Ray LaHood - out of context (FOX)

It's not just FOX. MSNBC is running the same thing.

 

Hmm...I don't know. The media is so predatorial right now in regards to Toyota that it is hard to tell. They obviously are taking some statements and quotes out of context and time frame and spinning them to sound current and frightening.

However, I also think LaHood is covering his @ss. Seemed like a week ago, he was making statements of cooperation and admiration of Toyota handling the situation. Now he's talking "tougher", like he's always been telling Toyota they had a problem and insisting they fix it...which is a change in tone.

Whatever happens, with 2 sets of hearings coming up in Washington surrounding the matter I'm afraid Toyota is in for another round or two of negative publicity. Hard for me to believe political and business agenda won't exist.

In the end, I don't care what the media spins, what LaHood is saying or has said, in the end I'd like the truth. Unfortunately with so much agenda from all angles, getting at the truth is going to be an exercise in reading between the lines of spin. I'd love to see the e-mails between Toyota and The NHTSA.

 

But now it looks like the flood gates have opened and it's time to kick the big kid while he is down and just totally dump on him. It is tragic that there is this mentality. I commend Toyota for how they are handling these issues. Unlike other mfg's they are working correctly to address the issues. I truly believe a lot of this hoopla is politically driven sensationalism. That is just the times we are in right now. If you don't agree with the government or go along with mainstream you are an unpatriotic idiot. The easiest way to effect change or ruin a company/person is to just keep throwing mud at them and sooner or later enough will stick and their reputation will be so tarnished that they will be ruined.
Feds 'pushed' Toyota to recall, will probe Prius
'We're Not Finished with Toyota': US Transport Secretary

Like none of the US mfg's ever had a recall?

 

All these news I read from US seems to border on mess-hysteria...
I could be overly sensitive here but it seems there are some agenda about Toyota being a non-American car-making company?

When I heard how GM and rest of the industry reacts, it looks like a pack of hyenas homing-in on a feast on a fallen elephant, that seems invincible until recently.

 

If it is a nationalistic agenda, which I doubt, it will tend to help Korean manufacturers, not American car makers. Hyundai's looking better all the time.

 

Some local TV in my area has been well past that border and into the heart of mass hysteria for several days.

When they were talking about the sticky pedal recall while displaying mostly 2010 Priuses, I knew that rationality had vanished.

It was like the crime stories twenty years ago, where the reports about yet another person stabbed or beaten to death usually were accompanied by a background picture of a GUN!.

 

You Toyota huggers just can't admit that Toyota made a mistake, and has a bad product on the roads, can you? I can see his point, park that damned car until it gets fixed, is that so hard to fathom? The cars have a defect that kills, and yet you guys have no concerns driving it? Remember back when the Ford Explorer was on the news because of bad Firestone tires? The problem wasn't the Explorer, it was the tires, yet Ford took a huge hit for it. I had one of the affected Explorers with the Firestones, I got the tires replaced right away, why risk it? Now it's Toyota's turn. Bring it in to Toyota and get a loaner, why take a risk, you endanger not only you and your passengers, you endanger others on the road with you, even if you believe you can slap it into neutral, there is still the risk the car can take off and hit someone, or you lose control before you have a chance to knock it into neutral.

On the Prius braking problems, I can believe it, the Camry I had did the same thing, just not as bad. The Prius I had also had horrible traction control issues with the stock tires, enough that I got rid of the car as I did not want to put my family or myself at risk of getting hit trying to pull out into fast moving traffic. I got rid of the Camry because the POS would surge coming to a stop. These cars have problems and need to be fixed. They are not the golden chariots you all make them out to be.

 

Are you sure it's out of context?

According to Yahoo news:

How is that out of context?

 

Isn't the faulty accelerator pedal American made? Or have I been misreading the information (sincerely)?

 

Time to back pedal:

WASHINGTON - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that he misspoke when he told a Congressional subcommittee that owners of recalled Toyotas should "stop driving" their vehicles until they were repaired.
“What I said in there was obviously a misstatement,” LaHood told reporters in a hasty news conference held after he testified before a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation.
LaHood clarified his remarks and said that owners who were concerned about their Toyota vehicles should bring them to dealers and have them examined.

