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U.S. still hearing complaints about fixed Toyotas

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Toyota management must admit the horrible, horrible truth ... that the problem is electronic in many cases. Replacing or reprogramming the vehicles "brain" will be expensive, but it needs to be done.

The "vehicle-management systems" on many modern automobiles are very complex ... they attempt to maximize performance, fuel economy and emissions reduction based on the input from many sensors. Of late, one of those "sensors" is the accelerator pedal, no longer directly attached to a carburator or standalone fuel injection device but "fly by wire" instead. The position of the brake pedal may also be monitored.

Taking all this information and arriving at a "best" setting for the engine at any given second requires a fairly complex computer program. Unfortunately, as we've all experienced, computer programs are the very devil to de-bug - even smallish ones. Crashes and glitches are common even in "mature" software.

Testing every possible combination of sensor inputs to see what the computer will output is not impossible, but it will take a team of experts and some time.

Oh, and sensors break sometimes, give no info or the wrong info.

So what seems to have happened here is that there are certain combinations of conditions - speed, load, temperatures, oxygen levels ... and yes, brake and throttle position - that cause the program to make an error. "Slowing down" becomes "apply more throttle".

There have been similar problems before ... most lethally with the Boeing 767 airliner which, under a certain mix of conditions, would spontaneously reverse the thrust on one engine causing an instant crash. Finding and fixing that problem was very expensive as well - but HAD to be done.

And after all this ... it may be time to re-evaluate just HOW centrally automated we want our automobiles to be. Losing a little efficiency is OK if it prevents the kinds of problems we are seeing in Toyotas.

At the very least, link the gas pedal to a butterfly valve that cuts off almost all of the engines air when the throttle pedal is completely up. Using that, even if the "brain" says "accelerate like mad", there won't be enough air to make the engine run above an idle.

I recently refused to buy a new motorcycle with a "fly by wire" throttle/control system because it did not have such a fail-safe feature ... buying another companys model with a "less sophisticated" engine system. I explained why ... but I don't know if the dealer passed it along to the company.

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Have there been any cases of sudden acceleration in Toyotas outside the U.S.?

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Well, this was an unexpected turn of events...not....

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Have there been any cases of sudden acceleration in Toyotas outside the U.S.?

Yes, in Europe. That is why experts have claimed at the beginning of the odyssey, that the electronics must be faulty. If later is true it would be near to impossible to find the cause for this issue.

For Toyota, I think that is a bold statement to claim the electronics are above question. For me it is like a dog owner who claims "This one does not bite". There are too many factors that can contribute to the system going ... well, mad!

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Other car companies are joining the band wagon. I just read that GM is now recalling a zillion cars too.

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And the Japanese are weak at software/systems, but "monozukuri" now requires the incorporation of software into the artifact. They need to employ Americans, or Indians, or people who are ego-invested in the logos. The Japanese call logic "rikustu" which is a bit of an insult.

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I'm sorry, but these continued complaints about an incredibly, incredibly rare defect happening on cars that have already been checked and modified for the specific problem reek to the high heavens of bull poop. I don't buy these complaints for a second, and neither should the NHTSA.

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@LFRAgain:

So you're saying that if your car suddenly accelerates by itself or fails to stop when you apply the brakes, don't complain because it's rare?

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LFRAgain - I'm sorry, but these continued complaints about an incredibly, incredibly rare defect happening on cars that have already been checked and modified for the specific problem reek to the high heavens of bull poop. I don't buy these complaints for a second, and neither should the NHTSA.

It is either true or people are sabotaging Toyota. Toyota need to face facts that their cars are not perfect and they need to go back to the drawing board and rethink about what is causing the unintended acceleration. Is the break override system going to stop the unintended acceleration? Is Toyota goal to comeback in the next 50 years instead of the next 5 years? The way it looks it's going to be another 50 years before Toyota can shine again.

