Toyota suspends sales...

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Denis4x4

"My Tundra was built in Indiana".

And the profits went to Japan instead of Detroit.

This should smoke out Crawford Gene!!

Just caught up with this thread. I've been driving 120 mph with my Tundra until it ran out of gas in the middle of Utah. You should've seen me bouncing off buildings on those 120 mph turns in Grand Junction! Smashed a few 1980's Audis flat too.

My gas pedal was made in Canada. China and Canada start and end with the same letters. Suspicious?

I don't think Toyota has handled this or the Prius brake problem well. They are acting like GM did on its way down, a process than took decades. And the Ford cruise control switches needed multiple fixes too.

Our '99 and '00 Toyotas were bulletproof—never had a problem. Our '02's had a few problems. Our '06 a few minor ones. The '07 Tundra has had one switch replaced, otherwise has had no issues and is now at more than 38,000 miles, more than half towing.

Several years ago it was noticed Toyota was more interested in growth than rigorous reliability. They were building plants so fast they didn't have enough well trained QC people and slowly it was beginning to show. Even so they were still building reliable vehicles, rated very highly. Ironically Hyundai copied Toyota's QC program and has started to rate higher than Toyota.

It's easy to be angry at Toyota because I think they have done a really bad job with this problem. I read the post about them shipping the parts to their factories first and dealers second and that enrages me. I saw something in a newspaper story that seemed to confirm the post. The floor mat thing was idiotic. The 2 catches that hold the floor mat in place have been on every vehicle I've owned for a very long time. You'd have to disconnect them both, and that's not all that easy, and then push hard and long to get the mat moved onto the pedal. When they came out with that reason, I figured Toyota was either (1) full of it, or (2) there were idiots that took out the mats to clean them and when replacing them, just plopped them in right up against the pedal.

So, our Tundra has been an excellent truck. It's not been perfect—it's really, really hard to change the oil and the seats are uncomfortable for traveling day after day. There's been no attempt to improve gas mileage. But it's been very reliable, handles very well, stops very well, has enormous torque, and tows very well. The gas pedal is not sticking in any way.

It can be said that Toyota still makes the most reliable full size truck. Other trucks have reliability problems. Nonetheless, a run away vehicle is scary, and the PR that comes with the braking issues on the Prius is awful. I think Toyota has long been an arrogant company, but for a long time they could afford to because they made great products. But arrogance eventually bites because then you can't see problems coming and occurring.

I've got to remember tomorrow to call the dealer and see when the kits are arriving. I have not gotten a recall notice. Even after the kit is installed, I will wonder about whether it's really a computer problem.

Gene

[subfan1]

why not just get an old chevy pickup with saddle tanks? or has everyone forgot about that?

These are the same trucks that the news agency that did the story, NBC? admitted that they had rigged the test and had to retrack their story. They actually installed ignitors near the tank and frame.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by RoadKingMoe

Gene is a retired lawyer, and certainly smart enough not to publicly defend a company he may have to claim against.

[edit: He was active on the forum at 10:25AM today, I assume in good health]

I haven't looked at new threads in many days since I've been remodeling the laundry room, having asthma attacks (new medication has arrived), trying to keep up with life. I'm not worried about a potential future claim against Toyota—if they fail me, they will be liable and it won't matter what I've posted. One thing I've learned in the past month—asthma can really creep up on you and get worse fairly quickly while I've been in denial. I can't blame this on Toyota. I see a pulmonologist on Monday and hope to get meds fine tuned. Maybe I'll take the Tundra there since I have to buy stuff for my next remodel—the kitchen. At 100 mph, I'll get to his office in half the time.

Gene

[Gene]

Originally Posted by subfan1

why not just get an old chevy pickup with saddle tanks? or has everyone forgot about that?

These are the same trucks that the news agency that did the story, NBC? admitted that they had rigged the test and had to retrack their story. They actually installed ignitors near the tank and frame.

It was NBC.

Gene

[doorgunner]

looks like Toyota was doing some Nascar testing all along. got 4 camrys with fast times at Daytona yesterday, restrictor plate racing sux, you gotta firewall the throttle all day. Not a problem with Toy.

Roll Mark.

[firedog]

Drive your New Toyota back to the dealer and get a 100% refurbishment at any dealership.Its a bad software problem that Toyota can not fix.They will not admit it, but it affects all moving, fly by wire vehicles.Even Airplanes.Scarey isn't.

[RoadKingMoe]

Toyota is not only recalling throttles, but Prius for braking, and Camrys for power steering hoses. Now the Feds are looking at complaints about Corolla (Matrix also?) electric power steering for sudden uncommanded turns. It just keeps getting worse.

Honda hasn't had it easy either...

Honda Expands Airbag Recall to Accord, Civic, Odyssey, CR-V and Acura Models
"The company will replace the driver's side air bag inflator on the cars because they can deploy with too much pressure, causing the inflator casing to rupture and injure or kill the driver."

