Big Trouble in Little Toyota

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Big Trouble in Little Toyota; Oh what a feeling... No Brakes!
Topic Started: Feb 4 2010, 12:37 AM (37 Views)
PC Pom	Feb 4 2010, 12:37 AM Post #1
Anyone for tennis? Posts: 672 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: March 23, 2006	Source ABC news: www.abc.cet.au Having announced the recall of 8 million vehicles around the globe because of faulty accelerators, the world's biggest car-maker Toyota has hit more pot-holes. The Japanese government is ordering the company to investigate dozens of complaints about brake failures involving its pioneering Prius hybrid. More than 100 people in Japan and the US have reported experiencing temporary brake failure in the Prius, mainly at low speed on bumpy or slippery roads. There have been several reported accidents. One left two people slightly injured. "It was a pile up involving four cars" a witness said after one incident in Japan. "The Prius slammed into the back of the other cars." The driver reported that he hit the brakes but that the car did not respond. The latest model Prius is Toyota's biggest-selling car in Japan. It is seen as the company's flagship, the key to its future, but now Toyota faces the very real threat that its pioneering hybrid could also be recalled. "The ministry will launch its own investigation into this brake problem" Japan's Transport Minister, Seiji Maehara, said. "We will then decide whether to order a recall." The popularity of the Prius has been the one bright spot in an otherwise difficult 12 months for Toyota. The last thing the company needs now is the reputation of its revolutionary hybrid sullied by a recall. **************************************************** My thoughts: Buy a little diesel. But don't forget that Ford once produced a passenger vehicle whose poorly designed fuel tank was positioned at the rear of the vehicle and protected by very little. So little in fact that rear end shunts into said vehicle were causing the poorly designed fuel tank to rupture, petrol to spill and an inferno erupt. Sadly, most of the drivers stood little chance of escape and died at the wheel. This was in America - 1970s I think. Ford's solution was NOT to recall the vehicles and rectify the problem on the spot. Far too expensive, said the bean counters. Instead it worked out cheaper to pay the insurance claims of those who died, after all not every vehicle of this type was bound to be hit at speed at the rear. Who gives (a toss?) you more? Firestone also had tyre problems. And didn't a particular Ford SUV recently have driving problems of its own? 'Select gear' 'Gear selected' 'Locate driver' 'Driver standing behind vehicle' 'Proceed...' Our MY05 Subaru Outback was recalled. Across Australia. Bet you didn't hear about that! We were concerned. Turned out to be a failing, yes a failing of the door locks. When the temperature rose above a particular mark something electrical 'clicked' and the doors became unlocked. So each Outback (and it may have been Legacy/Liberty/Forrester/other models too, I don't know) had to undergo a heating test with the doors closed. Obviously quite a high temperature. Shouldn't think UK cars were recalled then... Edited by PC Pom**, Feb 4 2010, 12:38 AM.
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