Toyota hits just keep on coming

Savman

Toyota's safety record has taken another hammering after police were involved in a dramatic high-speed pursuit of a driver whose car accelerator got stuck at 94mph.

James Sikes, 61, was overtaking another vehicle when he discovered he could not slow down his 2008 Toyota Prius while travelling on a motorway in San Diego.
Despite pressing hard on the brake pedal, the car kept accelerating.

Click

Getting pretty bad press lately, would this turn you devotees off buying a Toyota? Or is it literally a case of 'til death do us part'?? :eek:

Max_Damage

Similar issues happened to the Ford Explorer back in the late 90's. Ford bounced back since.

EPM

I wouldn't buy any of the current range anyway

neilthefunkeone

How come he was only able to stop it when the cops came along??

CR 7

Prius, 94mph?

It's clearly been made up by competitors to make Toyota look bad, they didn't even research the model.

CJhaughey

All US based media reports, anyway what is the top selling car brand in Ireland this year so far?
Toyota.
It takes a lot to change peoples mind about a brand.

gizmo555

Savman wrote: »

Toyota's safety record has taken another hammering after police were involved in a dramatic high-speed pursuit of a driver whose car accelerator got stuck at 94mph.

James Sikes, 61, was overtaking another vehicle when he discovered he could not slow down his 2008 Toyota Prius while travelling on a motorway in San Diego.
Despite pressing hard on the brake pedal, the car kept accelerating.

Am I missing something, or is there any reason why he shouldn't immediately have turned off the engine? It appears from the report that this is what he eventually did anyway.

jimmyendless

I suppose if all the hydralics stop when he turns off the engine, the steering and brakes might not work as good, if they were even working in the first place. If I was in his position I'd probably turn off the engine straight away if I were on a big motorway with no immediate reason to stop.

bad2dabone

if it was a manual all he needed to do was put his foot on the clutch.
if it was an automatic he could have shifted it into neutral (despite any potential damage to the transmission it would have been a better option than constant acceleration).

SV

neilthefunkeone wrote: »

How come he was only able to stop it when the cops came along??

because they told him what to do..
seems most drivers are pretty fúcking clueless these days from all of these 'out of control' toyota stories
tis quite funny how dramatic they are about it

Cookie_Monster

gizmo555 wrote: »

Am I missing something, or is there any reason why he shouldn't immediately have turned off the engine? It appears from the report that this is what he eventually did anyway.

bad2dabone wrote: »

if it was a manual all he needed to do was put his foot on the clutch.
if it was an automatic he could have shifted it into neutral (despite any potential damage to the transmission it would have been a better option than constant acceleration).

Clearly the guy was just a ****ing moron not to be able to do any of this

Savman

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Clearly the guy was just a ****ing moron not to be able to do any of this

Perhaps, but that's deflecting attention away from the fact the car is faulty. His driver reactions could have been better (phoning 911 with a stuck accelarator :eek:) but it's clearly more bad press for Toyota. The Americans are really going after them with this, probably guilty of a little flag waving politics to get yanks shopping local again.

JHMEG

He didn't put it in neutral as he was afraid the engine would explode with him in the car (throttle was wide open remember)

Damien360

A bit of perpective might be needed. I read that there were 10 cars in the US with genuine confirmed faults that Toyota admit fully to. I am trying to find that link in case anyone says linky ! Seem to remember that it was stated as fact in US congress. 5 deaths attributed to fault and 29 being investigated (with no conclusion as to cause yet I have to add).

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61D2TS20100224

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8496902.stm

10 cars in the US. How many Toyota are sold in the US every year. Bet it is the hundreds of thousands.

If you heard that one toyota in the UK, Ireland, Spain and 7 other European countries had the fault confirmed, would it concern you at all. Would you abandon your Toyota on that basis.