Stewart Stogel, 49, said his 2009 Camry accelerated to about 15 mph (24 kph) on a street near his home on Saturday, five days after a dealership trimmed the gas pedal and installed new brake override software as part of the floor mat recall. The car didn’t stop for several seconds even though he pressed on the brakes. Stogel said he barely avoided going down an embankment and hitting a wall. a wall and nearly went down an embankment.

Why didn't the brake override software worked? When should the brake override software work and what should the driver do in the cases when the brake override software is activated? How is the brake override software suppose to work if a car is having unintended acceleration since the problem has not been found according to Toyota?

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My father used to ask.. "What's worse than a car that doesn't go? I car that doesn't stop."

That being said consider the following: When you go to a doctor (GP) do you ask them what grade they received for the field of illness that you are seeking advice. Airplanes have double-triple redundancy and are always flying even though they have problems. What percentage of vehicles actually are faulty based on how many are out there?

I am one of the sheep that has a new Prius and I like it. No troubles at all.

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Skipbeat,

"It is either true or people are sabotaging Toyota. Toyota need to face facts that their cars are not perfect and they need to go back to the drawing board and rethink about what is causing the unintended acceleration. Is the break override system going to stop the unintended acceleration?"

I think this has long since passed a point of any pretense that Toyota's cars are perfect. But with that, neither are the cars of any other manufacturer out there, a point I think has all but vanished in this rush to crucify Toyota.

When the number of cases of reported acceleration problems balloons overnight in conjunction with the publicity of a defect, of course, many of those reports are a result of drivers who just thought the acceleration problem was their imagination at work or a once-time glitch, and blew it off.

But a large number of those sudden complaints are also due to people either A) imagining problems, or B) making up a story in order to -- I'll just say it -- make their otherwise boring existence more interesting. This isn't some fanciful stretch of imagination, but rather simple human nature. Like the person who swears s/he was "near" Kennedy the day he was he was shot *(when in fact s/he was nowhere near Dallas that day), or the person who insists they saw a UFO because the news reported strange lights in the sky one night, people are incredibly susceptible to subtle suggestion.

Put another way, it’s mob mentality, fueled by a nation enduring one of the harshest economic downturns since the Great Depression looking for someone to pin their woes on. When icons of U.S. automotive might are going bankrupt due to falling demand, and a foreign usurper, like Toyota, takes the top spot, people are more likely to direct their angst at the foreign usurper, whether that criticism is deserved or not -- and in spite of similar problems occurring in home-grown vehicles like Ford.

Doesn’t anyone find it interesting that all the hubbub about Toyota’s alleged glitch in their Hybrid ABS just sort of faded away when it became more public that Ford’s Hybrid ABS suffered the same glitch? Mind you, the “discovery” of the ABS braking problem was used as “evidence” to fuel the fire of American mistrust against Toyota’s ability to build a safe car, a feat Toyota has proven itself more than capable of for the past 20 years. But that safety record is forgotten overnight, along with the Prius braking problems (and concurrently the Ford Hybrid braking problems). And the distrust it helped propel remains.

Toyota certainly screwed the pooch on this one, letting hubris and pride get in the way of making sure every one of their cars is safe to drive. But this constant “See? Toyota’s just awful” drumbeat is getting really old and boring, not to mention impossible to swallow.

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LFRAgain, I think you are spot on with your explanation why we see so many complaints now. But on the other hand, when the problem is in the electronics, and there are good reasons to assume that this is the case, then it is not surprising that complaints continue.

skipbeat, the brake override will only help in those cases, where you have a problem on the gas pedal, the gas pedal sensors or their associated circuitry. If you have a problem somewhere else in your system, the probability that the brake override helps is almost zero.

kyoken, where did you get that information about sudden acceleration problems with Toyotas in Europe? There were some reports about sticky pedals, but nothing like the unintended acceleration reports from the US. I'd like to see reports about unintended acceleration with Toyotas from any other country than the US, but they seem not to exist.

