Holy Toyota recall!!!

the shims very in size, you measure with a feeler gauge, look at a reference chart, then slide the correct shim in. They are about the size of a solid 1oz wheel weight, bigger than a nickel. Read through the recall instructions and it says to plug in the Toyota laptop to check voltage at wide open throttle after shim install.

But then again common sense would tell anyone to shut the car off, step on the brake, and/or throw the car in neutral if the pedal stuck.

It's amazing to me to watch the toyota leg humpers, the same ones I've argued with for years over toyota's dropping quality and rising prices come on and try to justify their actions. It's quite entertaining. Can someone pass the popcorn?

It's possible to spin anything. Everybody was screeching about FIX THEM NOW! So what if Toyota went off half cocked (the way I have seen GM and Ford do) and the recall doesn't properly address the problem (as the floor mat thing seemed to do) or worse yet leaves out a bunch of affected cars? How about it takes a little time to properly diagnose failures like these? Like an old dealer GM used to tell me, 'Just replace a damn part'.

A great example: the GM W body (Regal etc) wheel recall of the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. http://www.arfc.org/autos/buick/regal/recalls/000007007000000989000000309/recall.aspx

Those wheels were improperly heat treated; over time the centers would crack just outboard of the lug circle and then you got to watch the affected wheel outaccelerate you. The original recall covered something like 15,000 cars. Then it involved something like 80,000. Then it jumped to around 200,000. All because they jumped the gun in response to the NHTSA's original time deadline. The dumbest part? GM had EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM in the late 1970's to early 1980's.

poopshovel wrote:

turboswede wrote: Quite a bit of info here: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ttacs-complete-guide-to-toyotas-gas-pedals-teardown-pictures-toyotas-fix-analysis-commentary/ http://jalopnik.com/5465002/toyota-recall-the-tsb-toyota-didnt-want-you-to-see/gallery/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/too-good-to-be-true-how-toyotas-success-caused-killer-decontenting/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/tag/toyota/

Uh. Did you read the "Toyota: Illusions Of Trust, Gone" thing in the last link? Seems like less "info" and more "I'm going to hop on the witch-hunt bandwagon." Maybe I'm out of the loop, but last I heard, there were only ~100 complaints filed w/Toyota, for however many (tens? hundreds? of thousands of cars) are "affected." Wonder how many of those are numbtards who got the accelerator pedal stuck under the floormat, or are simply using it as an excuse for why they ran a redlight or rear-ended somebody. Not being rhetorical, or a smartass, I really don't know the answer.

Um, did you read where that article was an EDITORIAL? Yeah that was his OPINION. Sheesh.

Jensenman wrote: It's possible to spin anything. Everybody was screeching about FIX THEM NOW! So what if Toyota went off half cocked (the way I have seen GM and Ford do) and the recall doesn't properly address the problem (as the floor mat thing seemed to do) or worse yet leaves out a bunch of affected cars? How about it takes a little time to properly diagnose failures like these? Like an old dealer GM used to tell me, 'Just replace a damn part'. A great example: the GM W body (Regal etc) wheel recall of the late 1980s to the mid 1990s. http://www.arfc.org/autos/buick/regal/recalls/000007007000000989000000309/recall.aspx Those wheels were improperly heat treated; over time the centers would crack just outboard of the lug circle and then you got to watch the affected wheel outaccelerate you. The original recall covered something like 15,000 cars. Then it involved something like 80,000. Then it jumped to around 200,000. All because they jumped the gun in response to the NHTSA's original time deadline. The dumbest part? GM had EXACTLY THE SAME PROBLEM in the late 1970's to early 1980's.

Oh please, you sound like the Obama camp continually quacking about GW. Whatever you think about a prior recall by a GM vehicle-it has nothing to do with the Toyota meltdown. Toyota has had a number of serious quality lapses over the last number of years-broken camshafts, sludged engines, rusted out frames, failed steering racks,etc,etc,etc-in addition to the recall nightmare(much of it their own doing, btw) they are currently experiencing. They have simply dropped the ball. Now, as stories of cover-ups, endless spin, clueless "fixes", asking for outsider "quality control" assistance, suppressed data and wave after wave of mounting problems hit them, they are exposed as just another mega company interested in the bottom line-imagine that. Other than the injuries/deaths, I'm rather enjoying the Toyota City mea culpa-perhaps some of the numerous lemming-like consumers might actually consider other competitive brands when it's time to replace the Family Truckster. Import loyalists blindly purchasing a 2010 Toyota because of fond memories of their '90 Camry is no different than the Buy American geezer that myopically bought late 70's Oldsmobiles because his '63 Riviera was such a gem.

forzav12, you make a valid point.

But- having been intimately involved in the service end of things with both the domestics and imports- I can say unequivocally the import brands reaction to quality issues has been much better than the domestics (with the exception of VW) and from what I saw Toyota ranked as one of the best. Of the domestics, Chrysler and GM sucked. Ford was TERRIBLE for many years but over the last 10 years they have made huge strides.

Toyota has had their problems, yes. But they have over and over stepped up to the plate.

Sludged engines, aka 'oil gelling?' Please. Every manufacturer- read that carefully- EVERY MANUFACTURER- has had issues with engine sludge. Don't believe me? Do the research. Toyota was, AFAIK, the ONLY one willing to help out even though (IMHO) it's not really their problem.

The rusty truck frames? When's the last time you saw Ford or GM offer to buy back a rusty vehicle at full NADA? Give it a shot. Let me know what happens. I'll wait.

So what is wrong with asking for outside QC assistance? Makes damn good sense if you ask me. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes see something you might have missed.

Could they have handled this last fiasco better? Of course. Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20. The infotainment media smells blood in the water (which translates to ratings which translates to ad revenue) so a careful measured approach to a real fix for a problem becomes a 'cover up'. 'Clueless fixes'? That's what happens when you jump the gun. So you take some time so you fix it right the first time, the newsies call you 'heartless' for 'taking too long'. Can't friggin' win.

Want to know who has some of the worst initial quality I have ever seen and also the worst support? Mercedes Benz. Beautiful cars. Interiors, body gaps, paint and NVH are flawless. OTOH, transmissions puke, electronics are spastic, oil leaks you'd have to see to believe, control arm bushings and ball joints worn to the point of sloppy at 60,000 miles, catalytic converters bad at 85,000 miles (the Fed emissions warranty is 8 years/80,000 miles), EXPENSIVE!!! door and window control modules bad at 60,000 miles, all KINDS of stuff happens. They also are of the opinion that if your car has a 36 month/50,000 mile warranty 36 months/1day or 50,001 miles means you are out of warranty. Just saw it happen again this week. I get PLENTY of business from the local Mercedes dealer.

Want to know who had the best after the warranty support I have ever seen?

Wait for it...

KIA. They were MORE than willing to step up to the plate and fix stuff and they did it QUICK.