After all of the abuse, lying and hiding of facts would you ever consider buying a car from Toyota again? I think my confidence is totally shot in them. I don't know if I can ever trust them again. It is kind of scary really.



Toyota Facing More Fines Over Delaying Unintended Acceleration Recalls
Date Published: Monday, April 12th, 2010

Toyota could be facing another fine from U.S. regulators for delaying a recall over faulty accelerator pedals. This would be in addition to the $16.375 million penalty the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed earlier this month.

Since last fall, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide for problems involving sudden acceleration. Toyota has blamed the speed control issues on defective floor mats and faulty gas pedals. In the U.S., five deaths have occurred in auto accidents involving the unintended acceleration of a Toyota or Lexus vehicle. Last August, a California Highway Patrol trooper and three members of his family were killed in such a crash in San Diego County, just south of Orange. Dozens of other fatalities over the past decade alleged to be the result of Toyota unintended acceleration crashes are currently being investigated by the NHTSA.

The NHTSA told Toyota it was considering a second fine in the April 5 letter the agency sent the company notifying it of the initial $16.375 million penalty. According to The New York Times, the letter said documents submitted to the NHTSA by Toyota indicated there were two separate defects in recalled accelerator pedals. Two investigations into a November recall, involving floor mats that could trap the accelerator pedal, also could also result in fines, the Times said.

The NHTSA announced last week that it would seek $16.375 million -the maximum penalty allowed by law – from Toyota for failing to promptly notify the government about the pedal issues. Automakers are legally obligated to tell U.S. safety regulators within five days if they determine a safety defect exists.

According to a Department of Transportation press release, the NHTSA learned through documents obtained from Toyota that the company knew of the sticky pedal defect since at least September 29, 2009. That day, Toyota issued repair procedures to their distributors in 31 European countries and Canada to address complaints of sticky accelerator pedals, sudden increases in engine RPM, and sudden vehicle acceleration. The documents also show that Toyota was aware that consumers in the U.S. were experiencing the same problems, the statement said.

Toyota could contest the NHTSA fine, but the April 5 letter from the agency said the matter would be referred to the Department of Justice if it did so.

I had such a bad experience with them on the one Toyota I bought( 2005 Tacoma ), long before this all came out, that I wouldn't have anyway. I will also point out one of my chief complaints was the truck would surge on me all the time. I was on the Toyota forums at the time and there was a guy who's Tacoma( 05 as well )took off on him constantly like mine did. They worked on it countless times but it never did any good. Had his wife and kids with him the last time when it did it and took him into a busy intersection and almost got them all killed. He parked it and took Toyota to court and got out of the vehicle.

I had to either put my turd box in N or P( auto trans not MT )at every stop or apply the brakes in a death lock because all of a sudden, for no reason, the RPM's would surge from the normal 500 +/- at idle in D to 1200, 1500, 2000+ on me. Thankfully unlike the more recent issues the RPM's would drop back to normal after say 10 seconds or so and it never did it to me while actually moving thank god. I complained at the dealer multiple times and was told they couldn't get it to do it( BS )then I made them let me go with the tech and it did it as I knew it would. He said "oh that? They all do it and it is normal"!

I sold that thing just as fast as I could( 7 1/2 months from purchase to sale ). It had a LOOONNNGGGGG list of issues, and serious ones( paint, engine, composite bed cracked, and on and on )to boot, that was longer than the list I would have if I combined every problem with every other vehicle I have ever owned( new & used combined ).

I will NEVER EVER own a Toyota again. Not new and not used. The company SUCKS, the dealer base SUCKS( here anyway from everyone I have talked to not to mention my nightmare ), and the vehicles are extremely over rated and over hyped. If Toyota went down in flames and I would throw a block party.

How is that for an answer?

Well done....thank god you or your family where not hurt at any time when this happened.

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Originally posted by Grampas Nox:
Well done....thank god you or your family where not hurt at any time when this happened.

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Originally posted by NH08EQNX:

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Originally posted by Grampas Nox:
Well done....thank god you or your family where not hurt at any time when this happened.

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You aren't kidding. One of the other issues was the brakes were barely adequate to stop the truck under normal conditions. The 1st time I towed my boat with it( 1500lbs +/- )and the 1st time the surge hit me I was almost seriously hurt. That is why I talked about having to put a death lock on the brakes. Literally both feet pressing in as hard as I could to hold it when it surged. I finally got in the habit of putting it into N or P at every stop. Only surged oin me 2-3 times that way but it got to the point it was almst every time if I didn't.

