And The Problems Continue.

[gabep]

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat...P-86965487.html

[eatingupblacktop]

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat...P-86965487.html

I don't get it. The Prius has been out how long now? Why haven't we heard of these failures earlier? This version was an '08, I wonder what kind of history the older cars have. Could this be some recent tech/parts/manufacturing changes in the newer cars?

[SLORICK]

I read a lot about this lately, WHY DONT PEOPLE KNOW WHAT TO DO? Wife drives rentals with new pushbutton start.

SO, EVERYONE SHOULD PRACTICE WHAT TO DO...

1. Shift into NEUTRAL, coast to side of road. (Doesnt matter if engine races...still have power steer, brakes, etc)

2. TURN ENGINE OFF. Press Start/Stop Button 3 TIMES. PRESS AND HOLD BUTTON if needed. (covers various makes)

[tim john]

I can see people faking these problems, did this man fake it? Don't know. People will say I have a runaway Toyota or Lexus, now I'm going to sue, got my face on CNN, foxnews, etc.

Tim

[gabep]

He was on the local news this morning. Says he will never drive the car again. Can't blame him.

[The G Man]

I read a lot about this lately, WHY DONT PEOPLE KNOW WHAT TO DO? Wife drives rentals with new pushbutton start.

SO, EVERYONE SHOULD PRACTICE WHAT TO DO...

1. Shift into NEUTRAL, coast to side of road. (Doesnt matter if engine races...still have power steer, brakes, etc)

2. TURN ENGINE OFF. Press Start/Stop Button 3 TIMES. PRESS AND HOLD BUTTON if needed. (covers various makes)

Have you ever seen the Prius' shifter? It is like a joy stick. There is no mechanical link between the shifter and the transmission. The shifter sends a signal to the ECU and the ECU tells the transmission what to do. A lot of smart transmssion works that way. If for some reason the ECU is malfunctioning, it will lock you out of the neutral mode. That might explain some owner's claim that they cannot shift into neutral during incidents of sudden accelartion. Although this report did not say rather the driver try to shift into neutral.

[gabep]

He said he was afraid to go for neutral, that he was concerned it would go into reverse. Not likely, but that was his concern.

[Grumbles2]

He said he was afraid to go for neutral, that he was concerned it would go into reverse. Not likely, but that was his concern.

My understanding is that all Toyota Hybrids have always had a brake over rides the throttle strategy since the beginning.

[eatingupblacktop]

He said he was afraid to go for neutral, that he was concerned it would go into reverse. Not likely, but that was his concern.

My understanding is that all Toyota Hybrids have always had a brake over rides the throttle strategy since the beginning.

Or something that disengages the tranny! I don't think that a failsafe system as a contingency for a runaway situation should that complicated. It's not rocket science. And how many engineers at Toyota are working on this????

[smooth1]

And not a single recall in Japan that I'm aware of.

[eatingupblacktop]

And not a single recall in Japan that I'm aware of.

Are recalls allowed in Japan? lol, but I know what you're getting at ... class action! N.A. litigious? Fraud against such an honourable company as Toyota? No way, not here! :P

[cduluk]

In that story it doesn't indicate if the driver attempted to put the car into neutral or not.

But i wouldn't be surprised to hear that putting the car into neutral doesn't work when this glitch is occurring, the shifter is just another electrical input device just like the gas pedal. If the computer denies any input, putting the shifter in "N" might not even do anything.

It's a scary thing...

[The G Man]

My understanding is that all Toyota Hybrids have always had a brake over rides the throttle strategy since the beginning.

If that is the case, then what happen to that Prius makes it even worst for Toyota. That would mean that their brake over ride program does not work in some situations. That would also mean that all the recall vehicles and the new vehicles that have this brake over ride program installed might still be at risk of sudden accelaration.

[nc211]

I know I've defended Toyota over this problem. But I forgot about the CHP TV channel live feeds! I tell you what, if there happens to be a televised event of this occuring in real time, Toyota will have a long lasting image problem to deal with. Everyone remembers the OJ cruise down the 5, 15 years ago. Imagine a toyota screaming down it at 100mph with people freaking out inside of it, on live tv.

