5speed5 -
Quote:
Originally Posted by 5speed5
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That, however, is a double-edged sword. That same pride prevented them from acknowledging there was a problem much earlier (The Insurance Institute reported to Toyota back in 2002 that they were seeing a rise in the number of reported "sudden accelerations" of their cars). Once they did acknowledge it, they blew it off as a floormat problem. Then when that didn't fly, they invented this mechanical fix for the gas pedal (which, just by chance, I'm sure, was confined to the American/Canadian made pedals).
I'm personally enjoying a little schauden freude over this Toyota debacle. GM/Ford took so much crud from the media and reviewers over the years and Toyotas were always given a pass (as though God himself personally touched every Toyota made) even though they had head-gasket problems, engine-sludge problems and a lot of the same niggling little problems that all cars do.
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2002 would jibe with the article, aka the timeframe when they pushed for cost-cutting and started introducing the inferior pedal design.
I wish I had the URL, but I read that in Japan this has been getting almost no media play. That may have changed with the Congressional hearings, but I think that was true at least a month ago. When it does, often the angle is that it is either a conspiracy of American auto manufacturers or the fault of the USA manufacturing components.
Toyota is definitely a cultural institution in Japan. Kind of like ... GM used to be ... here.
In terms of who makes better cars, I won't dispute that Japanese cars are superior. On the other hand I don't think the quality-gap is enough to make me shun American manufacturers. My goal is to buy "as American" as I can and work with it. I understand that statement doesn't mean what it used to, but that's the best I can do in terms of choices.
CarloSW2