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No, they played the "we checked them out and they are fine - it is normal" card. The brakes were HORRIBLE. I literally was scared to death to drive that thing because of the surge and poor brakes. They squealed like a pig being beaten to death all the time as well. To say I hated that vehicle is an understatement.

What really is a joke is I paid more for it( $28K )than I did the 04 HEMI Ram I sold to buy it( $27K ). The Dodge was 10X's the truck with 10X's the options and standard features. I only sold it because gas went nuts and I panicked. Dumbest move I ever made.

This will tell you all about the selling dealer. I dropped in 2 days after buying it to show them where I had paint peeling right off the bottom of the passenger's front door. It was a 2" long strip I discovered as I was washing and waxing the vehicle! Not only would they NOT do anything about it as far as fixing it under warranty they charged me $10 for a bottle of touch up paint saying "I" did it!

The paint was a huge problem on the truck( on most 05's I discovered too late ). I spent MONTHS trying to get it dealt with. The selling dealer could have cared less plus Toyota's policy is an area Rep needs to come and authorize paint repairs( the dealer can't ). I had to fight and fight and fight some more with the dealership service manager( biggest tool I ever met )to even get them to call to arrange an appt. No Toyota rep ever called me and the dealer just ignored me as well. I tried to get other dealers to get a rep for me and they wouldn't help either. I wrote to the company and didn't even get a form letter backl.

Toyota can kiss my big white stinky butt!

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Originally posted by NH08EQNX:
No, they played the "we checked them out and they are fine - it is normal" card. The brakes were HORRIBLE. I literally was scared to death to drive that thing because of the surge and poor brakes. They squealed like a pig being beaten to death all the time as well. To say I hated that vehicle is an understatement.

What really is a joke is I paid more for it( $28K )than I did the 04 HEMI Ram I sold to buy it( $27K ). The Dodge was 10X's the truck with 10X's the options and standard features. I only sold it because gas went nuts and I panicked. Dumbest move I ever made.

This will tell you all about the selling dealer. I dropped in 2 days after buying it to show them where I had paint peeling right off the bottom of the passenger's front door. It was a 2" long strip I discovered as I was washing and waxing the vehicle! Not only would they NOT do anything about it as far as fixing it under warranty they charged me $10 for a bottle of touch up paint saying "I" did it!


The paint was a huge problem on the truck( on most 05's I discovered too late ). I spent MONTHS trying to get it dealt with. The selling dealer could have cared less plus Toyota's policy is an area Rep needs to come and authorize paint repairs( the dealer can't ). I had to fight and fight and fight some more with the dealership service manager( biggest tool I ever met )to even get them to call to arrange an appt. No Toyota rep ever called me and the dealer just ignored me as well. I tried to get other dealers to get a rep for me and they wouldn't help either. I wrote to the company and didn't even get a form letter backl.

Toyota can kiss my big white stinky butt!

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Originally posted by NH08EQNX:
No, they played the "we checked them out and they are fine - it is normal" card. The brakes were HORRIBLE. I literally was scared to death to drive that thing because of the surge and poor brakes. They squealed like a pig being beaten to death all the time as well. To say I hated that vehicle is an understatement.

What really is a joke is I paid more for it( $28K )than I did the 04 HEMI Ram I sold to buy it( $27K ). The Dodge was 10X's the truck with 10X's the options and standard features. I only sold it because gas went nuts and I panicked. Dumbest move I ever made.

This will tell you all about the selling dealer. I dropped in 2 days after buying it to show them where I had paint peeling right off the bottom of the passenger's front door. It was a 2" long strip I discovered as I was washing and waxing the vehicle! Not only would they NOT do anything about it as far as fixing it under warranty they charged me $10 for a bottle of touch up paint saying "I" did it!

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Originally posted by Skyfox:

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Originally posted by NH08EQNX:
No, they played the "we checked them out and they are fine - it is normal" card. The brakes were HORRIBLE. I literally was scared to death to drive that thing because of the surge and poor brakes. They squealed like a pig being beaten to death all the time as well. To say I hated that vehicle is an understatement.

