• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

Toyota problems could be electronics

mikev said:
“As it was going, I was trying the brakes ... it wasn’t stopping, it wasn’t doing anything and it just kept speeding up,” Sikes said, adding he could smell the brakes burning he was pressing the pedal so hard.
Click to expand...

The inability of the brakes to overpower the throttle (especially in a Prius, FFS!) is what is really disturbing to me, and so far I haven't read an answer to this from Toyota.

With one of the affected drivers being a CHP officer, and another an amateur racecar driver (reportedly), I tend to believe that people have been stomping on the brakes with no effect. Something is wrong here, and it doesn't sound like floormats or sticky gas pedals.
 
funny how this all extra hype, from the yet-another-fraudulent-example ABC documentary to the massive media panic storm didn't happen when these cars were originally designed but only right before the release of a competing Government Motors product?

Now people claiming the problem still exists after the throttle control system is replaced, even though the identical part on many other models (including Ford) has been recalled "just in case" but there's no big storm of problems in those other vehicles...

what about the Lotus Elise which uses a Toyota engine and many other components in the system? No hype and recalls there.

If it was all really about how Toyota "handled the problem", why is it *still* a big congressional issue and still a big media story with repeated "new" incidents manifesting right at the most effective times?

what's really fascinating here, is all the hype, government "subsidies", and mandates for all the complex features under the excuse of "environment" and dubious claims of "improved safety" has created machines that are black boxes of witchcraft to the majority of their users, who will believe just about anything they are told about them. I'm surprised there's no "Toyota Exorcist" yet.
 
TheRobSJ said:
Notice how some other brands are doing some recalls right now? Good strategy. Get it over with while Toyota is out in the spotlight being a lightning rod for bad publicity and they get to sneak under the radar.
Click to expand...

A little like pitting under yellow
 
More funny news on the Sikes brain trust:

Patty Sikes said the family's 2008 Prius appeared to have an accelerator malfunction a few weeks ago but it was brief.

"It took off for a second, and then it just stopped. It was like a little hiccup or something," she said.
Click to expand...

Hey yeah so we have a car that's in the news for accelerating out of control, and we got a recall notice, and it sort of has the problem sometimes, but we're just going to keep driving it, right? What's the worst that could happen?

:facepalm
 
Aluisious said:
More funny news on the Sikes brain trust:



Hey yeah so we have a car that's in the news for accelerating out of control, and we got a recall notice, and it sort of has the problem sometimes, but we're just going to keep driving it, right? What's the worst that could happen?

:facepalm
Click to expand...

You have an opinion... which you are entitled to however your ignorance of the story is in full effect. He took the car to a Toyota dealership, they told him the car was not on the recall list.

He is an idiot for not having the ability to stop a 17hp Toyota prius. Any Toyota driver who does not know they need to push and hold the "start" button to turn the motor off is an idiot.
 
My900ss said:
You have an opinion... which you are entitled to however your ignorance of the story is in full effect. He took the car to a Toyota dealership, they told him the car was not on the recall list.

He is an idiot for not having the ability to stop a 17hp Toyota prius. Any Toyota driver who does not know they need to push and hold the "start" button to turn the motor off is an idiot.
Click to expand...

:blah

You don't know what you're talking about. They sent him a preliminary notice, which says "in the future we'll tell you where to go and when," and he went to the dealership that told him to get lost.

He did this, because in all probability, he can't figure out simple procedures, like waiting for a notice, using his brakes, or turning off his engine.
 
Last edited:
Regardless of whether the guy is an idiot or not, it's quite likely that he didn't "just turn off the engine" because he was freaked the fuck out that his brakes were not making the car stop accelerating.

Everybody likes to think they'd remain level headed and not panic in any given situation, but...
 
mikev said:
Regardless of whether the guy is an idiot or not, it's quite likely that he didn't "just turn off the engine" because he was freaked the fuck out that his brakes were not making the car stop accelerating.

Everybody likes to think they'd remain level headed and not panic in any given situation, but...
Click to expand...

You're not selling me on the idea that it takes quick thinking to turn the engine off when it's going crazy on you.
 
Aluisious said:
You're not selling me on the idea that it takes quick thinking to turn the engine off when it's going crazy on you.
Click to expand...

It may not for you...but you'd be shocked at other people's reality:

My mother in law doesn't seem on the surface like a completely useless idiot...heck, she's a manager of an accounting department. But once, when faced with an oncoming car in her lane, her response was to take her hands off the wheel and cover her eyes...

Yes, she crashed.
 
Aluisious said:
You're not selling me on the idea that it takes quick thinking to turn the engine off when it's going crazy on you.
Click to expand...

A majority of people will probably be unpredictable when placed in a high adrenaline, panic situation.
 
Yet the stock remains in the high 70's compared to the high 60's of late '08/early '09.

Amazing.

The fact that the black boxes of the crashed cars cannot be accessed by anyone other than the OEM, (there is only one laptop in the US that can talk to the black box), is amazing.

I'm guessing there will be a big push to change that and a push eventually for black box standards on cars.
 
Agree GAJ. Amazed the stock is holding up.

Alluisious, ever had a throttle hang on your bike entering a corner? What'd you do? Shut the bike off or try and make the corner?
 
Holeshot said:
Agree GAJ. Amazed the stock is holding up.

Alluisious, ever had a throttle hang on your bike entering a corner? What'd you do? Shut the bike off or try and make the corner?
Click to expand...

Assuming the throttle was open during your entire braking zone, you could have noticed and used rear brakes and shut the bike off. No reason for the throttle to be open before the corner :twofinger
 
Shoot Var, the throttle should be open right to the braking point man! And if the thing hangs you've got some limited time to make a decision...T1 at Thunderhill? Jump the fuck off!
 
Not sure I am buying this guy's story... How long do you think 'till he files his lawsuit?:laughing
 
I think it's bullshit that some of you are blaming the driver for the thing yesterday.

I heard him speak last nite - it's not like he's doing trackdays.

Toyota has a fucked up product, it's that simple.
 
Personally, my first priority in an emergency would be trying to regain control...not calling 911
 
Holeshot said:
Alluisious, ever had a throttle hang on your bike entering a corner? What'd you do? Shut the bike off or try and make the corner?
Click to expand...

High pressure situation...Holeshot trying to bait me into answering a question that appears relevant but is really a trick, so that he can criticize my answer...

What to do? What to do!?

Ignore it! Whew, dodged that one.

:twofinger
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top