Toyota Recall

[clintjm]

As everyone might have read, heard or experienced first hand, the Giant Toyota Recall and sales freeze, what are your feelings?

Will you ever buy a first time Toyota or another Toyota? If not, what would you favor and why?

Is Toyota doing enough now?
Was Toyota too slow to react when initial issues started to creep up?
Is the reaction from Japan surprising in any way?

Will Toyota recover and if so, how fast; if not why?

If you drive one of the recalls, do you know what to do in the event of a runaway Toyota?

Motorists Alarmed by Japanese Car Recalls, Except in Japan - Auto - FOXNews.com

[xyzone]

My reaction is: strangely, American cars still not going to be any good.

[Undertherose25]

My family is a Honda, Kia and Ford family, my parents think Toyota and Daewoo are the biggest pieces of junk on the road and I have to agree with them.

[termogard]

Originally Posted by clintjm

Will you ever buy a first time Toyota or another Toyota? If not, what would you favor and why?

Yes, I will. All my former cars were made by Toyota. I have no complaints at all concerning to reliability or comfort.

[clintjm]

Obama Administration to get involved in Toyota's Recall:

"while Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point."

Obama Administration 'Not Finished With Toyota' - WSJ.com


Should the US Government get involved more on this issue or not at all?

[Nyororin]

Currently in the process of buying another Toyota, and will continue to do so.
At this point I see no evidence of mismanagement of the issue.

People simply do not realize how systems work, and the process of elimination pattern that goes into finding a fault and issuing a proper reaction to it. The first day someone says there is a problem, you don`t magically know what caused it. There has to be a process of elimination - finding problems that are real and not user error, sorting the problems into chronic issues and total flukes (or due to gross misuse) - and then figure out what to do about it.

It seems like the media is so willing to jump on them for having multiple recalls, but what else would they have had them do? Wait for more accidents so they could be 100% sure of every possible issue?

With the Toyota recall the first problem they were able to confirm was the floor mat issue - so there was a recall. Was it the only issue? No, but if you know that even one accident was caused due to the mat eliminating that chance is the first step. Afterward, they were able to isolate another unrelated issue which they took prompt action on and issued another recall.

It seems people expected them to KNOW these issues ahead of time and fix them at the first complaint. But obviously if they had known the issues they would have been fixed before the cars were being sold. Even 20 similar complaints out of millions and millions of cars is not enough to magically know what the issue is (or even know if there is a real issue - without research it could have been people spilling glue into the pedal shaft. With the rarity of it, it would be plausible.)

I think the biggest problem is that US dealers aren`t required to know much of anything, and that there doesn`t seem to be any regulation on them. As long as they sell the cars that is all that matters. So the behavior of idiotic salespeople is reflecting badly back on the company as a whole. If people are reporting the problem but the dealers are saying "I`ve never heard of that!" and not even bothering to report it to corporate... It`s a dealer (franchised in the US) mismanagement issue, not a corporate one.

In the end, I think this is really a head shaking level of media hyperbole about a very rare issue - fueled by a couple high profile cases. I believe even the pessimistic figure on the probability of being involved in a recall related accident was 0.0004%. Of course, if you`re over 60 it jumps to 0.02% - which somehow makes me think "user error" in a lot of those cases. Unacceptable numbers - even one case is too many - but I`m more likely to be hit by a falling meteor while out in my garden.

As for "bouncing back" - who knows. Too many people see "Recall" "safety" and "Toyota" in the same sentence and set their minds without bothering to actually look into it.

[clintjm]

Here is possibly a new twist. Until now its been called a mechanical problem only. Now hitting national news in America, Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, has his Prius take off.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says his Prius has acceleration 'software glitch' - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com

[clintjm]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

In the end, I think this is really a head shaking level of media hyperbole about a very rare issue - fueled by a couple high profile cases.

What?! How can you say this is media hyperbole. If the media didn't alert people to this problem, they wouldn't know what danger exists - Toyota cried floormats before the media got more involved. Also they wouldn't know to shift it in to Neatral etc. This is what I expect the media to report on. I also expect them to follow up.

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I believe even the pessimistic figure on the probability of being involved in a recall related accident was 0.0004%. Of course, if you`re over 60 it jumps to 0.02% - which somehow makes me think "user error" in a lot of those cases. Unacceptable numbers - even one case is too many - but I`m more likely to be hit by a falling meteor while out in my garden.

Would you then continue to drive one of these vehicles knowing of the recall? It says a lot for their QA and Engineering department of the current Era.

Originally Posted by Nyororin

As for "bouncing back" - who knows. Too many people see "Recall" "safety" and "Toyota" in the same sentence and set their minds without bothering to actually look into it.

I think this is going to hit them hard. Very hard. Kinda of like the Bridgestone Tire recall back 10 years or so ago.
But like you said, who knows..
With mass media today, people have a very short memory.

[IamKira]

except for the prius, toyota makes the best cars and trucks around
I am going to buy an sw20 or an aw11 when i get the chance

the explanation for this action is simple
toyota realized the issue of overpopulation a while back, and built up a huge support group by building nuke proof cars.. then, they sabotaged them to kill off lots of people

guess what? (new american cars are the shittiest piles you'll ever drive) Our family bought a suburban back in 2000 (1999 version - brand new) 3 years down the road and about 14,000 usd in repairs, we are going to school, about four blocks from the freeway where we'd be travelling at 60mph and the entire rear axel snaps in two @ the diff. and half goes flying off towards a house.
the reason for their shittieness is simple, they are all made in mexico. I just love hearing people talking about "buying american"... I respond, then buy a toyota or a honda.

I'd drive one of the recalled vehicles to be perfectly honest. and also, entities learn from mistakes... the organisms on the planet that do not have any immediate predators do not have anything to adapt to and in a system that is constantly shifting, leaves those creatures as the most vulnerable in the scheme of things. same with companies "I'll bet the last buggy manufacturer made the best goddamn buggy you ever saw." (Danny Devito, Other People's Money)

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by clintjm

What?! How can you say this is media hyperbole. If the media didn't alert people to this problem, they wouldn't know what danger exists - Toyota cried floormats before the media got more involved. Also they wouldn't know to shift it in to Neatral etc. This is what I expect the media to report on. I also expect them to follow up.

Are you trying to tell me that the media is only alerting people of the recall and telling them that if they experience an issue like that (with any car, by the way - not just a Toyota) to shift to neutral / cut the engine?

You must be seeing something different than I, as all the reports *I* have seen are talking about "how to protect yourself in a runaway TOYOTA" - "Would you buy an unsafe Toyota for your children?!" "Toyota cover up and conspiracy!" "Toyota isn`t stopping this fast enough!" "Do you have a Toyota death machine in your driveway?!" etc etc.

Reporting a recall and informing consumers of the danger is one thing, jumping up and down with glee and telling people they`re all going to DIE if they so much as walk in front of a Toyota (another media thing I saw - apparently they`re so likely to just suddenly accelerate that you should make sure not to walk in front of a parked one. )

Would you then continue to drive one of these vehicles knowing of the recall? It says a lot for their QA and Engineering department of the current Era.

Yes - But I would go and have the fix done. Which is what media should be encouraging people to do - not scream and treat cars like wild beasts or hunt for conspiracies to "kill Americans" (another gem from US news).

But like you said, who knows..
With mass media today, people have a very short memory.

Or a long one. It depends.