[CombatVet0311]

mom's corolla never lost control, the throttle wasn't "stuck", I would like to think I'm intelligent enough to notice if the floor mats were the culprit ( what a ridiculous excuse by the way ).

the car surges, plain and simple. you don't have to like it but it does. My mom is with the car now at the dealer trying to diagnose the problem. I will persuade her to trade in her corolla, sorry if that hurts anyone's feelings

[20Camaro11]

I did the same thing when I knew my car had a problem. My 2005 Monte Carlo had a power steering pump going bad, carrier bearing in the transmission whined, the intermediate shaft clunked, the passenger side door leaked water into the car. Those were the problems that it had, the dealer fixed a half dozen other issues before that. For a reason no one could figure out, the gas mileage dropped to 14mpg before I sold it. I decided I better get rid of it before it nickeled an dimed me to death. I chalked it up to bad luck, because I still feel that platform and drivetrain (3800 engine) is one of the most reliable combos out there. I traded it in on the Milan and never looked back.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by bigearl

The NHTSA hasn't been able to reproduce any of the out of control throttle conditions, and the testing on recoverable black boxes from claimed unintended acceleration cases so far have all shown that operator error or the floormat/sticky throttle was the culprit (which were fixed under recall). Operator error was the primary cause. So that's where the media hype claim is coming from. If you can reproduce this condition so easily- you need to get this car on a flatbed and get it to the NHTSA immediately. Not to Toyota.

So an entire team of scientist and engineers can't reproduce this but you easily can in your Mom's Corolla?

I think we've already been over this, but they couldn't reproduce it because they only knew of two causes of UA that were only relative to simple errors. Toyota's case was very special because it had more than one cause, thus their report is essentially worthless; they even admitted this, which is why they asked independent panels to find other causes of UA that were relative to Toyota's case.

[FxsX24]

Originally Posted by 20Camaro11

google is your friend! took me two seconds to refute that.

http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-...97_1_gm-pickup

http://www.autosafety.org/general-mo...car-brake-lock

the list could go on and on. I didn't include all the NHTSA investigations that led to recalls over the last 30 years. In many of those situations, I bet GM did the right thing and admitted fault and fixed it even before the ordered recall, right..............

I googled GM, but I bet similar links exist for most if not all car manufacturer...its part of business. Nobody parts ways with their cash easily.

one think to keep in mind, the laws and regulations were less strict in the 70s. hell recalls didnt even exist till the pinto or whatever was a mega death trap that started it all

[Sax1031]

Originally Posted by FxsX24

hell recalls didnt even exist till the pinto or whatever was a mega death trap that started it all

Recalls happened before the Pinto.

Although the whole Pinto deal was handled very badly by Ford.

[Stett]

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php...ord2=GM+Recall

Just sayin..

[SuperFly03]

I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here on the Toyota report...

2 things.

First, floor mats catching the gas pedal? You can't be that stupid that a floor mat is covering up your gas pedal enough to cause acceleration. I'm sorry but I don't buy it.

Second, do you really believe operator error? Be rational for a minute. Forget that it is Toyota, a Japanese car, or whatever. Do you really think that many people, who have been driving for years, suddenly and coincidentally, forgot which pedal was gas and which pedal was brake? Now, does it happen in panic situations? Most likely, but can that many people from the same line of cars (regardless of who the hell made it because it doesn't matter) in a relatively short time frame all suffer from the same issue?

I think people are stupid. Believe me I'm a jackass and a cynic... but I seriously can't believe there are that many serious cases of "Ooops, wrong pedal" for the same car from the same manufacturer in a relatively short time period.

[fielderLS3]

You can always use the transmission as a brake (though if you're a Camry V6 owner, all your gears might not work).

Clearly, every automaker is going to have recalls (and we all know about all the infamous Ford and GM recalls over the years), but the Toyota recalls are beyond the industry normal. The shear number of recalls in such a short amount of time, for such serious safety problems is staggering. Most 2009-2010 Toyota owners have likely been back to the dealer more times for recalls than oil changes.

Toyota clearly has been cutting corners on quality and doing stuff on the cheap over the last several years. It's obvious that the accountants are doing a lot of the engineering, just as was the case with GM in the 80s, and if Toyota doesn't change course, the result will eventually be the same.

The defenders of Toyota can say what they want about GM. I've had my Oldsmobile 9 years, and it has only been recalled once. (And that was such a minor issue, I never even took the time to have it "fixed").

[Brokinarrow]

Originally Posted by 20Camaro11

I agree that Toyota is following the former path of GM (any of the Big 3). The accelerator thing turned out to be mostly media hype. The government even relunctantly admitted nothing is wrong with the electronics, so the problem remains mostly floor mats in run-away events. Your own profile ( GM loyal for life...) suggests you are a sheep or fanboy. I have owned GM most of the 10 years I have been driving with mixed results. I won't flame on another manufactuer just because over the last 5 years its quality has dropped. The big three wandered off into the desert for a good part of 30 years and just in the last 10 years have really made genuine efforts to build HIGH quality reliable products. During those 30 years, a good many sheep still bought those vehicles and loved em (for the most part). For the record, I have never owned a Toyota or such. I just don't get the hostility. How is this brake issue any different than when GM went to Dexcool and thousands of people destroyed radiators and engines after using regular coolant not following GM recommendations. I don't recall GM shedding any tears for their customers.

Actually, last I heard the official NASA-helped investigation won't be over till earlier next year. They just said they haven't found anything wrong with the electronics YET. But all the news agencies left out the YET part in their articles, conveniently...