Run Away Prius a Hoax

I have not seen a fatality reported in a prius with unintended acceleration. Have you?

I did change my mind. I initially thought the override failed because of the destruction of the brakes, but I did not understand how it worked. After reading hobbit's and tom's description and the reported logs I no longer think the stuff you are calling brake over ride failed. My original post was to wait for evidence. I don't think there is a problem with that unless you have decided Toyota is perfect.

I want to believe the truth. Do you think Toyota is lying about a design defect and safety recall? Do you believe the Japanese government that the issue was a problem? Do you think I am a cry baby for reporting my defect to the safety authority? Or do you think it might be possible that those without a gen III car should actually think there is the possibility that those of us reporting problems may actually be experienced them?

 

I have experienced it. About 7 times now. My response to a poll at the time was that I thought it was not a safety issue but that Toyota should address it.

I'm not concerned about it since it's not a safety issue for me, in my mind. I'm more concerned atm about the false hysteria about the Prius.

Peace.

 

I have a brother-in-law who owns a 2007 Prius. He's NEVER experienced any of the problems everyone else describes, so I'm starting to get suspicious that both of these highly-public cases sound like the work of scam artists wanting to cash in on Toyota's accelerator problems with other models. I hope the courts throw the book at those two complainers.

As for Steve Wozniak's problems with his Prius, the very fact he refuses to allow Toyota engineers to analyze his car makes Wozniak's case just as suspicious, too.

 

There is no reason for anyone to examine Steve's car. The CC is operating as designed, it's just that the design is a radical departure from the norm, what has been the norm for almost 40 years now.

When a design, system functionality, departs that radically from the norm owners should somehow be forewarned.

 

Actually Steve W. has stated publicly it was a hoax on his part. And I think Toyota is pretty clear what the cruise control in Steve's car does, and it would not be on a new car if I was buying. But I can be an old-fogey.

 

He bought a car with an option called "Dynamic Cruise Control". One would think that is sufficient forewarning.. certainly for a technical person like Woz.

 

indeed... he all but admitted it too (that it was his fault)... it is closed book though, that turned out to be user error.

 

I'd say user anger, not error.

He was mad at toyota for the way they dealt with him, and mad at the software for the way it worked. Probably initially a education problem about how the software works. Never a safety hazard.

 

He (Woz) was mad at toyota for the way they dealt with him, and mad at the software for the way it worked. Probably initially a education problem about how the software works. Never a safety hazard.[/QUOTE]

Ah- Software mentioned again!!
Has anyone straightened out the "unreadable memory" story on the Prius? News reports today in the Wall Street Journal says something like "US (DOT?) safety experts read the memory" of Sikes' Prius. My 2008 manual says there is one and its data is recoverable....just not how and by whom. Apparently it IS POSSIBLE without going to the Moon first...correct? Is it not then possible/sensible to believe the recorded data? ...And not first filtered thru Toyota headquarters?

 

The Prius doesn't have a single "memory" which can be read to obtain any desired data. A Prius contains many ECUs, most of which record some diagnostic data. This data can be read by several scanners, although they may not correctly interpret all of the data.

The Prius also contains an EDR, which is activated in a crash. The EDR data format is propitiatory, and requires a special Toyota reader. So far Toyota has been very careful to limit access to this data, which is probably where most of the recorded data confusion comes from.

Tom

 

My 2006 Manual Describes a "Diagnosis System" with over 30 pages of lists of parameters which can be measured. It does not describe the depth of such recording (time recorded or number of actions recorded, but manuals usually don't). It is quite clear about how to measure them, one employs (or employed) an "intelligent tester" (there may be a more modern device in use now). But there is no mystery about the extent of the Hybrid Vehicle Control Diagnostics. It is clear just how and who can recover the data. One needs to understand the systems in the car and the tools used to read them i.e. Toyota.

Why would you question the ability to interpret this data correctly? Were you referring to the possibility that an untrained person might interpret the data improperly? That certainly is possible. I would not question Toyota.

 

But the Runaway Quote issue is REAL!!!

 

Gen2 Prius had rear disc in UK and Japan. It is not something new in Gen3.

 

Even a better reason the firmware revision was overlooked.

 

The gen3 ABS ECU update affected US, Japan and Europe as well. Your speculation is incorrect.

 

In this thread you quote me as saying:

This is *not* my statement. I do not take kindly to people falsifying my statements. Please correct this in your post, or I will be forced to involve the moderators.

Thanks,
Tom

 

I doubt, now, that we have a fundamental technical issue. I may not have received the meaning that you intended at first. On second reading I can get more than one meaning from your message. This is a cause for clarification, not WAR.

What I quoted is * word for word * from your post number 170.

The point is that there is a whole lot of information in the Hybrid Self Diagnostic System and it can be read. It is a good thing to reinforce this knowledge. It is not a secret. It even keeps a record of the degree throttle of accelerator application among long lists of other things. The amount of diagnosis which is possible with this system would be astounding to most people.

Toyota knows more than they reported about the Sikes incident.

Do what you need to do

Regards

Allan

 

Point taken.

But.

That brings up other questions that "require" speculation.

Why was the improper programming flaw only discovered, seemingly, once shipments of the rear disc brakes version of the Prius came to the US...??

A.) Neither the Europeans nor the Japanese noticed the flaw...?

B.) They noticed the flaw but did not complain to Toyota...?

C.) The "reflash" did not really apply to the Japanese and European Prius models..??

D.) The "reflash" contained more fixes, firmware revisions, than just the ABS "improper programming" correction..?

Since it is the most obvious, most likely, and most logical I'll go ahead and pick "D".

 

Not in the quote box you didn't. That is someone else's post. Click on the link back to my post and you will see this text, which is not in your quote box:

You have my text in the body of your post, but not where you say I said it. Please edit this post.

Tom

 

You're forgetting:

E) There is no problem. Toyota decides to invent a problem that can be fixed in 5minutes time by a dealership, that tightens the brakes' feel in firmware so that the American population shuts up.