TMC Execs encouraged US to "keep quiet"-US Exec disagreed

According to the news articles I have read a Frank Bernard had an engine WOT runaway incident involving the floor mat and apparently the very same vehicle the Saylor family died in.

Why has there been no interview of Bernard...? How soon did he realize the floor mat had trapped the gas pedal and what procedure did he use to get it to release..?

And why in hell would he not immediately afterwards stop and remove/toss the floor mat...? Or did he..??

Personally I would have tossed it into the trunk for the later opportunity to use it to FLAIL the dealer manager who had put my life at risk.

Or was Bernard just another Toyota "shill"??

Was Bernard, and/or the Bernard "story" just a figment of the imagination of the Toyota PR damage control team...??

 

Ok, now I get it. I think the thing that bugs you is that the CHP & Fed investigators can't 100% PROVE beyond all possible certainty that the Lexus had bunched up floor mats. Unfortunately, that's just how ALL things in life actually are. Nothing is 100% so ... just like the O.J. jury ... all the blood ... all the facts don't necessarily positively mean he did it. After working for the Public Defender's office, THOSE are the kinds of people we'd LOVE to find for our jury. Shrinks teach us what kinds of questions to ask, so we can put them ON the jury. Conversly, the district attorneys try and get all of em' recused. I find it hard to believe some deny we've been to the moon ... but to each his/her own.

Wow malorn - I'm surprised you'd offer up that link ... but thanks! Contrary to your constant droaning how Toyota is doomed, the author states that (in his opinion) "...the worst has passed" as well as he says, "... no it's NOT time too sell your Toyota" ... much less buy GM.

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Another reporter trying to cover his butt. The fact is Irv had no idea there was a recall coming in 5 days. Mr. Koganei did. Irv was a "lame-duck." It means you're not in the loop. Of course, Mr. LeBeau is going to hate it when PR guys aren't appreciated. He has never worked for an auto maker or airline, but he is now an expert according to the MSM.

 

He's apparently responding to those 1500 emails that I sent him last week .. .

 

Are you being intentionally obtuse? Did you not even read the article in the SD Union-Tribune posted on their online site? For the really really lazy I gave you the link.

Try reading first and then engaging your fingers later.

 

i have never said Toyota was doomed, I just think this story is probably far from over. Every week the story stays alive results in decreased market share. I think the reality of the situation will be felt in mid-summer as it relates ot toyota market share.

 

It was you....I knew it!

 

Funny I was going to post this exact same analogy in regards to that poster. I think that he may still be looking for the remains of stage set left in the Arizona desert.

 

Yes, I read the article, originally found it myself and then through your link.

But just what is your point, what did I say, explicitly, that you are attempting to dispute. Sorry, at age 70 I am a bit slow on the uptake so please do not spare the veribage.

 

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Here is a link with 2 interesting polls that Bloomberg took .For the shills that want to bypass some of the lawyers thoughts go to 3:26 in the video: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiJ-NDksIqo]YouTube - Shkolnik Expects Toyota to Fight Proposed U.S. Fines: Video[/ame]

 

Actually, there's a 2007 sitting in the driveway because of all the hooha. When the media started flogging the fud, I figurred prices would go down and started checking craigslist. After a bit of research, it seemed like the best thing was to purchase a Certified vehicle and got a good deal on a like new car.

As a driver for 40 years or so and after 20+ cars and 8 motorcyles, some observations -

All cars drive different, and one should familliarize oneself with a new vehicle's quirks.

Floor mats have been around a long time and have always been a possible hazard. The owner's manual even warns of possible problems, but of course manly types don't read those. To continue to use the mats after noticing a problem is beyond the pale.

If a suspended accelerator pedal sticks, or any other part of the throttle linkage, place your foot underneath it and lift up.

The Prius does not have a "gearshift". It does have an electronic joystick that returns to null when released and controls a relatively sophisticated system for the trans and the two motors. All things considered, this is amazingly reliable.

Even if all the reports are valid, the number is statisticly insignificant in regards to the vehicles produced that use these systems. Same can be said for the braking system. I follow a Japanese news site and there are no alarmist reports on catastophic failures. The problem here seems to be a direct reflection of the citizen to lawyer ratio.

Journalists, and I don't consider the ranting heads on cable and fox journalists, for the most part have little or no control over what they cover and how thier stories are played. With the corporate dominance of a few media outlets, there is little in the way of serious reportage these days. The constant barrage of ill informed blather, er...opinion, sorry, of the intertubes hasn't done much more than muddy the waters.

As far as Toyotas response, the poor bastards are scambling to find solutions to problems that don't seem to really exist on a systematic scale. So far, unlike the exploding gas tanks of Ford and GM, or the tipover rate of certain SUVs, no one has been able to duplicate the problems in a laboratory setting.

Right now there are 5,00 people without a job in Freemont CA, screaching how unfair it is that Toyota closed the NUMMI plant. Basic physics actually, for every action there's reaction.

