Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

All Things Toyota
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Nov 20, 2009: The following story and others makes me wonder whether Toyota may encounter comething like the Audi 5000 Unintended acceleration fiasco. See Manufacturing the Audi Scare:
See Detroit News article Toyota's image under scrutinySafety advocates say acceleration issue may not be easy fix For years, Toyota Motor Corp. has investigated complaints from drivers saying their Toyota and Lexus vehicles accelerated all by themselves, and the company has identified essentially one cause. The trouble, according to Toyota, occurs when loose or ill-fitting floor mats, carpet covers or detached trim jam the gas pedal. But after a highly publicized crash in August that killed four people when the driver lost control of a Lexus sedan, Toyota has come under intense pressure to reduce the risk of unintended acceleration.
It has generated more bad publicity for the automaker, which has been stumbling through a series of misfortunes, including financial losses. Toyota also faces mounting skepticism about its response. Some drivers say they couldn't slow down or stop when they applied the brakes.
see the Full Story
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Nov 25, 2009: And here's more information on the 'Toyota Unintended Acceleration' issue:See the Assciated press article:
Toyota to replace 4M gas pedals that could jam
Toyota Motor Corp announced Wednesday that it will replace accelerator pedals on about 4 million vehicles in the United States because the pedals can get stuck in the floor mats. Currently replacement pedals are not available. Therefore, Toyota will have dealers shorten the length of the gas pedals while the company develops replacement pedals for their vehicles. New pedals will be available beginning in April, and some vehicles will have brake override systems installed as a precaution.
For more information, owners can contact Toyota at 800-331-4331 or the NHTSA hot line at 888-327-4236.
See the Full Story
Also see our forum topic Vehicle recalls
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 2, 2010: Guess the feeding frenzie ala Audi 5000 is happening...
1st the Lawyers filed suit to stop the Toyota repairs: Lawyers Ask Court to Stop Toyota From Fixing Cars
Now on an NPR story today Sean Kane, founder of Safety Research and Strategies, an advocacy group that has studied the Toyota situation closely, thinks some other electronic problem with Toyota vehicles also is causing unintended acceleration. However, he acknowledges he can't quite put his finger on it. "We will continue to see incidents occur and I anticipate that we'll see additional recalls as the year progresses," Kane says.
Maybe he should call 60 Minutes,to have them create yet another "one of journalism's most shameful hours" as they did in November 1986 by hiring "a selfstyled expert" William Rosenbluth, "who drilled a hole in an Audi transmission and pumped in air at high pressure. Viewers didn't see the drill or the pump—just the doctored car blasting off like a rocket". (Also see JUNK SCIENCE IN THE COURTROOM for additional information on the 60 Minutes 'moment of glory']

