Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Really? What Engineering discipline are your degrees in?
Being an Engineer, why is it you don't think there could possibly be a problem with Toyotas electrical systems?
I mean mistaking the gas for the brake in this many cases is a pretty far stretch unless your 80 years old.
Mech/Elect.
Well, the last 2 Toyota crashes that made the news tell us that the people were indeed on the gas and not on the brake. The housekeeper in a Prius and a woman in a Rav4. And they were both well under 80 years old. My guess is they were both on the phone or texting.
That CA highway vehicle was driven by a California Highway Patrol officer. So you are saying a cop who DRIVES all damn day didn't know how to stop his vehicle? Really? You sincerly want to say that?
I work in the auto insurance field and this issue has become a massive hassle. There have been cases where we have determined something occurred due to malfunction not driver error. I can care less how many degrees you have, I have dealt with these issues personally. With that being said, stop pretending you know everything. You are just making s*it up.
yup. I say that. You think just because he was a cop that it means he knew how to drive? Theres a stretch. I know lots of cops that drive no better then your average driver. He could not put it in neutral? Whats that tell you about his driving ability under pressure?( I am not comfortable talking bad about a person who died.. It was a horrible thing)
What gets me is that there are now NASA scientists involved in this.
Occam's Razor, folks.
Which is more likely, that Toyota has willfully withheld information which documents a known electro-mechanical flaw across nearly EVERY model they make, or that solar flares, gamma radiation, and planetary alignments have caused radioactive interference to mysteriously cause random, sustained electronic failures which have resulted in dozens of deaths in the United States (out of tens of millions of owners in the US and abroad), or that some people just screwed up and natural selection is a tough old bird to kill.
Toyota has had dbw systems now for at least 6 years and all of a sudden NOW there a software issue? No way..
Toyota has had dbw systems now for at least 6 years and all of a sudden NOW there a software issue? No way..
IIRC BMW was first to market with drive by wire on the V-12 of the 750i/iL
Of course now BMW use valvetronic and has no throttle as such.
I'm not saying that's a good thing, I like the mechanical throttles on my M just fine, fiddley to adjust and all.
I would not buy a car like the current Prius where the gearshift, start/stop button (did they get this idea from Microsoft? ) and throttle are all under computer control, with my input being essentially a "suggestion" for the computer. The car is clearly *capable* of having a computer problem that gives me WOT, stays in gear, and no way to "kill" the ignition.
At the same time I have to say almost *all* car wrecks are driver error, either primarily or completely. Hitting the gas when intending to hit the brake is a classic error.
Keep in mind that most of us who post frequently in *this* forum are car enthusiasts, DIY mechanics, and/or are in the biz. The knowledge level of the average "appliance car user" is amazingly low.
I mean mistaking the gas for the brake in this many cases is a pretty far stretch unless your 80 years old.
Not really. The media hyped the 'unintended acceleration' issue with Audi 25 years ago and nearly destroyed a company not at fault. Back then, it was literally people hitting the gas instead of the brake.
Not saying Toyota is necessarily w/o fault, but sections of the media have been known to have a herd/bandwagon mentality and a lust for a salacious story in the name of 'investigative journalism' w/o actually investigating anything.
OH, its still an issue, I had a temp job for a company that contracted with Toyota to make customer service calls to people who have just brought their cars in for service...still LOTS of problems, still LOTS of doubts about the brand.
My understanding is that Toyota was grasping to find what was causing the problems, first looking at the mats in the car, then the gas pedal and the use of a shim of some sort and then of course looking at the braking system and then the last I heard before the temp job ended was they were looking at the computer system in the car.
Another interesting issue is that its only the Toyotas made in the US, not in any other country...
Toyota has done what they can to sweep it under the carpet, even going to the extreme of trying to TAKE the cars involved in the accidents without any kind of authority from the owner or the police, trying to keep any Federal agency from looking at the cars.
i noticed that most of the drivers happen to be of the female gender? Coincidence? Or is it maybe trying to drive while yapping into a cell phone and put on eyeliner can cause one to crash a car?
I've had my computer for 4 years now, and, guess what, all of a sudden, there's a problem with the hard drive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frankgn87
Toyota has had dbw systems now for at least 6 years and all of a sudden NOW there a software issue? No way..
From what I understand of the whole thing, it seems there are only two companies in the US who actually manufacture the equipment for the throttles, so, consequently, if it is proven there is a fault, then it's likely that many US based manufacturers will be affected.
Again, my understanding with Toyota is that, while they suffered less reported incidents than GM, they took longer to address the problem.
Maybe they were covering up, maybe they wanted to wait to be sure, because of the inevitable damage to corporate image.
Or, here's the shocker, folks.
Maybe, just maybe, there actually isn't a major flaw with the cars, and they didn't actually need to have a knee jerk reaction
The lemmings comment in the post above is correct.
Don't believe everything which is written in the papers, most of it is rumour, counter rumour, and personal opinion, and it is not in the interests of consumer safety, but for the sole purpose of selling newspapers, and attracting viewers to TV shows.
Have a look on the dictionary for "sensationalism"
ignorance at its best.. Stay away from drivers on cell phones and/or texting would be better advise
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) and throttle are all under computer control, with my input being essentially a "suggestion" for the computer. The car is clearly *capable* of having a computer problem that gives me WOT, stays in gear, and no way to "kill" the ignition. 
