Is Toyota's "Fix" a "Dud" ...?

[Doc]

http://jalopnik.com/5484610/toyota-owner...s/gallery/

...owners of "repaired" Toyota vehicles are claiming the "precision cut steel reinforcements" aren't doing the job, their cars are still accelerating...

[ztirffritz]

I wonder if they are tracking the ages of the people complaining. I've twice been in accidents where a senior stepped on the gas instead of the break. I've also witnessed an accident where a teen girl stepped on the gas instead of the break.

From Toyota's perspective, this is a statistical nightmare from which there is no escape. Whether there is a problem or not, there is a perceived problem. I look forward to hearing what Malcom Gladwell has to say about this whole fiasco after it is resolved/goes away. My guess is that the problem is not nearly as pervasive as the media is making people think that it is. I think that it is just hysteria that the media are whipping up to get viewers/readers. Many of the instances are probably attributable to user error. Only a few might legitimately be manufacturing or design defect. Unfortunately the evidence is usually damaged so as not to be useful for review.

[Grumpyguy]

there was an msnbc article I saw on this today.

Was thinking about posting it, but I couldn't bear to read 25 posts about "my toyota with 200,000,000 miles on it".

or my "toyota made me sterile again"

or my "toyota restored my sight"

or my "toyota comes standard with doors and a steering wheel"

though to be fair, there are a lot of stupid people out there who probably don't understand the whole gas pedal brake dynamic and there just the same amount of people out there hoping Toyota will compensate them if they pretend to have a problem.

[AlphaDog]

ztirffritz wrote:
I wonder if they are tracking the ages of the people complaining. I've twice been in accidents where a senior stepped on the gas instead of the break. I've also witnessed an accident where a teen girl stepped on the gas instead of the break.

From Toyota's perspective, this is a statistical nightmare from which there is no escape. Whether there is a problem or not, there is a perceived problem. I look forward to hearing what Malcom Gladwell has to say about this whole fiasco after it is resolved/goes away. My guess is that the problem is not nearly as pervasive as the media is making people think that it is. I think that it is just hysteria that the media are whipping up to get viewers/readers. Many of the instances are probably attributable to user error. Only a few might legitimately be manufacturing or design defect. Unfortunately the evidence is usually damaged so as not to be useful for review.

One person mentioned in that article is in their 80s, and I was thinking age related issues, too. Plus, I think older drivers become hypersensitive and probably hypervigilant, even to the extent of imagining things. I truly don't believe the problems are as widespread as what some would want us to believe. It just seems very popular right now to keep slinging at Toyota. I don't remember seeing today's thread here on the Nissan recall. Heck, I don't remember seeing much about it anywhere.

[ztirffritz]

Maza had a recall today too...their heated seats were burning people's buns.

[jimbrady]

So the fix is supposed to keep my car from accelerating? No thanks.

[Racer X]

please bear in mind they said that fastening down the floor mats was the solution. Then it wasn't. Then the shim was, now it may not be. Um, why should we believe them?

If you look at the NHTSI data, of all the unexplained accelerations of Toyota products reported since 2000, only about 10% of them occurred in recalled years/models. Explain ALL THOSE on crappy drivers. Statisticly unlikely.

[ztirffritz]

The maelstrom around Toyota is affecting the statistical results though. People are imagining problems with Toyota cars more frequently than with Fords simply because the media has set them up on a pedestal at eye level. I'm not saying that there isn't a problem. There may very well be a problem, but the numbers are skewed simply because of media attention.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

I almost posted this about six hours ago, L.A. Times article:

"Toyota's fix is a bust, owners claim
New complaints allege sudden acceleration and other problems after recall work."
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota3-2010mar03,0,2270669.story

They used to be the most respected paper on the West Coast.

[Doc]

There is now a million dollar bounty for anyone who can identify, reproduce and fix the problem.
http://tinyurl.com/yan52e6

Edit: Replaced messed up link.