What really is a joke is I paid more for it( $28K )than I did the 04 HEMI Ram I sold to buy it( $27K ). The Dodge was 10X's the truck with 10X's the options and standard features. I only sold it because gas went nuts and I panicked. Dumbest move I ever made.

This will tell you all about the selling dealer. I dropped in 2 days after buying it to show them where I had paint peeling right off the bottom of the passenger's front door. It was a 2" long strip I discovered as I was washing and waxing the vehicle! Not only would they NOT do anything about it as far as fixing it under warranty they charged me $10 for a bottle of touch up paint saying "I" did it!

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With all of these issues I still get back to the question that I always wonder about. How the hell does Toyota (at least up until now with the current issue) remain the media darling and the great quality company aura that they had up until now? Consumer Reports, Motor Trend, etc etc all must have been on the take? How does this happen?

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Originally posted by Spadernox:

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Originally posted by Skyfox:

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Originally posted by NH08EQNX:
No, they played the "we checked them out and they are fine - it is normal" card. The brakes were HORRIBLE. I literally was scared to death to drive that thing because of the surge and poor brakes. They squealed like a pig being beaten to death all the time as well. To say I hated that vehicle is an understatement.

What really is a joke is I paid more for it( $28K )than I did the 04 HEMI Ram I sold to buy it( $27K ). The Dodge was 10X's the truck with 10X's the options and standard features. I only sold it because gas went nuts and I panicked. Dumbest move I ever made.

This will tell you all about the selling dealer. I dropped in 2 days after buying it to show them where I had paint peeling right off the bottom of the passenger's front door. It was a 2" long strip I discovered as I was washing and waxing the vehicle! Not only would they NOT do anything about it as far as fixing it under warranty they charged me $10 for a bottle of touch up paint saying "I" did it!

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With all of these issues I still get back to the question that I always wonder about. How the hell does Toyota (at least up until now with the current issue) remain the media darling and the great quality company aura that they had up until now? Consumer Reports, Motor Trend, etc etc all must have been on the take? How does this happen?

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Totally agree. For some reason the auto mags seem to be in love with anything that is import vs USA (or Canada) built. They have overlooked all of the quality issues with brands like Mercedes & Honda for years.

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Originally posted by Nascr:

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Originally posted by Spadernox:

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Originally posted by Skyfox:

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Originally posted by NH08EQNX:
No, they played the "we checked them out and they are fine - it is normal" card. The brakes were HORRIBLE. I literally was scared to death to drive that thing because of the surge and poor brakes. They squealed like a pig being beaten to death all the time as well. To say I hated that vehicle is an understatement.

What really is a joke is I paid more for it( $28K )than I did the 04 HEMI Ram I sold to buy it( $27K ). The Dodge was 10X's the truck with 10X's the options and standard features. I only sold it because gas went nuts and I panicked. Dumbest move I ever made.

This will tell you all about the selling dealer. I dropped in 2 days after buying it to show them where I had paint peeling right off the bottom of the passenger's front door. It was a 2" long strip I discovered as I was washing and waxing the vehicle! Not only would they NOT do anything about it as far as fixing it under warranty they charged me $10 for a bottle of touch up paint saying "I" did it!

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With all of these issues I still get back to the question that I always wonder about. How the hell does Toyota (at least up until now with the current issue) remain the media darling and the great quality company aura that they had up until now? Consumer Reports, Motor Trend, etc etc all must have been on the take? How does this happen?

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Totally agree. For some reason the auto mags seem to be in love with anything that is import vs USA (or Canada) built. They have overlooked all of the quality issues with brands like Mercedes & Honda for years.

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Can you say "payola"?

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Originally posted by Spadernox:

I think these mags could be better balanced in their reporting if they were not just a bunch of fanboys AND especially if they had to BUY the cars that they test drive rather than getting free loaners from the companies.

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Originally posted by Skyfox:

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Originally posted by Spadernox:

I think these mags could be better balanced in their reporting if they were not just a bunch of fanboys AND especially if they had to BUY the cars that they test drive rather than getting free loaners from the companies.

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I thought that mags like Motor Trend and Car & Driver buy the cars and then return/sell them at the end? Some of those mags have the cars for a whole year to do their long term tests. I don't know if GM would be willing to do that long of a loan? I am pretty sure that mags like Consumer Reports buys their cars?

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