[RX in NC]

My May 2010 Toyota put options play is loving this stuff. The more national publicity, the better I'll do....

[SLORICK]

Some Thoughts:

1. Saw NBC video of San Diego Prius Runaway and driver comments. Seems like a sissy crying like a schoolgirl.

911 Lady tried to help him. Against law now to use cell phone in CA, will he be charged? Never tried to turn off engine.

Stood on brakes, emergency brake, cop in front slowed him at 50mph. Driver was going 94 he said.

Another Prius crashes into a Stone Wall this morning.

2. Somewhere in Toyota, whistleblower knows story. Engineer overriden by Mgr decision. Quality Control different.

Software problem? New Owner, Boss, Dept Head, SOMETHING WENT WRONG and now is the payback. Just like Challenger explosion.

3. Runaways like High Speed Chases are a Public Threat. Cops should stop car immediately. Shoot out tires. Shotgun into engine. PIT maneuver and killing one prius and driver better than many others.

4. Protect Yourself. I'm gonna put gun in glove box. Any car rearends me or speeds past, I say its a runaway.

I will be hero to protect others, and shoot out their tires, shoot the engine or fuel tank. Better him than me or us.

Hmmm, my .22 or .38 wont do the job, better get the .357 Magnum. Stock up on ammo, too.

Don't mind me, folks,,,,just thinking outloud here. I love message boards.

[nc211]

Rick, you're nuts man! You better hope the guy in the Prius doesn't have a gun too, because if he's going 100mph in an uncontrolled car, well, he doesn't have much to lose at that point and might shoot back! "If I'm punching out, then that a'hole shooting at me is going with me!"

[LEXIRX330]

The 911 operator asked him if he tried to put the car in N, no response from him. I just don't buy this one...come on he said he reached down with his hand and tried to free the gas pedal but did not try to shut the car off...or put it in N. CA is full of great actors...

Glad no one was hurt and hope that they get to the bottom of this whole thing soon.

[The G Man]

The 911 operator asked him if he tried to put the car in N, no response from him. I just don't buy this one...come on he said he reached down with his hand and tried to free the gas pedal but did not try to shut the car off...or put it in N. CA is full of great actors...

I just love how people are blaming the victims here which happens to be our fellow countryman instead of a muti billion foreign car company from a country that attack us in world war two, and people say there is no such thing as patriotism anymore. :) :)

By the way, I think he was a little busy try to control his prius doing 90 MPH instead of trying holding the cell with one hand and steering a out of control car with the other hand. The article in the above post suggust that he try to put the car in neutral but it didnt work.

[SLORICK]

Yeah, I am nuts. If Prius guy had gun, he should shoot the engine himself.

GMan, Most !Removed! have been born AFTER WWII, and besides, Lexus HQ is in Torrance California, and their designers and engineers. Factory is in Japan. Probably a "disgruntled engineer" that inserted an "Easter Egg" or "surprise" in the software.

Victim? Most just get in and drive, like my wife, without reading ANYTHING.

WHAT IF Judges threw the book at some, and said "It's YOUR responsibility to know how to operate YOUR motor vehicle".

WHAT IF Judges threw the book at parents, and said "Childrens crimes are YOUR fault until they are 21".

There would be a whole lot less craziness going on.!!!

[The G Man]

WHAT IF Judges threw the book at some, and said "It's YOUR responsibility to know how to operate YOUR motor vehicle".

Then it would be like the system the Europeans have, they actaully expect the driver to know all the ins and outs of operating a automoblie and to know the traffic laws, unlike here in the good old USA.

[LEXIRX330]

The 911 operator asked him if he tried to put the car in N, no response from him. I just don't buy this one...come on he said he reached down with his hand and tried to free the gas pedal but did not try to shut the car off...or put it in N. CA is full of great actors...

