Don't drive recalled Toyotas, transportation chief says

[honugirl]

Just checked the Toyota website and found out that the Hybrids are not included in the sticky accelerator recall.....whew - so glad to know that I'm not driving a deathtrap!

Hybrids are not included in the recall of the accelerator, but I know they are looking into possible breaking issues with the Prius (not sure about other hybrids).

 

[RadioNate]

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-be...in-Fatal-Southlake-Crash-Police-80761142.html

Floor Mats Ruled Out in Fatal Southlake Crash: Police

Recalled Toyota floor mats had nothing to do with a car crash that killed four people in Southlake the day after Christmas, police said Tuesday.

Four people in a Toyota Avalon drowned when the car went off the road, through a fence and landed upside down in a pond.

The four, all Jehovah's Witnesses, were doing religious work at the time.

The car was one of more than four million recalled by Toyota, after federal safety regulators found a problem with the car suddenly accelerating.

The automaker said the problem is caused by the floor mat pushing against the gas pedal.

Southlake police said the floor mat in the car that crashed was found in the trunk and was not inside the vehicle.

It's the same issue. The people were told it was a floor mat issue, so they took out the floormats and put them in the trunk. And yet their car still accelerated, killing all four of them.

And you are right, Ford and Firestone did drag it out...pointing endless fingers at each other.

Actually no, Toyota and the news stories have said that THIS problem is a DIFFERENT problem and recall than the 'floor mat' recall.

From Toyota's own press release.

Separately from the recall for sticking accelerator pedals, Toyota is in the process of recalling vehicles to address rare instances in which floor mats have trapped the accelerator pedal in certain Toyota and Lexus models (announced November 25, 2009), and is already notifying customers about how it will fix this issue. In the case of vehicles covered by both recalls, it is Toyota’s intention to remedy both at the same time.

Two different things, that was my point. Some cars are affected by both but they are 2 different issues and 2 different recalls.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-consumer-safety-advisory-102572.aspx

 

[jodifla]

Actually no, Toyota and the news stories have said that THIS problem is a DIFFERENT problem and recall than the 'floor mat' recall.

From Toyota's own press release.



Two different things, that was my point. Some cars are affected by both but they are 2 different issues and 2 different recalls.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-consumer-safety-advisory-102572.aspx

Well, they have to stick to their story....they insisted it was floor mat issue...and maybe it was in some cars. But their problem was much, much bigger, and they refused to do something about it earlier, even when told by NHTSA that they thought it was the gas pedal, not the floor mats.

 

[sbell111]

... No big deal, every American-made car I've ever owned had sticky, hard to use gas pedals. ...

I am simply not buying this statement. I have driven many, many American caars. None have had 'sticky, hard to use' accelerator pedals.

... I would imagine the percentage of accidents caused by a sticking throttle is nothing compared to accidents caused by STUPID drunk drivers, or folks texting while driving.

That's true, but doing those things is illegal. Of course, so is driving a car that is known to be unsafe.

I also have to be wonder what an acceptable number of accidents and deaths due to this problem would be.

DH & I were talking about this tonight. ALL cars manufacturers end up with recalls. Even safety ones. We have no idea why people are going so crazy about this one compared to others in the past.

I think that it is a combination of the following things:

1. A brand that many were convinced had no faults ended up with serious safety issues.
2. The revelation that their is not just one safety problem, but two or three is shocking.
3. The two or three safety defects being discussed basically account for just about every vehicle that they produce.
4. The company that these people trusted almost to the point of reverence has been shown to have lied to them about this safety issue.

Hybrids are not included in the recall of the accelerator, but I know they are looking into possible breaking issues with the Prius (not sure about other hybrids).

According to an article that I read this morning, the Prius and Lexus hybrid recalls should happen tomorrow.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

We've got one and I sure don't think it's a lemon. It's a recall, and not that big a deal. We'll bring it in two weeks from now and they'll fix it. In the many years we've owned Toyotas, the problems have been minimal. The Transportation Secretary is over reacting.
.

Considering there were a few deaths from the affected pedals and many accidents, I don't think he is overreacting by saying they aren't safe to drive. Now how practical that is, especially with brand new vehicles obviously not possible for everyone.

Every manufacturer has had a recall at some point or another, these things happen but this is just scary!

 

[Colston69]

I am simply not buying this statement. I have driven many, many American caars. None have had 'sticky, hard to use' accelerator pedals.

I'm sure you have driven all the domestic cars that were ever made, so I must have imagined it all. My bad.

I went through 3 straight domestic minivans, dumping each one as soon as the warranty ran out b/c I couldn't afford to handle the repair bills on my own. And that was just the last three I had. My 2 imported SUV's have cost nothing other than scheduled maintenance and tires. In 30 years of owning cars I haven't driven a domestic 3/4 of the miles, and forked out plenty for repairs. The track record speaks for itself.

 

[ReneeA]

I'm sure you have driven all the domestic cars that were ever made, so I must have imagined it all. My bad.

I went through 3 straight domestic minivans, dumping each one as soon as the warranty ran out b/c I couldn't afford to handle the repair bills on my own. And that was just the last three I had. My 2 imported SUV's have cost nothing other than scheduled maintenance and tires. In 30 years of owning cars I haven't driven a domestic 3/4 of the miles, and forked out plenty for repairs. The track record speaks for itself.

You do realize that there are people out there that can make the same claims about their Big 3 made car, right?

My DH's last 3 cars:

Buick Riviera - traded in still running with 485,000 miles on it
Chevy Lumina - traded in still running with 268,000 miles on it
Chrysler Voyager - still own, running like a top with 120,000 miles on it.

