OK, FOR 3 MONTHS ALL I HEARD ON THE NEWS WAS ABOUT TOYOTA & PRIUS PROBLEMS AND ISSUES. WHAT HAPPEND, I HAVE NOT HEARD A WORD ABOUT TOYOTA IN A MONTH? DID THE ISSUES VANISH IN THE WIND???
1) Toyota issued a report stating that all the physical evidence does not match the guy's story. Toyota then listed all the facts to back up their position. Pretty convincing for those that understand the technical details involved. 2) Media attention span is at most two or three days. 3) The search for the "defective" part in the Prius has had the same luck as the search for Sasquatch.
Also, the truth will out. So many people didn't want to admit that they had their foot on the gas instead of the brake.
Yep on both. However, there has been some tidbits of Toyota/Lexus bad news like the Consumer Reports 'don't buy' rating on the Lexus GX 460, followed by a recall and then the 'don't buy' being lifted after the fix. Then there was Lexus Vehicles : Toyota Announces Voluntary Recall on Certain Lexus LS 460 and LS 600h L Vehicles to Address Temporary Steering Wheel Off-Center Condition / Toyota, but that didn't get THAT much attention. There was also stuff like http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...credit-congressional-testimony-witnesses.html and http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/20/1640088/toyotas-claims-of-extensive-testing.html. I haven't followed the details closely nor verified the accuracy of the claims in the press, but I know bwilson4web has taken issue w/it at http://priuschat.com/forums/freds-house-pancakes/80601-engineer-vs-congressman.html.
Immediately after that, they decoded the event data recorder from another SUA incident, the NT babysitter crash, which fired the airbag and thereby recorded the event. It was clearly showed pedal misapplication, i.e driver error. Wasn't this also the incident where a nearby security camera showed the brake light came on only after the crash? With BP in the hot seat, and staying there as long as the oil keeps flowing, this is about as good a time as it ever gets for everyone else to come clean on 'problems' with a minimum of publicity backlash.
Still there, just not the top headlines. May 28: Toyota Ordered to Give Plaintiffs Sudden-Acceleration Records in 30 Days - Bloomberg May 26: US Agency Continues To Receive Reports Of Toyota Crashes - WSJ.com May 25: Toyota Sudden Acceleration May Be Tied to 89 Deaths, U.S. Says - BusinessWeek "4 days ago" (same story) The Associated Press: Gov't: 89 deaths tied to Toyota acceleration But, this being PriusChat, for some reason a good portion of people will just stick their heads in the sand and ignore any possibility that there might be an issue and conclude that any kind of investigation should not be done.
It's because all Toyota owners are dead because of sudden acceleration problems (coupled with faulty brakes on the Prius, witch is especially deadly combination). There is nobody left to report anymore.
I think all Prius owners have merely parked their vehicles out of fear. This will reduce further incidents of runaway Prius'. Seriously,, everyone who chimed in is correct. Is/Was there a problem? I don't know, but I do think it was blown out of proportion. The last incident with Sikes created doubt and other people who wanted pull a similar stunt had second thoughts. Obviously there will be a great deal of scrutiny going forward. If you are in California watch out for any out of control Nissan Cubes. That is the new vehicle for the schmuck Sikes.
Looks like to me BP is a 3 mile island to big oil being unregulated and greedy and will give a quick start to all vehicles that use less energy. I live here and have decided to not eat fish from the gulf and stay out of the water. I am pissed at 30 years of greed and payoffs to all politicians. Oh great idea " lets save a few bucks on safety and distroy the Gulf of Mexico". We did not need it? Right!
What did you expect? It's a function of the media. There are only so many times you can run DEATH-TOYOTA style headlines and stories before the impact starts to wane. I was suprised it lasted as long as it did. That being said, legal wranglings are still popping up from time to time.
