San Diego — Three days before the fiery crash of a loaner Lexus sedan that killed California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor and his family, a man who was given the same car experienced a similar sudden acceleration problem and told that to the receptionist at the El Cajon dealership, a Sheriff’s Department investigation found. Frank Bernard, 61, said he told the woman that the gas pedal on the ES350 had been “stuck in wide open position.†He told investigators he became anxious because the receptionist did not seem to understand what he meant, and he thought it was important. “I think the mat caused it,†he said in the report. It also says he told her, “You need to tell somebody.†Full article: Report: Deadly loaner car had earlier problems - Local Breaking News - SignOnSanDiego.com
I wonder if the previous incident had damaged the brakes sufficiently that when Mr Saylor took it out and had his problem, the brakes no longer had enough power to stop the car properly. If true, the dealer is extremely negligent, though perhaps Mr Bernard could have done more to ensure that someone who actually understood the problem got the message.
It is still a dealer problem if you can't report defects in your rental car to anyone who cares. It has struck me as fundamentally a dealer problem all along.
Exactly. The dealer improperly modifies the car by installing the wrong mats, then gives it out as a loner to unsuspecting customers. I don't see any way for the dealer to wiggle off the hook on this one. Tom
Well, if nothing else, now a larger group of owners with push button start will know what to do if the accelerator pedal jams. The side story of the uncaring receptionist reminds me of an incident that I had at a Target store several years ago: I bought a set of FMRS walkie talkies that were on sale at a Target in Fairfield, CA. The radios were out of box and they were the last pair available at that price. I asked the salesperson if there was something wrong with them. She assured me that no, "we wouldn't return them for sale if anything was wrong". I was planning to use them on the trip that we were on (we had the camping trailer, and I wanted my GF to help give direction to back the trailer), so I bought them along with a set of batteries. I was still suspicious of the open box, so as soon as I left the store, I loaded the batteries to try them out. One of the radios seemed to be working, but I wasn't getting a signal from the other, I started to check the batteries to see if they were in backward (they were not) and I burned my finger by touching it. Dead short in the radio. I got the battery out before it got too hot. I went back to the return counter in Target. A young woman was there. I told her what happened and that I wanted a refund for the radios and the batteries (since they were damaged too). She did not appear to pay any attention to what I said. She tagged the radios and put them on the shelf to return to stock . I got really irate at that point and reminded her that I burned my finger because the radio was defective and that she should not return it for someone else to unknowingly buy. I'm sure she still didn't care, but she did move them to the defective shelf, at least until I left the store.
Quite disturbing. Many (most?) discount department stores and the like simply take returned defective items and put them right back on the shelves. I bought a defective PC that way, among other items. On the Lexus story, the previous driver claims he informed the receptionist, even telling her she has to, "...tell somebody about this." When she was initially interviewed by the investigators, she said she had no recall of any such exchange. Two weeks later, she recalled advising the shop's detailing man. He says no one told him. As one might imagine, the surviving family members are extremely distraught over the revelations from the sheriff's investigation.
Many people whos first language is not English dont really bother to translate what people say to them. More often, they just guess what they are saying. And then act based on the guess. I have discovered this after years of working with such people and discussing the issue with them. Many have reluctantly agreed that this is true. Now that I know that it makes it easier to understand why they seemingly dont understand the simplest things. They just have their translator off, and their magic eight ball on. BTW this is a comment on language, not race.