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LFRagain- "I'm sorry, but these continued complaints about an incredibly, incredibly rare defect happening on cars that have already been checked and modified for the specific problem reek to the high heavens of bull poop. I don't buy these complaints for a second, and neither should the NHTSA."

-"Incredibly incredibly rare defect". The numbers are starting to disagree, the "actual" numbers that is- not the ones provided by Toyota !

-"I don't buy these complaints for a second"

No I don't imagine you do- but those family members of the 54 killed and those that have been subjected to life threatening injuries wold probably disagree.

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skipbeat;

"Toyota need to face facts that their cars are not perfect and they need to go back to the drawing board and rethink about what is causing the unintended acceleration."

Toyota knows what the problem is- they are simply too selfish, greedy, and arrogant to admit the problem. They know, and have known for a long long time- see glycol57's post for the details.

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LFRagain; "I think this has long since passed a point of any pretense that Toyota's cars are perfect. But with that, neither are the cars of any other manufacturer out there, a point I think has all but vanished in this rush to crucify Toyota."

Toyota still refuses to come clean- and it's foot dragging puts consumers world-wide in danger ! LFRagain- you should be thanking the Americans for making streets safer, instead of your one poster crusade to villify the Americans. I do hope that you nor any of your family members ever come into actual contact with an out-of-control Toyota on a street somewhere in the world. By reading the above article, it's apparent the experience is most harrowing.

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"Incredibly incredibly rare defect". The numbers are starting to disagree, the "actual" numbers that is- not the ones provided by Toyota !

Actually, the number of proven cases remains incredibly rare. The number of potential cases may be growing, but those have to be proven to not be driver error.

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Branded, I'm quite sure LFRAgain will not come into contact with an out-of-control Toyota somewhere in the world - these things obviously only happen in the US ;-) And I'll tell you more. Every maker which sells cars in the US has some claims about sudden unintended acceleration. How do you explain that? Are you aware that there are two makers which stick out with a much higher claim rate than their market share? One is Toyota and the other is Ford. As much as you can blame Toyota for their late reaction, you have to do the same with the NHTSA. Now, have you heard of any action by the NHTSA to investigate the Ford problems?

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35713831/ns/business-autos

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Branded,

"those family members of the 54 killed and those that have been subjected to life threatening injuries wold probably disagree."

That's an emotional response that doesn't fit with the facts. While it certainly makes for entertaining grandstanding in a court of law, it serves to further illustrate my point: People allow emotions to cloud their better judgment, making them say and do irrational things like, say, inflate the number of actual deaths suspected of being linked to the accelerator problem from 37 to your arbitrary number of 54.

Or the grand exaggeration that Toyota is “single-handedly putting consumers worldwide in danger.” Again, very dramatic and great stuff for a trial jury, but not really predicated on facts. Particularly when Toyota has already recalled every model reported to suffer anything even remotely related to the reported defect -- some 5.2 million vehicles in all. 5.2 millions cars at a cost of billions of dollars hardly qualifies as foot-dragging.

Or the truly bizarre claim that I'm on any sort of crusade to vilify "The Americans" (What is this, 1940s liberated Europe?). Nothing I’ve written has been an attempt, intentional or otherwise, to vilify anyone. From the start all I’ve been calling for is a calm, rational approach to the issue, as opposed to “the-sky-is-falling,” black-or-white, knee-jerk reactions like, well, yours.

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Gonemad,

No, no one seems concerned in the least that the NHTSA has failed abysmally at doing job here. In fact, nary a criticism has been leveled against the agency beyond, “They need to do a better job.” No Congressional investigations, no disciplinary actions, no backlash from the American public. Nothing, Zip. Zilch.

But the U.S. Congress demands the president of Toyota come out to Washington to take responsibility. Which he did.

