U.S. senator questions findings in Toyota probe

Grassley's been losing crediblity for years and an issue like this is no doubt is spoonfed from his staff.

In the last 12 months, after the major recall, was there any report of Toyota sudden accelation problem? Toyota has suffered financially and emotionally from the irresponsible acts and suspect motivations of Ray LaHood, the chairman of NHTSA, the Congress, and the media. Ray LaHood, on national TV, actually told all Toyota owners to pull their Toyotas over to the side of the road, get out of the car, and don’t drive it again. I can still remember the panic of Toyota owners. Toyota had to recall millions of Toyotas at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. Millions of Toyota owners were fearful of their “lives”, even being afraid to drive their cars to the dealerships to have them “fixed”.

And the conclusion of the event: "The safety agency says sticky gas pedals and floor mats trapping the pedals are the only known causes of Toyota’s acceleration problems." With no apologies from LaHood or the U.S. goverment.

Strange how you never hear any more about Toyota cars with an a acceleration problem.

This goose should not be anywhere near the senate. Toyota cars are fine inspite of idiots like this goose trying their very very best to discredited and ruin the brand.

Chuck is hip--he know what cooks. Ok, witty one-liners aside, Charles Grassley does his investigating before making his accusations. He is thorough. If he says Toyota's findings have a flaw, they probably do. He does have a large staff, "network" is more accurate, who gather and evaluate info. He does not make claims for the sake of making headlines.

I would find incredible the rationale that Chuck is trying to discredit a non-U.S. car maker in the hope that it helps U.S. car makers. And he is popular. People from Iowa overwhelmingly keep reelecting him (for 30+ years now).

Cut Chuck a break: he's a good guy. He said something was amiss. Let's find out where it leads.

Toyota's are like Timex watches. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

From the beginning of the claims I always thought that this was fabricated. This whole action started at the height of the failure of the US automotive industry and it looked like a way to convince the consumer to switch back to good ol US cars. There were several claims discovered where people jumped on the bandwagon to collect from Toyota, that turned out to be falsified.

I am sure there were one or two actual cases, but they blew it out of proportion and it cost Toyota too much financially and brand image wise.

Yeah whatever

We can joke about Toyota, the US govt, etc..but I am sure the dead folk who lost their lives in the USA while driving in a Toyota and or innocent passengers, would not agree. I will never forget hearing the desperate pleas for help from a father driving his Toyota near San Diego, California, he called 911, the operator tried and tried to give him advice as to how to stop his car that had a STUCK gas pedal, brakes would not work, ended up smashing his car with his entire family riding with him into heavy traffic, and they all died in a horrible ball of fire. So Toyota for me?? Hell no!

That is true. Say what you will about "conspiracy theories" about "Japan bashing", but people actually died as a result of Toyota's faulty vehicles. You cannot argue against the death of innocent victims. Their deaths were not fabricated to boost the American auto industry, any such belief is absolutely disgusting and deserves condemnation.

Elbuda Mexicano Jul. 13, 2012 - 01:33PM JST but I am sure the dead folk who lost their lives in the USA while driving in a Toyota and or innocent passengers, would not agree. I will never forget hearing the desperate pleas for help from a father driving his Toyota near San Diego, California, he called 911, the operator tried and tried to give him advice as to how to stop his car that had a STUCK gas pedal, brakes would not work, ended up smashing his car with his entire family riding with him into heavy traffic, and they all died in a horrible ball of fire. So Toyota for me?? Hell no!

Most people can read between the lines and I guess maybe you can't. This is a sad story but the facts are Lexus that crashed did not have original floor mat in the car. If you install a wrong aftermarket floor mat or different model Toyota SUV floor mat that is thicker and if the accelerator gets stuck between the floor mats, is this the fault of Toyota because this vehicle crashed? Why didn't this Lexus have factory installed floor mats? I believe this is a fault of a dealer that installed it, not Toyota.

He asks what the agency did to investigate “tin whiskers” that can sprout from solder and cause short circuits in electronic devices.

So now he changes his stance from being green electronics guy to "why don't you use lead in there anymore" guy? Typical politician, they attack something for political gain then blame the victim for doing exactly what the politician wanted. If he doesn't want tin whiskers, he needs to abolish green electronics bills and put lead back in. The amount of lead is tiny compared to the car's battery, and actually serves a major purpose (which was the primary reason to put lead in in the first place), so why does everyone hate it so much? It's far less harmful than the hundreds of tons of mercury put out by the coal plants of the world each month.

adjutantJul. 13, 2012 - 04:07PM JST

That is true. Say what you will about "conspiracy theories" about "Japan bashing", but people actually died as a result of Toyota's faulty vehicles

Name one fatality that the NHTSA or DOT have listed as Toyota's fault then. Most were found to be user error (people can't seem to tell break from gas because they drive wrong), a few found to be poor maintenance.

Elbuda MexicanoJul. 13, 2012 - 01:33PM JST We can joke about Toyota, the US govt, etc..but I am sure the dead folk who lost their lives in the USA while driving in a Toyota and or innocent passengers, would not agree. I will never forget he----

All he had to do was take his foot off the accelerator or turn the ignition off, or take it out of gear, or push the clutch pedal in if a manual transmission. Surely anyone who drives a car would have the presence of mind to do any of those things especially as they had enough time to make phone calls.

Politicians no doubt pressured the NHTSA to call off the investigations in order to protect jobs in areas Toyota has powerful influence.. At least this man has the courage to voice his concerns. For the past 7 years, toyota had more unwanted acceleration concerns than any other auto company combined. They are a very dangerous and greedy company without a shred of compassion for its customers.

Bob Sneider Jul. 16, 2012 - 12:59AM JST. For the past 7 years, toyota had more unwanted acceleration concerns than any other auto company combined. They are a very dangerous and greedy company without a shred of compassion for its customers.

You can say the same thing about Ford. They have similar problem with sudden accelation. But the real problem is the driver error.