Feds Investigate Hot-Selling Toyota Hybrid

Bzzt. You're partially right, but you've still got your Toyota fanboy blinders on.

The problem is fixed, most likely. But Toyota should have issued a recall for it. Not a TSB, but a recall. I don't blame them for not wanting to, but this is certainly a serious enough situation where they should.

And I certainly don't think the media is doing this to push the Escape Hybrid or the Honda hybrids. I mean, did they do Ford any favors with the Explorer incident a few years ago?

Take off the tin foil hat, and come back down to earth.

 

I'm sorry, but suggesting that I take my tin foil hat off suggests that I'm crazy.

You've now changed the subject. We were talking about the perspective in the media. And we were referring to 3 situations -- one where people die from poor design of thousands of vehicles, while the company pretty much does NOTHING until they have to -- versus another company with 35 involved, no one hurt, and the company DID DO SOMETHING before they were forced to -- and a 3rd where there is no media hyper-story as Ford tries to bury a part that fails prematurely in literally millions of cars, resulting in a financial bonaza for Ford. But you've changed the subject to whether Toyota did enough by just issuing a TSB.

Toyota may have been wiser to order a recall versus a TSB, but at least they DID something, which you can't say about Ford. Plus, with all the hype now going on, and with the US Government involved, has there been an "official" recall yet? Does anyone know if it has risen to that level yet?

But going back to what we were talking about, I think that the current hype about this Prius problem is totally out of context. Maybe not as part of a conspiracy, but out of context nonetheless. And I think it is quite sane to come to that conclusion.

 

If this ends up being an issue that requires a software re-fresh, would having the EV switch (from Coastal Tech) be a problem in any way? (*maybe not functionally, but as in the willingness of the dealership to do the upgrade and the warranty and stuff)

Thanks,
-Tim

 

Thanks pjm877 - I found the production date inside the door. It was January, 2005. Does anybody know if the software was fixed by then? Appreciate your help.

 

I think part of the point of the TSB/LSC/SSC strategy is to make sure it is the *ENTIRE* fix. Since recalls aren't cheap, they only want to have to do it once. How many times in the computer software world have we witnessed multiple patches before they finally are able to address every contigency? And of course, what actually warrants a recall?

The other aspect is the reality that testing is extraordinarily difficult with so few incidents reported. Waiting for real-world data to become available takes time.

What's really needed is better sharing of information. Being able to lookup all of that stuff yourself via an official website, rather than relying on a dealer, would be quite helpful.

 

Several months ago, HUMU's engine warning lights, including the dreaded red triangle, came on while on my way home from the airport. I pulled over and parked and recycled the start sequence. The engine came on and the red triangle disappeared, but the "check engine" light remained on. I called the dealer and was told that the car would be safe to drive but that I should bring it in right away. Turned out to be a computer software problem. Thank God the car isn't running Windows.
I wonder if this is current snafu is related to the software problem the dealer corrected in my car. HUMU was manufactured in January of 2004.
I agree with others who suggest that this is getting press because it's unusual. I think some of the press is a kind of backlash against what might be perceived as an environmental holier than thou attitude among Prius fans and a sour grapes mentality from American car interests.
I get reports on every light plane crash in the news too (I'm a flight instructor). I usually respond by saying that if plane crashes were commonplace, they wouldn't be newsworthy; i.e., one small plane is rates about equal to a school bus being hit by a train, but less than a toronado taking out main street in Kansas.
B

 

Just thought I'd let you know because while the media is paying so much attention to 35 Prii, you might miss this about the 2 million GM cars recalled just this past April and May.



.......In April and May, GM recalled more than 2 million vehicles to fix a variety of potential safety defects, the latest setback for the automaker following its $1.1 billion loss in the first quarter.......

http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/03/Autos/gm_recall.reut/


Or how about this?

...The NHTSA reports there have been nearly two dozen crashes attributed to this problem....

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=3...85&nav=3w6oZOG9

 

"Corporate media handlers" or no, I still say that this will help the Prius in the long run and not hurt it. In other cases, such as the ones referred to, there was obvious negligence on the part of the manufacturer. In this case, if as we expect Toyota will prove all over it, it will substantiate the Prius.