When is someone going to demand that the highest auto safety regulatory board in the nation, the NHTSA, take responsibility for turning a blind eye to not only Toyota safety problems, but Ford problems as well? I’m still waiting for that fair and balanced shoe to drop. But as is more than amply clear, this hasn’t been about fairness, balance, or reason from the get-go. It’s been about payback.

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Gonemad- I'll start with you.

"As much as you can blame Toyota for their late reaction, you have to do the same with the NHTSA."

You obviously haven't been following my posts. I have criticized the NHTSA. They should have never been swayed by their former employees, now woring for Toyota, when they came and asked the NHTSA to stop their investigations on numerous Toyota defects.

"Now, have you heard of any action by the NHTSA to investigate the Ford problems?"

Sorry, I can't comment on Ford- the mods delete "my" posts. Odd- your reference here remains- Hmmm (?)- I'm sure it's just been overlooked.

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LFRagain; "That's an emotional response that doesn't fit with the facts."

Oh ? And you have the inside scoop ? Sorry, the numbers posted are those being tossed about by the NHTSA.

"Or the grand exaggeration that Toyota is “single-handedly putting consumers worldwide in danger.”

Exaggeration ? Sounds pretty solid to me. To date Toyota has set new records for recalls on three continents. And it seems that new countries are added to the list on a daily basis- see the downside of being a "global" corporation ? If you design and engineer defective products, well, that mess goes world-wide !

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Branded,

Toyota knows what the problem is- they are simply too selfish, greedy, and arrogant to admit the problem. They know, and have known for a long long time- see glycol57's post for the details.

I wouldn't assume that. 54 deaths alleged to Toyota sudden acceleration are not something Toyota can turn a blind eye to while the world is watching.

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"I wouldn't assume that. 54 deaths alleged to Toyota sudden acceleration are not something Toyota can turn a blind eye to while the world is watching."

Yeh ? Like they didn't try ? "Now" that the world is watching, the numbers of deaths have almost doubled- no telling about injuries. And you just watch and wait, the numbers/reports, will continue to climb- worldwide !

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A car keeps accelerating by itself even after repairs and you continue driving it? Talk of brand loyality till death does us apart!

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"Exaggeration ? Sounds pretty solid to me. To date Toyota has set new records for recalls on three continents. "

THAT was your rebuttal?! That didn't even make sense, much less relate to your comment about Toyota putting the world in peril. Toyota RECALLED the cars with possible defects. ALL of them. The cars have been recalled. Consumers have been notified. Repairs are ongoing. What else do you want? A literal pound of flesh from Mr. Toyoda himself?

"I have criticized the NHTSA. They should have never been swayed by their former employees, now woring for Toyota, when they came and asked the NHTSA to stop their investigations on numerous Toyota defects."

Oh, now THAT’S really showing the NHTSA. Wag a stern finger of admonishment, “Tsk! You shoulda’ done better.” Cripes, if that’s the best you can muster against an agency that knowingly and willingly allowed cars on the road that may have been unsafe, then it’s little wonder why the NHTSA was so lax in the first place.

C’Mon, show some outrage, man. Get pissed! Demand the same degree of -- or MORE – accountability from the people charged with protecting your safety via your hard earned tax dollars, as you would from manufacturers who try to win your hard earned spending dollars.

Unless there's something more to this decidedly lopsided criticism of Toyota versus the NHTSA than just seeking a solution. Naaaaahh . . . Couldn't be. Why, that would be . . . petty and vindictive!

Meanwhile, nowhere at the NHTSA site, the ODI site, or in any of the official reports they’ve issued to the public has any mention whatsoever of this magical “54 deaths” you continue to peddle as truth. In other words, you’re making it up. I should probably just chalk that up to the irrational emotion factor.

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I have criticized the NHTSA. They should have never been swayed by their former employees, now woring for Toyota, when they came and asked the NHTSA to stop their investigations on numerous Toyota defects.

