Report: No evidence of Toyota throttle faults

[Citaro]

"A preliminary US government investigation has found no evidence of defects in Toyota's electronic throttle control systems, pointing instead to driver error as the main cause of accidents blamed on unintended acceleration.

The findings, contained in a briefing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to members of Congress on Tuesday, seemed to support Toyota's position on the electronic systems while dealing a blow to dozens of class-action lawsuits filed against the Japanese carmaker.

The NHTSA said that while the investigation was still at an early stage, "engineers have not identified any new safety defects in Toyotas, other than sticking gas [accelerator] pedals or pedal entrapment".

In an analysis of data recorders in cars involved in 58 accidents, the NHTSA concluded that, in 35 cases, the brakes had not been applied at all. In nine cases, they had been applied late in the crash sequence. In one case, both brake and accelerator had been depressed.

One case involved a jammed pedal, but the NHTSA did not elaborate on the reason.

Toyota has acknowledged mechanical defects in accelerator pedals and has warned that out-of-place floor mats can cause pedals to jam. It recalled millions of vehicles in the US and other countries this year to correct these problems.

The company paid a $16.4m fine to the US government in April to settle claims that it had delayed reporting potentially dangerous defects to safety regulators.

Toyota has subsequentally acknowledged that the recalls exposed deep-seated shortcomings in its management culture.

Steve St Angelo, Toyota's new quality chief for North America, told the Financial Times last week that, among other changes, head office in Japan would no longer make all decisions on vehicle recalls. Instead, regional safety executives must now reach a consensus.

After the recalls this year, the US National Research Council set up an independent committee to probe the causes of unintended acceleration. The committee is expected to complete its report in mid-2011.

The NHTSA said it was continuing to work with more than a dozen Nasa experts to identify possible causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles apart from the mechanical defects.

Members of Congress criticised the carmaker at hearings this year, with many giving less credibility to Toyota than to researchers who had questioned the reliability of its electronic throttle controls." - CNN

 

 

 

LOL!

[East New York]

Wow!

[lilbluefoxie]

Im not surprised. The whole thing was blown out of proportion to discredit Toyota and to boost sales of GM and Chrysler which the government has majority ownership in. Then you had idiots purposely crashing their priuses to try to get money out of Toyota.

 

My family has been driving toyotas since 1983, I have a Corolla. They are very reliable cars that last a long time and if I had the money, I would buy a brand new toyota today.

[SubwayGuy]

Buy American and support your country.

[Citaro]

Buy American and support your country.

 

What is american? Even the iphone is coming from Asia.

[Dan05979]

Most american cars come from either Mexico or Canada and their bulid quality sucks to death. You buy a Toyota your actually most likely to get your car built right here in the U.S and the build quality and reputation of that vehicle is way better.

 

I honestly would never buy an american brand car just for that reason and their reliablity history is not good.

[Citaro]

Most american cars come from either Mexico or Canada and their bulid quality sucks to death. You buy a Toyota your actually most likely to get your car built right here in the U.S and the build quality and reputation of that vehicle is way better.

 

I honestly would never buy an american brand car just for that reason and their reliablity history is not good.

 

German cars for the american market also come from Mexico, for example the VW Jetta.

Ford isn't as bad as GM and Chrysler and some cars like the Taurus are good, but Toyota has modern technology. It doesn't matter where these cars build, There is no real difference between the reliability of the car companies, Toyota, VW, Ford, GM, Renault, ..... all the same, just the premium cars have a difference reliability so there Lexus, Cadillac and Lincoln sucks, BMW, Audi and Mercedes wins.

[Dan05979]

German cars for the american market also come from Mexico, for example the VW Jetta.

Ford isn't as bad as GM and Chrysler and some cars like the Taurus are good, but Toyota has modern technology. It doesn't matter where these cars build, There is no real difference between the reliability of the car companies, Toyota, VW, Ford, GM, Renault, ..... all the same, just the premium cars have a difference reliability so there Lexus, Cadillac and Lincoln sucks, BMW, Audi and Mercedes wins.

 

What are you talking about? For many years the 3 big american car companies built terrible cars with poor reliability records thats why most americans were buying import cars. Toyota & Honda are one of the most solid cars ever built and that reputation will carry on forever.

 

And what do you know about Lexus, Cadillac and Lincoln sucking? How many cars have you owned in your life, or worked on? Bmw had tremedouse problems with electrical and so does Mercedes Benz. And trust me I know because I was in the business.

[SubwayGuy]

Ford has tremendously improved their reliability in recent years. At least for an American economy that is struggling by supporting your country you keep that money in the US. Even though Toyotas are made in the US, the profits still trickle out of the US. Running a trade deficit is like playing a bad game of Monopoly..every time you pass go, take $200 from the bank, but give $225 to the player to your right. Eventually you will lose...

