive-by-wire throttle system and the gas pedal isn't actually connected mechanically to the engine but relies on software to read inputs and control acceleration.

According to the Los Angeles Times, "two former NHTSA administrators, Ricardo Martinez and Joan Claybrook, have said they believe that some kind of electronic glitch may be causing the Toyota problems. Similar conclusions are being drawn by independent automotive safety experts, forensic mechanics and automotive electronics researchers, as well as many consumers." If this turns out to be the case it could widen the scope of NHTSA's investigation.

Toyota did say it would upgrade it's software to allow for a brake override system, but this doesn't seem to be related to Wozniak's issue. We'd certainly like to take a spin with the Woz and see him duplicate this to make sure this isn't just him not understanding how the cruise control works.

Woz apparently got wind of the hubbub over his statements and the responded with this:

Steve Wozniak Expands On Cruise Control Accelerator Issue, Can't Get Toyota Response

Our story on Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak's Prius Cruise Control acceleration issue was shared by Gizmodo and the Woz himself was nice enough to explain what's happening and how much trouble he's having contacting Toyota.

Wozniak is a semi-regular Gizmodo commenter so we've been assured it's actually him.

I have expensive cars but prefer to drive my Segway and Prius's for many reasons. I have had many models of Prius and enough family members and staff to keep them all in use.

I have a very busy schedule and I'm usually free at midnight to deal with things like this. The NHTSA online reporting form doesn't fit my case. It asks things like the date of an accident. On the phone they refer me to a second number. At that number they need my VIN and mileage before they'll listen. The person on the phone sounds like a typical very low paid clerk who can ask specific questions to type things into a database, and have no interest in the urgency and connection of my problem to the crashes/deaths/recalls/halted sales. In fact, they make it clear that they are just taking data and not doing anything themselves to remedy a safety issue. That's the government.

Toyota is difficult too, but after some phone calls I managed to express some of my situation. Unfortunately my iPhone dropped the calls twice and I never got a reference number but they may have some sort of ticket open.

It's been 2 months trying to have all the data and freedom, trying to get to someone high enough up to give this some attention. You can't easily find phone numbers to companies online. I'd give anything to have had the phone number of Toyota's legal department. They'll see that I stated my discovery in writing 2 months ago but a local dealer couldn't understand the significance of it and sort of thought my wife was nuts. I was out of town, as usual, at that time. It's not easy to be heard on something like this. But today I addressed an education group (Sausalito Discovery Museum) and somehow a brief form of this story came out and I believe that someone there contacted CNET.

Tonight I heard from Bloomberg news in Asia that they are following up on it with a story and that they will contact Toyota directly about it. I wouldn't be surprised to get a call from Toyota tomorrow, but I'll be on the road in that car all day.

No, my problem is not deadly. It's not a sticky accelerator pedal, for sure. It's sticky acceleration that is scary the first time but has a good work-around.

We're really anxious to see him try this because of the relation to the possibility of overall software issues plus, you know, to make sure this isn't one of a dozen other things it could be that aren't actual safety issues.

Here's his second update.

Here's the latest news I just got.

Once again, thanks for your time. We called Toyota with your issue, and so far the spokesperson's comment is that they haven't heard anything to do with cruise control in Priuses. The story is still in edits, and if and when it runs, I will email you a copy at this address.

This response is what I've been coming up against for 2 months, and it doesn't indicate that I'll even be contacted about my problem. I sure am thankful now for the good attention I get at the normal Genius bars!

We're guessing even if Toyota's a little overwhelmed right now with questions this one, you know, might get bumped to the front of the line.

http://jalopnik.com/5462217/steve-wozniak-expands-on-cruise-control-accelerator-issue-cant-get-toyota-response

When's this circus going to end?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Let's keep track of all the random stuff that's brough up in thsi thread and see how much of it amounts to anything. I suppose there's no point in arguing each thing separately, I'll just let all the dust settle, let Congress do their investigation, let all the facts surface, and then see how much of the information posted in this thread is relevant and rises to the surface and how much is insignificant and sinks to the bottom never to be seen posted again.

Jstas

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Let's keep track of all the random stuff that's brough up in thsi thread and see how much of it amounts to anything. I suppose there's no point in arguing each thing separately, I'll just let all the dust settle, let Congress do their investigation, let all the facts surface, and then see how much of the information posted in this thread is relevant and rises to the surface and how much is insignificant and sinks to the bottom never to be seen posted again.

That's the only reason I keep posting stuff.

