Toyota Faces U.S., Japan Probe on Prius Brakes

Link

Thursday , February 04, 2010

Toyota faced fresh doubts about braking problems in its prized Prius, with complaints swelling to about 180 in the U.S. and Japan, as the automaker sought to salvage its reputation amid massive global recalls over gas-pedal problems in eight other models.
In Washington, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood startled the public with a comment, which he later retracted, that Americans should park their recalled Toyotas unless driving to dealers for accelerator repairs.
The problems with the Prius hybrid are another blow to Toyota in the U.S. — its biggest market — and an embarrassment in the automaker's loyal home turf of Japan, where the transport minister said a recall should be considered.
The popular gas-electric hybrid was not part of the most recent recall over sticking gas pedals in eight top-selling models, numbering about 4.5 million vehicles around the world.
A major Toyota dealership in Tokyo said the automaker had informed dealers that Prius brakes can sometimes fail to work for less than a second but it had not told owners.
Toyota has already done fixes for Prius cars sold since late January but has yet to give instructions to people who bought them earlier, said Hiroyuki Naito, a manager at the dealership. The latest model Prius hit showrooms last May.
"It is disappointing because the Prius was receiving such rave reviews," he said.
Details were not immediately available on what Toyota had in the works for Prius cars sold in the U.S. and Europe.

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Looks like Toyota is getting hammered. I've never seen the press make such a big deal over something like this since the Pinto.

I have understand that Ford has a problem with thousands of complaints about steering problems and it's being covered up by the Obamedia. Because Toyota sells so many cars the administration is trying to hurt Toyota with statements from Transportation Secretary LaHood: “Stop Driving Your Toyota”

Now they are threatening Toyota with the maximum allowable $16.4m in civil penalty fines and California while Toyota is trying their best to fix all the problems they have and they hid nothing.

If the big three want to sell more cars why don't they make better more affordable ones, and they can start by dumping all the damn unions.

Unions are helping Obama wreck the economy and the UAW and SEIU are in the lead. Obama has his people out working for the unions as pay back for them helping elect this anti-American.

Councilman said:

I have understand that Ford has a problem with thousands of complaints about steering problems and it's being covered up by the Obamedia. Because Toyota sells so many cars the administration is trying to hurt Toyota with statements from Transportation Secretary LaHood: “Stop Driving Your Toyota”

Now they are threatening Toyota with the maximum allowable $16.4m in civil penalty fines and California while Toyota is trying their best to fix all the problems they have and they hid nothing.

If the big three want to sell more cars why don't they make better more affordable ones, and they can start by dumping all the damn unions.

Unions are helping Obama wreck the economy and the UAW and SEIU are in the lead. Obama has his people out working for the unions as pay back for them helping elect this anti-American.

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Your obsession with Obama worries me.

Hatuey said:

Your obsession with Obama worries me.

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Care to add anything of relevance here?

American said:

Care to add anything of relevance here?

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It is a pretty irrelevant thread to begin with. Governments look into car malfunctions all the time. And the media covers it. I remember those faulty airbags by GM a few years ago. And before that Mercedes G-Class in Canada. But I'd rather talk about Councilman's obsession with Obama.

Hatuey said:

It is a pretty irrelevant thread to begin with. Governments look into car malfunctions all the time. And the media covers it. I remember those faulty airbags by GM a few years ago. And before that Mercedes G-Class in Canada. But I'd rather talk about Councilman's obsession with Obama.

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Your opinion of the thread is irrelevant. Anything else?

like council did?

:rofl

Dare anyone mention litigation-happy? There's certainly something strange about this. The whole fuss is based on 200 incidents in the US and Japan. Curiously, in spite of all the cars being made in the same factory, there have been no incidents reported in all of Europe. The accelerator recall begins here next week.

BBC News - Toyota Prius in new blow as US opens brakes inquiry

" Toyota's managing officer, Hiroyuki Yokoyama, said although the company had found a clash between the anti-lock brake system (ABS) and regenerative braking, more investigation needed to be done before deciding on whether to issue a recall on the Prius.
He told a press conference in Japan: "As for whether this will mean a recall, we are currently looking into what we can do as soon as possible for our customers to buy our vehicles. However, we hope for a bit more time before deciding on specific measures."

Mr Yokoyama said the clash occurred under limited circumstances, including on frozen surfaces.
As depressing the brakes further activated normal braking, Toyota said the glitch was not legally a safety hazard and said it had received no reports of any accidents related to it.
... "

623. Embedded program (1/31/2010)

Decade ago, I have read a news said that there was a secret team which design special program embedded in electronic chips so in emergency, Pentagon could activate those spy program to paralyze enemy's electronic devices, computers and weapons. Since most computer microprocessors are supplied by US firm, US takes a big strategy advantage over other countries.

That strategy has been used in domestic surveillance.

Last year, I bought a pocket video camcorder. I use it to monitor the entry path of my home when I was out. I worry that the Feds may came to my house to do some perpetrate job. The camcorder shows a strange character. It works sometimes, but other times the memory was blackened with the word "File failed". Since each time I made sure the camcorder was working on "record" function, I think the Feds had remote controlled the camcorder with embedded program. They blackened the memory of the camcorder when they had activity in the yard.

Last year, I was blocked to internet for months with my home computer. I had to go to library. The public computer limited to two hours service, so I bought a notebook. There is no time limit for wireless service.