Full article here at msnbc U.S. official: Bring recalled Toyotas to dealers - Autos- msnbc.com

 

Well one thing I would say, is while I think the media's reaction has been predatorial and fear inducing...that really shouldn't be unexpected. Don't we know that is how the major media works...without conspiracy theories or ideas of competitors implementing secret plans of attack?

Also, media aside, Toyota did fail. There evidently did exist a problem with acellerator pedals. Floormats...or sleeves within the pedal that replicate the tension and feel of return of a cable throttle within the pedal of an electronic throttle system...Toyota wouldn't be fixing them, if they didn't need to be fixed.

It's the biggest safety recall in sheer numbers in the history of the automobile industry. I like Toyota, I'm not bashing Toyota but they do not get a pass. Growing up, my family owned several Toyotas. We always felt they were well made and reliable and at least as safe as everything else on the road, probably safer.

But one does have to wonder, and at least question, if in Toyotas growth into the largest manufacturer they haven't lost sight of some of the principals that made them great.

I'm NOT offering the personal answer that I think each individual has a right to form for themselves, but I got severely attacked when I questioned the quality control of Toyota when it was discovered the side panels of The Prius pulled out with vertical cargo net installation. People jumped all over me for suggesting it could be indicative of a bigger problem within Toyotas quality control. Cargo Nets you can ignore...Brake Pedals you cannot...but the problems with both might be born out of the same root cause. Toyota has brought this upon themselves.

It could just be change and growth. Toyota has been saddled with dealing with a growing threat from Korean Automakers who are producing nicer, and nicer automobiles at a cheaper cost. Does Toyota need to re-evaluate their own quality control? Have they cut corners in an effort to keep prices competitive?

I think these are valid questions even if I don't have the answer. I think business is good for business, and I haven't lost faith in Toyota even in questioning them. Toyota USA is huge, and Toyota from a percentage standpoint produces and invests a lot into american production of Toyota. I'd much rather Toyota succeed, open production plants in the US.

The media is to blame for what the media almost always does, but Toyota doesn't get a pass simply because they are big and have been sucessful.

I live in Oregon, and at the NIKE campus headquarters you can't enter a building if you are wearing anything other than a Nike product as a shoe. Silly? Maybe. But it shows self product loyalty. IMO there is no real reason the CEO of Toyota should be riding in anything but a Toyota product...ever. Riding away from the media in an Audi? I would of been late to anything and insisted they bring me a Toyota. That's bad publicity and Toyota has nobody but themselves to blame.

 

Figures. LaHood has a history of running his mouth.

 

Canadian made. North American built cars get the CTL made throttles.

I am thinking along those same lines. I kept reading and hearing about how great the Camry is, so I bought one without really going over it, just a test drive and a quick run through to make sure it wasn't dirty or had something out of place. It wasn't until I had it about a week and really started looking at things that I discovered how cheap the car was made. I fully expected more out of Toyota and was very disappointed. It is as though they put all their focus on the ES300, and throw the junk on the Camry. Years back, the Camry was well built, good solid materials, nice quiet ride, but the 2009 I had was none of the above.

 

Actually Taggart you have been misreading. The original complaints were because of gas pedals manufactured right here in Mississauga, Ontario in Canada. Toyota later acknowledged that Denso in various countries (ie. in Europe) manufactures precisely the same part. Hence why the Aygo, Avensis and other euro built cars are affected. The other manufacturing plant in Indonesia produces a similar pedal design, but in their testing does not qualify. Indonesian sourced pedals are installed in mostly Japanese manufactured vehicles.

@THE ELECTRIC ME - I complete agree. Having owned 14 Toyota's in our family, only our most recent Toyota's have been the most troublesome. Our 1986 Tercel, 1987 Corolla, 1992 Previa were models of incredible reliability. Our troubles started with our insanely awful 1999 Corolla LE, and 2002 RAV4, which were frequently at Toyota for suspension and engine related issues. My fathers 2006 Highlander Hybrid has been great, except for a recall, my mom's 2007 Yaris is awesome (only 1 recall for a seat belt related issue). My Prius has been very good, barring a few first generation issues. Our 2007 Camry has been quite bad and 3 recalls already, not to mention valve issues and a belt needing replacement at only 25,000 kms!!! (its been fixed). My brothers 2004 Sienna has been awful as well. Only 120,000 kms, and the rear springs needed replacing. Our Previa had nearly 300,000 kms and it only needed new struts at 250,000! I am not even going to mention his 2000 Toyota Solara, quite possibly the most unreliable 4 cylinder driven vehicle I have ever seen in my life. I would fill three pages before I finished, fortunately he got rid of it as soon as he was financially able.