 

I wanted to follow up on this because it is somewhat misleading. Not all Toyota dealers check for this when a Prius is brought in for service. If anyone is concerned about this problem, ask your service representative to check into it. It is very likely that they will do nothing if you don't ask.

I was never informed of this problem nor did my Toyota dealer check for it when I took my Prius in for service. I found out the hard way on the DC beltway during rush hour. If it weren't for this forum and the media, I believe many Prius owners would be in the dark. Although I think a recall is overkill, Toyota should at least notify all affected owners so it can be proactively resolved. Their failure to do so has resulted in the media taking control.

 

ick, i hate quotes out of context.

i directly specified this is the procedure where my husband works. each dealership runs things differently. some care and some don't.

do i have to put a disclaimer on everything i say? :roll:

 

I don't believe the quote was out of context. Readers may infer from your statement that dealers check for this problem when their Prius is serviced. I wanted to clarify since this is not necessarily the case. My post was made to (hopefully) provide useful information to the community, and was not meant as a personal attack - so no disclaimer is necessary.

 

No, don't worry. Of cours what you said was perfectly clear ... to me. The quote wasn't taken out of context to imply that you had said something incorrect! It's just that:
a) People are easily confused
B) Some people are nervous about this & may read the thread hastily.
c) These threads stay around to be searched for a long time so no harm in clarifying an important point.

 

Oh, crud. Were we actually supposed to read these things?

 

I've been getting phone calls from my friends and siblings asking if i've heard about the Feds investigating the Prius. :cussing: I'm getting tired of it. Way back in the latter part of '03 i've already known about the dreaded triangle of death and reports of dying prius (whether it was really ECU failure or just plain running out of gas). I ordered mine in October and from then till delivery in February '04 there were many posts on yahoo and here on PC regarding this problem but this did not discourage me from buying my prius (and neither did it stop other members).

My main concern is that when people see "FEDS" and "PRIUS" in a headline there's a big red flag. Since the Prius has won many awards and is the tops selling hybrid the prius is an easy target of the media when it gets a whiff of any problem.

Can anyone post examples of other such "investigations" of cars that the general public doesnt know about? it sure would be great to site those examples when talking about the prius issue.

 

It became out of context when you left out: "So my husband just told me this is what they do where he works."

 

Thank you, IsrAmeri. i feel justified again.

 

This thread already has other examples. Look at prior posts.

GM had to recall 2 million in April and May alone, and Mitusbishi just had a giant recall.

Here is a web site that keeps track of recalls and complaints.
http://www.mycarstats.com/

 

in the Financial Post, Saturday June 4th Edition there is a blurb that Saturn just recalled 291,652 Satuns for brake light switch problems and GM as a whole had 27.5% of the US car and truck sales in 2004 and recalled 10.7 million vehicles, 35% of the industry total. Makes the Prius stalling problem seem like a non-issue, which it is. A few have stalled and the service re-flash cures it. If your's stalled and you didn't take it to the dealer and complain, well that's your problem. Toyota 35, GM 10.7 million, gotta wonder.

 

This entire topic illustrates why the Prius is leading, and will continue to lead the industry for the forseeable future. Between the Toyota Company and the people who have chosen to purchase the Prius, the message is getting out that this is the car to emulate; this is the car to beat. The front-runner usually takes the pot shots from the also-rans; but based on these excellent postings, you can be sure that the Prius will prevail.

 

This morning while getting my oil changed at my local dealership, I had a chance to discuss these reports with the service manager. I've dealt with this gentleman enough to realize that he is fairly knowledgeable about the Prius and Toyota in general.

He seemed to indicate that this stalling issue had to do with owners hitting the power button and immediately putting the Prius into gear and driving off without waiting the few extra seconds for the computers to fully start up. As I’ve never encountered this issue, I have no idea if there is any validity to this or not.

Has anyone else heard this or have any other knowledge that might prove or disprove this statement?