Toyota roast courtesy us congress

[HURRICANEBOB]

Ya see the hearing today. Never thought I'd see statesman get so far into the nuts and bolts. Several congressmen had very well thought out and fact finding questions to be answered, but I felt like most were acting like an emotional lynch mob steeped in sensationalism. The way some panel members acted, I was surprized Mr Toyota didn't tun Ninja on them. Really funny, one congressman asked in Japan had a tort law suit systems? Toyota answered "Yes". Congressman says, okay then we expect you to be financially responsible to compensate people for failures that cause damages". DAH.....I thought that was what the courts do, not Congressmen, and you can bring suit in a US Court to sue a company in Japan, unless of course that company elects to participate. You can sue the Coporate Office that reside in America, but those office are not responsible for engineering, justs Sales and Marketing.

Was glad to see one panel member list some major US recalls, like Pintos blowing up, Chevy trucks catching fire, Ford trucks when hit from the rear turning blow torch. Can anybody but me remeber the word "Corvair". Went to the NTHSA web page and ran recalls data, and was amazed to see there was over 500 auto recalls in 2009. some for litle stuff, like.....oh, the paper in Ford truck air filters might catch fire.

I just feel like this Toyota think is just too blown out of proportion. I understand there have been wrecks and injuries, as well as lost lives, but I just don't know that this situation is really all that worse then many that have come in the past.

Hey, what about Ford 5.4 motors that love to blow the #5 plug out fo the head with no warning. Ford fixing that? Nope.

[parker]

I bought a new 2010 camry in Dec. I havent got the recall work done yet but it needs more than that. When you back up then start forward it sounds like something breaks loose under my feet, does it every time. I knew better to buy this car so nobody to blame but me. CONGRESSMEN, go get their butts!

[fishin350]

Take it back for warranty work they do that too.

[DJD]

I'm remembering the Audi having an accelerating problem years ago as well. Don't remember how that was handled...

I do think Toyota is being treated unfairly and I also think it's because when your beating the US car makers and the Unions and the gubment owned care company....the teeth are gonna get put in by this death panel.

It's sad what has happened (no doubt, lives lost are tragic) but since Congress/Gubment have a vested interest in insuring Toyota gets hurt in the auto market I can't help but be disappointed in this crap.

So I expect that the next plane crash that kills hundreds of people or train crash that we have we will have congressional hearings...unless of course they are busy pulling Baseball players in for steroid use.

I guess it's kinda like this...be careful what you wish for because this same group (gubment) could turn on another manufacture or business that you might support.

Toyota builds how many vehicles a year? Employs how many people in the US? Won how many awards? Been number one how many times? It can't be this bad, I ain't buying it. JMHO.

[parker]

I guess I believe in a coverup. Heard a guy on the radio who was a professor who said while stopped at a redlight holding his brake the car began to accelerate. He did the prescribed antidote, shift to neutral, then turn the ignition off. My question is why would a bad throttle peddal suddenly speed up the motor? Numerous reports of the exact account of the professor! Are alot of people lieing or is toyoda hiding a coverup and maybe a costly computer glitch?

[zx150]

I agree 100% Don. IF Toyota pulled out (won't happen) how many American Jobs would be lost? How would that affect us here in KY? I think they are making a big deal so people will think twice about buying a Toyota and buy a Chevy or Dodge or Ford.

I would buy a Toyota tomorrow and not worry one bit as long as they took care of the recall.

