Toyota automobiles..Unsafe at any speed?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2010 12:54 pm
What does everyone think of Toyota having to recall millions of cars and trucks for serious safety issues?
I think that the biggest problem is that they hid the problems for nearly a decade and got away with it. All of the secret buy back programs they had for their truck frames rusting to the point that large pieces would fall off while driving creating a hazard for others or the truck literally cracking in half. All of this was done to keep their squeaky clean quality reputation. I think that it finally caught up with them.
Obviously they have been ramping up production and cutting costs to gain the title as the world's largest automaker. The problem is that they cut costs on important things like steering and brakes. U.S. manufacturers meanwhile got an unnecessary bad reputation because they cut costs on gadgets and upohlstery materials which would always result in a few minor bugs when you bought one. So what if you had to take your car back because the radio wouldn't eject your CD, The brakes still work and you can steer it. Toyota concentrated all their effort on the visible things. Since the U.S. automakers had done such a good job on the mechanicals, buyers just assume that no cars would have any problems with basic items such as steering or brakes. They would buy the car with the nicer interior or the lower price.
I bet that berfore all is said and done they will have to recall 10 million or more. Does anyone want to bet that putting a shim under the gas pedal will not fix the sticking pedal issue. The real issue is the computer that controls the drive by wire beign susceptable to interferance from other radio sources such as garage door openers, cell phones, CB radios, and power lines but that fix is too expensive for toyota to swallow. What about the cars that are 10 years old, the fix will cost more then the car is worth. Will those be scrapped.
Talk about "cash for clunkers" maybe the government should have had a "cash for Toyotas" stimulous plan instead.
I think that the biggest problem is that they hid the problems for nearly a decade and got away with it. All of the secret buy back programs they had for their truck frames rusting to the point that large pieces would fall off while driving creating a hazard for others or the truck literally cracking in half. All of this was done to keep their squeaky clean quality reputation. I think that it finally caught up with them.
Obviously they have been ramping up production and cutting costs to gain the title as the world's largest automaker. The problem is that they cut costs on important things like steering and brakes. U.S. manufacturers meanwhile got an unnecessary bad reputation because they cut costs on gadgets and upohlstery materials which would always result in a few minor bugs when you bought one. So what if you had to take your car back because the radio wouldn't eject your CD, The brakes still work and you can steer it. Toyota concentrated all their effort on the visible things. Since the U.S. automakers had done such a good job on the mechanicals, buyers just assume that no cars would have any problems with basic items such as steering or brakes. They would buy the car with the nicer interior or the lower price.
I bet that berfore all is said and done they will have to recall 10 million or more. Does anyone want to bet that putting a shim under the gas pedal will not fix the sticking pedal issue. The real issue is the computer that controls the drive by wire beign susceptable to interferance from other radio sources such as garage door openers, cell phones, CB radios, and power lines but that fix is too expensive for toyota to swallow. What about the cars that are 10 years old, the fix will cost more then the car is worth. Will those be scrapped.
Talk about "cash for clunkers" maybe the government should have had a "cash for Toyotas" stimulous plan instead.