Toyota Unintended Acceleration Driver Error

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/toyota-cites-driver-errors-in-acceleration-cases.html

Looks like almost all of the 2000 reports looked at were driver error. Bill Roberts was right?

What did Bill Roberts say?

also my 98 camry has over nine million miles on it. Thats a quality piece of machinery.

x2 my Tacoma had 500000km on it and still ran like a top.

They might suck at PR but they can sure as hell build quality vehicles.

[quote]PAINTRAINDave wrote:
x2 my Tacoma had 500000km on it and still ran like a top.

They might suck at PR but they can sure as hell build quality vehicles.[/quote]

I have been in the automotive business 18 years. I have bought, appraised and been a part of tens of thousands of vehicle purchases of all makes and models.

I can honestly say that I have seen way more vehicles with miles over half a million from American brands, primarily Chevy. I have seen two vehicles in the last year with over 1 million miles. Again, they were both Chevrolet trucks.

For what it’s worth…

For what it’s worth: I used to have a 1998 Ford F-150. The one with the Triton V8 and all the options. I drove it so much that by the time the thing was 6 years old I’d put 300,000 miles on it and never had to do any work to it outside of the usual shit like changing the oil and stuff like that. Never broke down on me once.

With 320,000 miles on it, I got T-boned at 35 mph by a Toyota Tacoma. I walked away without a scratch, the Tacoma was fucking annihilated, the tow truck had to use its winch to pull us apart, and once we were separated and all the exchanging of info was done with, I drove away like nothing had ever happened. Shit, with a completely smashed driver side, from front to rear fender, I could drive on the freeway at 75 mph and stay in my lane without touching the steering wheel for miles at a time, as long as the road was straight.

The insurance company was being a bitch about paying me out for the thing in a timely fashion so I ended up just mobbing that thing around town for a few more weeks and it drove the same way it did the day I bought it. Best vehicle I’ve ever owned. I kept hoping some Ford advertising exec would pull up next to me and see this absolutely wrecked truck flying down the freeway and offer me a new one if I appeared in a Ford commercial with my totaled one. Ford tough.

Now, if only they had made the ignition keys a little stronger…

[quote]MikeyKBiatch wrote:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/toyota-cites-driver-errors-in-acceleration-cases.html

Looks like almost all of the 2000 reports looked at were driver error. Bill Roberts was right?[/quote]

The article suggests merely that Toyota can’t find the problems with Toyota cars, and that the NHTSA hasn’t released their data yet.

[quote]Otep wrote:

[quote]MikeyKBiatch wrote:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/toyota-cites-driver-errors-in-acceleration-cases.html

Looks like almost all of the 2000 reports looked at were driver error. Bill Roberts was right?[/quote]

The article suggests merely that Toyota can’t find the problems with Toyota cars, and that the NHTSA hasn’t released their data yet.[/quote]

Give Toyota a couple more years and they will have a new vehicle and this current one will not sell as well at CarMax.

This could end up being just like the false alarm about the Audi 5000 back in the 80’s. Maybe 60 Minutes will fabricate a segment again.

[quote]Otep wrote:

[quote]MikeyKBiatch wrote:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/toyota-cites-driver-errors-in-acceleration-cases.html

Looks like almost all of the 2000 reports looked at were driver error. Bill Roberts was right?[/quote]

The article suggests merely that Toyota can’t find the problems with Toyota cars, and that the NHTSA hasn’t released their data yet.[/quote]

No, it says the event recorders show the people stepping on the wrong pedal. Unless you are contending that simultaneously:

  1. The gas went full throttle for no reason
  2. The brakes failed
  3. The even recorded somehow recorded wrong data

A case of throttle sticking would have been recorded as such. This apparently hasn’t been happening meaning the recall is just a big waste of money to fix a non existent problem.

Not a surprise. I would not be surprised if there is some manufacturing or design defect in many Toyotas. But I am also not at all surprised that a problem is announced and millions suddenly jump on the bandwagon and every accident is not their fault.

[quote]DoubleDuce wrote:

[quote]Otep wrote:

[quote]MikeyKBiatch wrote:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-07-14/toyota-cites-driver-errors-in-acceleration-cases.html

Looks like almost all of the 2000 reports looked at were driver error. Bill Roberts was right?[/quote]

The article suggests merely that Toyota can’t find the problems with Toyota cars, and that the NHTSA hasn’t released their data yet.[/quote]

No, it says the event recorders show the people stepping on the wrong pedal. Unless you are contending that simultaneously:

  1. The gas went full throttle for no reason
  2. The brakes failed
  3. The even recorded somehow recorded wrong data

A case of throttle sticking would have been recorded as such. This apparently hasn’t been happening meaning the recall is just a big waste of money to fix a non existent problem.[/quote]

I don’t argue with your conclusion, but it is Toyota that is reviewing the event-data recorders.

NHTSA is currently reviewing the recorders and has said they are seeing that on the event recorders, not toyota.