Toyota caught red handed?

Recent court filings allege shocking accounts of what Toyota's service personnel experienced when they drove vehicles to investigate sudden, unintended  acceleration:  speed rocketing from 71 to 95 mph, and rpm's zooming from 1500 to 5500.  Attorneys say Toyota bought the vehicles back amidst efforts to keep things quiet.  

Toyota initially said NHTSA wasn't notified, but then reversed course, saying NHTSA was notified after approximately five months.  Toyota - recently fined, currently charged with racketeering, and the subject of a federal grand jury investigation - is developing quite a reputation for being a bit slow to notify NHTSA of safety related defects. 

As usual, Toyota denies that they were trying to hide anything, and we'll hear their "vigorous" defense soon enough.  Meanwhile, evidence is stacking up that sudden, unintended acceleration has to do with more than floor mats, sticky gas pedals, and driver error.  Furthermore, Toyota's reliance on "black box" data is beginning to look like a carefully contrived tactic of of smoke and mirrors.  Capabilities of onboard computers have been questionable from the get go, and these latest filings say the devices failed.

The tide began turning against Toyota with the case of Koua Fong Lee, an immigrant who was exonorated after serving two and a half years for criminal vehicular homicide.  His not-even-on-the-recall-list Camry sped out of control causing multiple fatalities, and these latest court filings lend all the more credence to Lee's unwavering insistence that his car was to blame.  As things now stand, customer accounts of sudden, unintended acceleration warrant a closer look, with a keen focus on electrical problems. 

Toyota, its your move.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyotas-drivers-wheel-sudden-acceleration-cases-court-filing/story?id=11974250&page=2

Speaking of hoods, Toyota...

'Bout two and a half months ago, my MR2 Spyder's hood release AGAIN failed to operate (See "Shoddy service: Dick Dyer and The Toyota Center" and "Hey, Toyota: Someone else fixed my car").  This time, I got the rest of the story.

To begin with Toyota designed the release cable to stretch from the driver's side all the way underneath the car to the passenger's side, and then around the back end to the latch.  Kinda like goin' from Atlanta to Miami via Las Vegas.  Faced with customer complaints, Toyota had issued a technical service bulletin for a new cable (same length) but were not as forthcoming about the later addition of an extra spring for the latch. 

The independent shop I dealt with did their homework, got a redesigned latch, improvised to accomodate the exceptionally long cable, and the repair bill was about $450.  Underscoring Toyota's lousy service, the Toyota parts dealer initially sent a latch for the trunk instead of the hood, even though the order included the correct parts number.

Toyota, you've got problems with your products, your dealerships, and your attitude, and its not about growing too big too fast.  Its about an unwillingness to do the right thing.  A determination to see how much you can get away with at your customers' expense.  As your parade of recalls continues, I wish your former-attorney-turned-whistleblower, Dimitrios Biller, all the luck in the world as he attempts to expose the way you do business.  You're a sick company, Toyota.  And as far as I can tell, you have no intentions of changing for the better.

Regarding Toyota's latest recall - announced today - of 1.53 million vehicles for fuel pump and brake problems, Yahoo censored my comments. 

Unraveling the Toyota way

Can you recall a subpoena?  Leave it to Toyota to issue one and then not follow through.  Apparently, the Koua Fong Lee case (see my 8/14/10 post) has gone well beyond a mere embarassment.  Toyota suddenly seems to be bumping into themselves by targeting Lee in an effort to take possession of his '96 Camry.  Problem is, of course, not everyone trusts Toyota, and even if they did, Lee doesn't have possession of the car.  Lee's attorney put it rather bluntly, saying "we just don't want Toyota looking at the car by themselves or having (sole) possession of it."

Federal grand jury proceedings, racketeering charges, a heretofore unexplained delay in reporting defective steering rods...  I understand, Toyota.  Its enough to make anyone a little edgy.

Update 8/26/10 - Internet complaint posts (tweets to followers, blog posts, etc.) re censorship are effective.  Facebook DID publish my wall reference to this blog post in Posts by Everyone.  First time ever for one of my Facebook entries re this blog.  Twitter, however - as of about 11:30 AM - is once again censoring my Toyota tweets from appearing in real-time.  Toyota can't stand the truth.