This has honestly gotten pretty interesting to see what will happen next. Not that I'm hoping for any failure it just seems the more Toyota wriggles around the deeper it gets stuck in the mire. They should just say "We're fixing it." and be done with it. All eyes are on them right now and the news is pervasive to the point of news magazines and shows picking up coverage too. It's hit Slate.com, The Daily Show and I even saw something about it for 60 Minutes. Everybody is watching. It's amazing, funny and sad all at once.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Yeah the blurb on 60 minutes can be a death sentence, though I haven't heard it yet. I remember when Audi had the same issue back in the day (which I don't think they ever found the root cause of), and then the big 60 Minutes expose and then Audi sales plummited.

If you're Toyota, the timing of all this is certainly bad, that's for sure.

Serendipity

The only issue I have is the difference between a "sticking gas pedal" and a car that went WOT unexpectedly all of a sudden.

Isn't the fix for the CTS pedal only to prevent it from getting stuck?

There was an interview on NBC of a Toyota owner who's car went WOT all of a sudden, and he insisted that the gas pedal wasn't stuck.

AsSiMiLaTeD

The problem with any situation like this is you get lots of anecdotal 'evidence' and tons of people coming out of the woodworks "oh wait my car is broken too", "I think I figured out the whole problem, it's software", etc etc.

It creates interesting fodder for conversation, but at the end of the day it's just a bunch of conjecture and speculation.

I'm not saying people should not post this stuff, it's just important to keep it all in context.

Jstas

Somebody else asked how many deaths and such have been associated with this. I saw this in one of the posted articles:

Sean Kane, director of Safety Research and Strategies, a consumer group that conducts research into motor vehicle safety issues, said his firm has identified 2,274 incidents of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles leading to at least 275 crashes and 18 deaths since 1999, the Associated Press reported.

Granted, it's a consumer group but it's not far off from the numbers I've been seeing bantered around.



I also did some research. The Pinto problem, only about 27 death were attributed to the punctured gas tanks. The Audi debacle was more likely due to driver error but only one death, a six year old child, seems to have been attributed to that. The Chevy pickup trucks? Zero deaths because it was a hoax. For the Police Interceptors, 12 deaths attributed.

For the Explorer/Firestone debacle, the number of deaths is unclear. Some sites report it as low as 47 world wide while others say thousands world wide. The problem is that without thorough accident investigations, it is unclear exactly what circumstances caused the rollovers and if the deaths were entirely attributable to rollovers. Certain countries blame Ford, others blame Firestone and still others blame both. The ones that blame both like Venezuela have horrendous road conditions and cite the fact that Ford offered to installed stiffer shock absorbers as admission of guilt and responsibility but Ford maintains it's because of poor road conditions and complaints of ride quality from customers. The only place with seemingly reliable numbers is the U.S. and Canada who both seem to share that idea that the tires, while meeting certain specs on paper, were not tested properly.

As far as the Ford Cruise Control deal, two deaths were linked to the problem. About 550 homes were set on fire but Ford seems to have covered the costs of damages from what I can find.

So this Toyota thing doesn't seem to be any better or worse than the others. I focused on these because these are what was mentioned in the thread so far. There are lots of others that are not mentioned. The only one mentioned so far that I have not been able to find decent numbers on is the Corvair. I dunno why, maybe I'm not searching for the correct terms. But others, like the Fiero fires or the Citation issues or even the Chevy Vega/Monza problems haven't been mentioned either.

We'll see how this pans out for Toyota but this is turning in to a massive blemish and there are several bruises compounding all at the same time. It likely won't destroy Toyota but it will put a bit of a tarnish on their image and I really don't think it's wholly undeserved.

Jstas

Serendipity wrote: »

The only issue I have is the difference between a "sticking gas pedal" and a car that went WOT unexpectedly all of a sudden.

Isn't the fix for the CTS pedal only to prevent it from getting stuck?

There was an interview on NBC of a Toyota owner who's car went WOT all of a sudden, and he insisted that the gas pedal wasn't stuck.

There are two recalls, it's been stated before, concerning throttle and fiery death. One is related to sticking pedals. The other is related to a software problem with the drive-by-wire system on some Toyotas.

It's been stated in this thread several times as well as the numerous articles posted.

Jstas

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

The problem with any situation like this is you get lots of anecdotal 'evidence' and tons of people coming out of the woodworks "oh wait my car is broken too", "I think I figured out the whole problem, it's software", etc etc.

It creates interesting fodder for conversation, but at the end of the day it's just a bunch of conjecture and speculation.

I'm not saying people should not post this stuff, it's just important to keep it all in context.

OK, anecdotal is stuff that is essentially hearsay. It's evidence but only by personal experience which is unreliable unless facts can be shown to backup said experiences as well as reproduce the issue in the experience.

Woz states he can duplicate the problem reliably. If indeed he can, that is not anecdotal at all but rather repeatable and measurable. That would make it concrete evidence.

The guy saying he "unintentionally accelerated" through the dealership front door, that's anecdotal. And dubious at that given the circumstances surrounding the situation.