I just love how people are blaming the victims here which happens to be our fellow countryman instead of a muti billion foreign car company from a country that attack us in world war two, and people say there is no such thing as patriotism anymore. :) :)

By the way, I think he was a little busy try to control his prius doing 90 MPH instead of trying holding the cell with one hand and steering a out of control car with the other hand. The article in the above post suggust that he try to put the car in neutral but it didnt work.

Well sorry G Man if he could reach down and try to grab the gas pedal with his hand then I would think that he could try putting the car in N. Or at least he was not so busy trying to control the car that it would be impossible to attempt to put the car in N or try shutting off the engine. G Man...I am not saying Toyota is not having problems...I just am not buying this as you call "victims" whole story. I think the whole thing just sounded funny I have listened to the 911 call a couple of different times and everytime the 911 operator tried to tell him something he could try it seemed like he just started rambling on. Who knows what actually happened to the car...I am sure that they will find out...and when they do I would not be surprised if this one case was not staged. People will do anything.

[smooth1]

I don't really know what to say or how to feel about all this. I've seen to many "parents" on the news with 20 microphones sticking in thier face while they cry and boo-hoo about how some ethnic person stole thier child and on and on, only to find out they were themselves responsible for the whole mess. It's just too hard to know the truth these days. This guy could be just looking for a payday, or he could be legit. It's almost 50/50 either way. Look at the parents that said thier kid was trapped in that hot air balloon! All they wanted was media fame, and hopes of a payday for that! Instead they got jail time! Good work police dept.! Look how many people claim they found a dead mouse in thier Coca Cola, and on and on and on. So, I would just sit back and wait to see how this all pans out. I have alot of unanswered questions about this to be on the "it's all Toyota's fault" side.

1) Thousands of units sold, only a handful of reported cases?

2) Why aren't the reported cases of unintentional acceleration regarding all the other manufacture's also open for discussion?

3) GM has had millions of units recalled over the last decade for faulty ABS systems, and other braking issues, yet they are never on the news. Nor are they beeing called to Washington to answer for them.

4) Why is this only happening here in the US?

5) If it's a software glitch, or a mechanical issue, then why isn't it a more consistant issue?

I have others, but you get the point. Again, I'd like to say that I'm not on either side, I just think the media is doing a very poor job with this. Which just keeps this nagging voice in my head about the timing of all this. It's just to coincidental, and theres something about all this I can't quite put my finger on..........

[cduluk]

I think this issue with Toyota is such a "big news" because it's so much of a surprise coming from a brand like Toyota. People aren't very surprised to hear this happening to GM or Ford...

And i don't think this issue with Toyota's is a US thing only, this could happen to anyLHD toyota that has experienced the problem here. There's no other "possible" difference between Toyota's sold here vs in other regions that could cause/prevent this problem. In most other countries the Toyota's are modified with right hand drive steering... maybe this difference requires a different computer that doesn't experience the glitch that the LHD Toyota's over here do? Car manufactures produce different versions of a model based on the location they'll be sold with. Maybe only the versions for the US market have the problematic version of computers?

And i think it's the "inconsistency" that points to the issue being computer related. Not all computers have glitches, and not all of them glitch at the same times in the same way... just as not all Toyota's of these problematic models experience this problem all the time. There must be one weird combination of details that cause this, and this combination might not be met by all drivers in all situations. It isn't until this combination is reached that this issue occurs...

I think it's clear this there IS an issue with certain Toyota's having this issue, because there's no way all of the data received could be fake. Maybe that guy is a fake, but there's no way to tell. There's no doubt that the majority of the reported cases are factual, i mean people have died over this...

But i think this might be the first recent gen Prius with the "runaway problem", correct? I know the Prius has a braking issue (just as the 400h and most hybrids do) but i didn't know they had the runaway problem as well...

[RX in NC]

It's actually fairly simple why this story has dominated the news lately. When a corporation chooses to handle product safety issues by lying about them and attempts to divert attention to areas that have nothing to do with the root cause of the issue (gas pedal shims and floor mats), once that corporation is caught lying the media automatically saddles its horse and stays in the saddle through the end of the story. That is exactly what we are witnessing now....