Branded, the problem is deeper. If there is a problem with a car, the NHSTA doesn't investigate by it's own. Nor do they ask independent experts. They ask the makers instead. When the makers report no problem, how can the NHSTA judge whether the maker investigated honestly or just tried to cover up? Even worse, modern cars are full of safety-relevant electronics and software, yet the NHTSA has only very limited to no expertise in electronics and software engineering. It seems they aren't even able to assess the makers reports from a technical point of view. The way how the NHTSA works is fundamentally flawed.

Another concern is the quality of customer complaint data which they collect. Have you ever read some of the reports? I can imagine how the poor car maker's engineers are scratching their heads to somehow make sense of them (and ultimately they will then resort to blaming the driver). Sure, the number of complaints is quite large and investigating all of them will take too many resources. But can't the NHTSA make sure that at least a minimum amount of necessary information is provided? Even in their own reports like the one for the famous Saylor Lexus accident, some important basic information is missing. That's just unprofessional.

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lfragain- please take the time to read these stories as they are posted here at Japantoday. Your posts reflect a person more engaged in arguing than discussing facts, for example-

"The cars have been recalled. Consumers have been notified. Repairs are ongoing. What else do you want?"

Yes, "some" of the defective cars have been recalled. And yes, even some have been "fixed"- but according to this story;

"Toyota owners say they are still having trouble with unintended acceleration after their recalled cars were repaired" !

So forget the pound of flesh from Akio Toyoda- how about the simple truth ? That the problem is A) Indeed in the elctronic motherboard as many engineers have speculated or B) You don't know, and you should stop "all" sales and production of your vehicles till you find out !

Seems pretty simple to me.

"Oh, now THAT’S really showing the NHTSA. Wag a stern finger of admonishment"

Actually I expect the staff members involved in the cover-up, scandal, call-it-what-you-will; to be fired from their jobs and face the same court procedures as anyone else caught endangering the public safety. Now, do I expect Akio Toyoda to face the same process ? ABSOLUTELY !

"Meanwhile, nowhere at the NHTSA site, the ODI site, or in any of the official reports they’ve issued to the public has any mention whatsoever of this magical “54 deaths” you continue to peddle as truth. In other words, you’re making it up."

Either that- or you can't read. This article states;

"NHTSA has linked 52 deaths to crashes allegedly caused by Toyota’s acceleration problems."

And the latest numbers I've found, quite easily mind you, have the number now up to 59 ! So yes, in a way you are right- I'm not telling the truth. I'll try to do better- but damn that number just keeps changing by the minute.

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Branded

And the latest numbers I've found, quite easily mind you, have the number now up to 59 ! So yes, in a way you are right- I'm not telling the truth. I'll try to do better- but damn that number just keeps changing by the minute.

Your credibility and motive to the subject of the Toyota recall is questionable.

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skipbeat; "Your credibility and motive to the subject of the Toyota recall is questionable."

Good ! Maybe you will spend less time making ridiculous responses to my comments then. Somehow though, I sense you won't be able to control yourself. Anyone with any "objectivity" at all can see the crime that has been commited here with Toyota. Maybe deaths of American citizens does not concern you skipbeat- but for us it is an appaling set of circumstances to have a major corporation like Toyota earning profits, and then bragging about it, at the expense of American lives- some as young as 13 years old ! I'm not sure what your motives are skipbeat- but I sense they are probably along the corporate lines of Japan Inc. and it's flagship enterprise- Toyota ! Am I wrong ?

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BTW skipbeat- what do you suppose the "motive" here is ?

"Stewart Stogel, 49, said his 2009 Camry accelerated to about 15 mph (24 kph) on a street near his home on Saturday, five days after a dealership trimmed the gas pedal and installed new brake override software as part of the floor mat recall."

Or here ?

"Carolyn Kimbrell, 59, a retired office assistant, said her 2006 Toyota Avalon accelerated last weekend as she pulled up to her mailbox near her home—about a week after the car had been fixed. Kimbrell had just returned from a shopping trip to the mall with her 9-year-old granddaughter."

