LA Times Headline: Prius' woes not limited to brakes

As noted by HTMLspinnr this entire article is simply a rehashing of all the issues that we've been discussing herein over the last 4-6 yrs. None of it is new.

The article focusses on three hoary issues which have been beaten to death on PC.

• HID's
• stalling in the 04's and 05's
• inconsistent feel to the braking

This is such poor journalism that I can't believe that a reputable rag like the LAT would allow it to be published. They should just put a link in their articles saying; c.f. PriusChat, for all their readers to get the real story.

 

There are two news outlets that are really humping this Toyota recall story. The LA Times and ABC News.

It's just supposition on my part but I think that there's something related to the San Diego crash that touched off the LA Times. Maybe because it was in its backyard. Did the CHP get angry at Toyota/Lexus for the death and now has the LAT as its hatchet man? But ever since Santee, the LAT has been on the warpath for Toyota's scalp, even to the point of making up situations and falsifying statements. That's seriously angry people. If it was the Detroit Free Press I could see an explanation but why the LAT?

ABC? That I just don't get. Here the local ABC affiliate didn't make note of the the LaHood 'mispoke' statement...until it was called out on the omission. ABC is looking for blood too but why? Does it see Toyota as the new symbol of 'bad capitalism'? An easy target during a slow news period? Something other than DC politics? Maybe to take the focus off the Dems, the budget, the deficit, no healthcare program?

 

I'm gonna sound like a conspiracy theory crazy here but your government has spent billions of $ bailing out GM.

Did I recall correctly that Toyota had replaced GM as the worlds number one car seller?

So, discredit Toyota and put GM back in the #1 spot and all is well.

From hearing all the stories in the press you'd think that it was only Toyota who have ever had to recall a car. Granted they've not helped themselves but how many other manufacturers out there have current recalls on their vehicles?

 

CNN is running Toyota Prius brake failiures non stop, they have 5 minute piece on Prius brake failiures and them spreading to Lexus now, and then 10 second clip about Ford statement how their issue is not an safety problem.

p.s. they never clarify what the Prius issue is, despite Toyota clarifying it...

 

Couldn't agree with you more.

Subaru has a recall out there, nothing major but the only reason I know of it is from a letter they sent me, not because I saw it on the news.

Honda, same thing...more serious then the Subaru though. ABS sensor on 06/07 Civics fail....and thus no brakes at all when it does.
I also heard they have a power window recall, but not to sure on that.

Ford ofcourse now has this 'customer satisfaction program' on their hybrid Fusion. Thats a recall guys, no matter what Ford wants to call it.

 

The longer Toyota stonewalls, the worse this is going to get. They should have been forthright about the problems and issued recall to fix it. Now to make it worse, they have already started fixing the braking problem with the Gen III on the assembly line, but we out in the real world, haven't heard a whisper from them, what they are going to do. This is a no brainer, and who ever made the call on this at Toyota, should be fired.

 

Inside the auto industry folks could never figure out why Toyota was always 'teflon-cated' when it came to the media and problems. Now the media is making up for three lost decades. Toyota is handling this whole thing incredibly bad. There is more to come. Not good for Toyota's dealers.

 

Although we may know these Prius issues, this is news to the general public.

Regarding V6 engine sludge: ask, and ye shall receive:
Denial is a familiar road for Toyota - latimes.com

There's some validity to the columnist's point that "Toyota's handling of the new problem hews closely to its game plan on the sludge issue. Back then it denied there was a problem, implied motorist error and acted as though it hoped the whole thing would go away."

Here's another story focusing on Prius owners:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-fix5-2010feb05,0,6059207.story?page=1

 

Why is this big news?? Well, for one, SO many people drive Toyotas (for good reason) therefore literally hundreds of thousands of people are affected. That translates to good TV viewing! :thumb:

And while I'm a big fan of Toyota since learning to drive on an early Tercel, to owning a 1977 FJ40, and now an 05 Prius, I'm not defending their poor corporate dealings. It looks more and more like Toyota has used their corporate influence to make the NHTSA look the other way. Both are culpable when it comes to denying a problem that has been documented (here and in certified reports.)

So it's a perfect storm for the media: hugh popular company, thousands of people using the product, product malfunctions, people die, company denies fault, evidence points otherwise...hell, I'd be reporting it too! I suspect if the ipod killed a few people, we'd be seeing Apple all over the news too.

