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The Whole Toyota Debacle.......Your Thoughts.

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Fordman:
Hello All,

Its no secret on BYOAC that I work for Ford Motor Company, so my thoughts may be a little biased at times when it comes to the auto industry.

On the Toyota issue, 8.5 million recalled cars-trucks world wide due to different reasons (brakes-sudden acceleration-rusting frames).

We have the Lexus (fancy Camry) that went out of control for 6 miles at speeds of over 100mph in Tennesee, USA that we all heard about on tv from the owner.
Several pundits on tv have questioned why she just didnt throw it into neutral, park or reverse.
I think that wouldnt have helped anyway. The transmissions are programmed to not go into a reverse or park when at speeds above 3mph. this is done to save the hardware within the gearbox. The valve body control module wouldnt let it go into the neutral or park mode as programmed - designed. But it should have been allowed to go into neutral and then while in neutral, the rpm's of the engine should rev down to 'idle' rpm's. The error is the not allowing the transmission to go into neutral. I think Toyota's issue is a software issue and not a hardware one. This little 1" x 1" piece of metal being added to the pedal I think is a "I can see the fix, so I know they fixed it" kinda feel good fix for people. I work with engineers all the time and they will tell you alot of issues are now electronics and the software within them and no so much a mecanical part.

I dont have any thoughts about the Prius brake issue as I havent followed up on that one yet.

As for the rusty frames - rusty hangers, the spare tires falling off the Tundra's, the metals used on the frames and tire hangers where made by AK Steel in Ohio. The date for the manufacturing of the frames and hangers are the same as when the AK Steel plant had a worker strike, so there may be a quality issue with the steel from that plant.

Those are just my thoughts, Yours ??????

Fordman

Vanguard:
I really don't see what the big deal is.   I couldn't believe the government dragged Toyota before congress to explain how they dropped the ball.  U.S. automakers have been doing as bad or worse with quality for a lot longer and have never been called on it.

My first and last American car was a Dodge Ram.   I had 3 steering columns replaced in the vehicle because the crumple tube kept breaking causing me to lose the ability to steer.   Each time it happened, It could have been life threatening.   I did some research and found that it was a known issue.

1) There was never a recall
2) The third time it happened the vehicle was out of warranty and Chrysler refused to pay for ANY of it.   The column alone was $1500.00 with tons of labor to replace it.
3) This was just the most serious of a long line of constant problems with the vehicle.

It's actually kind of funny,  It's like we expect the American automakers to build crap and we get riled when the Japanese do the same.   I guess we've come to expect more out of them than U.S. automakers.  I guess that's because more Asian autos are made in the U.S. than U.S autos?

ark_ader:
I support American products and I buy Chevy.  :applaud:

Vanguard:
Chevy makes more cars/trucks in Canada and Mexico than they do the U.S.

The same is true for most U.S. Automakers.

Ginsu Victim:

--- Quote from: ark_ader on March 04, 2010, 07:55:38 am ---I support American products and I buy Chevy.  :applaud:

--- End quote ---

Government Motors?

No thanks.

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