Toyota Prius Speeds Out of Control on SoCal FWY

Who is calling who names? I am always respectful, I just don't agree with many of you.

 

I guess I wasn't listening. As I remember, it was Toyota's customers who presented Toyota as being so perfect (which may be the reason there are so many on here that sound like a betrayed spouse).

And Consumer Reports (at least until Toyota got to be number one).

As long as people are involved, nothing is perfect. Sooner or later, we are all going to die from something.

I don't want a Terminator world either! I like a little imperfection...

 

Enough of the muck stirring, here's a question about moving and the "park" button.

I tried putting my car in "park" while driving only about 3 mph, and the car violently went into park (obviously, i know). But, it's been said here many times, that by putting it into park, while driving, car will go into "N". Is there a certain speed where this happens? I'd be nervous now to experiment with this while going 40mph (only a deserted back road of course).

 

Yes. The speed limit is about 3 mph. The Prius is designed to stay out of park at speeds that would hurt it.

Tom

 

I think all the guy did was hold down both the gas and the brake at the same time. He's a fraud.

 

THIS ^^^ is part of the problem of the detroiters and their fans. They've had their egos beaten down over lo these last 20 years by press report after press report about how their former customers - 50% marketshare down to 18% marketshare - hated them and loved their new xxxxx made by Toyota.

This the beaten down detroiters felt was Toyota presenting itself as 'perfect'.

No one ever can be perfect. Every manmade thing has errors in it. The detroiters only felt that way, that Toyota was presenting itself as perfect, that everything made in Detroit was junk. It was a massive inferiority complex. Some of it was well deserved but the 'extremes' are never accurate.

The detroiters didn't always produce junk and Toyota didn't make perfect vehicles. But in the center of the spectrum it was very very accurate. Toyota did make vehicles a lot better than the detroiters did by comparison ( that's a huge difference ).

 

Today on Canada AM they had another story about Toyota - this time on the "run away Prius". They interviewed a well respected Canadian auto journalist and he I thought surprised the interviewer. The interview is not yet on the web (I'll post it later if they put it up).
edited / added video link:
http://watch.ctv.ca/news/autosctvca/toyota-trouble/#clip274680
In summary he gave many reasons why more questions need to be asked and why he has lots of doubt of such incident occuring. He pointed out many inconsistencies in the Sikes incident / interview and referred to his own experiment Jeremy Cato: Trying to lose control in a Toyota Prius - CTV News with the Matrix and Prius
Jeremy Cato: Trying to lose control in a Toyota Prius


This photo released by Toyota Canada shows the 2010 Prius





Jeremy Cato, Autos.CTV.ca
Date: Friday Feb. 12, 2010 6:22 PM ET
This week I tried to lose control of a Toyota Matrix. Then I tried to do the same with a Toyota Prius gasoline electric hybrid.
In a nutshell, I tried to create an unintended acceleration incident with both cars. Taking to Lake Shore Boulevard in Toronto, I waited for a clearing in traffic (so as not to be a danger to anyone else), then hammered the throttle. At 80 km/hour I pushed my left foot as hard as I could down onto the brake pedal while at the same time keeping the right one buried on the gas.
Picture this, then: with my right foot smothering the accelerator, with it flat on the floor, I simultaneously crushed the brake pedal with my left.
I was duplicating what might happen to a driver with a sticky gas pedal, or with the accelerator pedal caught under a floor mat. A whole bunch of drivers say they have endured unintended acceleration incidents caused by sticky pedals and stuck floor mats, so I wanted to live that experience. This matters, of course, because Toyota has recalled millions of cars to fix floor mats and gas pedals linked to unintended acceleration incidents.
So what happened?
Not much, really. The whole experience was utterly unremarkable.
The Matrix came to a stop quickly, even as the engine kept revving. And it stayed put. The brakes overpowered the engine. The Prius also came to a quick stop, though the engine also ceased to rev wildly even as my foot remained hard on the gas.
The Prius has an override written into the software that orders the engine to throttle down when heavy braking is applied. The Matrix does not. But the brakes have more muscle than the engine. As long as I remained calm and used the brakes, I remained in control – even with the throttle roaring.
When the tests were done, I turned to Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada's managing director and the point man in this country on Toyota recalls that add up to some 8.5 million vehicles worldwide.
First we talked floor mats. He emphasized once again that Toyota Canada uses different floor mats than Toyota USA. The floor mats getting stuck in U.S. cars are not the same ones sold by Toyota Canada.
Nonetheless, last November Transport Canada issued a recall affecting 200,000 Toyotas. It affects seven different models, including the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES350. A similar recall in the U.S. affects 3.8 million vehicles.
In a nutshell, the problem is a loose floor mat that could force down the accelerator. Toyota plans to reconfigure the accelerator pedal in the affected models and reshape the floor in the ES350, Camry and Avalon. Toyota will also install a brake over-ride system in four models, including the Camry and ES350.
If you are involved, you'll be notified.
As we talked about this, Beatty then pulled out a little plastic bag filled with metal wedges the size of postage stamps, though slightly thicker. These are at the heart of the fix to correct sticking accelerator pedals in eight Toyota models. Some 270,000 vehicles in Canada are affected.
The problem here is caused by a mechanism that controls the accelerator pedal's return to the idle position after being depressed to the floor. Wear and condensation can prevent the pedal from fully springing back into position. The little metal shim adds extra pressure to the mechanism's return spring, fixing the problem.
Beatty suggested that it's been tough for Toyota Canada to get out its messages regarding these problems and recalls. He seemed to argue that the U.S. new media, not to mention some pretty vocal politicians, have been unfairly hammering away at Toyota for shoddy quality, unresponsiveness in the face of serious safety matters and for just generally being a lousy corporate citizen.
The "spillover" into Canada has been damaging, but it won't be lethal, he said. Toyota and its dealers will do the right thing for its customers, he insisted.
Later that day at the Toronto auto show, I talked with a number of analysts and consultants and they seemed to think that the news media as a whole has been guilty of piling on. That is, we have been like a pack of wild dogs snapping and attacking, trying to rip shreds of flesh off a wounded Toyota.
Harsh criticism. And it went on. I was told there is a public backlash building against the news media, one sympathetic to Toyota. Toyota has acted quickly, they said. Besides, recalls happen all the time. Why is Toyota being singled out here?
I'm not sure Toyota is being singled out, but I was certainly interested in hearing various sides to an ongoing story that is playing out around the world. Perhaps there is some truth in the idea that Toyota is being held to a different standard than other auto companies.
But Toyota has long said it operates to exceptional standards -- that it relentlessly pursues excellence in every aspect of its business. So I do not think it entirely odd that some reporters and commentators have jumped hard on this ongoing story. Toyota has set the bar high. For some the perception here is that it has failed to meet its own high standards of excellence.
And there are the facts to consider. Toyota has in the last few months recalled some 8.5 million vehicles, which is 600,000 more than the company sold last year all around the world. The latest came this week when Toyota recalled 437,000 Prius and Lexus HS 250h hybrids, including some 3,582 cars in Canada. This one is to fix anti-lock brake system software.
Why? There have been about 200 complaints in Japan and the U.S. about a delay when the brakes in the Prius were pressed in cold conditions and on some bumpy roads. Beatty told me this is a rare occurrence, but Toyota has a software update, anyway.
He also said that if drivers experience a delayed reaction when depressing the brakes in any of these models, they should keep pressing. Hard. Regardless of the model, the vehicle will quickly come to a stop.
That's what I did on Lake Shore and it worked very time. I simply could not lose control of these Toyotas, no matter how hard I tried.

