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From: Eric Gisin on 10 Feb 2010 19:51
I have yet to see any technical description of a fault in the gas pedal. Some reports of carpet
jammed under it.

I heard one driver describe "accelerating with both feet on the brake", which is same as the Audi
problem - foot on the gas, not brake.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/02/10/terence-corcoran-toyota-fights-media-thuggery.aspx

February 10, 2010, 10:21:00 | NP Editor
J.D. Power's surveys fail to find unusual safety issues. Why now?
By Terence Corcoran

Toyota is already the victim of one of the most irresponsible and destructive bouts of media
thuggery in history. It won't get better for the company in the days ahead, although it does get a
break today: Thanks to snow in Washington, a scheduled ritual Congressional executive humiliation
proceeding against Toyota had to be postponed. The media, meanwhile, continues its daily rampage.

The expected recall of the hybrid Prius yesterday, to fix an alleged quirk in the computer-driven
anti-lock braking system, was quickly followed by news that the Toyota Corolla is under inquiry for
faulty steering. Exactly who made what complaints about the steering wasn't clear, but it didn't
really matter. First it was the gas pedal acceleration problem, then the brake problem and now a
steering problem. Since all car owners have complaints about their cars, every Toyota in existence
will soon have to be deconstructed.

Here are some samples from the BBC blog site. "I own a Toyota Camry 2006 model. I have experienced
problems with the brakes in the snow that nearly caused an accident," writes Arun from New Jersey.
Aside from telling Arun to move to Florida where it doesn't snow, what's to be done? Is this worth
an inquiry? Another: "We have a 2005 Camry. The car has developed a slight shudder when
accelerating and decelerating. I have not contacted my dealer, but plan to do so soon."

Once this snowball starts rolling, everybody starts contemplating all the perceived quirks and
problems their vehicle might have, even imagining a few new ones that were previously unnoticed.
See how that anti-lock break shudders when you jam it down - must be something wrong. In Toyota's
case, there was little remarkable about its product history until one of its Lexus products crashed
in San Diego while a passenger in the vehicle was making a 911 call claiming the accelerator had
jammed. The report of that crash, and the 911 recording, created a gruesome story that flew through
the Internet and the media.

Even though it is far from clear what caused the Lexus to crash, it is now the pivotal event in the
media's relentless and escalating portrayal of Toyota as a company that has been lax in responding
to safety concerns. Again, there's no evidence for this, but the reports keep on coming. Time
magazine yesterday posted a story "Toyota's Safety Problems: A Checkered History," purporting to
show a "growing list of safety issues" between the company and U.S. government highway officials
regarding accelation-related problems. Over 25 years, until October 2009, the magazine lists 12
incidents in which officials investigated and esssentially found nothing. There are certainly more
evaluations in recent years, but none lead to any conclusive signs of a problem. The complaints are
all found to be "ambiguous" in cause and nature. In September 2006 a driver filed a complaint to
the National Highway Transport Safety Agency about "engine surging" in his Camry. The NHTSA spent
six months investigating and testing the driver's car, but couldn't find anything.

Today, any complaints by any drivers seem to be enough to rate a report or an inquiry. No analysis
is being done to determine whether these acceleration, braking or steering issues are genuine, and
if genuine, what might reasonably be done to fix them. This is just gang regulation by the media.

How else could Toyota go from being among the top-rated manufacturers by J.D.Power to being the
producer of crash-prone vehicles filled with previously unnoticed problems? Steven Witter,
executive director of automotive research at J. D. Power, told me yesterday that their sampling of
Toyota failed to uncover any of the problems now being pinned on the company. "On the specific
problems that the recalls are on, we've had people report these problems. But when we look at
examples, such as the accelerator stickiness issue, for Toyota those problems haven't occurred at
an above-average rate in our data. Have they popped up? Yes. But have they popped up as an issue
per se, no."

If there's nothing new, then what's the issue? Mr. Witter says he thinks Toyota is the first auto
company to experience a new Internet-based backlash. While there may be nothing unusual in Toyota's
track record or even its cars and safety history, the high-profile severity of a single accident
can spin a safety issue out of control through the Internet and then the media. "What we're seeing
now is a sign of the times," said Mr. Witter. With the Internet, events like the San Diego Lexus
accident are posted and "people can go back and look at the coverage and listen to the 911 tape
themselves. It's going to happen more and more, even if it's not high frequency, they are going to
be sensationalized."

No matter what Toyota did, it wouldn't be enough. It quickly stopped the sale of half its fleet,
but critics weren't satisfied. "I do think there have been people in the press and even in the
government who have jumped on Toyota a little harder than I think is necessary and made it a little
bit bigger deal than it is," said Mr. Witter. He said he sees "no evidence" that Toyota had known
about these problems earlier and not done anything about them.

But the malicious attacks on Toyota continue. One auto writer has started to refer to
"Throttlegate." The real ugly scandal, however, is the elsewhere. Call it Mediagate.


