Comments on: Prius Owners Mostly Unfazed by Recall

By: David

David — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 19:20:50 +0000

People always tend to stay "loyal" to the car brand they are driving, because to say otherwise is to admit that they may have made a poor buying decision. It is a simple ego thing and has little to do with the vehicle at all. David from how to get rid of stretch marks

By: David

David — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 19:18:09 +0000

By: AP

AP — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:55:02 +0000

Joellen, you shouldn't notice any difference in braking, unless you're braking on a rough surface, like going over a manhole cover. Not having experienced it doesn't mean it won't happen, so you don't want to delay getting it fixed. That said, I do think it's being blown out of proportion.

Katy, if you knew the automotive business, you'd know that it's bad Karma to wish bad luck (or bad press) on your competitors, so no, the US manufacturers are not "egging them on." Toyota is getting more than their share of grief: our press is rabid (as US manufacturers already know), and our Congress likes to puff themselves up so everyone knows they're "standing up for us."

But much of Toyota's problem is because of their poor handling of the situation. Japanese companies have a hard time admitting when they have a problem, because they're not supposed to have problems in the first place.

By: Katy

Katy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:39:06 +0000

Love my 2006 Prius. Nothing wrong with it, everything right as could be. All car manufacturers deal with recalls at one time or another. Tempest in a teapot, probably egged on by US car manufacturers.
As soon as the US auto industry starts making cars on a par with Toyota and the Prius, their sales will improve, no bail-out required.

By: Joellen Hopkins

Joellen Hopkins — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:10:36 +0000

I have a 2010 Prius. I’ve already driven it from NM to FL and back with absolutely no brake problems. Actually, I was quite impressed with how well the brakes worked when I first got the car in September. I did take it in for the “fix” and don’t notice anything different in the way the car works. I think this was definitely blown way, way out of proportion.

By: AP

AP — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:40:48 +0000

This series of recalls isn't a matter that Toyota just "moves on" from. The only reason to buy a Toyota before was its stellar quality reputation; certainly not their styling, handling, or performance.

But they've been steadily cheapening their product for years, and now, surprisingly, have real quality problems. Consumer Reports has been much more wary of them over the last couple years, and now these recalls (a new recall for Tacoma today).

Toyota has successfully suppressed several investigations before, but those might reopen. They have also received special treatment from California regulators. (A former Chrysler calibrator I know said he was describing some work they had to do for a California car, and the Toyota engineer said "They don't make us do that!").

Being a long-time GM employee, I know how these PR things go. Once it's "alright" to criticize a company, the floodgates open. Toyota must beware, because we may just be seeing the tip of the iceberg for complaints and lawsuits. We also know that there is the issue that Wozniak identified that will probably warrant a recall or service program.

And ex-EV1 driver, don't worry. No one in the US auto industry is gloating, because the increased scrutiny following this will affect all manufacturers, and every manufacturer is composed of humans. It just took a little longer for Toyota to look human.

I will only say that they have gotten away with much less criticism and scrutiny than they've deserved for years. Now they will probably get more than they deserve.

By: Toyota tech

Toyota tech — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:59:08 +0000

I work on fixing all the recalled cars that come into the dealership and most people I see aren't all that concerned about what's going on, they get to it when they get to it. And now with the Prius brake problem and the supposed Tacoma driveshaft problem, it still doesn't have an impact on our sales, either. We're as busy as ever, busier even with the recalls, all these recalls are just made worse by the media. I don't even consider any of them a big deal, except perhaps the floor mats, which is basically a design flaw.

Time to move on....

By: ex-EV1 driver

ex-EV1 driver — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:29:51 +0000

Anonymous.
You probably shouldn't be gloating just because your competition shows that they might be just is as bad as you are.
I agree that hiring former NHTSA people is very close to corrupt. That's standard practice in most foreign countries.
The US auto industry on the other hand, used politics approaching corruption to pressure the NHTSA to make all good ideas (seat belts, break-away steering wheels, safety glass, side impact protection, air bags, ABS, etc) mandatory by law. On the front side, this sounds good. On the back side, however, making it mandatory only created higher barriers to entry, thus making it essentially impossible for any new American companies to get into the automobile manufacturing business. A business hiding under the government skirt is an un-American socialistic activity as well so, again, you might want to go easy on your gloating.
note: I've never bought a Toyota so I clearly have no bias toward them. Additionally, however, the last car I bought from one of the American Big 3 was my favorite car ever and it was taken away from me, against my will, then the public was told lies about what I thought about it.
As far as I'm concerned all of them have let their customers down and have a long way to go before they've redeemed themselves. The American companies have also let our country down as one interpretation of Electrical Engineer's WWII comments goes.
Ford, at least IMHO, may be on the upswing but it is way to early to tell for sure.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:19:46 +0000

Sorry, the article about Toyota and NHTSA was in Bloomberg, not Reuters.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:17:25 +0000

Here's food for thought on how far Toyota has been willing to go to maintain their quality reputation. Published by Reuters:

"While all automakers have employees who handle NHTSA issues, Toyota may be alone among the major companies in employing former agency staffers to do so. Spokesmen for General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Honda Motor Co. all say their companies have no ex-NHTSA people who deal with the agency on defects."

The four mentioned in the article went DIRECTLY from NHTSA to Toyota. Having the inside scoop on NHTSA investigations has got to be a great advantage in shutting them down; one that the other manufacturers must have recognized as a moral conflict of interest.

If this has been going on, why has it not been reported until now? Because no one would have believed it until it couldn't be denied?

Working for a competitor to Toyota, I won't gloat, but I will say it is nice to see that people are finally beginning to look at our cars and see they aren't made as cheaply as Toyotas, and that our reliability is essentially even. Toyota's employees are, after all, human.

This is almost like the Berlin Wall falling. I thought it would never happen.