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Engine failures in MR2 Spyders

6/11/2014 - Updated the original post by entering direct links to reference material, and added remarks about the legal issues involved with...

Showing posts with label Fred Anderson Toyota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Anderson Toyota. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Picketing: Don't glare at ME, Mr. Salesperson. Glare at TOYOTA.

Yesterday as I picketed Toyota in front of West Columbia, South Carolina's new Fred Anderson Toyota dealership, wunna their sales force came out, stood about 10 or 15 yards away, and glared at me for several minutes. That's fine, if that's what the guy wants to do, but I have a suggestion for the lad: Instead of glaring at me, glare at admitted-crook and Coverup King Toyota. You know. The thug you've chosen to sell vehicles for.

You see, I didn't bring this situation about. Toyota brought it about when they refused to acknowledge an obvious manufacturing defect in MR2 Spyders, turning their crooked backs on hapless owners such as myself, out the better part of $10 grand when the engines disintegrated. Leave it to a bully like Toyota to take advantage of the fact that Spyders were a limited production vehicle, thereby making class-action lawsuits as impractical as individual court pursuits.

Crooked automakers like Toyota, GM, and now Honda have learned that it pays to ignore manufacturing defects. After all, they can get free passes from their bought-and-paid-for "safety" stooges like NHTSA, as the government agency's bigshot employees look forward to being rewarded with high payin' jobs in the auto industry. Meanwhile, the Department of "Just Us" stands guard to make sure nobody goes to prison if and when dirty facts are exposed. Short of time-consuming, expensive lawsuits, there really isn't any viable recourse for consumers. Factor in a tail-tucked public, bullied into accepting any kind of crookedness imaginable, and there you have it: a formula par excellence for immoral and illegitimate profits galore at the consumer's expense, both physically and financially. It's called tyranny, something that's come to be the hallmark of this little police-state, corporate-controlled oligarchy and its corrupt, two-headed, one party sham of an electoral system.

What do you expect me to do, Mr. Salesperson? Knuckle under to the crook you work for, and simply kiss the better part of $10 grand goodby? The next time you get the urge to glare at someone, Mr. Toyota Salesperson, focus your gaze on the culprit instead of the victim.

Update 10/21/2014 - NY Times published a GREAT article yesterday about the growing airbag scandal. "Toyota said it would in some cases disable the air bags, leaving a note not to ride in the front passenger seat."

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Dealership needs to blame Toyota for my picketing

My picketing in front of West Columbia, South Carolina's new Fred Anderson Toyota dealership has continued pretty regularly. This week, one of their employees walked up with a less than cordial demeanor and asked me what my sign, "BEWARE OF TOYOTA" meant. Said he didn't understand the word "beware," so I referred him to a dictionary.

Not long ago, wunna their employees came out and glared at me, and when I first showed up to picket, management came out, told me I couldn't stand in front of the dealership, and then called the cops. Kinda makes ya wonder if they've ever heard of free speech.

I won't belabor the absurdity of sales personnel asking what "beware" means, but the response to my picketing suggests that Toyota's dealerships are influenced by the deceitfulness and bullying tactics of the admitted crook they represent. I'm not surprised that folks have been coming up to tell me of bad experiences they've had at Fred Anderson Toyota.

Instead of targeting me, why doesn't the dealership target admitted-crook Toyota? Why aren't they outraged over corporate crookedness supported by a bought-and-paid-for government? Apparently, the gang at Fred Anderson Toyota thinks it's okay for corporations to stonewall, lie, and treat customers like dirt. So what if MR2 Spyder owners lost the better part of $10,000 due to an obvious manufacturing defect? Toyota's victims are expected to keep their tails firmly tucked as they acquiesce. 

The Anderson gang would be better advised to expend their energies going after Toyota. Find the integrity and courage to tell an admitted crook that dishonesty is a bad idea and its putting the dealership at risk of losing business. Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts tells it like it is about the sorry state of affairs in this country: "The city upon the hill, the light unto the world, the home of the exceptional, indispensable people is the home of Satan’s lies where truth is prohibited and war is the end game."

Fred Anderson Toyota needs to realize that their enemy isn't free speech. Their enemy is a corporate-controlled government epitomized by murderous crooks like GM and Toyota.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Picketing resumes over engine failures in MR2 Spyders

The Toyota Center - where my MR2 Spyder engine was rebuilt - has now moved into fancy new digs about two miles from my house, under the name Fred Anderson Toyota. Day before yesterday, I got an e-mail inviting me to "join" them for their grand opening.

So I did.

