Toyota: The Company Everyone Wants to Sue

[jitpublisher]

The stuff coming out of China is indeed crap these days. My company has imported goods from China and Japan for years. (Not that I agree it is a good or bad thing, that is not my point here) But the past 10 years have seen quality go downhill, and I mean really downhill. We now spend so much time inspecting, double inspecting, rejecting, recycling, and returning bad parts and items that we are completely rethinking our import business. Used to be we got better quality overseas. Now, we are having a hard time servicing our clients due to the huge reject rates. We (the importing countries) buy so much from them, there is no longer an incentive to be the best, just make more for less. This is the downward spiral they are falling into, and if they do not stop it now, it is going to get a lot worse for them.

 

[xpax]

[citation][nom]kingnoobe[/nom]But I'd still would go buy a toyota any day of the week just not one of these two models. Although really only people who shouldn't be on the road anyways would get in a wreck because an accelater got stuck, or a slight delay in breaks[/citation]
While I agree with you about the non-defensive drivers, you're wrong on a few points here. First of all, it wasn't 2 models -- it was more like 10. The accelerator problem affected many models.

Secondly, I've heard stories from people on the radio who've encountered this issue, and no amount of safe driving would've helped them. In one situation, a guy's Tundra drove into his house as he was coming to a stop in his driveway. Another woman's Matrix suddenly rammed into the car in front of her when she was parking at the grocery store.

If I were these people, I'd sue the hell out of Toyota. For the longest time, they claimed these problems were driver error or floormats or some such nonsense. People were getting charged with reckless driving and then finding their insurance doubling, tripling or more. If that happened to me as a result of a faulty vehicle, I'd be pissed beyond belief.

 

[pcavv]

who told you that i want a car that ignores the accelerator when i press the brake?!?! i don't!

That's why this people have accidents and that the gilty is the faulty accelerator!

go to youtube and find the videos of people driving the AE86 on japan up and down the hill the ones with a cam for the pedals and than find out!

 

[thearm]

I just bought a new Scion xB a few months ago. I would still buy a Toyota today.

 

[Yoder54]

It is unfortunate they all anybody wants to do is sue in this country. That is one reason why the health care system is such a mess. In all fairness to Toyota, they have produced some quality vehicles over the years and this is the first major problem, besides sludge build-up, that I can recall. I hope this does not bring Toyota to its knees...Toyota did good by relocating a majority of its plants over here...plants that keep American workers off the dole.

When the accelerator sticks, then why not slap it into neutral...problem is that when some out of the ordinary happens, people do not think rationally...they panic!

FYI: I don't drive a Toyota...German cars are my kind of car.

 

[JD13]

I pretty much heard the same thing. The Gas & brake issue is bad, really bad. Someone told me that if you were to press the gas & brake at the same time that the gas pedal would win out right.

They've been talking about this "Drive by Wire" on some of the tech shows for the last couple of years. I don't like the sound of it & the reports from the Toyota owners seems to support that. To loose all feedback from the steering wheel & or brakes makes driving worse not better. You will end up with more broken steering & suspension parts.

[citation][nom]iprogramrobot[/nom]Actually, the situation for Toyota is quite a bit worse than this article would lead you to believe. I read an article online a couple of days ago that was skeptical of Toyota's accelerator pedal fix. In the article, a group of safety engineers who analyzed the data found that only 5% of the reports of unintended acceleration mentioned sticky gas pedals. That's only one in 20. What caused the acceleration in the other 95%? Furthermore, many of the reports were related to Toyota vehicles that did not use the accelerator pedal type or manufacturer noted in the recall.This group of engineers was certain that would be an additional recall after this one... a recall that fixed problems with Toyota's drive-by-wire system.Then, last week Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak reported that his Prius unintentionally accelerated to 97 mph while he was using his cruise control. He publically stated that he believes that Toyota has software problems in their vehicles.Finally, the local CBS news radio station reported this morning that Toyota vehicles have software that is missing a fundamental safety feature that is present in the vehicles produced by nearly all other manufacturers. According to the news report, vehicles with Toyota's drive-by-wire systems do NOT ignore the accelerator input when the driver is applying the brake. As an engineer, I was personally shocked when I heard this! When someone is literally standing on the brake pedal, there is no reason why the throttle shouldn't be at idle, regardless of the accelerator pedal input. This is a HUGE safety blunder by Toyota. Anyone with any experience in safety or engineering will tell you that this is more than a simple mistake... it is pure negligence. I'm sure that the lawyers will have a field day with this.And that's not to mention the loss of consumer confidence caused by Toyota's failure to identify the root cause without going through multiple false starts:1. Blame operator error - even though statistics show that there are FAR more operator errors on Toyota vehicles vs. other manufacturers.2. Blame the floor mats. 3. Blame the accelerator pedals produced in a non-Japanese factory.4. Oops! Sorry... It was a Japanese software problem.[/citation]