This is being blown way out of proportion by a smug US car industry that has an appalling safety record by any standard. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8506240.stm

The US driver in this case was an idiot. He should have stuck the car in neutral. Other remedies below in link.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/customer-faqs-regarding-the-sticking-153495.aspx

Some of the recalls are for stuck floor mats. Jesus, would there be a recall in the EU for this level of stupidity. You would be told to just remove the mat.

Tea 1000

CJhaughey wrote: »

All US based media reports, anyway what is the top selling car brand in Ireland this year so far?
Toyota.
It takes a lot to change peoples mind about a brand.

And somehow, amazingly, not one single death from all those buyers in this country! Nor from any of the previous years models...
Maybe, and this is a long shot, but maybe this thing is blown a little out of proportion?
That alleged Prius issue is obviously the same problem as before, just not gotten around to being recalled yet. So there is still only one issue which caused how many deaths? Out of how many Toyotas sold?
I'm no fan of Toyota since they stopped making Supra's, Celica's, MR2's etc and changed to the crappy Auris, but all this Toyota bashing is tiresome. Isn't it an American component that failed anyway? Weren't there two companies making the component, one was Denso the other was some American company, and the Denso ones were perfect, just the American ones recalled?

eagerv

gizmo555 wrote: »

Am I missing something, or is there any reason why he shouldn't immediately have turned off the engine? It appears from the report that this is what he eventually did anyway.

I dont think its quite that easy. The prius engine is computer controlled and turns on and off itself. I checked an owners website and was suprised to learn that many owners did not know that the only way to shutdown the system in an emergency is to hold the power button down for 3 seconds. A bit like your computer!
Also I am not sure if the fly by wire system will allow you to engage neutral on the auto system when the car is moving. The only manual system on the car as far as I know is the foot controlled handbrake(Similar system to a Merc) which probably would not be that powerful.

Zubeneschamali

Damien360 wrote: »

The US driver in this case was an idiot

There's a history of this sort of nonsense in the US. Check out Audi's "unintended acceleration" problem:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/in-defense-of-the-audi-5000/

Guy:Incognito

Damien360 wrote: »

A bit of perpective might be needed. I read that there were 10 cars in the US with genuine confirmed faults that Toyota admit fully to. I am trying to find that link in case anyone says linky ! Seem to remember that it was stated as fact in US congress. 5 deaths attributed to fault and 29 being investigated (with no conclusion as to cause yet I have to add).

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61D2TS20100224

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8496902.stm

10 cars in the US. How many Toyota are sold in the US every year. Bet it is the hundreds of thousands.

If you heard that one toyota in the UK, Ireland, Spain and 7 other European countries had the fault confirmed, would it concern you at all. Would you abandon your Toyota on that basis.

This is being blown way out of proportion by a smug US car industry that has an appalling safety record by any standard. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8506240.stm

The US driver in this case was an idiot. He should have stuck the car in neutral. Other remedies below in link.

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/customer-faqs-regarding-the-sticking-153495.aspx

Some of the recalls are for stuck floor mats. Jesus, would there be a recall in the EU for this level of stupidity. You would be told to just remove the mat.

So how many deaths is an acceptable amoutn to stay under ?

1948Wolseley

bad2dabone wrote: »

if it was a manual all he needed to do was put his foot on the clutch.
if it was an automatic he could have shifted it into neutral (despite any potential damage to the transmission it would have been a better option than constant acceleration).

It was a Prius so it was neither. I reckon he should still have known how to stop it in an emergency though, especially considering all the media attention his car had been getting recently for that very issue.

Rented Mule

Max_Damage wrote: »

Similar issues happened to the Ford Explorer back in the late 90's. Ford bounced back since.

The issue with Ford was the fact that they were rolling over at high speeds. Ford was blaming the tire maker and vice versa.

beam99

If your driving a pirus and you move the gear lever, no matter what direction you go with it, it will automatically go in to neutral. It also has a large P button over the gear lever. If you press that once it will go into neutral, and also by pressing in the start button for approx 5 sec, it will kill the engine.