I'm more inclined to believe Woz than Angry Tundra Driver because of the context of each situation.

nooshinjohn

... what I am finding increasingly interesting is that the Government orders Toyota to stop sales/manufacturing operations while the incidents that Jstas has documented above resulted in no such order. (possible exception was the Ford/Firestone situation)I am beginning to wonder if Toyota's steadfast opposition to unions, be it within their plants or those firms that transport their vehicles has any bearing on the Gov ordering the stoppage. (gov/union collusion?)

I am just thinking out loud here and not looking to engage in politics...

AsSiMiLaTeD

Jstas wrote: »

OK, anecdotal is stuff that is essentially hearsay. It's evidence but only by personal experience which is unreliable unless facts can be shown to backup said experiences as well as reproduce the issue in the experience.

Woz states he can duplicate the problem reliably. If indeed he can, that is not anecdotal at all but rather repeatable and measurable. That would make it concrete evidence.

The guy saying he "unintentionally accelerated" through the dealership front door, that's anecdotal. And dubious at that given the circumstances surrounding the situation.

I'm more inclined to believe Woz than Angry Tundra Driver because of the context of each situation.

You're correct, if indeed the Apple guy is able to recreate the issue as he says AND it's linked to this whole thing, then it's obviously concrete evidence that is relevant to the conversation here.

However, until I actually see that happen, it's just more hearsay to me, (just another guy trying to cash in on the whole deal, yes I realize he's loaded, but if that's all in fact true, why are we just now hearing about it?) although yes I agree it's more credible than angry Tundra driver

Jstas

nooshinjohn wrote: »

... what I am finding increasingly interesting is that the Government orders Toyota to stop sales/manufacturing operations while the incidents that Jstas has documented above resulted in no such order. (possible exception was the Ford/Firestone situation)I am beginning to wonder if Toyota's steadfast opposition to unions, be it within their plants or those firms that transport their vehicles has any bearing on the Gov ordering the stoppage. (gov/union collusion?)

I am just thinking out loud here and not looking to engage in politics...

They resulted in no such order because the companies previously involved in the instances I listed complied with the recall laws and stopped production on their own. Either that or the cars were out of production when the recall occurred.

Jstas

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

You're correct, if indeed the Apple guy is able to recreate the issue as he says AND it's linked to this whole thing, then it's obviously concrete evidence that is relevant to the conversation here.

However, until I actually see that happen, it's just more hearsay to me, (just another guy trying to cash in on the whole deal, yes I realize he's loaded, but if that's all in fact true, why are we just now hearing about it?) although yes I agree it's more credible than angry Tundra driver

Why are we just hearing about? I dunno, gotta ask Woz. But he did say he's been trying to call it to the attention of the involved companies and no one is listening to him.

Serendipity

Jstas wrote: »

There are two recalls, it's been stated before, concerning throttle and fiery death. One is related to sticking pedals. The other is related to a software problem with the drive-by-wire system on some Toyotas.

It's been stated in this thread several times as well as the numerous articles posted.

On the Toyota website, vehicles are either subject to one or two recalls: Floor Mat Recall, or Pedal Recall.

From the website:

Recently, Toyota announced two safety recalls that cover some of its models. Both recall campaigns address conditions related to the accelerator pedal. The first recall, "Floor Mat Entrapment," regards the potential for an unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mat to interfere with the accelerator pedal and cause it to get stuck in the wide-open position.

The second recall, "Pedal," is being conducted because there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.

As part of the recall campaign, new car sales of vehicles subject to the pedal recall have been temporarily suspended until the problem is remedied.

In addition, we've temporarily halted production at some of our North American plants to focus our resources on remedying the vehicles we've recalled. Why have we taken this unprecedented action? Because it's the right thing to do for our owners.

Jstas

Serendipity wrote: »

On the Toyota website, vehicles are either subject to one or two recalls: Floor Mat Recall, or Pedal Recall.

From the website:

Recently, Toyota announced two safety recalls that cover some of its models. Both recall campaigns address conditions related to the accelerator pedal. The first recall, "Floor Mat Entrapment," regards the potential for an unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mat to interfere with the accelerator pedal and cause it to get stuck in the wide-open position.

The second recall, "Pedal," is being conducted because there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position.

As part of the recall campaign, new car sales of vehicles subject to the pedal recall have been temporarily suspended until the problem is remedied.

In addition, we've temporarily halted production at some of our North American plants to focus our resources on remedying the vehicles we've recalled. Why have we taken this unprecedented action? Because it's the right thing to do for our owners.

*sigh*

Again, read the articles posted. What Toyota says on the website is exactly what is under investigation. The NHTSA reports specify software inquiries as well as other issues. They don't believe the floormats are the problem.

