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Talk about bad timing
03-09-2010, 03:57 AM
The same time Toyota was trying to debunk the idea that nothing is wrong with the electronic throttle of their cars, a Prius at 1300 local time went out of control from a stuck throttle on the 8 freeway in San Diego. The car was doing 90 mph. The driver called 911. The CHP managed to get a cruiser in front of the car and slowed it down to a stop. The driver was shaken, but unhurt. If this Prius had a fix and still went out of control, it doesn't look good for Toyota.
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I saw something about a runaway Prius, but I didn't have time ton catch all the details. GOOGLE NEWS - GO!!!
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Quote:If this Prius had a fix and still went out of control, it doesn't look good for Toyota.
Quoting from http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/0 ... eeway.html]this article:Quote:Sikes said he took the vehicle in to an El Cajon dealership for repairs two weeks ago after receiving a recall notice, but was turned away.
"I gave them my recall notice and they handed it back and said I'm not on the recall list," Sikes said.
So it looks bad for Toyota, but in a different way. They might have to "fix" every car, not just the ones with peoblems, before customers feel safe...
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Quote:Sikes said he took the vehicle in to an El Cajon dealership for repairs two weeks ago after receiving a recall notice, but was turned away.
"I gave them my recall notice and they handed it back and said I'm not on the recall list," Sikes said.
I heard this bit on the radio this morning, and this says to me that at least his dealership is in a lot of trouble. If Toyota corporate is telling him his car's recalled, the dealership shouldn't be able to say otherwise -- it sounds like they might have been overwhelmed and had resorted to blowing people off regardless of what they really needed. Bad idea.
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
I've never even been inside a Prius, and am not particularly knowledgeable about cars, so I may be missing something, but... wouldn't the car have stopped if he had turned off the engine?
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the Prius is completely fly-by-wire, there is no 'ignition' per se, if the driver had pushed the stop/start button, something _might_ have happened, if he had held it for 3 seconds, the car _should_ have shut down.
I think I'm going to try and rent one this summer to test this, but something smells fishy.
Of course, this Toyota thing has smelled fishy from the get-go, so...
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The *newer* Priuses are fly-by-wire. The '01 through '04 models (IIRC) still use conventional ignitions. My '03 uses a key, for example.
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This is definitely a public relations disaster for Toyota. Someone or a couple of someone's heads are going to roll.
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Quote:M Fnord wrote:
The *newer* Priuses are fly-by-wire. The '01 through '04 models (IIRC) still use conventional ignitions. My '03 uses a key, for example.
Hrm... *Looks up Prius on Wikipedia* Huh. Didn't know they had a sedan version way back then. The '04 and later models are of a radically different design - almost a whole other car entirely, so this doesn't really surprise me, although it would be nice to see a reference in regards to when DbW systems were introduced in the Prius line and to what extent.
Other interesting stuff: this is not a new issue. Before this recall went out, no less a personage than Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer fame has been experimenting with his own garage of Priuses and claims to be able to get a 'runaway' effect out of his new 2010 model. Reliably. Safely even. (O_o)
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Toyota's used drive by wire for throttle control since '05, other manufactures have used it for a bit longer. Makes me glad the Corolla I drives a fairly basic early-last decade one, true mechanical throttle linkage has it. I don't really trust DbW for automotive applications as some manufacturers use it as a cost-cutting measure and leave out the mechanical control backups. So would not want to be in a car like that when the computer crashes, nor if a T-X is about.
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Hrm. I drive an '06 Corrolla....
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Wow.
While I have a bit of a schadenfreude attitude towards the Prius specifically , I don't share that attitude with the Toyota company as a whole. In the past, I've been impressed with their products. Particularly their trucks (remember the Toyota Hi-lux that the boys at Top Gear couldn't kill?). A little over 15 years ago I was employed as patrol security (unarmed) making rounds all over San Jose, CA. I covered anywhere from 160 to 200 miles a night. And the fleet was a bunch of Toyota light trucks very similar to the Hi-Lux. God DAMN those things could take a beating and keep going night after night! And they didn't rust!
I have to shake my head and wonder what the HELL has gone wrong, here?
I agree something smells about this whole thing. Needs more research.
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I'd be very interested to see an 'amount of vehicles recalled (total, 2000-current)' for Chevy and Ford Vs. Toyota.
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