Toyota Hearings

[Polypro]

Is anyone watching the Toyota hearings? OK, we fought Japan in the 1940's, I get it. We also fought the British in the 1700's. Now that we got that out of the way...

These hearings, and this accelerator "problem" is a red herring IMO. Did it happen?...sure, I found 4 fatalities (all in one car), and about 100 complaints. For that, we get Congressional hearings? I just listened to a female congresswoman who epitomized the word "clueless". Is there a Congressional hearing for every product that causes a death? Here is my opinion on why this is going on:

1. The current administration is pro labor/union.

2. The USG now OWNS a lot (most?) of GM.

3. Japan has just surpassed China as the majority owner of US debt.

Thank you,

P

PS. I know the Japanese aren't perfect, they toss out a lot of non-Japanese once the company gets going, etc... BBR apply.

[MakoZeroSix]

I don't care- I'm just waiting for Toyota to start groveling by offering rebates and 0% APR on Prius's. Then I will strike.

I've been to two Toyota dealerships in the past week- they are still acting like they're not real enthusiastic about making sales and that they "can't keep the Prius on the lot". Well, we'll see in a month.

[DC Photog]

What I found interesting from the hearing I went to was that Toyota has cooperated more with NHTSA and DOT in general more than GM has. Some Republicans basically hinted that GM has had it easier with recalls particularly the Chevy Cobalt versus the problems that Toyota has had.

At the same time by their own admission (Toyota) they have grown too fast and lost their way priority wise and that a lot of their problems were that Toyota USA leadership had to defer decisions to Toyota HQ Japan. Regardless I don't think it was handled well by Toyota.

The questioning in the House, particularly during LaHood's time at the witness table was terrible to pointless in the end. Only one member yielded his time to the chair because all of the possible questions had been asked.

[MBTex]

I don't care- I'm just waiting for Toyota to start groveling by offering rebates and 0% APR on Prius's. Then I will strike.

I've been to two Toyota dealerships in the past week- they are still acting like they're not real enthusiastic about making sales and that they "can't keep the Prius on the lot". Well, we'll see in a month.

I'm with you. I need a new Tacoma.

[DC Photog]

One other interesting thing from the hearings is that a lot of cars have "black boxes" that record what happens during driving and wrecks. Toyota's were encrypted and Sec. LaHood is open to the idea of congress requiring all cars in the US having black boxes and that the data be open or not encrypted.

[heavyguns1/1]

I heard an announcement on the radio here in NY State that GM was offering a $1000 tax credit for anyone trading in a Toyota. That was a couple of weeks ago and I have only heard it once or twice.
I like my Camry and wouldn't trade it for a GM product, or a Dodge.

[MikeC2W]

Is anyone watching the Toyota hearings? OK, we fought Japan in the 1940's, I get it. We also fought the British in the 1700's. Now that we got that out of the way...

These hearings, and this accelerator "problem" is a red herring IMO. Did it happen?...sure, I found 4 fatalities (all in one car), and about 100 complaints. For that, we get Congressional hearings? I just listened to a female congresswoman who epitomized the word "clueless". Is there a Congressional hearing for every product that causes a death? Here is my opinion on why this is going on:

1. The current administration is pro labor/union.

2. The USG now OWNS a lot (most?) of GM.

3. Japan has just surpassed China as the majority owner of US debt.

Thank you,

P

PS. I know the Japanese aren't perfect, they toss out a lot of non-Japanese once the company gets going, etc... BBR apply.


It's fucking completely learning disabled, we're talking 100% mentally challenged! (that's PC for fucking retarded).

[Just Another Guy]

Is anyone watching the Toyota hearings? OK, we fought Japan in the 1940's, I get it. We also fought the British in the 1700's. Now that we got that out of the way...

These hearings, and this accelerator "problem" is a red herring IMO. Did it happen?...sure, I found 4 fatalities (all in one car), and about 100 complaints. For that, we get Congressional hearings? I just listened to a female congresswoman who epitomized the word "clueless". Is there a Congressional hearing for every product that causes a death? Here is my opinion on why this is going on:

1. The current administration is pro labor/union.

2. The USG now OWNS a lot (most?) of GM.

3. Japan has just surpassed China as the majority owner of US debt.

Thank you,

P

PS. I know the Japanese aren't perfect, they toss out a lot of non-Japanese once the company gets going, etc... BBR apply.

