still trust toyota?

[cckw]

I hope Toyota is hurt by this enough to offer big rebates on trucks. Then I'll go to the dealer and try to beat them up even more and get one that is really loaded. And if I am the one in 10 million that has my accelerator sticks, I'll turn the motor off and coast to a stop, then mess with it to free it up and on the road again...

[yablanowitz]

One of my more panic-inducing incidents from my youth was when the throttle return spring broke on my '62 Impala. In town. In (luckily) fairly light traffic. Did I mention it was a full race dual quad 409 that would smoke the tires at 70 mph in fourth? :eek: I used a pair of clutch return springs on the throttle linkage after that. :D

[Fred Sanford]

One of my more panic-inducing incidents from my youth was when the throttle return spring broke on my '62 Impala. In town. In (luckily) fairly light traffic. Did I mention it was a full race dual quad 409 that would smoke the tires at 70 mph in fourth? :eek: I used a pair of clutch return springs on the throttle linkage after that. :D

Now I bet that pedal felt nice after that. :) Nice and stiff.

That's classic.

[christopher]

I think I will trust Toyota's again if they make one change. The Toyota's throttle is a fly-by-wire system. That is, no direct connection between the pedal and the engine. From what I've heard, from a source I trust, the Japanese Toyotas have never had an event of speeding speeding out of the driver's control.

What's the difference? The Japanese Toyotas have a Denzo computer and the American Toyotas. (Remember, all the Toyotas sold here manufactured in this country.) All the American Toyotas have a US manufactured one. (CS or CST in good old USA.) How's that for a conundrum?

I will trust Toyotas again when they use a computer from Denzo.

[Monkeywrangler]

I trust & drive Toyotas. That's all we own now. I wouldn't drive a Ford though...can you say Pinto? How about Crown Vic? And how long has Ford known about the gas tank problems on the CV when in a rear end collision? YEARS! (nearly 20 yrs per NHTSA)
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/ ... Index.html
http://www.safetyforum.com/cvpi/
http://www.crownvictoriasafetyalert.com/timeline.html

[Farmer Brown]

...all the Toyotas sold here manufactured in this country...

Not sure about that. For instance, the Camries with "J" series VINs were shipped in from Japan - correct me if I'm wrong. That comprises some 10% of the total (?).

I've been driving a J - VIN '07 4 - Cylinder AT Camry. I make no claims to being the best driver in the world (still can't parallel - park or align the vehicle in the lot properly at times), but I've had no problems so far. I'll still be having it serviced, though.

Probably has something to do with my obsession of staying under 2000RPM in the city, and never going over 3500RPM even when merging onto a freeway (never over 2500RPM here). I just don' like HEARING the engine.

Most of the guys seem to like to floor the pedal for no good reason at all... Accelerate towards a red light, accelerate to get a measly one car - length advantage, etc. Does the issue stem from the way most people accelerate their vehicles?

I know this sounds stupid, but this idea has been lingering for some reason.

I'll probably qualify as "the little old lady who stays under the speed limit on the right lane."

[Blerv]

There is a number of Toyota's built in the USA and many of which have more USA and Canadian parts than Japanese ones (eg: Tacoma).

Certain cars are 100% from Japan such as the Yaris which may be due to the recent introduction. It doesn't make sense to build a plant or convert resources unless you know it will be a big seller.

I'm with you on the full-throttle issue. Humans should be quicker to adapt to situations. I'm surprised with 1980's turbo technology more people weren't freaking out on Porsche (911 turbos) and Buick (3.8ti engines). They were nasty throttle-delayed monsters.

[EarthDog]

Sure, every day.

[thebestnoobcake]

Probably has something to do with my obsession of staying under 2000RPM in the city, and never going over 3500RPM even when merging onto a freeway (never over 2500RPM here). I just don' like HEARING the engine.

Most of the guys seem to like to floor the pedal for no good reason at all... Accelerate towards a red light, accelerate to get a measly one car - length advantage, etc. Does the issue stem from the way most people accelerate their vehicles?

I know this sounds stupid, but this idea has been lingering for some reason.

I'll probably qualify as "the little old lady who stays under the speed limit on the right lane."

