NHTSA fines Toyota $16.4 M.

Time will tell. If the attorneys' lawsuits were so strong, I don't think they would be trying to "try" their case in the court of public opinion with daily press releases. I suspect they're hoping for a settlement, which will of course mean they win and the plaintiffs, Toyota, and Toyota's customers lose.

I've purchased enough GM vehicles (6). I did it even when GM's reputation was really bad. It isn't happening again, but not because of their reputation. Its called experience.

 

And neither have I.

Where/How did you come with this irrelevant cra... er, non sequitur?

You can't have it both ways. You've said that over its long, slow sales
decline, GM was only providing the cars that its buyers wanted: low
mileage pickups, SUVs, crossovers, whatever.

Guess what? So was Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc. Their customers
wanted good gas mileage and perceived quality. They voted with their
wallets. GM lost the election in a land slide.

Toyota didn't "gobble up" good ratings, they were awarded to them by
the car buying public and the professional automotive press.

No auto maker is perfect. No model of car is perfect. That said, I have
to wonder why these GM "imperfections" have caused hardly any
blip in press coverage or the national awareness:

GM Corroding brake lines, Apr. 5, 2010
Feds probe 6.2M GM vehicles over brakes | The Detroit News

GM Steering Pump Failures, March 1, 2010
GM to recall 1.3M vehicles for power steering fix | The Detroit News

GM Exploding pickup claims, Apr. 6, 2010
(This is different than the other, older exploding fuel tank issue.)
GM's Exploding Pickup Problem | Mother Jones

 

Absolutely, toyota's penalty is so small they can take it out of petty cash.

This verdict is just one of the things that has given GM a bad reputation. Maybe it is this reputation along with other bad choices of vehicle mix that left GM flying in its corporate jets to get a hand out from congress.

Those of us critical of toyota on this are not saying it is going to go out of business. We feel cheated that the company we trusted would show so little consideration for their customers. I hope some of this is getting into the minds of those running toyota so they DON'T follow in GM's footsteps.

 

The brake line issue is a probe, the steering pump failure is a real issue which has caused minor accidents and no deaths. the mother jones issue is about vehicle which are 25 years old. The toyota situation is going to get much worse over the next 6 months. There are several 'smoking guns' which will come out soon.
YOur devotion to toyota is amazing. This is the same country that launched an attack on US soil while its ministers were negotiating peace in WAshington DC....it may be 70 years later but the culture is still the same. Do you really think Mr toyoda gives a 's**t about you? HE wants your money, don't be so foolish. They knew there were all kinds of problems with their cars, they decided they could get by on their reputation and buying off the NHTSA representatives. To their credit it worked for 6-8 years. The toyota 'faithful' continued to plunk down their money and send it back to Japan.

Do some of you folks understand economics and your own well-being? The US had a $40 billion trade deficit in February of 2010. That is $40 billion which is gone, that will not recirculate in the US economy being taxed dozens of times, paying wages to hard working americans it is gone. The only way it will come back to the US issueing IOU's for it, or the Chinese, Japanese et all buying things with it here.

 

The real reason for your Toyota hatred comes out.

 

Picking on the Japanese and Toyota again? You were aware that we had cut off our oil exports to Japan, and were working to cut them off from their other oil supplies? While it is too much to say that we knew we were about to be attacked, we knew there was a risk of it.

As for Mr. Toyoda's concern for his customers, I don't have a clue. When you buy anything from anyone other than maybe your dry cleaners you have to expect they don't care that much. I'm absolutely convinced that with $9 million in pay, Mr. Whitacre is not concerned with me or with GM's finances in 2015. And of course, I don't believe there are that many problems with Toyota's vehicles. I believe Sudden Unintended Acceleration is almost always caused by the same thing that causes Sudden Intended Acceleration. While I like Ralph Nader's politics, I know he's a Luddite and hates electronics. And I believe Sean Kane did delay reporting the Ford/Firestone problems to help beef up his clients' cases. Finally, NHTSA didn't need to be bought off by Toyota during the past administration. "Voluntary compliance" replaced "law enforcement" throughout the federal government. Federal employees were reprimanded for enforcing the law.

And we imported $16 billion in motor vehicles as opposed to $22 billion for oil and natural gas. And some of those imported motor vehicles were Fusions and Equinoxes. I wonder how much more we would have spent on oil if we hadn't spent money importing Priuses?