Toyota is not owned by our government and is a non-union shop in the US.

[Guy]

Toyota is not owned by our government and is a non-union shop in the US.I pretty sure that's the point he was making!:smile:

Stay safe.

[MikeC2W]

I pretty sure that's the point he was making!:smile:

Stay safe.



It was a almost perfectly timed distraction..... it's amazing the lack of reporting that goes on, except for nonsense like Toyota!

You've got the health summit, where the dems completely showed their ass. And you've got how many terrorist lawyers now leading the way in the Justice department? You've got home sales down the worst in recorded history, unemployment going up... but everything is rosy.

We're doomed.

[Polypro]

http://gawker.com/5486666/how-abc-news-brian-ross-staged-his-toyota-death-ride

Oooops... I didn't see this in the hearings. Oh, now Nissan...what did I say about Japan's owning of our debt? Play nice Japan, or we'll make things really uncomfortable for you. Merit, schmerit.

P

[Blackjack7]

Is anyone watching the Toyota hearings? OK, we fought Japan in the 1940's, I get it. We also fought the British in the 1700's. Now that we got that out of the way...

These hearings, and this accelerator "problem" is a red herring IMO. Did it happen?...sure, I found 4 fatalities (all in one car), and about 100 complaints. For that, we get Congressional hearings? I just listened to a female congresswoman who epitomized the word "clueless". Is there a Congressional hearing for every product that causes a death? Here is my opinion on why this is going on:

1. The current administration is pro labor/union.

2. The USG now OWNS a lot (most?) of GM.

3. Japan has just surpassed China as the majority owner of US debt.

Thank you,

P

PS. I know the Japanese aren't perfect, they toss out a lot of non-Japanese once the company gets going, etc... BBR apply.

I think you hit the bullseye. This always happens. South American fruit and produce are doing better than ours and all of the sudden there is botulism in the raspberries. China's economy is booming and someone "discovers" that there is lead paint( which has been there for years) on the kids toys. Miraculously the discovery comes right before the Christmas shopping season begins. Now as Toyota seems immune to the economic problems of the auto industry, this accelerator problem is found. Coincidence?

[Purple36]

Yeah, but in the case of China, their stuff IS F'd up! They do not have the same safety and oversight standards, corruption is rampant and they are THE trademark and copywrite violators in the world. So, caution regarding their products is merited.

[MikeC2W]

Yeah, but in the case of China, their stuff IS F'd up! They do not have the same safety and oversight standards, corruption is rampant and they are THE trademark and copywrite violators in the world. So, caution regarding their products is merited.


Yeah, but in China your apology is only slightly preceded by your execution.

Much safer to be in the trademark, copywrite violation industry over there...then lets say... the food and drug industry. :biggrin:

[SOTB]

Yeah, but in the case of China, their stuff IS F'd up! They do not have the same safety and oversight standards, corruption is rampant and they are THE trademark and copywrite violators in the world. So, caution regarding their products is merited.I can't state that I agree that all Chinese products are fucked up, but I do believe that many of them are (just as many other products, including US products -- the Big 3 auto manufacturers, for example). The point about the safety and oversight standards -- meh, I don't care if a 6 y/o made my TV, just that he didn't cross the fucking wires and if he cut his fingers, I would appreciate that he didn't bleed in there and rust everything. However, the trademark and copyright stuff -- along with the Chinese' pretty damned extensive and serious industrial espionage campaign (IMO, only rivaled by that of the Russians and Israelis) -- that shit is fucking uncool. If I were king, and while it would not really solve our debt problems -- I would smile and tell the Chinese we've decided to not pay them back. We'd pay everyone else, just not them. Oh, and umm -- we have to levy a 300% fee on everything Chinese sold in our country. "Hey, sorry about that whole economy tanking due to your being assholes."

We won't do this.