I arrived yesterday afternoon by bicycle, with a sign that read "BEWARE OF TOYOTA" on one side, and this blog's address on the other. It's been quite a while since I picketed a Toyota dealership, and it was good to be back. The thousands of dollars I lost when the engine disintegrated in my MR2 Spyder are still missing from my bank account. I'm just as fed up with now-acknowledged-crook Toyota as I ever was, and I wanna thank passing motorists for the friendly beeps, thumbs ups, and waves. As I've come to expect from Toyota dealerships, several unpleasantries were instigated by dealership personnel.

My previous blog post explains what's going on with MR2 Spyders. I've also had a couple of articles published about the issue, here are links to those:

Torque News
Design News' "Made by Monkeys"

Over the years - as this blog indicates - my gripe with Toyota has come to be about a lot more than engines disintegrating in MR2 Spyders. Toyota is a murderous, dishonest corporation - backed by a corporate-controlled government - that treats people like dirt. At first, it was a simple effort to get my money back over an obvious manufacturing defect that had been all over the Internet for years. Then I found out about Toyota's disgraceful shenanigans regarding oil sludge. Then the unintended acceleration scandal broke loose, amidst revelations of cover-ups, federal criminal investigations, record-setting fines, deaths and injuries galore, and an endless parade of recalls for every defect imaginable. Not that the government has disciplined the Recall King. It hasn't. Toyota is a filthy rich corporate slob with cash stockpiled to the tune of some $60 billion. Unfazed - as the government well knows - even by payola in the billion dollar range forked over to end criminal investigations. The "Just Us" Department functions primarily as a corporate-controlled tool to make sure crooked auto executives like those at Toyota and GM don't do prison time for their unconscionable deeds.

Currently, Toyota, the government, and the government's mainstream media stooges are trying every trick in the book to keep things quiet about compelling evidence of electronic defects in Toyota's throttle control. Evidence which raises questions about the reliability of electronic throttle controls in every brand, amidst an epidemic of runaway vehicles crashing into buildings. The brand most often involved is Toyota, but other brands are far from immune.

My journey with Toyota had scarcely begun when I began to realize what a profoundly crooked corporation I was dealing with. I just LOVE the Toyota dealership's new location. Now I won't have to rent storage space for my car to make sure it isn't vandalized while I'm picketing.

Update 6/12/2014 - Toyota's junk parade continues with another recall. A whopping 2.27 million vehicles because airbags could fail, also involving a fire hazzard. 20 models are on the list, including the Corolla, Yaris, and Noah. Note that as part of Toyota's recent federal criminal settlement, "...the automaker admitted that it lied when it insisted that it had addressed the "root cause" of the (unintended acceleration) problem by fixing floor mats that could trap the accelerator."

Update 6/14/2014 - Here's a video which puts Toyota's unintended acceleration scandal in proper perspective. There's now evidence GALORE of electronic defects in Toyota's throttle control. Read "Toyota's killer firmware: Bad design and its consequences." Embedded systems expert Michael Barr found the following, resulting in a guilty verdict in the landmark unintended acceleration case last October in Oklahoma:
* Toyota's electronic throttle control system (ETCS) source code is of unreasonable quality.
* Toyota's source code is defective and contains bugs, including bugs that can cause unintended acceleration (UA)
* Code-quality metrics predict presence of additional bugs.
* Toyota's fail safes are defective and inadequate (referring to them as a 'house of cards' safety architecture).
* Misbehaviours of Toyota's ETCS are a cause of UA

Acknowledged crook Toyota is being allowed to ignore Mr. Barr's findings, and drivers of runaway vehicles involved in crashes are being unjustifiably found at fault and charged accordingly.


Update 6/18/2014 - For another account of Mr. Barr's findings, published 2/26/2014, read "Toyota Code Could Be Lethal." As the author says, "Put simply, it's frightening enough to make you buy a pre-computer car." There's been a mainstream media news blackout regarding Mr. Barr's findings. Only a few trade journals have dared to publicize the facts. 

Update 7/9/14 - Million thanks to Clarence Ditlow and Michael Brooks for posting a link to this blog on the Center for Auto Safety website.  

Update 7/10/14 - See 6/14 update above. Mr. Barr's findings raise questions about the reliability of electronic throttle controls in all brands, and the facts are being exposed as the auto industry tries to delay having to implement fail-safes that have been mandated for years in the airline industry. Today there's news that Honda has admitted to electronic defects causing unintended acceleration and has recalled 175,000 hybrid vehicles. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME AN AUTOMAKER HAS MADE SUCH AN ADMISSION. STAY TUNED.