 

No the real reason is:
Do some of you folks understand economics and your own well-being? The US had a $40 billion trade deficit in February of 2010. That is $40 billion which is gone, that will not recirculate in the US economy being taxed dozens of times, paying wages to hard working americans it is gone. The only way it will come back to the US issueing IOU's for it, or the Chinese, Japanese et all buying things with it here

I know toyota is not the only factor in this they are just the most visible and the largest.

 

Again you talk about midgets and giants. If toyota was a separtate country it would rank # 5 in generating a negative balance of trade with the US over the last decade. #5! Just toyota. How is that moving US forward? where on earth did you get the $16 billion in motor vehicles? It was much more than that.

 

You said this 6 months ago, Mr. Friedman.

 

How has the last 6 months gone for Toyota? I predict much better than the next 6 months. Friedman(Tom) is an idiot.

 

So Bob how does GM have any more blood entering into its fuel tanks than Toyota? Remember Toyota burns millions of gallons of fuel transporting roughly half of its US sales(including the beloved Prius) from Japan. Do those freighters run on the sun?
All of those model segments that many of you love to blame for so many ills, full-size SUVS, mid-size SUVS and full size pickups the beloved Toyota has been trying to gain market share. Why does Toyota continually get off free in your mind? Is the "get-out-of-jail-free card" the Prius? 10,000/month in the US? Roughly the same number of Tundra pickups that Toyota sells in the US?

 

For the last 6 months you've insisted that the problem is electronic and that Toyota had full knowledge of it. If only we waited, things would come out. We'd see.

The PR guy's email was claimed to be the 'smoking gun'. But that didn't really amount to much, so you've kicked the can down the road by one FU.

 

I think there is more to come. I am not sure how toyota does end this mess other than fessing up. There is an electronic problem. How do you think this ends? It has been on the front page of the new york times the last two days. I guess I look at it as the universe finding its equilibrium, Toyota in my mind got away with murder on so many fronts for years. Now in the matter of a few months their "squeaky clean" image is unraveling.

 

There won't be a definitive end. It'll just trail off, just as it had until NHTSA issued the fine and data dump. Sure, there will be little blips here and there, maybe some lawsuit settlements, but life will go on.

 

Time will tell if I'm wrong. I am just surprised to see you agree with Ralph Nader: Toyota Fix: Real Solution or Red Herring? - Video - FoxBusiness.com

I'm still waiting for any independent, credible evidence for an SUA incident for any auto maker, much less a electronics cause. Sorry I don't believe Ralph Nader is credible when it comes to computers- last I heard he was still using his manual typewriter. He has been fighting Toyota for many years now mostly related to their fear of the UAW.

 

No I am not a fan of Ralph Nader. I have heard two 1st hand counts of SUA and the owners were less than 45. one of the customers did not even have foot on accelerator or brake, both customers traded in their toyotas and my stores have had others. I don't think they were crazy and I don't think they were piling on.

 

Devoted to Toyota? Once again, your myopia and presumptions have
blinded you. You're not even close.

Here is a chronological list of the four-wheeled vehicles that I have
owned: Ford, BMW, VW, Chevy (14 yrs), Fiat, Honda, Dodge (20 yrs),
Nissan, Toyota.

I don't buy a brand, I buy the vehicle that best fits my needs and
desires. I don't care who makes it. I happen to own a Toyota Prius at
this time. It fits my needs for high mileage, low overall operating
costs, and excellent reliability. It also fulfills my desire to make a
clear statement to my siblings, my children, my co-workers, and my
neighbors that it is time to take individual responsibility for reducing
our country's unconscionable and unsustainable consumption of foreign
oil.

If I were buying new today, there is a good chance it would be a Ford
hybrid. My next vehicle will be an EV. The Ford Transit Connect BEV
best fits my needs. (If Ford has any brains, they'll get the TC into non-
commercial release ASAP so that many others and I don't have to
seriously consider the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV, or Think City.)

Where's any brand loyalty or devotion there?

The Prius is performing admirably, fulfilling all my needs and desires,
thank you very much. I like it a lot. But in thinking about cars in the
past, present, and the future, I'm not in lock step with Toyota or any
other car maker.