WOW. I have this same obsession, and being a recently licensed driver, I don't see why other people don't do that too. I will accelerate nicely, and stay under 2k RPM while the guy next to me smokes his tires and burns a coupla times more petrol than me. What happens? I get to smile at him at the next red light =p

As for the OP, I drive a '96 Toyota Tarago (same as ozspyder =) and I have never had any problems with it. Over here in Melbourne, you can see ancient Toyotas rolling on the roads with no apparent problems. Apparently the Toyota Corolla (older models) is the most reliable car around and remains a popular choice for cash strapped students like me.

[christopher]

Sorry that I misstated that all the Toyotas for sale here where made here. Wrong. However, the computer as the probable source of the problem is now being reported by CNN. They showed that the testing of it as unsatifisfactory, and the experts are in agreement that the computer, at the least, needs further independent testing.

[gull wing]

Yes! I do.

[hickster]

I drive an '05 Doublecab 4x4 Sport Tacoma. It's as reliable as gravity (65,000 mi).
Wife has an '05 SE AWD Sienna. Great utility vehicle. Has never let us down, but has had some problems. I wish it were quieter on the inside. It was MUCH quieter when new (after inner door panel repairs, it got loud. Never addressed sudden driveline noise increase). It is definitely a utility vehicle and does it's job well overall (75,000 mi). Radiator/high eng temp/Air Conditioning problem was the final straw.
We bought extended service plans on each on the vehicles. It surprised me how much they tried to weasel out of obvious warranted maintenance on the Sienna. Anyway...

Toyotas are great vehicles but I do not feel bad for their current situation. They have become all too smug in their reputation. I have had two-hour, to the point of yelling stand-offs with (our local) service department (I ended up UNQUESTIONABLY correct). FOR THAT REASON, I will not buy another Toyota. There is only ONE Toyata dealership in Anchorage, AK. They are the only game in town. If they do not agree with you, you are shitouttaluck. Between them and the rest of the "government motors" clan, my choices for a new vehicle seem somewhat limited. I have never been a Ford fan, but seeing as they are the only "American" car company that didn't take the bailout bait, I just might consider a F-150 for my next truck. The '09-'10 test drives have been great and the 2-3 year old trucks that I have ridden in have felt solid.

I guess the bottom line is... it is all about the service and support of your local dealership.
The trick is figuring out which dealership has the appropriate service and support as opposed to their (inevitably slimy) sales department or supposed reputaion.
hickster

[thebestnoobcake]

I guess the bottom line is... it is all about the service and support of your local dealership.
The trick is figuring out which dealership has the appropriate service and support as opposed to their (inevitably slimy) sales department or supposed reputaion.
hickster

Isn't this why we all love Spyderco? =p

[AH2525]

I am on my 4th Toyota and will buy again. I literally tried to kill a little Corolla in college (10 yrs ago) and I saw it on the road the other day.

For comparison, I gave Ford a chance about 7 years ago and spent literally 1 weekend a month getting a particular recall fixed for 4 months. Same problem each time. Then I tried another Ford and had the A/C blow out at under 60K miles. That was it never again.

Yes the recalls are unfortunate and even tragic apparently, but I have too much past experience to give up based on this.

[tonydahose]

as for the officer who died, you have to assume that he/she had some sort of drivers training with their respective dept. my wife has a lexus that i have driven many times (it isnt in the recall)to move the lever from drive to neutral takes less effort than opening an endura. i have accidently moved my hand and popped it into neutral on the highway. as for the floormats she has holes in the mats and hooks in the carpeting that hold the mats in place. as far as trusting totota, i think it is pimpy that they held back the info. did they have a tsb for this or did they hide that as well?

[rosconey]

things are getting a bit "hinky"

what i read on aol -they hired ex heads of ntsb to help stop looks at this issue by the gubberment(ntsb) -

so has toyota put $$$ over the lifes of it customers-

and for the life of me i cant figure out why they didnt fix this peddle issue 10 years ago when it was first noticed,it cost penny's to fix this at the factory with a better piece-

could this be a computer issue like some in the press claim?

i dont see alot to give me confidence

[MCM]

"fly-by-wire"
Has been used by Honda since, what was it? 1997 on the NSX?

[rosconey]

just saw on tv that corrollas may have another new recall

wtf happened to toyota? i guess they got thier wish to be bigger than gmc,and did it the same way-screw the customer just sell sell sell even if it kills

[D1omedes]

Why don't you guys just buy Honda?

[Blerv]

Why don't you guys just buy Honda?

DONT get me started!!! :mad:

JK. :p

People are getting really wound up about this recall. It's not like the brakes or airbags are malfunctioning, lol.