 

Honest conversations are fine. But it's not clear that you are interested in such, as you're always throwing out claims without evidence.

 

There was a time when that was correct but for the last decade Toyota perceived quality reliablility safety etc was heads and tails above what it actually was, many of the customers were just afraid to say anything because they did not want to seem foolish. Now all of that has been unleashed. It will take Toyota years to rebuild its image if this mess does not get any worse.

Take the gas mileage for instance the average person thought toyota got great gas mileage because the same media which is now destroying toyota, thought that because it said toyota it must get better mileage than a comparable ford or GM largely riding the coattails of the prius.. Now that is gone, the next few years are going to be mighty interesting in the automotive world.

 

Can you give me some examples?

 

It's a big bad world and we should have enough confidence to deal with trolls. In this case the posts are very obviously trolls and most people recognize them as such. Giving reasoned, fact based responses to such irrationality is good practice for dealing with the current media circus and manufactured crisis.

 

Right on DP!

Malorn has a long time hurt ego and he has taken the luxury to shed it on us. I have been watching him for years and have been amazed at how courteous the Prius crowd has been to him. Sometimes they even welcome his thoughts as a thoughtful adversary. But he is really just a troll. He wants to make us unhappy with our car. He is gleeful now because he "smells red meat".


Malorn, there is a saying that goes way back. It is: "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still".

 

This seems to fit the bill:

 

how about this?

PriusChat Forums - Announcements in Forum : Prius and Hybrid News

Or this

Reuters) - Toyota said on Tuesday it would fix all Tundra pickups sold in the United States for the 2000 to 2003 model years to address a risk that part of the truck's frame could corrode, causing spare tires or even the gas tank to drop to the road.

 

You have been saying since November that this is an electronic problem, with your only evidence being that your "Toyota friend" said so. I know I have previously requested that you put up or shut up. I now repeat that request.

 

I don't have concrete evidence, but I am confident Toyota does. I know this is frustrating for all things Toyota, but how do you guys think toyota will get beyond this? Do you have any evidence that it is not an electronics problem? Are these recent problems all driver error or just publicity stunts?

If it was a major electronics problem and it invovled 10 million cars? thats $5,000,000,000 if they can replace the ecm for $500, $10,000,000,000 if it costs $1,000 per car.

 

re: "how do you guys think toyota will get beyond this?"

Industry sources quoted today say Toyota's sales will increase by 30% this year.

 

No that is up 30% in March

Toyota?s ?Bargains? May Boost Sales 30%, Edmunds Says (Update2) - BusinessWeek

Incentive driven from the toyota loyalists, and that has not been the case in the midwest. Toyota had a very weak March in 2009, market share was down. It will be interesting to see how toyota finishes the month.

 

You admit you have no evidence, then you ask me to prove a negative?

Game over. Go home.

 

I think there is plenty of proof that Toyota has not fixed the problem. How much evidence do you need? For your sake I hope it isn't eventually game over for Toyota.