From: jim beam on 11 Feb 2010 00:17
On 02/10/2010 04:51 PM, Eric Gisin wrote:
> I have yet to see any technical description of a fault in the gas pedal.
> Some reports of carpet
> jammed under it.
>
> I heard one driver describe "accelerating with both feet on the brake",
> which is same as the Audi
> problem - foot on the gas, not brake.
>
> http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/02/10/terence-corcoran-toyota-fights-media-thuggery.aspx
>
>
> February 10, 2010, 10:21:00 | NP Editor
> J.D. Power's surveys fail to find unusual safety issues. Why now?
> By Terence Corcoran
>
> Toyota is already the victim of one of the most irresponsible and
> destructive bouts of media
> thuggery in history. It won't get better for the company in the days
> ahead, although it does get a
> break today: Thanks to snow in Washington, a scheduled ritual
> Congressional executive humiliation
> proceeding against Toyota had to be postponed. The media, meanwhile,
> continues its daily rampage.
>
> The expected recall of the hybrid Prius yesterday, to fix an alleged
> quirk in the computer-driven
> anti-lock braking system, was quickly followed by news that the Toyota
> Corolla is under inquiry for
> faulty steering. Exactly who made what complaints about the steering
> wasn't clear, but it didn't
> really matter. First it was the gas pedal acceleration problem, then the
> brake problem and now a
> steering problem. Since all car owners have complaints about their cars,
> every Toyota in existence
> will soon have to be deconstructed.
>
> Here are some samples from the BBC blog site. "I own a Toyota Camry 2006
> model. I have experienced
> problems with the brakes in the snow that nearly caused an accident,"
> writes Arun from New Jersey.
> Aside from telling Arun to move to Florida where it doesn't snow, what's
> to be done? Is this worth
> an inquiry? Another: "We have a 2005 Camry. The car has developed a
> slight shudder when
> accelerating and decelerating. I have not contacted my dealer, but plan
> to do so soon."
>
> Once this snowball starts rolling, everybody starts contemplating all
> the perceived quirks and
> problems their vehicle might have, even imagining a few new ones that
> were previously unnoticed.
> See how that anti-lock break shudders when you jam it down - must be
> something wrong. In Toyota's
> case, there was little remarkable about its product history until one of
> its Lexus products crashed
> in San Diego while a passenger in the vehicle was making a 911 call
> claiming the accelerator had
> jammed. The report of that crash, and the 911 recording, created a
> gruesome story that flew through
> the Internet and the media.
>
> Even though it is far from clear what caused the Lexus to crash, it is
> now the pivotal event in the
> media's relentless and escalating portrayal of Toyota as a company that
> has been lax in responding
> to safety concerns. Again, there's no evidence for this, but the reports
> keep on coming. Time
> magazine yesterday posted a story "Toyota's Safety Problems: A Checkered
> History," purporting to
> show a "growing list of safety issues" between the company and U.S.
> government highway officials
> regarding accelation-related problems. Over 25 years, until October
> 2009, the magazine lists 12
> incidents in which officials investigated and esssentially found
> nothing. There are certainly more
> evaluations in recent years, but none lead to any conclusive signs of a
> problem. The complaints are
> all found to be "ambiguous" in cause and nature. In September 2006 a
> driver filed a complaint to
> the National Highway Transport Safety Agency about "engine surging" in
> his Camry. The NHTSA spent
> six months investigating and testing the driver's car, but couldn't find
> anything.
>
> Today, any complaints by any drivers seem to be enough to rate a report
> or an inquiry. No analysis
> is being done to determine whether these acceleration, braking or
> steering issues are genuine, and
> if genuine, what might reasonably be done to fix them. This is just gang
> regulation by the media.
>
> How else could Toyota go from being among the top-rated manufacturers by
> J.D.Power to being the
> producer of crash-prone vehicles filled with previously unnoticed
> problems? Steven Witter,
> executive director of automotive research at J. D. Power, told me
> yesterday that their sampling of
> Toyota failed to uncover any of the problems now being pinned on the
> company. "On the specific
> problems that the recalls are on, we've had people report these
> problems. But when we look at
> examples, such as the accelerator stickiness issue, for Toyota those
> problems haven't occurred at
> an above-average rate in our data. Have they popped up? Yes. But have
> they popped up as an issue
> per se, no."
>
> If there's nothing new, then what's the issue? Mr. Witter says he thinks
> Toyota is the first auto
> company to experience a new Internet-based backlash. While there may be
> nothing unusual in Toyota's
> track record or even its cars and safety history, the high-profile
> severity of a single accident
> can spin a safety issue out of control through the Internet and then the
> media. "What we're seeing
> now is a sign of the times," said Mr. Witter. With the Internet, events
> like the San Diego Lexus
> accident are posted and "people can go back and look at the coverage and
> listen to the 911 tape
> themselves. It's going to happen more and more, even if it's not high
> frequency, they are going to
> be sensationalized."
>
> No matter what Toyota did, it wouldn't be enough. It quickly stopped the
> sale of half its fleet,
> but critics weren't satisfied. "I do think there have been people in the
> press and even in the
> government who have jumped on Toyota a little harder than I think is
> necessary and made it a little
> bit bigger deal than it is," said Mr. Witter. He said he sees "no
> evidence" that Toyota had known
> about these problems earlier and not done anything about them.
>
> But the malicious attacks on Toyota continue. One auto writer has
> started to refer to
> "Throttlegate." The real ugly scandal, however, is the elsewhere. Call
> it Mediagate.
>
>

good post.
From: Ashton Crusher on 11 Feb 2010 23:35
On Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:51:08 -0800, "Eric Gisin"
<ericg(a)nospammail.net> wrote:

>I have yet to see any technical description of a fault in the gas pedal. Some reports of carpet
>jammed under it.
>
>I heard one driver describe "accelerating with both feet on the brake", which is same as the Audi
>problem - foot on the gas, not brake.
>
>http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/02/10/terence-corcoran-toyota-fights-media-thuggery.aspx
>
>February 10, 2010, 10:21:00 | NP Editor
>J.D. Power's surveys fail to find unusual safety issues. Why now?
>By Terence Corcoran

When has JD Power ever identified anything that was later subject to a
recall? Another article by a Toyota apologist.
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