[MrSplitshot]

I do not doubt for a minute that there are some Toyota vehicles with problems out there that have taken lives in this deal...and I don't doubt that Toyota was negotiating with safety inspectors...trying to minimize their exposure, etc, etc. This is a public relations NIGHTMARE for Toyota. Anybody that makes a product has exposure to this kind of disaster if something is wrong with their product...whether it's a car, a washing machine, a tire, a baby stroller, or the axle on a boat trailer. Toyota is recalling the vehicles and trying to figure out how to fix this mess...maybe they acted too slow...and I'm sure that they committed some wrongs that will cost them dearly, as they should. The one recording that they keep playing of the 9-1-1 call where the family of 4 is in a car doing 120, right before it crashes and kills them all...that's chilling stuff. The kind of stuff that would make anyone put down the keys to their Toyota. But the problem now is that any schmuck driving a Toyota who rear ends somebody while texting is going to holler and cry that their accelerator stuck. It's an easy out...you think people are dumb??? We need to quit with the Hollywood spin on this crap and just get the problem FIXED. Make them pay, and they will, but why drag a company that employs a whole gaggle of Americans through the mud?

What I don't particularly care for is that the American public is loving to hate Toyota for being a "foreign bad guy" right now...but we have somehow forgotten a lot of the unbelievable greed and waste that was spotlighted by the GM, Chrysler, and Ford inquisitions on Capitol Hill back when Congress was bailing them out of the hole they dug. Somehow they are the "good guys" now because they are "us"...and Toyota is the evil empire. Are we dumb enough to think that a problem with a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge vehicle has never caused an accident that killed someone? OF COURSE it has. I have never really bought into the idea that Toyota and Honda vehicles were any better or any worse than American ones in the quality department over the last decade...the playing field has been more level, and I chalk the gap up to marketing and public perception.

I'm all for "Buy American"...really, I am...I have never owned a vehicle that wasn't a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge. But boys...I can name one state's economy that would be DEVASTATED by Toyota closing up shop and going home. I'll bet you know what state I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah...survival of the fittest...GM, and Ford, and Chrysler would come in and pick up the slack in the market eventually if Toyota was gone. I took Economics in college too. But, how long is eventually? How much MORE wrecked would the economy here be in the meantime and how many families right here in Kentucky would be busted?

I'm not saying that companies shouldn't have to pay the piper when they have done wrong, but we need to quit putting these companies through the **** Spanish Inquisition on cable TV, let them focus on getting the problem fixed before it costs anymore lives, and keep Toyota in the marketplace instead of turning it into a sideshow.

Good competition makes us ALL better. For example, Chevy, Ford, and Dodge might not have made the advances in fuel economy that they have if not for chasing Toyota and Honda for so long.

Also, why is my Ford Truck that was assembled in Mexico more American than a Toyota Tundra that was assembled in Texas, or a Camry assembled right here in Kentucky by the hands of our brothers and sisters? The money goes to Mr. Toyoda over in Japan, but doesn't quite a bit of it also end up in the hands of Americans along the way and put food on their tables?

The economy is GLOBAL now. I buy American made whenever I can, but just because I buy something that was made in a foreign land doesn't mean that American's aren't making a living off it. Bottom line, I want to support companies that employ Americans - Whether that's in manufacturing, retailing, or counting beans - We need all the jobs we can get right now. Toyota is one of them.

[DJD]

Brian,
You got that right about the people who would be out of a job if Toyota continues to take it on the chin. Look at the companies that sprouted up in Georgetown/Scott County, Paris and prolly Lexington that builds things for them. Not to mention the local car sales centers.

I sure hope they get this fixed and move on. I know several folks as I'm sure you do and others on this site that make a good living from working at Toyota or selling Toyotas. Yeah this has too get on the road to recovery and off the road of destruction that I feel it's on.

[bassiusmaximus]