 

[r3t4rd]

[citation][nom]njalterio[/nom]I hate the mentality of buying American because it is good for our economy. Buying strictly American goes against what American economics is all about: Competition!What incentive does a company have to make a better product when no matter what people will buy? Welfare costs too much as it is; we don't need to start subsidizing the automotive industry (oh wait...)This is capitalism, folks. Whoever makes the best car at my time of purchase gets my dollar. Simple as that. Those are true American values. I'd rather lie defeated than floating along on someone else's good graces....[/citation]
Amen to that! Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[wayneepalmer]

With the GM and Chrysler manager/ transportation secretary telling you to park your Toyota, I gotta cry foul here.

How many accidents are we talking about? Less than 300.
Out of how many million Toyota's on the road? 45 million.

Get a grip people. There are a lot more crappy GM's and Chrysler's out there.

If your are trying to stop really fast and hit the brake pedal AND the accelerator (or get your foot caught under the edge of the brake pedal) at the same time you are going to have a problem.

I have big feet and I have had that happen in EVERY car I have ever owned or driven. Honda (Accord), Toyota (CAMRY), Nissan (260Z , Maxima) Acura (Integra), Chrysler (5th Avenue), Chevy (Vega, Caprice), Ford (F150, 350), AND VW (411 wagon). Give yourself enough space, don't go too fast, be aware of what is around you (and where you can swerve if you need to) and you can avoid ALMOST anything.

 

[Ramar]

The reason Ford didn't need a bailout is because they use overseas outsourced labor and they build cheap crap. I have a lot of mechanic friends and just about every one of them, you mention the name "Ford" and they roll their eyes.

 

[Upendra09]

everyone concentrates on Toyota, what about The new Chevy recall with horrible tires?, and ford's recalls in the past month

 

[wayneepalmer]

Upendra09 02/09/2010 11:03 PM

everyone concentrates on Toyota, what about The new Chevy recall with horrible tires?, and ford's recalls in the past month

3 letters: UAW

Toyota has managed to avoid being stuck with the blood-sucking UAW ... at least until "card-check" goes thru.

A huge part of this whole story is a concerted effort at blackmail to force Toyota (and to warn the rest of the Auto makers) to bend over for the United Auto Workers union ... that is why all of PharoObama's "community organizer" czar boot-lickers AND the accomplice media have been carping at Toyota so hard about all of this.

 

[Nimmist]

[citation][nom]jitpublisher[/nom]Even it they shut Toyota down, they had a good run. All of us Americans who have bought Toyota's over the years can rejoice knowing we have made many, many foreign people filthy rich. Don't worry, there are many other foreign brands left for you to spend your money on.[/citation]
According to cars.com the Toyota Camry is the most American made car.

 

[alphadark]

I sued Toyota over my 07' Tacoma because they sold me a lemon. You have every right to sue a manufacturer for selling you a bad product. My Toyota would either go into limp mode or stall completely locking up my rear tires momentarily at high rates of speed. Toyota tried several times to fix it but couldn't. Finally they called out a "specialist" to take a look at my car. Over a month later I finally got my truck back, missing lug nuts, scratched grille, and all my expensive ass tools stolen out of the back. Pretty awesome for a truck I bought new and had only driven 9000 miles. If they had just handed me the keys to a new truck and said sorry we sold you a Lemon I would not have gotten a lawyer involved. To top it off I lost my job doing some work for a cable company because I didn't have a truck for over a month. You can't strap a ladder to the top of a rental Prius.
They make shitty vehicles and have even shittier customer service. I hope they go under to be perfectly honest. Any company who treats their customers like the way they treated me deserves to go out of business.
I am now a proud owner of a Subaru WRX . No problems after 40,000 miles. Hopefully no Toyota components ever go into the Subaru product line

 

[warmon6]

well,looks like Gm seeing the same problems,

http/blogs.insideline.com/straightline/2010/01/gm-receives-claims-of-sticking-pedals-in-pontiac-vibe----after-the-recall.html

 

[lilwillis]

[citation][nom]warmon6[/nom]well,looks like Gm seeing the same problems,http/blogs.insideline.com/straig [...] ecall.html[/citation]
LOL that pontiac vibe was built in a Toyota plant on a GM Toyota collaboration deal. ah hahahaha!