 

Nothing you mentioned, changes on how people buy cars for the most part,perceptions and opportunists come into play here, you represent a minority, that don't care how news changes opinions on things. This fact is reflected in Feb 2010 sales, where Toyota was the only car company down in sales from the same month a year before. In March 2010, with incentives, they moved up from a year before.

Due to the news , many changed their opinion of Toyota and at the very least, if they chose Toyota, it was at a discounted price to sway them.

 

Certainly true. I prefere to stop, look at the empirical evidence, and try and think rationally about things, rather than allow myself to be herded around. Most do not understand their own decision making processes and how easily they are manipulated by outside forces.

Look at the current situation with the Lexus. Gee, you jerk the wheel at high speed in a high center of gravity, short wheel base vehicle... and it could tip over! Whodda thought? I lost all respect for Consumer Reports long ago.

 

No one should ever have need for relying on VSC in the situation given, but these events happen and it doesn't hurt to have someone, VSC, watching your back.

We, as human drivers, cannot be fully attentive 100% of the time.

 

Consumer Reports is published by Consumers Union. Consumers Union and Ralph Nader founded the Center for Auto Safety in 1970. Nader was on CU's board of directors 1967-1975. Nader hates computers- still uses a typewriter. Clarence Ditlow is now head of the Center for Auto Safety. He is on CU's board of directors. CU is a supporter of toyotatruth.com, which is the tool of the plaintiff's attorneys. Thomas Kane allegedly held up telling the public about the Ford-Firestone safety problems to help build more cases for the lawyers (he says he didn't want to say anything until he could prove the cause). Joan Claybrook, Carter's head of NHTSA is a Nader protege and worked for the Center of Auto Safety.

Their story on the Lexus (which does have a simple software fix) mentioned the fact that their last Do Not Buy alert was for the 2001 Mitsubishi Montero, but failed to mention that Mitsubishi denied it. NHTSA said CR was full of it and there was no more problem with rollovers of Montero's which were unchanged through 2007 than there were with other SUVs.

I canceled my CU membership this morning.

 

I've been mulling over a response to this rather alarming statement regarding control over a two ton weapon. A recent column by the Car Talk guys prompted the answer.

A reader had asked them advice as to how to install a mirror in their mini van so they could watch sports in their rear view mirror off the back seat TVs. This wouldn't be you by any chance, would it?

Just how much attention is appropriate? After phoning, texting, reading, eating, personal grooming, petting the dog, and other behavior seemingly more important than actually driving the vehicle, that is.

Your response certainly explains a lot of what I observe every time I have to join the fray. Then again, if you splatter yourself or someone else across the landscape, you can always blame the car or some other outside force. There's an army of lawyers waiting in the wings to help absolve any personal responsibility.

 

I think you missed the point of wwest40's comment. As good drivers we can attempt to be attentive all of the time. We know driving demands full attention. Sadly, as humans, it is not possible to be attentive 100% of the time. We need to realize this and adjust our thinking to compensate for human weakness. Any system that demands humans to be 100% perfect is doomed to failure, so as drivers we need to build in a little room for error.

Tom

 

Apologies if I came across as a bit harsh, and granted there are distractions in the daily drive.

But there is also plentiful evidence that many of these distractions are self induced. So much so that it is now widely considered that the use of personal electronics while driving now causes more problems than drunk driving. Most people consider themselves to be excellent multitaskers, despite research showing otherwise.

Stanford University just completed a study among students on multi tasking and found that despite the confidence of all who participated, every test proved that performance was worse in all cases. And every student refused to believe the findings applied to them, even when shown their own results.

When you combine this hubris withe the "I've got rights and will do as I damn well please" general attitude, the situation on the roads is bound to deteriorate. Not long ago I saw a guy on a motorcycle texting at a red light, and every time I'm on the highway I see vehicles gradually drifting to the side and then jerk abruptly back into the lane as if the driver was suddenly aware of the situation. Not good at 70MPH. And I'd say at least 40% of the drivers were obviously talking on a hand held phone or texting. I've also come close to being broadsided twice in six months by dingbats on the phone breezing through red lights. Both times the driver was surprised to find that the light was red. And just yesterday a guy was killed by a train as he was on the phone and walkin on the tracks...in the direction of the train. A Darwin moment if there ever was one.

It seems that the tendency these days is to expect the car to do the driving and/or protect us if we screw up, as opposed to concentrating on the matter at hand and driving for the conditions and capabilities of the vehicle.

Yes, good drivers will build in room for error. Around here I'd say at least 80% tailgate, suddenly switch lanes without signaling, race to the next red light, cut people off at on and off ramps and left turns, speed, etc.

 

Just to set things a little straighter...

Once my gps/nav is setup to guide me I turn off the video map so as to not get distracted if I'm indecisive from the voice guidance.

We can drive on the track for 2-3 hours with totally, tightly, focussed attention but doing so on a day's 500 mile drive is a practicle impossibility. That requires all the nannies the engineers can think up.