Here's the NPR story
Feb 2, 2010: NPR, Frank Langfitt, Toyota, NHTSA 'Should Have Been More Diligent'
Toyota says dealers will begin fixing sticky gas pedals on more than two million U.S. vehicles later this week. But safety advocates say the company — and the government — should have addressed the problem earlier. David Champion runs Consumer Reports auto test division. He says for the 2008 model year, Toyota had 41 percent of all complaints. But just 16 percent of the market."I think there was a lot of information out there even two or three years ago, that there was something not quite right with Toyota and unintended acceleration," Champion says.
But it wasn't until after a crash in San Diego last August, that Toyota took dramatic action.
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 2, 2010: Ray LaHood of NHTSA is mad about Toyota's handling of the recalls! Perhaps his bark is fueled by prompting by the overzealous class action seeking Plaintiff lawyers tasting blood?
See the Detroit News article:NHTSA considers imposing civil penalty over Toyota recalls
LaHood said government officials had to push Toyota into action on several occasions.
"Since questions were first raised about possible safety defects, we have been pushing Toyota to take measures to protect consumers. While Toyota is taking responsible action now, it unfortunately took an enormous effort to get to this point," LaHood said in a statement. Toyota didn't directly address LaHood's criticisms in its own statement.
"Nothing is more important to us than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive. Secretary LaHood said to us that the soonest possible action would be in the best interests of our customers, and we took his advice very seriously and instituted a recall," the company said.
LaHood told the Associated Press in an interview today that Toyota was "a little safety deaf."
LaHood confirmed a Detroit News report that top National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials -- including acting administrator Ron Medford -- flew to Japan in December to meet with Toyota Motor Corp. officials about recalls.
LaHood said "DOT officials flew to Japan in December to remind Toyota management about its legal obligations and followed up with a meeting at DOT headquarters in January to insist that they address the accelerator pedal issue."
Read the Full story
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 3, 2010: LaHood is helping with the script for Plaintiff lawyers courtroom presentations in the many upcoming suits against Toyota!
See Associated Press: LaHood says don't drive recalled Toyotas til fixed
In his testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, LaHood said "Stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it"
The operative words are "they believe"? Does LaHood "believe" otherwise? Does he think they are dong the recall for show? Or has he lost objectivity and decided to launch an all out assault on Toyota?
For a moment, let us consider that Toyota is trying to hide what’s 'really' wrong with the vehicle? That would be insane. But that is certainly what NHTSA by way of LaHood is saying. Is this a ‘economic recovery’ gift for Plaintiff lawyers? Is he trying to invigorate the US economy with Japanese money from Toyota?
First, most if not ALL cars are alleged at some point or another to have 'sudden acceleration' problems. Generally it is related to folks unfamiliar with a new vehicle pressing the wrong pedal.
An epidemic of ‘sudden acceleration’ claims occur after a sensational crash. For Toyota, that was the crash in San Diego. The feeding frenzie press fuels folks to blame everything on ‘sudden acceleration’ and run wild with it (everyone want to win the lottery!)
But to have the head of the NHTSA come out with announcements as irresponsible as his latest rounds of comments on Toyota demonstrates a certain lack of leadership while ‘playing for the crowd’.
Guess with Wozniak’s proclamation of HIS problem while travelling at 80+ MPH he experiences what he deems a stuck throttle due to a software problem, and, OF COURSE, he’s a damn computer genius so HE MUST KNOW that it’s more to the problem than the pedal or floormat issues.
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 3, 2010: Lawmakers, attempting to divert attention from their polarized inability to accomplish anything of substance, have embraced the skepticism as to whether the Toyota recalls will actually fix the problem. Maybe they were 'star struck' by 'Apple software genius' Steve Wozniak’s recent proclamation, discovered while cruising at 80 mph+ in his Prius and messing around with the cruise control, that HE thinks the unintended acceleration is due to 'a software problem'??? on to the story...
See the New York Times, Detroit article:Lawmakers Ask Toyota to Prove that Fix Solves Problem
Lawmakers and the Transportation Department stepped up pressure Tuesday on Toyota, seeking proof that problems that could cause its cars to speed up unexpectedly were limited to floor mats and sticking pedals. In a letter to James E. Lentz III, the president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Representatives Henry A. Waxman and Bart Stupak asked the automaker to provide documents showing that the computer systems on its cars were not at fault — something Toyota has vigorously denied.
See the Full Story
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 8, 2010: Is the Toyota mess a symbol of "the times they are a changing?" Or simply a victim of a bloodbath brought about by a hungry press and legal system itching to bring down a giant and divert attention away from more important issues?
Apparently the NY Times thinks the Toyota Mess is symbolic of a change...
See the New York Times article: In Toyota Mess, Lesson for Japan
Once a leading symbol of Japan’s rise to global economic might, Toyota has become one of the most visible signs of its decline. And even before the recalls, Japan’s rivals from South Korea and China had started overtaking Japan in key industries from semiconductors to flat-panel televisions.
Yukio Noguchi, a professor of finance at Waseda University in Tokyo, said Japan must finally evolve into a postindustrial, service-based economy — a painful transition that the United States and Great Britain underwent in the 1980s. Others said Japan should focus exclusively on high-end, high-profit products, like robots and fuel cells, rather than mass-produced goods subject to quality-control issues.
See the Full Story
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 10, 2010: When the News agencies fan the flames of disinformation to near hysterical levels by spraying gasoline on the situation as if they, or those they interview, have a clue as to the 'real story': (Ny Times article today Safety Agency Scrutinized as Toyota Recall Grows and TV sliming LaHood on Good Morning America and further TV sliming EXCLUSIVE interviews with whistle blowing 'former Toyota Lawyers')
When they desperatly call the likes of Joan Claybrook, who was the director of the agency in the Carter administration and now is President of the advocacy group Public Citizen, and Clarence Ditlow, who runs the advocacy group Center for Auto Safety, and other 'fire starters' like Dimitrios Biller, a 'former Toyota lawyer', apparently looking to get cash for piling trash on his former employer (what, doesn't he like is severance package? And why when he was employed by Toyota when all these things were going on did he remain so quiet?).
It's only a matter of time before the trickster demonstrations begin like the 60 Minute Story on the Audi 5000.
I guess we now have us a major fiasco! This may make the Audi 5000 fiasco look like child's play.
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

February 11, 2010: Well whacha know...finally something goes in Toyota's favor...
The opportunist former Toyota lawyer/employee's plan to sling mud and release documents (for money, no doubt!) have been at least temporarily thwarted. In news reports today ole Dimitrios Biller, the Biller who's tryin to be a killer to Toyota, by making all sorts of claims to bring him business from blood thristy plaintiff's lawyers seeking class action status, has been told he can't release internal documents.
Biller sued Toyota in federal court in July, claiming the company destroyed engineering and testing evidence relevant in more than 300 lawsuits over sport-utility rollover accidents. Biller, who worked for Toyota from 2003 to 2007 managing rollover cases, was sued first by Toyota in California state court after he started a legal consulting business. In his lawsuit, Biller accused Toyota of racketeering, wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. A federal judge in November said Biller needed to arbitrate the dispute as stipulated in his 2007 severance agreement. Biller’s claims preceded Toyota’s recall of about 8 million vehicles on five continents to repair defects linked to unintended acceleration. The acceleration problem has resulted in at least 44 class-action lawsuits, some of which claim Toyota knew about the problem and denied it to customers and dealers.
The case is Biller v. Toyota Motor Corp., 2:09-cv-05429, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).
See the LA Times story: Judge bars ex-Toyota attorney from releasing documents
Also see Bloomberg News: Toyota Ex-Lawyer Can’t Share Secret Documents on Rollovers
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
brian
Posts: 499
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:52 am

Re: Will Toyota encounter a press created Audi 5000 type fiasco?

Post by brian »

Feb 15, 2010: The President of Toyota is still undecided about whether to appear before the do nothing Congress, who are holding hearings on Toyota trying to divert attention from their inability to do anything of substance on much more important issues. There's a Feb. 24 hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and then a Feb 25th House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing with Toyota Motor North America chief executive Yoshi Inaba, marble mouthed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator David Strickland. Then the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has scheduled a March 2 hearing.
The diversion of attention circus is in town!
And in keeping with the circus atmosphere, after irresponsible comments by LaHood, class action status seeking lawyers and bored billionaire software developers, Toyota said the company has carried out "exhaustive and robust" tests, and does not think there are any electronics problems with its vehicles, but promised to look into it again.
See the Associated Press story Toyota studies electronics again, trip undecided
Question? Comment? Please email us
MORE TOPICS see:Forum Index & McHenrySoftware.com
(c)McHenry Software, Inc ALL Rights Reserved.
Post Reply