Dodgy Toyota accelerator death

[anonymous-user]

tinman0 said:

As for them not knowing a problem, the insurance companies told them two years ago that there was a problem and their customers had been telling them that there were problems. They knew there was a problem. Simple as that. But who wanted an expensive damaging recall early last year when no one was buying a car? They threw the dice and decided that silence was a better course of action.

i guess any safety/cost decision is always a roll of the dice (unsafe at any speed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed )

regarding the insurers; i'd love to know how many times they hear 'the accelerator stuck' or 'the brakes didnt work' as an excuse and how much those claims have gone up in the last month!

[Blue Meanie]

fbrs said:

tinman0 said:

As for them not knowing a problem, the insurance companies told them two years ago that there was a problem and their customers had been telling them that there were problems. They knew there was a problem. Simple as that. But who wanted an expensive damaging recall early last year when no one was buying a car? They threw the dice and decided that silence was a better course of action.

i guess any safety/cost decision is always a roll of the dice (unsafe at any speed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed )

regarding the insurers; i'd love to know how many times they hear 'the accelerator stuck' or 'the brakes didnt work' as an excuse and how much those claims have gone up in the last month!

Sorry, but both of these just aren't true. Look at the investigations dating back to 2001 regarding the throttle issues. They haven't done 'nothing' or tried to hide it under the carpet. I don't know where the insurance companies come into this 2 years ago as it was already in the open with the NHTSA.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/our-point-of-vi...

CAn we stop pretending that anyone was trying to hide it, or that Toyota were forced to do somnething, as they have been working with the NHTSA for at least 6 years.

Edited by Blue Meanie on Wednesday 10th February 16:43

[tinman0]

Blue Meanie said:

You know this has been an issue since 2001 and the NHSTA have been looking into it with Toyota, and neither one came up with any issues after investigations?

So why is this an issue on the latest Toyotas? All the recall models are 2008-2011 models.

Our 2006 Toyota isn't involved, but the 2008 model (brand new model) suffers from the sticky accelerator. Hell, we didn't even get a recall on the mats! (Ironically, the cruise on our is as mad as box frogs. I have no idea why it has to change down 2 gears when it sees a hill and smashes itself off the rev limiter. All i know is that the next fill up just got a junction closer. Figure it has a sense of humour.)

But i digress, this is a recent problem, that has been identified, and Toyota failed to act on. When an insurance company in 2009 is telling you about "above average claims that the accelerator was stuck just prior to an accident" on models that were released the previous year, you have to be mad to discount it.

And isn't the problem a corrosion or something? So, its going to affect all many more of these late models at some point? If corrosion in contacts can be traced back to 2008 cars in 2008, there is something awfully wrong.

[Blue Meanie]

Yes, there is something wrong, hence the recall. I just think the hysteria is getting way out of hand, and the seeming way people think that is is a failed cover up of some sort seems ridiculous.

[tinman0]

fbrs said:

tinman0 said:

As for them not knowing a problem, the insurance companies told them two years ago that there was a problem and their customers had been telling them that there were problems. They knew there was a problem. Simple as that. But who wanted an expensive damaging recall early last year when no one was buying a car? They threw the dice and decided that silence was a better course of action.

i guess any safety/cost decision is always a roll of the dice (unsafe at any speed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unsafe_at_Any_Speed )

regarding the insurers; i'd love to know how many times they hear 'the accelerator stuck' or 'the brakes didnt work' as an excuse and how much those claims have gone up in the last month!

Probably a lot, but I'm betting that the statistics they collect are quite interesting to go through. I cannot imagine that the insurers don't work with the manufacturers and NHTSA, because if they see a problem, getting the problem corrected will cost them less in the long run. Why pay out on $30k cars crashing, when you can release your findings, get the manufacturers at their cost to correct it, and your payouts go down.

So, its perfectly logical with the data the insurers have coming in, for someone to be tracking it, and reporting it when needs be.

[tinman0]

Blue Meanie said:

Yes, there is something wrong, hence the recall. I just think the hysteria is getting way out of hand, and the seeming way people think that is is a failed cover up of some sort seems ridiculous.

We'll find out when the various parties are in front of the Grand Jury.