These people obviously have nothing to gain with these stories- just their lives !

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Branded; at 01:41 AM JST - 6th March. These people obviously have nothing to gain with these stories- just their lives !

You keep making accusation from what you read. Where is a proof or evidence? Toyota found no evidence of failure in vehicles it had fixed for accelerator problems after some 60 post-recall complaints were sent to US authorities. US regulators were looking into complaints from Toyota drivers who say they experienced sudden spikes in speed in vehicles that had been repaired under the auto giant's recall. However, Toyota took the reports "extremely seriously" but had found no evidence that the problem was persisting. The evaluations have found no evidence of a failure of the vehicle's electronic throttle control system, the recent recall remedies or the brake override feature. Toyota said it would continue verifying all such cases after the NHTSA received dozens of complaints from Toyota drivers even after their cars were repaired.

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"Stewart Stogel, 49, said his 2009 Camry accelerated to about 15 mph (24 kph) on a street near his home on Saturday, five days after a dealership trimmed the gas pedal and installed new brake override software as part of the floor mat recall."

Yes, because the car was on a hill. Cars with automatic transmissions move forward while idling, and being on a hill will increase the speed.

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Branded at 01:41 AM JST - 6th March"Stewart Stogel, 49, said his 2009 Camry accelerated to about 15 mph (24 kph) on a street near his home on Saturday, five days after a dealership trimmed the gas pedal and installed new brake override software as part of the floor mat recall."

The cold fast idle rpm is controlled by the computer. Its sounds like the IAC control motor is sticking or shorted. Also there may be a faulty idle air control motor and/or oxygen sensors.

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Branded,

Good ! Maybe you will spend less time making ridiculous responses to my comments then.

I enjoy reading your views on Toyota.

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I do not want to point out the obvious, but TOYOTA DOES NOT REALLY KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM/S are! They try to put a good face on all of this mess, but as far as I can tell, people will keep on getting hurt or worse, until TOYOTA REALLY FIXES the problems! Here in Japan, my idiot Japanese friends tell me that Americans do not know how to drive correctly therefor the same computer system built for the "nice, gentle Japanese drivers" maybe going haywire because of the "rough and wild American style of driving in that big, open continent called North America."

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elbudamexicano - I do not want to point out the obvious, but TOYOTA DOES NOT REALLY KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM/S are!

I agreed. They probably don't know what the actual problem is unless Toyota start interviewing those customers and and buying back the vehicles that are having the unintended acceleration to understand the cause and providing an adequate fix instead of looking like fools.

Toyota is not the only automaker experiencing the unintended acceleration. The article, "NPR analysis shows other automakers also suffer unintended acceleration" @http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2010/03/npr-analysis-shows-other-automakers-also-suffer-unintended-acceleration-sua.html

"Other automakers with high complaint rates in the study include Fords, Hondas, and Volkswagens from various model years. The data also shows that some automakers have dealt with the unintended acceleration issue better than others. For example, Honda had a high rate of complaints from about 1999 through 2003, but its complaints dropped off sharply, if quietly, beginning with 2004 models"

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Branded,

You are apparently guilty of the same selective reading you accuse me of.

To wit:

"some" of the defective cars have been recalled. And yes, even some have been "fixed"- but according to this story; "Toyota owners say they are still having trouble with unintended acceleration after their recalled cars were repaired"

My original post to this thread questions the very premise of the new complaints. To reiterate, I don't believe they are all legitimate. And the very tone of the story and shoddy reporting contained therein only furthers my suspicion that there is heavy bias operating against Toyota in all of this.

How many drivers are having problems? What kinds of cars are they driving? Were these Toyotas that had problems before and continued to have problems after the repair, or were they Toyotas that drivers took in as part of the recall, having never experienced a problem before, and now suddenly are experiencing sudden acceleration? These are valid questions that need to be answered to give the consumer a fuller picture of what's going on with their Toyotas. But none of that information is forthcoming.