What we WILL DO, is sit back while China builds an energy infrastructure that simply puts ours to shame. And we'll happily fund their continued growth and success in all sorts of shit -- but especially in regards to power supply and the ability to do things like make batteries that are small and powerful. Yay....

[Typhoon]

Coincidence?
In politics nothing is ever coincidence...

What we WILL DO, is sit back while China builds an energy infrastructure that simply puts ours to shame.
Yes when the 3 Gorges Dam comes completely on line it'll produce a hell of a lot of electricity just by itself...

The thing that really pisses me off is that when I was a kid virtually no items of clothing were made outside of the U.S., save maybe for an Italian suit or a pair of expensive dress shoes. Now, you'd be hard pressed to find anything you wear that IS made in America (a happy exception for me being the socks made at the Wright Mills). We have sadly pretty much completely lost our textile industry in this country. Shame on us...

We cut off the Chinese we're pretty much naked out here...

[JD Bobcat]

Another Prius was stopped by the hiway patrol monday in Cali for unintentional acc. ..

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/19057

l called my Dad this mornin' and told him to sell theirs .... good deals in trade-ins from other brands ..

[CarbineM1]

I will withhold judgment on this one till I see how many lawsuits the driver has filed in the last 20 years...

[Longrifle]

Another Prius was stopped by the hiway patrol monday in Cali for unintentional acc. ..
Vehicles have had runaway accelerator problems for years. This is nothing new.

What is new is the level of attention it's getting.

Back in the day you knew to place the transmission in "neutral" and brake safely to a stop. Then get it to a garage to have the problem fixed.

Today, this makes national headlines because the idiot is too stupid to stop the car without help from the HP.

We need more pedestrians, I swear . . . :rolleyes:

[JD Bobcat]

True that .. but l dont want my 78 yr old mother in that situation .. lol .. even though l told them the drill this am .. (of course pops is way ahead of me already) ..

l dont know why they bought the damn thing anyway .. (my tree hugger niece wanted a car for college .. and grampa is a hvt for her) .. oh well ..

[smp52]

Back in the day you knew to place the transmission in "neutral" and brake safely to a stop.

I watched this on the news yesterday, the driver was middle aged and he tried to put the vehicle in neutral but apparently it didn't work (not sure how/why) according the news interview.

If true, this sounds like a larger system failure, unless the driver was in panic mode unable to put the vehicle in neutral or shut the car off. With integrated systems on cars these days, there may be issues that trigger a larger systemic failure.

[Blackjack7]

Yeah, but in the case of China, their stuff IS F'd up! They do not have the same safety and oversight standards, corruption is rampant and they are THE trademark and copywrite violators in the world. So, caution regarding their products is merited.

Agreed, but their stuff has been like that for years and years, but all of the sudden right before Christmas they have these major news expose's on it.

[Brianj]

At least Toyota is fighting back. The WSJ has reported that they're blowing the whistle on ABC news for bogus reporting, and the case being made for an electronic fault as a possible cause of the acceleration problems is incredibly shaky - it's apparently one professor who's spliced wires to create a surge that causes accelration, but doesn't register in the computer as a fault. Toyota has called bullshit, and hired another firm to debunk that guy and create identical "problems" in other makes of cars.

Toyota has to fix their problems - I'm personally confiden't they're doing that. But this media/Congress charade is all one big marketing campaign for Detroit...and, sadly, it won't help them much.

People who buy Toyotas almost universally do NOT consider a GM or Ford or Chysler product a comparible alternative. Frightened buyers may swear off Toyota en masse, but they'll move to a Honda, Hyundai, Subaru, or VW - and NOT one of the big three. Even a few million potentially bad Toyotas cannot undo what Detrot has spent decades doing to themselves...

[Polypro]

Here's another liar...add him to the list:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento.html

And a good article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/03/how-real-are-the-defects-in-toyotas-cars/37448/?rss=37448

And you always have to look 2 or 3 steps ahead for the end game:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/business/12toyota.html

After the fact speeding tickets, mileage tax, jacked up insurance rates...

P

[MakoZeroSix]

I hope the IO campaign of the media against Toyota succeeds, at least it the short term. I'll be seeing what kind of a deal I can get on a Prius next week.