This is another reason why you don't want gubment involvment in owning a "private" corporation. Not that the questioning is unwarranted but it does cause people to question their motives. How far do you take it without looking biased?
Many Americans depend on jobs with Toyota. I must say they interviewed an hourly woman employee at a Toyota plant and she said it best. She said "they take pride in their work and that they felt very bad about what has happened. But they would never intentionally make vehicles that would hurt anyone, our moms and other family members drive these cars and so do we." They should have taken her with them to see congress.
That doesn't mean I trust all of management or engineers involved by any means. They have bonuses, and jobs on the line as well, and there are temptations to hide issues and hope they don't come to a head. I am sure there are bad apples in the mix somewhere, every corporation has them. But demonizing and trying to humiliate Toyota as whole isn't the answer. They will be held financially responsible and some worst if more is found out.
I do however feel the NHTSA is weak and doesn't handle problems the way they should. How many of you have had a problem with a vehicle and did a search and found thousands of people have had the exact same problem and the NHTSA has records of the complaints but no recall has been issued. Some of these issues cover several model years. Do a google check on a "Ford GEM Module", and there are many other examples from all manufacturers. It's a calculated risk they take on these issues. And I think the consumer generally ends up on the short end of the stick. I bet their not done grilling the NHTSA. Somebody there has an appointment to be thrown under a bus.
I will say that Akio Toyoda came here on his own. He wasn't arrogant and if anybody who has worked with the Japanese automaker (and I have) will tell you that they do take these issues very personal. It's a matter of national and personal pride with them. And I guarantee this was very painful for him. I am not trying to forget that people were killed by these mistakes but I don't think we should turn into a lynch mob.
Imagine what the unemployment rate will be if Toyota grinds to a halt. Congress better handle this as fair as can be while making sure it is resolved and I would suggest they stuff the "Grandstanding" garbage in the closet. JMHO

[HURRICANEBOB]

Cracked me up when CEO Toyota US Mr Lentz revealed that when NTHSA contacts them with car problems they don't give the automaker the VINs. How you supposed to pin a failure to a production line or a batch?

Second, NTHSA webpage does not allow you to search by VIN. I don't give a crap about all Ford trucks of my model that had recalls, I want just the recalls that apply to my VIN, and the batch my truck was built in.

Toyota US CEO revealed they had records of about 400 accelerator complaints, by NTSHA said they had over 1100. What part of disconnect are we having and why would NTHSA not provide all copies of complaints they get to the manufacturer EVEN IF NTHSA had not triggered and investigation or recall yet?

It does sound to me like in some cases NTHSA is part of the problem. The Director, Dalong, is outspoken......but I kinda think he has his head in the sand. (Well, from a process stand point)

Hey, changing subject some......anybody ever heard of any boat recalls? Where do you get that kinda info?

My sister ought be recalled. He mouth sticks open and when she gets talking her agitation levels experience unexpected acceleration. Once out of control....her brakes don't work well enough to slow her down. They better recall her before somebody gets hurt.

[bassiusmaximus]

Hey, changing subject some......anybody ever heard of any boat recalls? Where do you get that kinda info?

I think its at www.rubalamp.com j/k

My sister ought be recalled. He mouth sticks open and when she gets talking her agitation levels experience unexpected acceleration. Once out of control....her brakes don't work well enough to slow her down. They better recall her before somebody gets hurt.

Whew!! She sounds like a real lemon!!

[mhall]

While I have always been a buy American kinda guy, I to think this is being handled somewhat badly by the Government.

HOWEVER, if it is proven they actually did know of this mistake and turned a blind eye to it, I SAY LAY THE **** HAMMER ON THEM. I would also say that if it was GM, Ford, Chrysler, or whomever else put the public in that kinda jeapordy. Nobody wants to see jobs lost but they need to get to the bottom of this. And from everything people are reporting about personal experiences with these cars it DOES not sound like a gas pedal issue. If you are standing on the brake and taking the car out of gear and something is overriding your actions and causing the drivetrain and engine to keep going, that is an electronic, (computer) malfunction.

I guess what I'm saying is I agree with what you boys are saying but before you all start circling the wagon defending Toyota with this big lovefest, let's get all the facts first. If they knew it and ignored it, HAMMER'EM!

I'm sure the plant workers and even some upper management knew nothing of this, but if somebody up the food chain did and chose to ignore, guys that would be really, really bad, that's all I'm saying. They will sort it all out, it's gonna be interesting to see how it plays also.

Just another opinion to think about.