Update 8/27/10 - as of about 10:30 AM Twitter is continuing to censor references to this blog post from real-time. I also got a message from one of my followers that Twitter is preventing them from retweeting my tweets. Facebook - as of yesterday - is  finally starting to publish in real-time (Posts by Everyone) the entries I make on my home page. Gee. Maybe someone at Twitter is angry at Facebook.

Update 8/28/10 - about 4:00 PM Twitter finally backed off their censorship and published in real-time my tweet with a link to this blog post.

Lee case an embarassment for Toyota

Amidst claims that Toyota's customers have been steppin' on the accelerator instead of the brake, along comes the troublesome case of Koua Fong Lee.  Wrongfully convicted of criminal vehicular homicide and sentenced to eight years in prison (see my 8/7/10 post), Lee has steadfastly maintained that he was hitting the brakes in a desperate effort to stop his Camry after it suddenly sped out of control resulting in the deaths of three people.  The keyword here is wrongfully, because after serving two and a half years, the charges were dropped, highlighting false testimony - that went unchallenged - and evidence that was witheld at Lee's trial.  'Tis the nature of these two items that sounds a sour note for Toyota's blame-the-customer bandwagon.

At Lee's trial, a mechanic testified falsely that Lee's car did not have anti-lock brakes, the existence of which would have offered an explanation for the absence of skid marks.  And Lee's attorney witheld a letter from Lee's insurance company confirming that the brake lights were engaged when the accident occurred.  Adding insult to injury, Lee's attorney sided with the prosecution in his closing statement to the jury, saying Lee probably stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake.  Sound familiar?  Its now clear that Lee's version of events was supported by the facts all along.  Hmmm... 

Just when the breeze seems to be blowin' in Toyota's favor, the case of Koua Fong Lee stands in stark contrast to claims of driver error.  It exposes facts that were supposed to stay hidden, along with the railroading of an immigrant.

Update 8/14/2010 - Facebook has censored this post from "Posts by Everyone" and Twitter has censored a tweet reference from real-time results.

Update 10/23/2010 - Koua has now filed a request to join a lawsuit against Toyota. http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_16412288?source=rss

Update 10/31/2010 - Koua's attorney says Toyota is liable:
http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/15283/interview-brent-schafer-law-firm-toyota.html

Case of jailed Toyota driver affronts fairness

To begin with, it took nine months to file charges. Then there was the charge itself - vehicular homicide - which never did fit the facts of the case. Koua Fong Lee was returning home from church with his family when his Camry suddenly sped out of control on an exit ramp reaching speeds of 70-90 mph before crashing into another vehicle and resulting in the deaths of three people. Lee has steadfastly maintained that he repeatedly pressed the brake pedal but the car wouldn't stop, yet Lee's attorney (lest we forget, Lee is an immigrant who came to this country to escape dirt poor living conditions) sided with the prosecution by stating in his closing remarks to the jury that Lee probably mistook the accelerator for the brake.

Lee was found guilty, sentenced to a whopping eight years in prison, and would have remained quietly tucked away behind bars except for breaking news of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyotas. With a new lawyer, thousands registering support on a Facebook page, street protests, and mainstream media coverage, a hearing was held to determine if Lee should get a new trial. And that's where the story really gets interesting.

Lee's new attorney presented bombshell testimony showing that Lee's car had anti-lock brakes, accounting for the absence of skid marks. At Lee's "trial" there had been false testimony - by a city mechanic - stating that Lee's car did not have anti-lock brakes, and this testimony went unchallenged even though Lee's attorney had a letter from Lee's insurance company stating that the car's brake light was engaged. Sooo... with their opposition to a new trial smellin' worse than a kettle of rotten fish - and the case now making national headlines - the DA's office made a desperate, last ditch effort to dump the blame on Lee by offering to release him from prison if he would agree to drop his petition for a new trial and walk away a convicted felon. Talk about cheap shots. How many folks - with five and a half years of prison time to go - would have refused such an offer? If any, not many, and the prosecution knew it. But this time their victim had the courage of conviction - the sheer bravery - to turn down the offer, maintain his innocence, and proceed with his petition for a new trial. Applause, please, for Koua Fong Lee. Within hours - amidst a groundswell of public outrage over Lee's incarceration - the judge granted a new trial, the DA dismissed the charges declaring "this is over," and Lee was suddenly a free man with a clean record.

