Ok, so the truth is out about Toyota. how long will it be before we hear the truth about Honda? Nissan? And the others?
I've said it repeatedly that the Japanese automakers are just not as good as they want you to believe they are. And here's this massive recall of eight models of Toyotas, that kill. The Japanese brands have been very good at two different things. Hiding their faults, product-deficiencies; poor service; etc. The only reason everyone now knows about the sticking gas pedal is, sadly, because of the deaths of four people, one of whom was a police officer, with his family, in the midst of making a 911 call because his wife's car was accelerating out of control and they crashed in broad daylight in a very public manner.
Sadly, this is always how the truth comes out, isn't it? What if this hadn't been in daylight? What if it hadn't happened to a cop and his family? What if it had happened only to some slightly-drunk teen... it would have just been dismissed as drunk-driving and inexperience. As a matter of fact, as I write this, I wonder if it ever HAS happened? It probably has. But no one would have looked further into it, right?
And now that Toyota is recalling MILLIONS of vehicles, how are they going about this? Not too damn well it would seem. The dealerships have either had no guidance from Toyota-HQ or they just don't care. I have read numerous stories about dealerships threatening customers with process the repair of the vehicle as a repossession, thereby ruining the credit of the owner.
Here in Ottawa, some Toyota owners have become quite public about the shitty treatment they've received from local Toyota dealerships either not responding to phone calls; emails; not even responding to the local media's inquiries. They of course, are only looking out for their 'bottom-line'. So much for the highly-vaunted Toyota service. Vaporized like the sands of New Mexico in the 40s!
And now, here in Canada, there's talking of two massive class-action lawsuits for the inevitable loss of value that owners will incur because of this. Although that's a bit like putting the cart before the horse, I would never have bought a Toyota before this happened but you can bet your local beer-tab that 7/8s of these Toyota owners will NOT buy a Toyota again. And how are they going to sell these vehicles off, even long after they're repaired? This won't be quickly forgotten. hell, I still remember when there was a rampant rumor of Audis doing the same in the 80s. If true, I've never seen evidence that it was nothing more than the media's then-white-whale. But if true, back then you could just shift the tranny out of gear into neutral and that would do. Just how bad is this current defect that you can't shift your car into neutral and coast to a stop? You can bet anything that that police officer tried it for sure and it evidently didn't work, sadly.
Driving home from work today, I couldn't help but notice every Toyota around me and I can't help but wonder if that car isn't suddenly going to suddenly take off and plow into the nearest light standard. Seriously, if you think about it, you can't not wonder if you and some poor single-mom or some senior aren't going to become a statistic, another anecdote on page 3 of your local newspaper.
We all believe in the vehicles we drive, to the point that we don't even think about it. I mean, really, c'mon, you get in your car every morning, you go to work, you come home... it's usually that easy... but now.... not so much anymore. There could be a Corolla or a Camry waiting around the bend... there has to be stricter quality controls in place. There is no way in today's modern and extensive testing of prototypes, that this never came up as a design flaw somewhere in the development stages! They would have us believe that they build these cars to the highest standards, with exacting controls and continuous development in place.
Well perhaps it's time to raise those standards ever higher! Toyota isn't alone in fault. Governments are too. Federal; provincial; state; municipal.. they all have automotive standards that the manufacturers need to meet. Perhaps those standards need to be revised, too.
Before someone else dies.
