Kevin Bresnahan!!!!! You might want to hold off

[BERIGAN]

Might not be a bad idea to hold onto it....actually, you can't buy but a very few models right now...

Toyota halts sale of 8 models over pedal recalls

Edited January 26, 2010 by BERIGAN

[Kevin Bresnahan]

My search for a decent commuter car has not ended. I am leaning away from a simple car and toward a small SUV. I will have two daughters in college next year and moving them back and forth to school requires a vehicle with some space in back. At the moment, I'm leaning toward a used Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which is about the only way I can afford one (new ones run over $30K).

If I do buy a Toyota, and it's certainly not a done deal yet, I expect it will be a great car. It may have problems that will be fixed, either by a recall or simply by me finding something wrong. All car makers have problems and it's how they handle those problems that makes the difference.

FWIW, I hope the bad part, which seems to be on US made Toyotas, is not due to a US manufacturer screwing up a spec. If they do find that out, that company will be locked out of future Toyota builds. My company does business in the automotive industry and they insist on zero defects. It is VERY hard to make ANYTHING with zero defects for life.

Kevin

EDIT #2: I just read that the part in question is supplied by a US supplier. Well, they're probably out of business now. More headed for unemployment.

EDIT #1: I just got a call from my sister-in-law. A few years back, she called me for advice on how to get out of her 2007 Toyota Camry that stalled on the highway in rush hour traffic. She was terrified that she was going to die driving that car. I told her to bring it into the dealer and if they came back with the expected "there's nothing wrong with your car", demand a new car. She did, and wound up paying a bit out of pocket for a new Honda Accord (which she hates - handling's too stiff).

She is wondering there will be a class action lawsuit. I told her it's probably already in the works but the end result would probably be a coupon for $2000 a new Toyota.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Kevin Bresnahan

[Tim McG]

Kevin,

Have you looked into Honda?

Mrs. GoodSpeak's 95 Accord still runs like a champ....with 260,000 miles on the odometer, no less.

A slightly used Toyota can't be bad either if you're concerned about the sticking gas pedal thing. I own an 81 Toyota truck and it gets as good gas mileage as most new cars do.

FWIW

[catesta]

My search for a decent commuter car has not ended. I am leaning away from a simple car and toward a small SUV. I will have two daughters in college next year and moving them back and forth to school requires a vehicle with some space in back. At the moment, I'm leaning toward a used Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which is about the only way I can afford one (new ones run over $30K).

If I do buy a Toyota, and it's certainly not a done deal yet, I expect it will be a great car. It may have problems that will be fixed, either by a recall or simply by me finding something wrong. All car makers have problems and it's how they handle those problems that makes the difference.

FWIW, I hope the bad part, which seems to be on US made Toyotas, is not due to a US manufacturer screwing up a spec. If they do find that out, that company will be locked out of future Toyota builds. My company does business in the automotive industry and they insist on zero defects. It is VERY hard to make ANYTHING with zero defects for life.

Kevin

EDIT #2: I just read that the part in question is supplied by a US supplier. Well, they're probably out of business now. More headed for unemployment.

EDIT #1: I just got a call from my sister-in-law. A few years back, she called me for advice on how to get out of her 2007 Toyota Camry that stalled on the highway in rush hour traffic. She was terrified that she was going to die driving that car. I told her to bring it into the dealer and if they came back with the expected "there's nothing wrong with your car", demand a new car. She did, and wound up paying a bit out of pocket for a new Honda Accord (which she hates - handling's too stiff).

She is wondering there will be a class action lawsuit. I told her it's probably already in the works but the end result would probably be a coupon for $2000 a new Toyota.

From what I've read about the US component manufacturer, the sales to Toyota only account for 3% of their annual revenue, so I doubt this will hurt them. Toyota is the one that will feel the pain, it is their design spec. On top of that the recall in November 2009 for a similar problem was for models dating back to 2002 and the company building the pedals in the US has only been doing so since 2005.

[BERIGAN]

Spreading to Europe and China now!

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100128/toyota_100128/20100128/?hub=MontrealHome