Well and good. But it's awfully strange how a mechanic can get a major piece of evidence wrong regarding something as readily verifiable as whether or not a car has anti-lock brakes. Ditto for a defense that allowed this testimony to go unchallenged. And wouldn't it have been a cozy deal for Toyota if Lee could have been bullied into takin' the blame and walkin' away a convicted felon while the matter conveniently faded from public view? Koua's criminal case is over, but it raises troubling questions galore.

Update 8/9/2010 - FB has blocked my Toyota posts from Posts by Everyone, and this morning, Twitter is once again blocking my tweets from real-time results. A new Facebook page (Toyota's cars kill innocent people. Stand up for the truth), and exposure of  false testimony, witheld evidence, etc. in the Koua Fong Lee case is turning up the heat on Toyota. Activists should monitor real-time publications for dirty tricks style censorship. Don't be dupped just because posts appear on profile pages, etc.

Censorship: Facebook joins Twitter and Yahoo

Facebook has apparently caught the censorship virus also.  Today on FB, I posted a reference to yesterday's blog post exposing the lousy service at Toyota dealerships.  And wouldn't ya know it?  Searched "Toyota," and the info didn't appear in FB's equivalent of Twitter's real-time results.  Dirty trick Twitter style, the info did appear on my FB Home page, Profile page, and Posts by Friends.  Facebook blocked the info from Posts by Everyone.

If it isn't government supported efforts to censor media coverage of the BP oil catastrophe, its an assault on Internet neutrality by the likes of Twitter, Yahoo and Facebook, while bloggers in China (make that RED China) accuse Toyota of paying private companies to delete unfavorable posts.  Let's be vigilant, expose censorship whenever it occurs, and speak out loudly in favor of Internet neutrality.   

Hey, Toyota: Someone else fixed my car.

Talk about lousy service at Toyota dealerships.  I've already posted regarding the unevenness in my rebuilt engine, the Check Engine light coming on, and the fact that I took my MR2 Spyder to the Toyota Center several times attempting to have these things corrected.  Their "senior mechanic" plugged in his diagnostic tool and suggested that I add bottles of moisture remover to my gas tank.  Of course, this didn't work, I finally quit going back, and the Check Engine light has remained on for a long time. 

Matters got resolved a few weeks ago when the hood release once again failed to operate (turns out that even though a Technical Service Bulletin was issued, neither Dick Dyer Toyota nor the Toyota Center were able to fix it), and I had to find someone who could get my hood open.  Determined not to take my car to a Toyota dealership, I found an independent repair shop, asked them to fix the hood release, and didn't even mention the other problems because I had pretty much given up on ever gettin' the car to run right.  But lo and behold, these folks took an interest in the car, asked me about the Check Engine light, and to make a long story short, the car now runs like it should for the first time since I bought it.  Smooth all the way to the redline, 'bout twice as fast, and no Check Engine light glaring in my face.  Cost about $800 but well worth it.  Thrilled, I am - even though these things should have been corrected when Toyota rebuilt the engine.

Whatsamatter, Toyota?  Are your dealers really that incompetent? Apparently so.  But at least I got a good laugh out of it when I saw you were offering  free service as a sales incentive.  'Cause that's exactly what your lousy service is worth.  Absolutely nothin'.

Update: Yesterday (7/20/2010) I posted a tweet referencing this post and this morning Twitter has censored my tweets from appearing in real-time.  Toyota must be gettin' nervous with all this talk of a widening federal grand jury investigation.  Look out, Toyota.  Your defective products are finally gettin' exposed.

Update 7/21/2010 5:29 PM This blog post has also been censored by Facebook.  It appears on FB Home, Profile and Posts by Friends, but not on Posts by Everyone.  Re Twitter, I'm apparently unblocked - at least for now.