The only lifelong, reliable motivations are those that come from within, and one of the strongest of those is the joy and pride that grow from knowing that you've just done something as well as you can do it. - Lloyd Dobens and Clare Crawford-Mason, Thinking About Quality

Prius Recalled For Brakes

Toyota relented and has added the Prius to the list of recalled cars for the brake issue, bringing total vehicles recalled for this issue to 7 million.

Toyota plans to recall about 300,000 Prius hybrids worldwide over a brake problem and will notify the U.S. and Japanese governments Tuesday, a news report said, as a top executive will testify before U.S. lawmakers over recall woes that have tarnished its reputation for quality and safety.

7 million vehicles recalled over this and no big bold top of the page headlines for Toyota. Now if an American company did this people would be rioting in the streets and demanding heads roll.

Toyota sales expert Yoshimi Inaba will appear before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator David Strickland. The name of the hearing: "Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?"

Wonder if it will be on CSPAN, but I can guarntee that they will be treated with a lot more respect then when the american auto makers appeared before congress.

STOP DRIVING YOUR TOYOTA

Good Lord, it's a fucking fantastic day!

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is telling owners of recalled Toyotas to stop driving the vehicles and get them fixed.

The fucking Secretary of Transportation is telling people not to drive their Toyotas until they are fixed.

The birds are chirping away today here in Michigan!

LaHood's warning came Wednesday in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation. LaHood says his advice to owners is to "stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it."

Toyota's most recent recall in the United States affects 2.3 million vehicles with the potential for sticking gas pedals.

LaHood told reporters earlier in the day that Toyota owners should contact their dealer immediately and "exercise caution until repairs can be made."(emphasis mine)

They believe they have a fix, which means they are not totally sure they really have the fix.

Bwhahahahaha

Yes indeed, a glorious fucking day!

Prius Brake Troubles Now

Toyota just can't win right now *SEG*

The Prius hasn't been involved in the recent brake trouble recalls, but Toyota is now getting slammed by Prius owners about their brake troubles.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 100 complaints involving the brakes of the Prius new model. Two involved crashes resulting in injuries.

Japan's transport ministry said Wednesday it has also received 14 complaints since July last year about brake problems with Toyota's new Prius hybrid.

The 14 complaints included an accident in July 2009, in which a Prius crashed head on into another car at an intersection. Transport ministry official Masaya Ota said two people were slightly injured in the accident.

But as everyone knows, Toyota has to be proded with a cattle rod before they take any recall action.

Toyota is facing growing criticism that it has not done enough to ensure the safety of its vehicles.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told The Associated Press Tuesday that federal officials had to alert Toyota to the seriousness of the safety issues that eventually led to the recalls.

"They should have taken it seriously from the very beginning when we first started discussing it with them," he said. "Maybe they were a little safety deaf."

LaHood also said the U.S. government was considering civil penalties for Toyota for having dragged its feet on safety concerns.

Toyota executive vice president Shinichi Sasaki acknowledged Tuesday in a Nagoya, Japan, news conference that it took prodding from NHTSA officials for the company to decide on the U.S. recall.

Loooooove it!!!!!!!!

Link to story

Haloscan Comments Going Away?

HELP!!!!!!

I just found out that haloscan comments are going away in a month, this is the first I heard of this.

What can Mu Nu sites use as a comment forum that is free?

HELP

Toyota Pointing Finger At Customers

I really didn't think Toyota would be pointing the finger back at it's customers so quickly, but I was wrong.

The supplier says a fix is in the works, they are claiming it's the gas pedel but that doesn't really sit well with my quality super powers.

The supplier is also saying that Toyota says it's the customers fault for the gas pedel sticking.

Vinod M. Khilnani, the chief executive of CTS, said in an investor call that "we are working diligently and collaboratively with Toyota to find a field fix and to put additional capacity in place to manufacture the new pedal and support the recall."

Khilnani said the problem was due to pedals that are slow to depress or release when drivers try to accelerate or slow down. He said the only cases when the pedals could get stuck was when they were used in conditions that go "beyond Toyota specifications." Khilnani did not elaborate what those conditions are.

Get that, it's not Toyota's fault that it's customers are using their gas pedels under conditions that go beyond Toyota specifications. I am curious as to what other ways you can use a gas pedel that Toyota deems beyond their specifiications.

Oh and they are adding an additional 1 million U.S. vehicles to the recall.

Toyota Motor Corp. also announced an additional recall of 1.09 million vehicles in the United States covering five models — 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Venza, 2009-2010 Matrix, and 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe.

The Pontiac Vibe is on there because Toyota has a joint venture with GM that makes the Matrix and Vibe at Toyotas NUMMI plant in California. No other GM vehicles would be involved.

Toyota "Gas Pedel" Issue

I see I have a lot of people coming to the House of Weenie to try and find answers for what is going on with Toyota and their "Gas Pedel" issue.

Most likely it has nothing to do with the actual gas pedel itself, but it's system.

Toyota uses a Drive-by-Wire system, which bascially means it is using a "computer" and module to regulate is acceleration system.

Wiki has a good explanation of it ..

Drive-by-wire, DbW, by-wire, or x-by-wire technology in the automotive industry replaces the traditional mechanical and hydraulic control systems with electronic control systems using electromechanical actuators and human-machine interfaces such as pedal and steering feel emulators. Hence, the traditional components such as the steering column, intermediate shafts, pumps, hoses, fluids, belts, coolers and brake boosters and master cylinders are eliminated from the vehicle. Examples include electronic throttle control and brake-by-wire.

Hope that helps.

Whatever fix they come up with it's gonna be an expensive one because a drive-by-wire system does not come cheap.

TOYOTA HALTING SALE OF 8 VEHICLES

This is HUGE.

There is more going on here besides a simple gas pedel sticking. They have no idea what the problem is and it is probably very wide spread. A company does not just halt the sale and production of vehicles unless it's something huge.

WASHINGTON – Toyota is suspending U.S. sales of eight recalled vehicle models to fix accelerator pedals that stick. As part of the plan, Toyota is halting production at five manufacturing facilities for the week of Feb. 1 "to assess and coordinate activities."

There are 2.3 million vehicles involved in the recall, which was announced last week.

The Japanese automaker says the sales suspension includes the 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

The recall came months after Toyota recalled 4.2 million vehicles due to gas pedals that could become trapped under floor mats, causing the vehicle to accelerate.