Toyota Plans Press Conference For Today To Release Findings

Mr. Sikes probably did have intentions of suing Toyota, then hired an attorney, then his attorney convinced him otherwise once he learned what we all learned.

The man was in debt $700,000. OK, he's not one of your brighter realtors since he allowed himself to get severely upside down on some home loans to the tune of $240,000. Forget that -- a lot of people went upside down in the recent real estate bust. The remaining $460,000? Toys for his extravagant lifestyle. I guess he didn't think to himself "hey, you know, I've got to pay for these toys somehow". Not too smart. He made some likely fraudulent claims for $58,000 in stolen property that he could never prove that he owned (no receipts, no photos, no witnesses). Not too smart. He thought "neutral" would flip his car, for Pete's sake! Not too smart. All these things and others, taken together, indicate that he's operating one neuron short of a synapse. Based on that, it is very possible that he had the intention of staging this event in the hope of suing Toyota, but that he didn't have the mental capacity to think of all the "what ifs" and fully plan out his devious scheme. Thus, his attorney set him straight! And now Toyota is setting him straight.

 

Agreed.... Gomez (probably a typical ambulance chaser) contacted Sikes. Now we have two crooks trying to figure out how to shakedown Toyota. I called out Sikes the day it happened and I knew I was right. The guy is low life scum.

 

Then that lawyer is guilty of an ethics violation and should be reported to the California Bar Association. As a lawyer, yer not supposed to go out and directly solicit clients. I think there is an exception for personal injury lawyers, but this doesn't appear to be a personal injury case.

 

Maybe he didn't solicit Sikes, but so what if he did? What are TV and print ads for lawyers?

 

Hey, I agree, but ... it sounds like the system in the 2008 is really protection software for the hsd, not a brake override of the throttle. That's why I was confused at the initial reports of burned out brakes.

I hope my prius has a brake override in it, and that is what toyota is doing with the camry and other cars they are installing brake overrides. I would expect any braking at high speed should be factored into the inputs, no real reason at 90 to send gas to the engine and pressure to the friction brakes.

If gremlins give me unintended acceleration, and other gremlins said my braking was light, I'm still comfortable that I can get it in neutral or turn the thing off. I just wanted someone to confirm we have a real brake override in the 2010.

 

They have very specific rules about advertising, too.

 

Unfortunately, I wouldn't trust NHSTA (or any U.S. government organization) trying very hard to debunk Sike's claim, as doing so would make them look pretty silly in this witch hunt.

 

FRY THE MAN, HANG HIM BY THE THUMBNAILS, GUILTY I SAY!

But I do think this particular case is fraudulent. However, in all fairness, I feel that TOYOTA should prosecute to the full extent if indeed this was an illegal, set-up accusation.

Anyone knows if this guy has car payments? Is he behind in his payments?

 

At least they can slap the sh** out of those who'd intentionally try to scam them. Sikes dug his grave by calling 911 and bringing attention to himself.

He could have just driven home and kept his yap shut.

 

There reports that say he was 5 months behind, but I haven't seen any confirmation.

 

His lawyer says that claim if false.

 

Specific rules for TV advertising? From what I've seen, the only rules are pay up, no nudity and no four letter words. Honesty not necessary.

 

+1 for that question...
My understanding was that gentle brake pedal pressure would just engage the MG's and friction braking (in a Gen II) did not occur until under 7 mph unless a rapid change in pedal pressure was detected (as occurs in a panic stop).

If friction braking does occur under light petal pressure that accounts for the uneven pad wear between the from disks and the rear drums (yes, I already know the front's wear faster than rears typically, but it sounded like the wear patterns found between front and rear were atypical and not explained by the alleged scenario).

Oops; Sorry apparently I missed page 2 before posting, thanks for the insight into operation.

 

Originally Posted by Prius 07
...and he hired a lawyer because???

...because Sikes is so financially well off to hire a lawyer for what?!!!

 

I visualized Toyota pulling a triangle choke from Sikes' ground n' pound.

 

x2 ... well stated by the good doctor ... Malone could swallow the "medicine" and take a bed rest - that means off this forum

 

agreed that the lawyer probably seeked him out, but so what? He held a gun to his head to hire him? From what funds would Sikes pay the lawyer from - his massive fortune?!

 

I am keeping score now:
Dilbert vs Exponent
Sikes vs Toyota.
Smith vs NTSHA

 

Re: August San Diego CHP crash:

Where did you find a final report with a root cause conclusion? I want to see it.

I've seen only the NHTSA initial site report, which clearly indicated interference from the double floor mats, and serious brake damage from overheating. But it absolutely was not a final report with a root cause conclusion.

 

I was just going by from the findings a couple of months ago. If it was not final then it was the cause (not yet the root cause) they found from the initial investigation.