 

[Upendra09]

[citation][nom]alphadark[/nom]I sued Toyota over my 07' Tacoma because they sold me a lemon. You have every right to sue a manufacturer for selling you a bad product. My Toyota would either go into limp mode or stall completely locking up my rear tires momentarily at high rates of speed. Toyota tried several times to fix it but couldn't. Finally they called out a "specialist" to take a look at my car. Over a month later I finally got my truck back, missing lug nuts, scratched grille, and all my expensive ass tools stolen out of the back. Pretty awesome for a truck I bought new and had only driven 9000 miles. If they had just handed me the keys to a new truck and said sorry we sold you a Lemon I would not have gotten a lawyer involved. To top it off I lost my job doing some work for a cable company because I didn't have a truck for over a month. You can't strap a ladder to the top of a rental Prius. They make shitty vehicles and have even shittier customer service. I hope they go under to be perfectly honest. Any company who treats their customers like the way they treated me deserves to go out of business. I am now a proud owner of a Subaru WRX . No problems after 40,000 miles. Hopefully no Toyota components ever go into the Subaru product line[/citation]

That is a dealer problem not toyota

 

[Guest]

Seriously, i think this is one of the very few things that know doing. i bet they'll even sue a dog if it bites them.

The cars were built in america people. Yes Toyota is a foreign brand but they have manufacturing and assembly plants in the US.

But anyhow, this problem Toyota is having should be treated seriously. For starters, people who have the recalled models, their lives are at risk so it's no laughing matter.

At least they admitted the problem and is doing something about it right now. C'mon, the problem isn't even with all models. And the only model that has this problem in Asia is the Prius and nothing else.

 

[Guest]

I DONT WANT TO MAKE FEEL BAD OR OFFEND SOMEONE IN HERE,BUT FOR THOSE WHO TALK NICE ABOUT TOYOYA AND BAD ABOUT GMC AND FORD,HOW ABOUT IF YOU BOUGHT ONE OF THOSE TOYOTA MODELS BEFORE YOU KNEW THE PROBLEM WAS IN THOSE CARS,HOW ABOUT IF YOU OR ANY MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY HAD AN ACCIDENT,I MEAN COME ON PEOPLE,BY THIS TIME YOU WERE NOT TALKING NICE ABOUT TOYOTA IF THAT HAPPENED,INSTEAD YOU WERE TAKING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST TOYOTA.TOYOTA IS A GREAT COMPANY CAR,BUT I THINK SAFETY IS FIRST FOR ALL,DONT FORGET THAT.

 

[Guest]

If the gas gets stuck you can just brake. You can easily slow down or halt the engine with the brakes even if the pedal is stuck at max. Just pretend your cruise control didn't go off when you brake. So what, just stop the car with your brakes. If it didn't got stuck, well they'll fix it so that it won't happen. OK? Isn't that a good thing?

Tell me, if you have a 1-2 year old iPhone or iPod, and Apple announces that they need to replace all batteries on that model 'cause of a fire risk or something; would you be grateful to get a brand new battery, or would you hope that someone would sue the last penny out of them and get them out of business?

Looking at this Toyota case I would say that if yes to the first - you're an European or Asian - if yes to the second then you're an American. Guess you wouldn't agree now since it's your belowed american company we're talking about. So much for case neutrality.

Americans and their insane lawsuits, totally lost of common sense.
Seriously, Toyota and all other non-american companies should just boycott the US market and let the rest of the sane world enjoy their products, and leave the americans to sue their own asses in their funny little glass bubble.

 

[freggo]

I have an 89 Ford Explorer. When the module that controls the Anti-lock brakes failed it had an interesting effect... it completely locked the brack pedal in place!
You had absolutely NO brakes whatsoever.
Only after releasing the break pedal for several seconds and than pumping the brake do you get brakes back until they lock again. I called Ford about it and all they had to say was 'get the module replaced'.
The fact that obviously 1000s of Explorers (and whatever other models use the same module) are on the road with a vital component that does not have a 'fail safe' mode does not seem to bother Ford or anyone else.
Maybe because Ford is 'Made in USA' while Toyota is a damn foreigner ?