Toyota Recalls Another 2 Million Cars

Maybe this goes into an existing thread, but it's high time to make clear the true cause of Toyota's acceleration problems and clear up any residual confusion out there.

Final culprit: Human error, aided somewhat by an unlikely but unfortunate combination of factors like floormat details, pedal design, and footwell contours. Basically, subtle design elements that are totally innocuous until a human idiot -- driver, technician, mechanic, salesman -- starts doing what idiots do.

Totally exonerated: electronics, "sticking" throttles, and other make-believe boogeymen.

In many ways the Toyota dust-up is not terribly different from other "sudden acceleration" freak-outs of decades past.

I'm a Ford and Infiniti owner, FWIW.

NHTSA spent a lot of time chasing ill-conceived conclusions that electronics must be to blame, solely because of the Prius's system architecture (apparently). They ignored a lot of evidence that could easily have brought a more swift and efficient conclusion to this mess. What their intentions may or may not have been will remain a matter of debate.

Now, Toyota has another 2 million vehicle recalls in store, of the "we didn't protect you from yourself well enough" variety.

definitely glad I don't own a toyota

definitely glad I don't own a toyota

Why? Seems as though Toyota has been supremely good in all of this. They were not at fault directly, yet still suck up the enourmous cost of making it even harder for a human to mess it up.

Wouldnt you rather a car company do this than ignore it, blame it on the driver (whose fault it really is in most cases) and save the money?

I cant stand it when the public lays into a manufacturer who does the right thing for us.

Why? Seems as though Toyota has been supremely good in all of this. They were not at fault directly, yet still suck up the enourmous cost of making it even harder for a human to mess it up.

Wouldnt you rather a car company do this than ignore it, blame it on the driver (whose fault it really is in most cases) and save the money?

I cant stand it when the public lays into a manufacturer who does the right thing for us.

I am not faulting Toyota for what they are doing...I applaud them...I am just saying I am glad that I don't have the headache of having to worry about my pedal sticking or having to go and get my car recalled.

I am not faulting Toyota for what they are doing...I applaud them...I am just saying I am glad that I don't have the headache of having to worry about my pedal sticking or having to go and get my car recalled.

If you drive a vehicle, there will be a recall on it at one point. (btw, I've never owned a toyota, just in case anyone may feel Im being a homer)

well to this point all the cars I have owned have not had a recall so....I can't say that from experience....but general recalls don't usually deal with life and death issues like a sticking accelerator...people have died due to this recall man...it isn't a faulty A/C or heater

well to this point all the cars I have owned have not had a recall so....I can't say that from experience....but general recalls don't usually deal with life and death issues like a sticking accelerator...people have died due to this recall man

no, people died because of their own errors while driving. There isnt a mechanical issue at all, only an oissue that allowed a human to mess up. The recall is to address mitigating human error.

well I know that my accelerator has never stuck (knock on wood)...but I mean really they had to come out and tell people if this happens with their vehicle how to tape the brake to get the car to slow down...how come Toyota is the only one that has this problem then if it is human error....I mean does just people who buy Toyota vehicles make a human error.....for real?

well I know that my accelerator has never stuck (knock on wood)...but I mean really they had to come out and tell people if this happens with their vehicle how to tape the brake to get the car to slow down...how come Toyota is the only one that has this problem then if it is human error....I mean does just people who buy Toyota vehicles make a human error.....for real?

I take it you didnt actually read the article or catch last month when the investigation was concluded that found that there wasnt an electronic issue?

yea I didn't read the article...maybe shouldn't have posted hahahaha....I just read it now and see it is a clip issue with the floormat....so in a way I guess it could be a human error, but Toyota must think it needs to change the floor mat clip

yea I didn't read the article...maybe shouldn't have posted hahahaha....I just read it now and see it is a clip issue with the floormat....so in a way I guess it could be a human error, but Toyota must think it needs to change the floor mat clip

right, to protect the consumers from using them wrong.

nsfw

Everyone should own a Nissan. PM me if you want a good deal.

its the dumb drivers not the car makers

The Toyota recall issue is the most overblown, media hyped vehicle recall since the old "Ford Exploders" in the 90's. Toyotas have electronic throttles, people worry about that because there is nothing connecting the driver to the throttle any more except for some wires. No throttle cable, just a pedal and a computer to calculate how far to open the throttle. The fact is that every new car made now has an electronic throttle. The company that makes these throttles for Toyota also makes electronic throttles for other automakers. The fact is that while Toyota was being berated by the media, there were complaints of "sticking accelerators" about almost every automaker out there. Toyota has been picked on by the media for being the largest automaker out there, plain and simple.

And yes, every "recall" out there involves the safety of the vehicle. Otherwise it wouldn't be a safety recall. It would be what we call Technical Service Bullitens (TSB's for short).

EDIT: The old Exploder recall was real, the tires really did catch fire. Not Ford's fault, Firestone's. I can't really say the same about the Toyota recall.

First, all cars from every manufacturer have recalls at some point or another. Secondly, as others have stated, they didn't do a good enough job protecting us from ourselves. Personally I think increasingly, with all the technologies in cars, people just plain don't know how to drive or handle an automobile properly. We have ABS to work the brakes for us, traction control and stability control, anti spin control, blind spot warning systems, parking aid systems and on and on. I think at some point we just decided it was easier to make cars as idiot proof as possible rather than teaching people to handle a dangerous machine and in the process, because all the vehicles limits are controlled for you, people have become less engaged with and less competent with their cars. We like to think all this stuff, which is mandated and drives up the price of cars, is for or safety but for every action....

Edit: the firestone/explorer thing was mostly a driver error issue, too, in most cases the tires had been ridden on under inflated for long periods of time . That's what I'm talking about, people can't even be bothered to check the air in their tires. You're driving around in a top heavy 5000lb truck and you don't even bother to check you tires. So we've mandated the additional expense of tire pressure monitoring systems on all vehicles instead. Awesome.