"Last month Honda recalled 646,000 Fit hatchbacks worldwide because of a glitch that could cause water to enter the power window mechanism, causing components to overheat."

[BillTex]

Tough times in Tokyo...;

Honda expands airbag recall as more Toyotas probed - Yahoo! Finance=

[firedog]

Buy american,keep america working.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by firedog

Buy american,keep america working.

Huh? You mean Toyota and Honda should close all their US plants?

[RedSHED]

Originally Posted by Aage

Huh? You mean Toyota and Honda should close all their US plants?

The high value stuff, intellectual property development & engineering is overwhelmingly done in Japan. The consequence is that your gt-grandkids can be consigned to the factory floor (an honorable trade, to be sure) or have other venues open to them.

You get to choose.


I don't know for certain that's what firedog was getting at, but that's how I read it.

[firedog]

Buy American products made in the USA .Thats correct RedShed.Keep the jobs in the USA.

[toastie]

GM on top.....check it out

Domestic-Parts Content: Where the Automakers Stand - KickingTires

[Aage]

Originally Posted by RedSHED

The high value stuff, intellectual property development & engineering is overwhelmingly done in Japan. The consequence is that your gt-grandkids can be consigned to the factory floor (an honorable trade, to be sure) or have other venues open to them.

You get to choose.

Not sure that any of what you say has to do with opportunities that my grandchildren may or may not have.

"High value stuff" is a result of a nation having the mindset to offer (and market the importance of) high quality education so that they produce the people that can become engineers and develop interesting goods and new, worthwhile intellectual property.

They will create the jobs, like our foreflushers did. We need more Henry Fords, more Walter Chryslers, more pioneers of industry, filled with new ideas and the brilliance and plain old stubborn stamina to carry them through.

Or at least that's what I see. Your mileage may vary.

ps: People buy imports because they want good quality cars, and despite the recent setbacks, Toyota, Honda, and a few others consistently deliver it. The American brands have only recently worked this into their heads, and so they too should survive.

[Gene]

This was stated before, but seems to have been immediately forgotten—the maker of the gas pedals is a US company and the plant was in Canada. Shall we blame Canada?

I went to the nearest Toyota dealer on Monday and was told they only had a few repair kits for Camrys and no others. I was also told I'd have to have a letter from Toyota to get a repair even though I can see "CTS" on the pedal assembly. No letter from Toyota yet.

Gene

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

This was stated before, but seems to have been immediately forgotten—the maker of the gas pedals is a US company and the plant was in Canada. Shall we blame Canada?


Gene

Gene, I read that also, but the pedal manufacturer states that they built the pedals to Toyota's specifications.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Gene, I read that also, but the pedal manufacturer states that they built the pedals to Toyota's specifications.

Steve, that's true. Any part must meet a manufacturer's specs. Not answered is whether the part actually met those specs, and if not, why? The "Buy American" argument keeps getting wrapped around things, but it has been frequently noted no motor vehicle is entirely made of one country's parts. It's just not that simple. The Tundra was designed in Texas, so some of the high value jobs were there, not Japan. Maybe the Texans designed the gas pedal.

Gene

[SteveH]

Gene,

Now you are speculating on all sorts of things not known to us, and it seems as always, in defense of Toyota. Now, who's the cheerleader here?

[Gene]

Originally Posted by SteveH

Gene,

Now you are speculating on all sorts of things not known to us, and it seems as always, in defense of Toyota. Now, who's the cheerleader here?

Steve, I'm just asking questions and saying simple answers to complex issues aren't usually good answers.

As for Toyota, I think, as I said before, they've handled all this very, very badly, and their arrogance shows. When they made bulletproof vehicles, they could afford to be arrogant, but arrogance eventually bites. They've become the whipping boy lately—is it because of their arrogance and because they became the biggest carmaker in the world? Last year's whipping boy was GM (Chrysler wasn't even worth whipping I guess).

The Toyotas we've had have all been excellent vehicles so far as reliability goes. How many people can say with their last 6 vehicles (probably 400-500,000 miles) they've averaged 2 things needing fixing per vehicle? They aren't perfect and I suppose the only way to get the perfect vehicle would be to have one built myself and that would require many millions of dollars. If reporting my positive experience makes me a cheerleader, so be it.

If the recalls keep coming and worse stuff is found out about Toyota, when it's time to buy another vehicle, we'll be looking at other brands too. It's pretty hard to find a company that hasn't had major recalls.

Gene

[SteveH]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

It's pretty hard to find a company that hasn't had major recalls.

Gene

No doubt about that at all. Guess it all boils down to how many recalls, what the recalls are for, and how the manufacturer handles them.

From what I have seen, the recalls Toyota has had are not too serious, if they in fact have the problem nailed with the throttle pedal thing, but I've read some scepticism about that. Some that I have read insinuate there may be a software problem that Toyota is either overlooking, or trying to cover up. If this turns out to be the case, it is my opinion their immage will be seriously tarnished.