 

Lexus's are rip offs and no one should ever buy them. All a Lexus is, is a Toyota with a different logo on it that costs twice as much. If you really want a Lexus that bad, just get a Toyota and keep the rest of your money for yourself.

[Joel Up Front]

After the automotive dark age ended, America was still reeling from the days of huge displacement engines choked by new emissions standards/small cars producing producing less power than a lawnmower engine... some Japanese marques (Honda, Datsun/Nissan, Toyota) started coming over in droves and more people made the shift to foreign cars, as they were more reliable and fuel efficient. This was when cars like the Civic and Corolla started becoming popular.

 

Then again, when Honda released the Accord here in 1978, it was plagued with chassis issues, so of course they caught quite some flak.

[Dan05979]

Ford has tremendously improved their reliability in recent years. At least for an American economy that is struggling by supporting your country you keep that money in the US. Even though Toyotas are made in the US, the profits still trickle out of the US. Running a trade deficit is like playing a bad game of Monopoly..every time you pass go, take $200 from the bank, but give $225 to the player to your right. Eventually you will lose...

 

Lexus's are rip offs and no one should ever buy them. All a Lexus is, is a Toyota with a different logo on it that costs twice as much. If you really want a Lexus that bad, just get a Toyota and keep the rest of your money for yourself.

 

Ford has improved themselves greatly over the years especially with their truck line. Ford has a solid foot on the ground with their truck division.

 

Toyota created a luxury division called lexus in 1989 to compete with the german market. Lexus competes with all the other luxury divisions out there not Lexus vs Toyota. Watsa matter with you? I know if I'm buying a Lex, its deffinetly going to be way more better than a Toyota wich is not a luxury brand. Why do you say Lexus is a rip-off? I know when I'm buying a Lex, I'm getting Toyota quality in a Luxury automobile which competes with all the other top dogs in this world.

If you want a hamburger go to Mcdonalds, I'll keep going to Peter Lugers.

[Dan05979]

After the automotive dark age ended, America was still reeling from the days of huge displacement engines choked by new emissions standards/small cars producing producing less power than a lawnmower engine... some Japanese marques (Honda, Datsun/Nissan, Toyota) started coming over in droves and more people made the shift to foreign cars, as they were more reliable and fuel efficient. This was when cars like the Civic and Corolla started becoming popular.

 

Then again, when Honda released the Accord here in 1978, it was plagued with chassis issues, so of course they caught quite some flak.

 

Tell me here what car ever produced less power than a lawnmower sir.

[SubwayGuy]

Ford has improved themselves greatly over the years especially with their truck line. Ford has a solid foot on the ground with their truck division.

 

Toyota created a luxury division called lexus in 1989 to compete with the german market. Lexus competes with all the other luxury divisions out there not Lexus vs Toyota. Watsa matter with you? I know if I'm buying a Lex, its deffinetly going to be way more better than a Toyota wich is not a luxury brand. Why do you say Lexus is a rip-off? I know when I'm buying a Lex, I'm getting Toyota quality in a Luxury automobile which competes with all the other top dogs in this world.

If you want a hamburger go to Mcdonalds, I'll keep going to Peter Lugers.

 

I agree that Ford's trucks have been reliable for quite some time but their passenger sedans are starting to catch up, and that helps their sales outside of the industrial sector. Over the years American carmakers had lost a lot of ground to foreign companies in that area, now they're starting to get it back which is a good thing. That's what I meant in my earlier post.

 

Lexus is the expensive steakhouse that gets their meat from the same place as the ol' Golden Arches and slaps a fancy schmancy iron into the meat with the name of something pretentious that sounds good. A Lexus isn't much better than a regular Toyota is my point. It's just a Toyota in Lexus wrapping. If you want a luxury automobile, buy BMW.

[Dan05979]

I agree that Ford's trucks have been reliable for quite some time but their passenger sedans are starting to catch up, and that helps their sales outside of the industrial sector. Over the years American carmakers had lost a lot of ground to foreign companies in that area, now they're starting to get it back which is a good thing. That's what I meant in my earlier post.

 

Lexus is the expensive steakhouse that gets their meat from the same place as the ol' Golden Arches and slaps a fancy schmancy iron into the meat with the name of something pretentious that sounds good. A Lexus isn't much better than a regular Toyota is my point. It's just a Toyota in Lexus wrapping. If you want a luxury automobile, buy BMW.

 

Lol your hot stuff. Enjoy driving your Toyota thru that Mcdonalds drive-thru while you buy that hamburgler.

[SubwayGuy]

Lol your hot stuff. Enjoy driving your Toyota thru that Mcdonalds drive-thru while you buy that hamburgler.

 

Ha, that's alright. I'll use the savings from the Not Lexus to buy myself a nice expensive birthday present

[lilbluefoxie]

oops, thought i hit new topic