Self Interest Uber Alles.

[smp52]

Here's another liar...add him to the list:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/12/toyota-autos-hoax-media-opinions-contributors-michael-fumento.html

P

Well, that answers why he "couldn't" put the vehicle into neutral for sure, among other things.

[Polypro]

Driver error...go figure

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/breaking-nhtsa-blames-driver-error-for-toyota-unintended-acceleration/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834604575364871534435744.html

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/07/13/foreign-fleet-fine-findings-fault-fat-feet/

P

[Looon]

Driver error...go figure

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/breaking-nhtsa-blames-driver-error-for-toyota-unintended-acceleration/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703834604575364871534435744.html

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2010/07/13/foreign-fleet-fine-findings-fault-fat-feet/

P
It's always been driver error. People just want to jump in to see if they can some money too.:rolleyes:

[artificer]

Manufacturing is dead in america... Even if we wanted to get back in the game we lack a technically skilled labor pool to replace those retiring out of the business, which shouldn't come as any surprise. Why would a young person get into machining/manufacturing when all they have to look forward to is consistently low pay and zero job stability?

I remember laughing when I first saw "Roger and Me"... IMHO, All lamentations of American corporate greed aside, unions are primarily responsible for killing manufacturing (and many other trades) in this country and sending it overseas. How could it be sustainable when some ass head working in an appliance factory in Cleveland was paid 50 dollars an hour plus bennies to put stickers on a refrigerator? The rustbelt has been crumbling since the seventies into a blackhole of unemployed manufacturing workers and derelict factories. Union corruption and greed plus consistently shoddy workmanship left those folks without a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. Gravy trains can't last forever, you reap what you so...

Anyone who has used a machined product (for instance, a mild performance cam under a variety of company names; they all come from the same place) or piece of precision equipment (lathes, etc.) manufactured in China can assure you that they are pieces of shit. That in mind, this trend won't continue; as China continues to steam full speed ahead in investing vast resources in their manufacturing industry, their quality control is improving and will continue to improve, which will hammer the final nails in the coffin. Unfortunately, where in China you see politicians and legislators coming out of manufacturing and engineering backgrounds, our politicians are soft handed, self serving lawyers who have helped sabotage industry in this country so succesfully that it's almost laughable. The majority of factories or mills opening on our soil in the future will be owned by foreign interests.

Buy Japanese; those sake drinking fuckers can build an engine that will go to hell and back (your mileage may very). In any event, doing so keeps alot of americans employed.

Tell your kids to go to culinary school and embrace our bright, service industry centric future...

As an aside, the old GM TH400 automatic transmisiion was bulletproof; in the event of a runaway vehicle, the manual would advise the driver to shift the tranny into reverse on the fly to stop the vehicle (lol).

[Polypro]

...but we now own the US car companies and wanted to make some money!

- The Administration


http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/11/autos/pedal_misapplication/

P

[EchoFiveMike]

Hey, what a surprise, the stereotype is totally true. It's all the bluehair's fault! I expect AARP to put a hit out on everyone involved with this finding. After they all get out of breakfast at the buffet.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/13/11183020-unintended-acceleration-study-blames-older-women-drivers?lite

S/F....Ken M

[Colonel Flagg]

Anyone remember the 60 Minutes hatchet job on Audi back in the mid 80's?

They KNEW the Audi unintended acceleration story was suspect, they could not replicate the problem, so they intentionally doctored a test and ran the results as truth.

Audi won every lawsuit by car owners against it as well as a suit against CBS.

It still destroyed their sales for a generation in the US.

Now the government owns a car company and Toyota is cleaning up.

[wks5]

Hey, what a surprise, the stereotype is totally true. It's all the bluehair's fault! I expect AARP to put a hit out on everyone involved with this finding. After they all get out of breakfast at the buffet.

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/13/11183020-unintended-acceleration-study-blames-older-women-drivers?lite

S/F....Ken M

I read the article as saying that it's mostly associated with women drivers, both under 20 and "older women".

I wonder what percentage were wearing high heels?