At the time when I looked for low priced notebook, an article in a Chinese newspaper I used to read said that the best quality notebook brands are Acer and Toshiba. The two were supplied by nearby store. It seems the Feds want me to choose from these two brands. At last I bought an Acer for its low price. Like that camcorder, this notebook gave me a lot of headache. The wireless function worked well on the first day, then for more than a week same function stopped working. Library staffs tried and failed too and said they didn't know why. Finally in a computer tutoring class, the instructor got it through by click on a link "Continue to this website (not recommended)." in a page "There is a problem with this website's security certificate.". So the notebook now can only go wireless in a tricky way with the "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage". But even that "not recommended" link once had disappeared and disabled wi-fi function. So I know any time the Feds could cut internet connection with their embedded program.

The new notebook also doesn't work with Microsoft Word because it requires the product key. The product key is stuck at the bottom of the computer, but it always has "incorrect key" result after I entering that code. They alter the original code in my notebook.

I don't think the camcorder and the computer have a mood like human that they take a rest if they are tired and return to work when they are happy. They are manipulated by embedded program.

Recently, the car produced by Toyota encountered with a big problem of sudden acceleration. The problem was reported long time ago, but Toyota couldn't find the cause. At first it blamed the episodes on floor mats that entrapped the pedals. Then it claims it was caused by sticky gas pedals.

Since the media make it a hot topic recently, I think the timing is very important. They have a purpose.

1. The US auto maker giants GM and Chrysler almost go bankruptcy last year if the government hadn't supported them with financial aid. To recover, US automakers have to take back the market share from their foreign rivals. Toyota is the biggest rival.

2. Japan and US have a dispute in its military base.

Quote, “US airbase tests relations with Japan

By Roland Buerk
BBC News, Tokyo

Last week, writing in the New York Times former Assistant Secretary of Defence Joseph Nye described the Pentagon as “properly annoyed” .
Say Sayonara to Okinawa. The Absurdity of US Military Bases in Japan. » EMOIZ.COM

Then I saw such a report:

Quote, "No easy answer to why Toyota accelerators stick
Experts say it is likely a series of issues rather than a single problem

updated 4:15 p.m. PT, Thurs., Jan. 28, 2010

WASHINGTON - Nothing illustrates that more than the contradictory statements from the two companies involved. Toyota Motor Corp. is telling the government that it thinks a friction problem in its accelerator pedal mechanisms may make the pedal "harder to depress, slower to return, or, in the worst case, mechanically stuck in a partially depressed position."

CTS Corp., the Elkhart, Ind., supplier that makes the devices for Toyota, said in a statement Wednesday that the friction problem accounts for fewer than a dozen cases of stuck accelerators, "and in no instance did the accelerator actually become stuck in a partially depressed condition."

.....Outside safety experts say possible causes also include the complicated electronic sensors that relay the message from the gas pedal to the engine, the design and location of the sensor system, a lack of a fail-safe override mechanism, and even a certain media-fed awareness that puts more people on the lookout for the problem.

No easy answer to why Toyota accelerators stick - Autos- msnbc.com

The mechanism of accelerator pedal is simple. How couldn’t a big firm with strong engineer resource find the fault? I believe what the CTS Corp says that it is not the pedal problem. When the acceleration system has a mood like my computer and my camcorder have, Toyota can never solve the problem.

Kathaksung, I thought you would have become psychologically stronger already. You're still experiencing delusions. I have known you from several sites on the internet.

The US government nor any government in the world has the funds, manpower, or political will to create a giant electronic harassment network. It takes man hours that cost money to do what you think they are doing to you.

Its all a game you play in your mind with yourself (or the other self). When you get better at the game (play smarter) you realize that it is a game and it has some rewards.

I went through the same delusions that you have or still are. I believed that they put a chip in my jaw and I believed that they were monitoring my internet and harassing me through it. I experienced episodes where it seemed like I was being microwaved.

You are experiencing what is called a delusion, and it seems completely real. When you conquer such strong delusions it makes you very strong and healthy. If you want to talk private message me. You can say anything to me even if you think they are watching I used to think the same thing. The computer begins to become your friend and can warn you about things and it only seems to be the government it is not actually the government. When things get exciting for me the computer highlights text on its own or sends me to pages with funny addresses that don't exist.

If you are using marijuana stop it now and never do it again. If you are not you need to try a 'typical-antipsychotic' drug. I take 'abilify' for internal word salad and it has no side effects. Find a foreign doctor, some of them are good karma for people like us. I understand that if you were to see a doctor you would be making a deal with the nationality of that doctor. Sometimes you have no choice and it is a good thing temporarily. If it makes you stronger it is worth it.

Also you are still playing 'FBI' games. You have to smart your way through it, or learn to deny it. The FBI used to chase me around, now they are gone.

send me a private message if you want to talk about it.

American said:

Link


Looks like Toyota is getting hammered. I've never seen the press make such a big deal over something like this since the Pinto.

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A slow news day, recalls happen all the time.

deltabtry said:

A slow news day, recalls happen all the time.

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Some of these are considered critical considering their immediate impact on safety.

American said:

Your opinion of the thread is irrelevant. Anything else?

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Your opinion of Hautey's opinion is irrelevant. Care to add anything of substance to this thread?

As for Toyota getting investigated it is a serious matter. An investigation should be happening as well as recalls.

TheNextEra said:

Your opinion of Hautey's opinion is irrelevant. Care to add anything of substance to this thread?

As for Toyota getting investigated it is a serious matter. An investigation should be happening as well as recalls.

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I just did, you should know that it doesn't work the second time around.