We didn't spend any money on any of them other than routine maintenance. However, we really take care of them and perform the routine stuff as soon as it needs to be done.

The foreign car companies don't corner the market on great cars.

 

[sparklynails23]

Considering there were a few deaths from the affected pedals and many accidents, I don't think he is overreacting by saying they aren't safe to drive. Now how practical that is, especially with brand new vehicles obviously not possible for everyone.

Every manufacturer has had a recall at some point or another, these things happen but this is just scary!

Are these three different recalls- the gas pedal, the floor mats, and the brakes?

 

[S. C.]

You do realize that there are people out there that can make the same claims about their Big 3 made car, right?

My DH's last 3 cars:

Buick Riviera - traded in still running with 485,000 miles on it
Chevy Lumina - traded in still running with 268,000 miles on it
Chrysler Voyager - still own, running like a top with 120,000 miles on it.

We didn't spend any money on any of them other than routine maintenance. However, we really take care of them and perform the routine stuff as soon as it needs to be done.

The foreign car companies don't corner the market on great cars.

Our experience too. My GM car has 134 thousand miles on it and has only needed routine maintanace. Same with DH's GM truck 150 thousand miles on it with no problems. We have had very good luck with American car companies. And have had several as we are both in our mid to late 50's.

 

[sparklynails23]

You do realize that there are people out there that can make the same claims about their Big 3 made car, right?

My DH's last 3 cars:

Buick Riviera - traded in still running with 485,000 miles on it
Chevy Lumina - traded in still running with 268,000 miles on it
Chrysler Voyager - still own, running like a top with 120,000 miles on it.

We didn't spend any money on any of them other than routine maintenance. However, we really take care of them and perform the routine stuff as soon as it needs to be done.

The foreign car companies don't corner the market on great cars.

Holy cow 485k?!?! That's incredible. Do you use the regular grade gas or the 91/93? We've always gotten good mileage with little maintenance on our cars, too. First, a Honda had 190k, a Saturn with 190k, now a Chrysler van with 170k and still counting. We always use the "91" gas and get regular oil changes, and have a little fix here and there, but nothing major like a transmission. Maybe we're just lucky, or maybe the major difference is the driver of the car, not the manufacturer.

I don't wish ill on Toyota. My sister owns Toyotas and has always had luck with them, and if anything happened to her, her husband, or my niece, I would be devastated. I hope they clean up this recall mess soon. I'll be buying a new car in the near future, and to be honest, I won't/can't even consider a Toyota.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Are these three different recalls- the gas pedal, the floor mats, and the brakes?

I think the floor mats relate to the pedals, it was at first thought it was the problem I think? The brake issue is a separate recall soon to come, I don't think that one is official yet is it?

 

[ReneeA]

Holy cow 485k?!?! That's incredible. Do you use the regular grade gas or the 91/93? We've always gotten good mileage with little maintenance on our cars, too. First, a Honda had 190k, a Saturn with 190k, now a Chrysler van with 170k and still counting. We always use the "91" gas and get regular oil changes, and have a little fix here and there, but nothing major like a transmission. Maybe we're just lucky, or maybe the major difference is the driver of the car, not the manufacturer.

I don't wish ill on Toyota. My sister owns Toyotas and has always had luck with them, and if anything happened to her, her husband, or my niece, I would be devastated. I hope they clean up this recall mess soon.

DH always uses 91 grade gas and upgrades to durablend oil for oil changes once we hit 100,000 miles. It seems to do the trick. I leave all of that up to him since he's the one who doesn't like to part with the cars.

 

[Colston69]

I'll be buying a new car in the near future, and to be honest, I won't/can't even consider a Toyota.

That is exactly the sentiment that I am making such fun of. It's the crisis of the day.

If you will be buying a car in the near future then you will be buying from a maker with a history of recalls, many of them downright dangerous. Unless you believe that everyone else fixed all their problems and became perfect since their last recall, then your statement makes no sense.

 

[sparklynails23]

DH always uses 91 grade gas and upgrades to durablend oil for oil changes once we hit 100,000 miles. It seems to do the trick. I leave all of that up to him since he's the one who doesn't like to part with the cars.

I've heard the synthetic oils are the way to go but never had the nerve to try it. When I get my next car, I'll go with the Durablend from the get go. Tell your husband, "Thanks!"

 

[Squirlz]

I've heard the synthetic oils are the way to go but never had the nerve to try it. When I get my next car, I'll go with the Durablend from the get go. Tell your husband, "Thanks!"

Full synthetic oil is definitely the way to go. As far as octane, unless you are experiencing detonation there is no advantage to using higher octane than the manufacturer recommends.

 

[Topper]

• Recalls due to incidents of sudden unintended acceleration are not limited to the big five manufacturers. According to the NHTSA database, recalls have also been issued for vehicles made by Nissan, BMW, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Mercedes-Benz, Kia, Mazda, Land Rover, Suzuki and Volvo.
• In December 2009, Consumer Reports published an article that said 41 percent of the sudden acceleration complaints received by the NHTSA in 2008 pertained to Toyota and its luxury brand, Lexus. Ford came in second behind Toyota with 28 percent of the complaints relating to U.S. models.
• Bottom Line: Sudden unintended acceleration is not a problem limited to Toyota. Many car manufacturers, including the other four with the largest shares of the U.S. market, have had to recall vehicles because of this issue.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/02/05/sudden.acceleration.fact.check/index.html#cnnSTCText

 

[sparklynails23]

What about in 2009 and 2010, so far? The new stories seem to indicate that the problem with Toyotas has grown significantly since 2008.