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Title: Toyota: Recalls Won't Totally Fix Gas Pedal Issues
Source:
Associated Press
URL Source: [None]
Published: Feb 23, 2010
Author: By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS
Post Date: 2010-02-23 17:17:38 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 846
Comments: 24
By LARRY MARGASAK and KEN THOMAS WASHINGTON (AP) -- The president of Toyota's U.S. operations acknowledged to skeptical lawmakers on Tuesday that the company's recalls of millions of its cars may "not totally" solve the problem of sudden and dangerous acceleration. "We are vigilant and we continue to look for potential causes," Toyota's James Lentz told a congressional panel. However, he repeated his company's position that unexpected acceleration in some of the company's most popular cars and trucks was caused by one of two problems - misplaced floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals. He insisted electronic systems connected to the gas pedal and fuel line did not contribute to the problem, drawing sharp criticism from lawmakers who said such a possibility should be further explored - and from a tearful woman driver who could not stop her runaway Lexus. "Shame on you, Toyota," Rhonda Smith, of Sevierville, Tenn., said at a congressional hearing. Then she added a second "shame on you" directed at federal highway safety regulators. Texas Republican Rep. Joe Barton cautioned his colleagues early in the hearing against conducting a "witch hunt" and said "We don't want to just assume automatically that Toyota has done something wrong and has tried to cover it up." But midway through Lentz's testimony, Barton said of Toyota's investigation of the problems: "In my opinion, it's a sham." Lentz said the company had not completely ruled out an electronics malfunction and was still investigating causes of the sudden acceleration. Still, "We have not found a malfunction" in the electronics of any of the cars at issue, he said. As to Smith's harrowing story, "I'm embarrassed for what happened," Lentz said. "I want her and her husband to feel safe about driving our products," Lentz said. At one point in more than two hours of testimony Lentz was asked by Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., whether there were any new bombshells to come. "God, I hope there aren't any more," he said, while apologizing anew for the problems. "We stubbed our toe," he said. Three congressional panels are investigating Toyota's problems, which affect a huge number of Americans. Toyota has recalled some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide - more than 6 million in the United States - since last fall because of unintended acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid. It is also investigating steering concerns in Corollas. People with Toyotas have complained of their vehicles speeding out of control despite efforts to slow down, sometimes resulting in deadly crashes. The government has received complaints of 34 deaths linked to sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles since 2000. Lentz, who choked up while discussing the death of his own brother more than 20 years ago in a car accident, said he understood the pain. "I know what those families go through," he said. Lentz has said in the past that he was confident Toyota's fixes on the recalled vehicles would correct the problems. But when pressed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on whether the two recalls Toyota put in place to deal with the issue would completely solve it, Lentz replied: "Not totally." Still, he said chances of unintended accelerations were "very, very slim" once the recall was complete. Lentz also said Toyota was putting in new brakes that can override the gas pedal on almost all of its new vehicles and a majority of its vehicles already on the road. Meanwhile, Toyota president Akio Toyoda, who will testify before a separate panel on Wednesday, said he took "full responsibility" for the uncertainty felt by Toyota owners and offered his condolences to a San Diego, Calif., family who were killed in late August, reigniting interest in the problems. "I will do everything in my power to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again," Toyoda said in prepared testimony for Wednesday's hearing to the House Government Oversight Committee. "My name is on every car. You have my personal commitment that Toyota will work vigorously and unceasingly to restore the trust of our customers." Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, description from Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop - shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and turn off the engine. Fighting back tears, she described her nightmare ride of October 2006, calling it "a near death experience." "After six miles, God intervened" and slowed the car, she said. She added that it took a long time for Toyota to respond to her complaints. In an often contentious full day of testimony, lawmakers returned again and again to the question of whether electronic malfunctions may have contributed to the speeding cars. "We are confident that no problems exist with the electric throttle control system in our vehicles," Lentz said. He cited "fail-safe mechanisms" in the cars that were designed to shut off or reduce engine power "in the event of a system failure." Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told the panel that possible electronics problems were being looked into by his agency. He said the company's recalls were important steps but "we don't maintain that they answer every question." Toyota hired a consulting firm to analyze whether electronic problems could cause unintended acceleration. The firm, Exponent Inc., found no link between the two. But committee investigators said the testing studied only a small number of vehicles Tracking down an electrical problem can be far more difficult, expensive and time-consuming than finding a mechanical problem. Electrical problems can have more than one source, and they can come from inside or outside the car. Mechanical problems often leave clues such as physical damage, where electronic troubles can be hidden in software or leave no trace at all. House investigators who reviewed Toyota's customer call database found that 70 percent of the complaints of sudden acceleration were for vehicles that are not subject to the recalls over floor mats or sticky pedals. Lentz is president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. Separately, among hundreds of Toyota dealers lobbying members of Congress Tuesday, there seemed to be widespread rancor toward a federal government they view as picking on the automaker, at least in part because of the government's investment of billions of dollars in General Motors and Chrysler. "That's hard for me as a citizen to understand why my tax dollars are going in that direction," Paul Atkinson, a Houston-area Toyota dealer, said at a news conference that also served as a pep rally for the visiting dealers. "To compete with the government as an individual entrepreneur is pretty tough."
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
Anyone who knows squat about automotive electronics knows these cars don't all have stuck gas pedals. The Japs via NHTSA have been getting away with murder since they came in with their first lame vehicles in the late '60s. Lots better than that crap but they still avoid recalls, have secret warranties and really dangerous stuff an American company would have been flagged for were ignored. Maybe someone besides myself remembers the Nissan vans that were so bad (fire hazard caused by fuel leaks in the engine compartment) the dealers refused to fix them and offered a super sweetheart deal to trade the crap in. It's like a gun to your head, you can't buy parts because we won't sell them, we won't fix your van, take the money and buy another Nissan. NHTSA never did squatoosh about that super bad business practice. NHTSA was on the take, guess the payoffs aren't arriving in a timely fashion from TOY-ota.
You're so full of shit your eyes are brown, Gump.
Life is like a Jap'nese autoMOEbeel...you never know what yer gonna git...
Day 2 of Packrat refusing to register here.
Can you imagine Gump's life? He posts a thread and checks on it only to see no reponses...meanwhile...it has 100 but he has everyone on bozo so he can't see them...
Day 3 of Packrat refusing to register here.
Two words: Computer virus
Obammy sez it She's just the usual incompetent driver, who freaked out. Take her license away.
So why do you bother soiling this site with your vacuous and inane commentary? ... yukon haha lots of laughing out loud
Apparently that's what Toyota wanted to do. That's sure working out well for them. Somebody explain to me - assuming what she said about shifting the car into neutral is true - how the car could continue to accelerate? Is the shifting mechanism not connected directly to the transaxle - or is it connected via the car's computer?
Obammy sez it Fords been on the gov for years to investigate these Toyota accidents. And no one wants to mention that word "electronic". lolol
I think it IS computer related. And I'm not alone in that. This would make an excellent novel. Government Motors software genius infiltrates Toyota and writes a virus for their car's computers. This done in an effort of course to destroy Toyota and help Government Motors.
Obammy sez it This has been an ongoing problem for close to ten years, but I wouldn't put anything past the Bushies. And Ford and the old GM were literally told to buzz off for many years when they filed complaints some based on Toyotas they had taken as trade ins.
VW Passats made between 02 and 05 have an oil pan defect that causes the engine to become starved of oil and either seize or blow...I leanred that the hard way. The government knows about this flaw...VW knows about this flaw...nothing is done...
Day 3 of Packrat refusing to register here.
The government knows about this flaw...VW knows about this flaw...nothing is done... I'll see what my Ford source says on that one. I think they are just happy right now with the Toyota problems finally seeing the light of day. Any dealership taking in Toyotas as trade ins was sharing in the liability especially whenthe problems have been already been generally acknowledged in the industry.
Maybe somebody was playing God through the satellite security system. I'm glad I have one vehicle that was made the old fashioned way although it still has a damned computer chip and all those stupid sensors that go out with no warning.
