Toyota's runaway cars

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=8980479 Not sure how authentic they are. But they have an important safety action in case it happens to you.

There is a call back on the same-Toyota being who they are will resolve any other issue that may be associated other than the faulty mats.

Toyota has stopped manufacturing of 8 models in US and Canada after reports of further runaway cars even after removing the foot mat. The models include Corolla and Camry. Source, today's Times Of India, business section.

I hope Indian versions don't runaway like this. 

It seems likely that the same defect exists in cars sold in India as well.  Manufacturers don't usually change basic parts like accelerator pedals between markets.  On the other hand, India is a right hand drive country so perhaps the pedals have a different design.  Just moving the pedals would probably suffice though, so they could quite easily be the same.

At any rate, if you have a Toyota with a manual transmission you don't have much to fear, as the engine can easily be disengaged just by pushing the clutch pedal.  This problem is only a real danger in AT cars.  That's why it first became apparent in the US.  Toyota sells a lot of cars here, and probably 90%+ of them have AT.

Toyota recall hits 9 million cars,  having this gas pedal fault issue.

Camary is one the eight models having this problem.

I never thought anything like this could happen with Toyota.

Click the link below for details.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/business/30toyota.html

An article from WSJ on Prius brakes issue. A very good read for those that revere Japanese quality. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704533204575047370633234414.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read Another article from NYT on the history of slow responses by Toyota on safety issues. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/business/global/07toyota.html?hp

Watch this issue turn into a trade war (it already is) soon.

The Americans will use this to kill Toyota.  Make no mistake about it.

You already have the US transportation secretary saying "We're not finished with Toyota yet" in a very sinister warning from Toyota's main rival - the Government of the United States (who owns a majority of GM and Chysler).

Japanese quality is still miles ahead of American and Euro.  One incident may shake the 'no questions asked' confidence in their products, but it doesnt bring them down to their rival's levels.

Keep those wheels turning!

Already a secretary in the US Govt has adviced people to simply not touch the car and park it instead of taking it to the service station to get it corrected

Doesn't affect Indian cars,because parts are sourced from japan for Indian cars,but 8 million American and European cars are recalled

The US Government won't try to get rid of Toyota.  There just isn't any real justification for that, and besides no one wants to lose all the jobs in Toyota factories in the US.  Despite being a Japanese brand, most Toyotas sold in the US are built in the US.  It's just cheaper to build them here than it is to make them in Japan and pay duty and the cost of shipping them all the way across the Pacific ocean.

They will make them fix the problem though, and Toyota will probably get fined if they did anything wrong, like try to cover up the problem.

Americans tend to get rather bent out of shape over safety problems like this, even though safety recalls happen on a fairly regular basis.  The only things that are special about this one are the number of vehicles involved and the way the defect kills people is more scary than usual.

The posturing by assorted government officials is just politics as usual.  Since people don't like the idea that a company might get away with building defective cars, they can score political points by talking tough and acting like they're going to "get" Toyota.  This sort of thing happens every time a company does something bad.

This will hurt Toyota's reputation, but that will blow over eventually as long as they don't keep making mistakes.  It will cost them a lot of money in lost sales and repair costs, but it won't be enough to really damage the company.  Toyota may also lose the #2 in US market sales spot to Ford, but that might have happened anyway.  Toyota moved into the #2 spot just a couple years ago, and they weren't that far ahead.  Also, Ford has been launching some really great stuff lately with more on the way.