Why aren't these questions being answered in the responsible manner that professional journalism demands? All we’re left with from the above article is more of the same info that’s been floating around since mid-February, and a resounding message of "TOYOTA REPAIRS DON'T WORK! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!!" There are few better examples of tabloid journalism than the spotty reporting in the above article, but it seems to light the fire of readers like you. So I suppose I can understand where the motivation for such shoddy reporting might come from: Nothing boosts readership like a good scandal. But I would expect a nation that values its free press to demand a bit more stringent quality from its news sources, particularly when it comes to something as important as consumer safety.

As for the part in the article regarding 52 deaths, again, the NHTSA has not in any official capacity at their public website or elsewhere announced that 52 deaths are officially a result of the acceleration problem. So again, while the sensationalism of canned rage like, "damn that number just keeps changing by the minute" is certainly dramatic and entertaining, it's still not truth without the facts to support it.

But maybe you know better? As you once asked me, do you have the inside scoop? If so, please share with me which NHTSA official issued the official number of 52 deaths linked, when the statement was made, and where that report can be found. I’m eager to read it.

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I'm still wondering why people fail to use that big letter "N" on the gear knob... WHat ever happened to "turn the key to the off" position - I mean, people do it daily when they make it to their destination.

People are aware of the problem, know how to stop your car...if you don't know already, you probably shouldn't be driving....

Like the incident that occured yesterday in San DIego, CA USA....the Prius went for 21miles... 21 MILES!!! What, the guy didn't know how to put the car in Neutral and hold the "start" button down for 3 seconds?

Is there a problem - YES, Toyota needs to fix this.

However, people should no be driving 21 miles at 90MPH in a panic because they don't know how to stop the car... please... TURN IT OFF! that simple....

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Like the incident that occured yesterday in San DIego, CA USA....the Prius went for 21miles... 21 MILES!!! What, the guy didn't know how to put the car in Neutral and hold the "start" button down for 3 seconds?

CandleStickPark, it's not as easy as you think. In the Prius almost everything is controlled electronically, the gas, the brakes, the transmission, the start button. You can't put the transmission into neutral mechanically. You can't switch off the car mechanically. At least the start button will be directly connected to the engine management unit, so there might be a state where you cannot switch off the car. The controller for the transmission will at least check some input from the engine management unit, e.g. for preventing to switch to "D" when your foot is not on the brake. At least theoretically it is possible that the transmission controller ignores all input from the shift lever when there is a "block" signal from the engine management. I believe Toyota has taken appropriate measures to prevent such kind of things happen, but you know, they said that the Titanic was unsinkable...

That said, I fully agree with you, that here - again - we have a clear case of driver error. Independent of whether the car had a problem or not, this guy needed a police officer to tell him the obvious. He really had enough time to think what to do, so panic is no excuse. When will people finally start to discuss how many deaths are caused by the abysmal driver education in the US?

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This story appeared March 4th- about two weeks ago ! This afternoon US time, early in the morning in Japan, this story flashed across the newswires;

"More than 100 complaints lodged over fixed Toyotas"

Moderator: The URL will suffice.

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Odd- I thought this story;

"More than 100 complaints lodged over fixed Toyotas"

Would have taken off here at Japantoday by now. It really goes into detail about how so many drivers in the USA had reported "numerous" times their concerns over their Toyotas. It should lay to rest the rumours that people are just in it for a "payday"- hardly ! Many of the complaints were reported "years ago", long before the lawsuits began !

The evidence remains clear- Toyota does not know what the problem is ! Yet they continue to sell and promote their cars world-wide. American TV is starting to air some really scary stuff from Toyota- "Thank you, for your trust" ! WTF ! Now I imagine if this were like some tainted veggies out of china the market would be shut down in a second- yet Toyota wants us to "trust them" ? I don't think so- trust is something that is earned, and Toyota has failed miserably in that category. If Toyota were my kid- they'd be grounded for months !

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