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From: Hachiroku ハチロク on 8 Feb 2010 20:57
On Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:06:41 -0600, The Tree wrote:

> In article
> <c3f7f08e-6636-40d3-955c-6683699a78de(a)o3g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>,
> Neo <residualselfimage1999(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Feb 6, 12:20 am, john <johngd...(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
>> > I don't know why some dealers like to BS like this: faults are normal
>> > and "within spec", so "get used to it" !!!
>> >
>> > Bart has taken her Prius into the dealer twice. "They've said they
>> > can't find anything and they can't duplicate it," she said. "You have
>> > to hit it just so."
>>
>>
>> It is the owner's responsiblity to define the exact conditions when the
>> problem occurs - the problem must be repeatable if the cause and
>> solution is to be determine. You have the same problem when you go to
>> the doctor - if the doctor can't find a repeatably measurable problem
>> with you - he's going to assume you are a hypochondriac.
>> you need to have all your ducks in a
>> row if you expect to make any progress.
>>
>>
>>
>> > One owner from Commerce Township told the National Highway Traffic
>> > Safety Administration that he or she could reproduce a lurching in a
>> > Prius every time a certain pothole was hit.
>> >
>> > The Prius owner said a Toyota dealer had responded the car was "within
>> > specifications ... and we just have to get used to it."
>> >
>> > http://www.freep.com/article/20100204/BUSINESS01/2040468/2010-Prius-c...
>>
>>
>> As with any car with Electronic Stablity Control, when the car hits a
>> pothole at high speed the computer sensors will sense that the tire has
>> momentarily loss traction in that wheel and which would mean that
>> hydraulic brakes would be momentarily useless in that particular wheel.
>> In order for the car not to spin out of control while it is going in a
>> straight line, the ESC would try to adjust the speed on the other wheel
>> on that same axle so both wheels on that axle are going at the same
>> speed. However, this situation should not cause the car to accelerate
>> the throttle or lose braking power. At low speeds , when the tire loses
>> traction - a hybrid should shuts down the electric motor to prevent the
>> electric motor from burning out. When a tire loses
>> traction at high speed, if anti lock brakes were applied on a
>> conventional car, the computer would automatically pump/pulse the
>> hydraulic brakes at regular interval - all the driver needs to do is
>> keep pressing the brake pedal and the comptuer does the rest. To
>> increase braking response time, Toyota can reprogram the brakes to have
>> shorter the time delay between pulsing the hydraulic brakes. The other
>> possible change that I've read about is shortening of the time delay
>> from switching over from the regenerative brakes to hydraulic braking
>> system during braking operations - when an emergency stopping situation
>> is sensed. I drove a 2006 and a 2008 Prius rental from Enterprise for
>> a combination of over 1200 miles in 2008 but never noticed any braking
>> problems, sudden acceleration problems or any operational problems at
>> all while I was behind the wheel. So I was very surprised to read
>> about this problem last year. I suspect that this is not so much a
>> problem with Toyota but with the technology they've used -and while some
>> people are frustrated and upset with Toyota - some of the racist
>> anti-japanese comment's I've seen on some of the newslink are downright
>> reprehensible and ugly.
>
> You hit the nail on the head.
>
> Toyota vehicles have become too sophisticated for drivers. They have not
> a clue as to the innovative features on their new car. For those, we must
> have a model T to drive, with air conditioning.


I have an elderly cousin who can't figure out how to turn on the
windshield wipers in her Honda Accord
From: C. E. White on 9 Feb 2010 10:02

"Hachiroku ????" <Trueno(a)e86.GTS> wrote in message
news:hkqff2$tb$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...

> I have an elderly cousin who can't figure out how to turn on the
> windshield wipers in her Honda Accord

The first time I drove the SO's RAV4, it took me 5 minutes to find the
mirror control joystick. It took another 5 minutes to find the cruise
control switch thingy and another 5 to figure out how to make it work.
I got used to all this, but the controls in that car are horrid. I
could write pages on the stupidity of the inside out control knobs and
the ridiculous shift lever. It is bad enough that Toyota has the worst
erogonmic engineers in the world, now they have begun to affect
American manufacturers. My 2009 F-150 is full of the stupid inside out
knobs and they all look the same! It should be easy to understand a
control with just a glance but when I look over at the F150 control
area all I see are a bunch of illogically arranged knobs and buttons
that all look the same and all have tiny writing. Even the cover for
the power point and the 4WD control look the same. Very Japanese like
and very STUPID.

By ""inside out knobs", I mean knobs were the level / position
indicators are in the middle of the knob - the RAV4 has little windows
where the position indicators show up. Becasue they are on the inside
of the knob, they are obscured by your hand when you operate the
control - stupid. The F150 is actually worse than the RAV4 because the
knobs are even smaller.

My Mother's Highlander is somewhat better than the RAV4 - or maybe I
have just gotten used to Toyota's bad control design.

Ed


From: Hachiroku ハチロク on 9 Feb 2010 17:34
On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:02:13 -0500, C. E. White wrote:

>
> The first time I drove the SO's RAV4, it took me 5 minutes to find the
> mirror control joystick. It took another 5 minutes to find the cruise
> control switch thingy and another 5 to figure out how to make it work.
> I got used to all this, but the controls in that car are horrid. I
> could write pages on the stupidity of the inside out control knobs and
> the ridiculous shift lever. It is bad enough that Toyota has the worst
> erogonmic engineers in the world, now they have begun to affect
> American manufacturers.

This isn't just a Toyota thing.

Hip owners want "bling" and to show how tech savvy they are. The more
gadgets and gizmos, the cooler.

All fine and well, but when bling gets in the way of being able to operate
the car...


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