It doesn't say shifting into neutral didn't work. I think she tried that after a while.
So why do you bother soiling this site with your vacuous and inane commentary? ... yukon haha lots of laughing out loud
That's not the impression you'll get if you have a chance to listen to the audio transcript. She definitely said that the car continued to accelerate even after shifting into neutral.
Obammy sez it Weird. Is this the same one who says it was God who eventually slowed the car down?
So why do you bother soiling this site with your vacuous and inane commentary? ... yukon haha lots of laughing out loud
Obammy sez it The filter screen on the pickup is supposed to be self cleaning...it isn't...oil routinly cakes up over it...it VW's dirty little secret. If you get VW service @ 15K they pull the pan and clean it...@ 30k they ASK if you want the pan pulled knowing that you're going to say "no"...it should be the other way around... Your engine goes and if you cannot document EVERY oil change as being done timely you are out of pocket on a new engine...keep your fingers crossed that you didn't fuck up the turbo too...
Day 3 of Packrat refusing to register here.
Gawd intervened and slowed the car down finally. Then the car tried to start itself when the tow truck arrived. Sure it did.
Well, holy shit.
So why do you bother soiling this site with your vacuous and inane commentary? ... yukon haha lots of laughing out loud
Obammy sez it 2007 Lexus owner - it is Bush's fault!
Then the car tried to start itself when the tow truck arrived. Sure it did. We used to have a Chevy pickup that started itself all the time, we would never leave it in gear because of this. Found out it had a short in the starter.
We had a '65 Country Squire with a cranky starter that Dad kept a hammer under his seat and would go out and bang it to get it ti start...
Day 3 of Packrat refusing to register here. Day 1 Of Boofer The One Eyed Wonder Bot refusing to answer: When is Blackwell going to have the recount?
#2. To: reaganisright (#1)
#3. To: Fred Mertz, reaganisright (#2)
(Edited)
You're so full of shit your eyes are brown, Gump.
#4. To: Fred Mertz (#2)
#5. To: Brian S (#0)
Lawmakers heard a brief, but riveting, description from Smith, the Tennessee woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to get it to stop - shifting to neutral, trying to throw the car into reverse and hitting the emergency brake. Finally, her car slowed enough that she was able to pull it off the road onto the median and turn off the engine.
I believes it
an' that settles it!
#6. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#5)
(Edited)
#7. To: Abu el Banat (#6)
She's just the usual incompetent driver, who freaked out. Take her license away.
I believes it
an' that settles it!
#8. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#7)
#9. To: mininggold (#8)
And no one wants to mention that word "electronic". lolol
I believes it
an' that settles it!
#10. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#9)
This would make an excellent novel. Government Motors software genius infiltrates Toyota and writes a virus for their car's computers. This done in an effort of course to destroy Toyota and help Government Motors.
#11. To: mininggold (#10)
(Edited)
#12. To: war (#11)
VW Passats made between 02 and 05 have an oil pan defect that causes the engine to become starved of oil and either seize or blow...I leanred that the hard way.
#13. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#9)
think it IS computer related. And I'm not alone in that.
#14. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#7)
#15. To: Abu el Banat (#14)
It doesn't say shifting into neutral didn't work. I think she tried that after a while.
I believes it
an' that settles it!
#16. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#15)
#17. To: Abu el Banat, miningold (#16)
I believes it
an' that settles it!
#18. To: mininggold (#12)
(Edited)
I'll see what my Ford source says on that one.
#19. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#17)
#20. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#17)
#21. To: Fred Mertz (#19)
Gawd intervened and slowed the car down finally.
You have a better explanation? Then the car tried to start itself when the tow truck arrived. Sure it did.
I know. Her story would have been much more believable if she'd blamed Bush
I believes it
an' that settles it!
#22. To: Get Outta Dodge! (#21)
#23. To: Fred Mertz (#19)
Gawd intervened and slowed the car down finally.
#24. To: mininggold (#23)
(Edited)
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