Toyota did not stop production "voluntarily" until the NHTSA told them that it was standard procedure when a recall fix is being developed to stop producing the faulty vehicles and that they should comply to policy. I imagine legal repercussions were mentioned as well which made Toyota get quite voluntary quite fast.

Serendipity

Jstas wrote: »

*sigh*

Again, read the articles posted. What Toyota says on the website is exactly what is under investigation. The NHTSA reports specify software inquiries as well as other issues. They don't believe the floormats are the problem.

Toyota did not stop production "voluntarily" until the NHTSA told them that it was standard procedure when a recall fix is being developed to stop producing the faulty vehicles and that they should comply to policy. I imagine legal repercussions were mentioned as well which made Toyota get quite voluntary quite fast.

Gotcha.

Jstas

Some more news.

Toyota is Borrowing Woz's Prius for Examination
http://jalopnik.com/5462834/toyota-to-borrow-test-steve-wozniaks-prius-for-a-week

From Jalopnik...

Since the issue of Steve Wozniak's Prius arose yesterday, Toyota has been anxious to get in touch with the Apple co-founder to diagnose the problem and, according to his assistant, will take the car for testing.

At a speech on Monday Wozniak claimed his new 2010 Toyota Prius, which isn't under the current Toyota recall, randomly accelerated while in cruise control mode and that he could duplicate the event. After reading a similar story on Gizmodo Wozniak commented that he was having difficulty reaching the manufacturer to tackle his issue.

We called Toyota and they were clearly anxious to speak with Wozniak and so was he according to his assistant. "That's exactly what we were hoping would happen," she told Jalopnik. After passing on the contact info for a Toyota technical expert the company called us and asked us if we could actually send him Toyota U.S. President Jim Lentz's personal number.

Wozniak is on the road and, as of this evening, hasn't spoken directly with Toyota, but his dealer is going to take the car for a week to test it and will give him a loaner in the meantime. We're anxious to hear how it turns out.

The Japanese Government Orders Toyota to Investigate Brake Problems on the Prius
http://jalopnik.com/5462889/japanese-government-orders-toyota-to-investigate-prius-brake-problems

From Jalopnik...

Because thwacking Toyota is like, the totally cool thing to do, Japan wants the company to investigate whether or not the brakes on the 2010 Toyota Prius are malfunctioning after 14 separate incidents in the last two months.

Despite everything going on with Toyota, and all the apparent reticence on their part to address safety issues, it's important to recognize investigations happen all the time. Still, it's not going to be a good day for the company as The Daily Show just launched their new feature: Toyotathon Of Death!

The 2010 Prius isn't under the current recall, so there's probably no risk of accelerating out of control and then having your brakes fail. At least we hope not...

BTW, the Japanese Government order is unrelated to the U.S. Recalls. It's a whole 'nother deal.

Jstas

Even MORE news:

OK, DOT Secratary LaHood, earlier today told people not to drive the affected cars. Park them until they get them fixed. Well, apparently somebody complained loud enough and he retracted...partially.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/02/toyota-recall-transportation-secretary-ray-lahood-advises-owners-not-to-drive-their-cars/1


GM, concerned about customer inquiries, tests the Vibe and states that the brakes WILL stop the car from accelerating. Apply them forcefully and the car will stop. When it does so, have it towed to a GM dealer for inspection.

http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/news/news_detail.brand_gm.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Feb/0201_vibe



The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking at Toyota electronics as source of acceleration defects.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100202/OEM01/100209971/1147#ixzz0eVlAKY5B

That one is important because the NHTSA issues recalls but the D.O.T. can actually bring suit against Toyota.

That's probably stemming from the fact that Toyota wasn't playing fair according to the D.O.T. Secratary, LaHood.

Official: U.S. had to force Toyota into safety recall
http://freep.com/article/20100202/BUSINESS01/100202049/1318/Official-U.S.-had-to-force-Toyota-into-safety-recall

Add to that Congress is getting in on the act.

House subcommittee demanded today that Toyota account for several comments made by a U.S. executive Monday, saying his assurances that Toyota had all problems related to sudden acceleration under control did not match what Toyota had told congressional staffer just a week ago.

Rep. Bart Stupak, the Menominee Democrat who chairs the investigation subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, along with Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., asked Toyota to provide proof of its claims by Friday....

Stupak's panel demands Toyota back up claims
http://www.freep.com/article/20100202/BUSINESS01/100202055/1014/business01?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

And lastly, legal troubles for Toyota. Apparently some pissed off owners in the Cincinnati area are asking "a judge Tuesday to force the auto maker to pay their lease and car loan payments until the company fixes a problem with sticking accelerator pedals "

Toyota owners in Cincinnati sue car maker
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100202/NEWS010702/2030366/1055/NEWS/Local+Toyota+owners+file+suit

Serendipity

My next car will probably be either a Ford Mustang or a Camaro.