[Blue Meanie]

tinman0 said:

Blue Meanie said:

Yes, there is something wrong, hence the recall. I just think the hysteria is getting way out of hand, and the seeming way people think that is is a failed cover up of some sort seems ridiculous.

We'll find out when the various parties are in front of the Grand Jury.

It's the US... People have class action lawsuits over spilt milk.

[croyde]

Used to have a car where you stamped on the pedal to speed up then had to hook your foot under it and pull to slow down. It was well down on power tho'.

[tinman0]

Blue Meanie said:

tinman0 said:

Blue Meanie said:

Yes, there is something wrong, hence the recall. I just think the hysteria is getting way out of hand, and the seeming way people think that is is a failed cover up of some sort seems ridiculous.

We'll find out when the various parties are in front of the Grand Jury.

It's the US... People have class action lawsuits over spilt milk.

It's a Federal Grand Jury.

[quote]The hearing will examine the Federal government’s response to the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles due to reports of malfunctioning gas pedals, and to gain a better understanding of the nature of the sudden acceleration problem in Toyota vehicles and what should be done about it.

[Blue Meanie]

tinman0 said:

Blue Meanie said:

tinman0 said:

Blue Meanie said:

Yes, there is something wrong, hence the recall. I just think the hysteria is getting way out of hand, and the seeming way people think that is is a failed cover up of some sort seems ridiculous.

We'll find out when the various parties are in front of the Grand Jury.

It's the US... People have class action lawsuits over spilt milk.

It's a Federal Grand Jury.

[quote]The hearing will examine the Federal government’s response to the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles due to reports of malfunctioning gas pedals, and to gain a better understanding of the nature of the sudden acceleration problem in Toyota vehicles and what should be done about it.

Sorry, thought you were talking about the class action lawsuits cropping up. Still, not sure how what you describe there will affect Toyota, rather the governmental side of things?

[ErnestM]

Blue Meanie said:

tinman0 said:

Blue Meanie said:

tinman0 said:

Blue Meanie said:

Yes, there is something wrong, hence the recall. I just think the hysteria is getting way out of hand, and the seeming way people think that is is a failed cover up of some sort seems ridiculous.

We'll find out when the various parties are in front of the Grand Jury.

It's the US... People have class action lawsuits over spilt milk.

It's a Federal Grand Jury.

[quote]The hearing will examine the Federal government’s response to the recall of millions of Toyota vehicles due to reports of malfunctioning gas pedals, and to gain a better understanding of the nature of the sudden acceleration problem in Toyota vehicles and what should be done about it.

Sorry, thought you were talking about the class action lawsuits cropping up. Still, not sure how what you describe there will affect Toyota, rather the governmental side of things?

It's the last bit "what should be done about it"

Toyota need to massively lawyer up. It's a shame. The US needs HUGE tort reform!

[Blue Meanie]

Well, as I said earlier, Toyota have been working with the authorities to investigate the claims by the customers. The 'government' have been involved all through the early signs, and also could find nothing. I think Toyota will be open for the class action suits, but not from any sort of corporate negligence angle, unless the government have some sort of agenda.

[GavinPearson]

I think when people start asking for all of Toyota's documentation regarding their compliance with FMVSS 124 and their corresponding FMEAs the picture will be very clear to anybody who looks at it as to how thorough Toyota have been at designing pedal assemblies, protecting them from corrosion, and managing the effects of one from corrosion & increased pivot friction, and issues with electronic signal drift.

You can pull a copy of that FMVSS from the web, and it is very clear as to what the standard is.

Please read it for yourselves (google under FMVSS 124) and some of the other links regarding various lawsuits related to that standard.

[F i F]

Is Toyota a victim of its own success??

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE61907Q2010021...

[Mermaid]

A government investigation into Toyota safety problems has found no electronic flaws to account for reports of sudden, unintentional acceleration.

Transportation officials and engineers with NASA say two mechanical safety defects previously identified by the government -- sticking accelerator pedals and gas pedals that can become trapped in floor mats -- are the only known causes for the reports of runaway Toyotas. Both issues were the subject of large recalls by Toyota.

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/2GZNC0/OJ3W...