 

A few months after I got my Prius last summer, I realized how bad the quality was. I raised my concerns here and also comment on how the huge demand was possibly rushing Toyota into building inconsistent and poor quality Prii (plural for Prius?). The marked difference of rattling between Prii was scandalous and a clear hint of inconsistencies during building. Of course, people bashed me accusing non-sense and called me names sometimes. The brake problem is here, is real, is a big deal, and a recall is just a few days, maybe hours away. They recalled in Japan, they better do so in the US too. I would not be surprised if the brake problems is just the beginning of a series of problems.

I particularly like this quote published recently on car & driver:

"Toyota has earned a reputation in this country over the past 30 years as a maker of utterly dull and utterly reliable transportation appliances. Readers of Consumer Reports and their friends buy them by the millions. But with the notable exception of the Prius (which now is facing its own recall fiasco), Toyota hasn't produced many interesting or exciting products. In Car and Driver comparison tests, Toyotas have generally placed mid-pack for years because they handle poorly and have increasingly chintzy interiors. Over the years, people haven't bought Toyotas because they offered driving thrills or prestige; they bought them because, in the words of one CR loyalist and former serial Camry buyer—this author’s mother—"The ultimate luxury is a car that doesn't ever break." So what happens when quality is called into question and the cars don't offer anything special? Well, Mrs. Dushane now drives a Subaru. Even the pragmatic tire of the banal."

Source: Toyota Recall: Scandal, Media Circus, and Stupid Drivers - Editorial - Car and Driver

 

Prius has not been recalled in Japan, yet... Ford Fusion hybrid, with what seems complete brake failure, is not being recalled...

Prius has won many comparos in C&D itself, and many automotive magazines, in US and Europe. 2004-2009 has won many automotive awards for quality, and by many surveys is the best Toyota and with some even best car on the roads.

That does not mean that there will be things that you do not like, or that there will be 0 issues. It means that there will be less issues than in other cars.

 

Really?

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...rids-in-japan-us-brake-issue.html#post1054386

 

Toyota recalls undermine Japanese confidence in an industrial titan - latimes.com

Tatsuo Yoshida, a senior analyst with UBS Securities Japan, also played down the significance of Toyota's turmoil, calling it "just a product recall."

"It's a big deal because of the number of vehicles involved. . . . And it's happened to GM and to Ford in the past," he said, noting that neither company apologized. "I think it's strange if the top person of a Japanese car company has to bow every time there's a recall."

 

In the Car and Driver article, this is the part I like. It finally puts some numerical perspective to the hysteria that the media, and especially the LA Times is reporting:

How Big is This Problem?

We're no Toyota apologists, but if you look past the media circus, the numbers don't reveal a meaningful problem. Every man, woman, and child in the U.S. has approximately a one-in-8000 chance of perishing in a car accident every year. Over a decade, that's about one in 800. Given the millions of cars included in the Toyota recalls and the fewer than 20 alleged deaths over the past decade, the alleged fatality rate is about one death per 200,000 recalled Toyotas. Even if all the alleged deaths really are resultant from vehicle defects—highly unlikely—and even if all the worst things people are speculating about Toyotas are true, and you're driving one, and you aren't smart or calm enough to shift to neutral if the thing surges, you're still approximately 250 times likelier to die in one of these cars for reasons having nothing to do with unintended acceleration. So if you can muster the courage to get into a car and drive, the additional alleged risk of driving a Toyota is virtually negligible.

 

I've been driving for 40 years, so that means there was a 0.5% chance I could have been killed in an auto accident over that period?

Kind of surprising that term life insurance is as inexpensive as it is...

 

Sure... but who cares about that part when they are saying this... they are damn right!

"Toyota has earned a reputation in this country over the past 30 years as a maker of utterly dull and utterly reliable transportation appliances. Readers of Consumer Reports and their friends buy them by the millions. But with the notable exception of the Prius (which now is facing its own recall fiasco), Toyota hasn't produced many interesting or exciting products. In Car and Driver comparison tests, Toyotas have generally placed mid-pack for years because they handle poorly and have increasingly chintzy interiors. Over the years, people haven't bought Toyotas because they offered driving thrills or prestige; they bought them because, in the words of one CR loyalist and former serial Camry buyer—this author’s mother—"The ultimate luxury is a car that doesn't ever break." So what happens when quality is called into question and the cars don't offer anything special? Well, Mrs. Dushane now drives a Subaru. Even the pragmatic tire of the banal."