I have said it before, I believe Katsui Watanbe (former President of Toyota) needs to be put on trial, not Toyota. If you will note, Toyota's much vaunted and well deserved reputation began to suffer since his takeover in 1995. Oil sludging, faulty transmissions, break away suspensions, snapping crankshafts, sticky gas pedals, and now, faulty brake systems fall under his watch. Therefore, he is responsible due to his cost cutting and bottom line growing tactics. But that is just my opinion. Is it me, or am I noticing based on posts about Gen 3 Prius' and Gen 2's and Gen 1's that things seem to be getting worse. I understand that production has nearly grown 10x since the first Gen 1 has come, and thus more issues due to larger numbers of Prius' on the road, but most of these issues that come up on later models seem non-hybrid related issues, and more about other parts of the Prius. Unlike Gen 1's and early Gen 2's that seem that have issues in relation to hybrid related component failures? Clear evidence of cost cutting by Watanbe.

 

Accuracy. It was proven in court trials that the Ford/Firestone issue was caused by the design of the Explorer and Ford forcing Firestone to put under-inflation specs on its tires. Goodyear refused to go along with Ford and it was fired. It no longer was allowed to supply tires for the Explorer.

The statements you made above about the vehicles 'killing' people is wildly hysterical and also inaccurate. Despite statements ( unverified ) in the press about 16 or 19 deaths involved in these UA claims no one has actually substantiated these statements. The Saylor case is entirely different. Who are these victims? Every year 5000 to 10000 people die in GM vehicles but 5000 to 10000 people also die in Toyotas every year. When somebody proves these issues definitively then I'll believe them. I drive a lot more miles than almost anyone over the last 20 yrs ( 20 x 35,000 mi or more ) and I've never experienced any of these issues - ever.

Based on my own experiences call me highly skeptical. Prove the statements with facts and I'll begin to be convinced. However until I actually experience some of these issues myself....they never happened.

 

Yes, LaHood ( R, IL ) does have a serious case of diarrhea of the mouth.

I also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get some 'input' from his former colleagues in the Red States such as

• Mitch McConnell ( R, KY ) where nearly all Camry's and all Avalons are produced;
• The Alabama delegation, where most of the large V8s are built
• The West Virgina delegation, where most of the engines for the Camry are built;
• The Texas delagation, where all the Tundras, Sequoias and soon Tacomas are built.

'Hey Ray buddy, What the H*** are you doin' supporting the UAW companies and puttin' our good ol' boys out of work?'

'Uh..well I might have misspoke.'

 

Deadphish, I sincerely hope you mean that you wish to experience them under controlled conditions. I don't think any sane person would want to deliberately experience unintended acceleration that may result in death or injury. I am personally satisfied that Toyota is doing the right thing, and I don't believe all the hype the media has made. I do not believe that this is all bunk at all. Toyota themselves has acknowledged there is an issue, and even went on TV here in Canada (during yesterday's episode of LOST!!) and discussed the recall. Toyota has been forthcoming and honest, and I feel confident driving their cars and do not support hysteric comments of "Ray LaHoodwinker", as that is all he is trying to do. LaHoodwinker reminds me of the Senator McCarthy back in the 40's and 50's. Except Toyota is the new communism! LOL!

 

I sincerely doubt that my wife ( 04 Highlander ) and I ( 05 Prius ) will ever experience any of these issues. After all the Toyota's we've owned and all the many miles we've driven over 20 years we would have seen something...but nope, nothing. Going back to 150,000 miles on an 89 Camry, 150,000 miles on a 94 Camry, 185,000 miles on a 97 Camry, 75, 000 miles on a 2000 Camry, 40,000 miles on an 03 MR2 Spyder and 20,000 miles on an 07 Solara Convertible we've never experienced any kind of issue. Those are just our past vehicles. The two current two vehicles that we now drive have had zero issues so until the highly remote possibility occurs that I do encounter something, I'm mildly cautious and completely confident that nothing will occur.