Toyota recalls more than 400,000 hybrid cars
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Toyota's president apologized profusely Tuesday as he announced the global recall of more than 400,000 of the automaker's 2010 hybrid models, including the popular Prius, for problems in their anti-lock braking systems.While it may seem like I'm piling on here on poor Toyota - and, in a way, I guess I am - it just strikes me as the richest of ironies that the Toyota Smugmobile should fall victim to recallitis. Imagine, if you will, the full karmic laughfest of a Prius, driven by some eco-tard who's deludedly thinking he's saving the environment by driving a hybrid car, slamming into a tree because the brakes failed.
"We do apologize for the inconvenience and concerns we've given to the customers," President Akio Toyoda said in making the recall announcement from the automaker's headquarters in Tokyo. "Quality is our lifeline for Toyota."
The only way it could be more ironic would be if he hits an old-growth tree (with a spotted owl in it)...
That is all.
11 comments:
Always remind the smug eco-tards they are actually driving coal powered cars. :)
sv
Having purchased and driven the daylights out of 3 Toyotas in the last 6 years without so much as a hiccup, I am skeptical about all the bad publicity being thrown at Toyota. Now that our enlightened government "owns" a big chunk of their competition. And another big chunk "owned" by the UAW. The hysteria smells funny. Just as cash for clunkers gave a short term artificial jumpstart to economic numbers, this will as well. I mean seriously, the secretary of transportation says "Don't drive your Toyota." However, I love the term eco-tard. I'm stealing that. The portrait of irony you paint at the end has me laughing. Or perhaps one of Al Gore's true believers plowing his "I'm better than you" Prius into a huge snowbank. Good stuff
sv,
I like to taunt Prius owners as people who are bad at math... Especially if they get all super smug about the money they're "saving" with their car's gas mileage...
Stephen,
A good deal of my ire has to do very specifically with one local Toyota dealership and not necessarily the brand itself. It's refreshing to see them brought down a peg - for a long time, dealerships have decided that Toyota vehicles are so popular that they can abuse their (potential) customers.
To whit: The Toyota dealership in question actually let me walk out of the showroom rather than meet me halfway on price on a new Tundra. They expected me to pay full MSRP for the Tundra, while offering me $2,500 BELOW Kelly Blue Book trade-in value for my Durango.
Err, no. I hope they're choking on recall work now...
(Your point, however, about Government Motors and the UAW is VERY well taken - especially considering that Ford and Toyota have had recent revelations on recalls...)
And LMAO on the snowbank...
The prius brake thing is an uncomfortable glitch, certainly not fatal. Akin to having a brake pedal wig out on you when the ABS kicks on. Priust only has it at low speed (<8mph?) and when hitting a bump or pothole. The ECU sees the bump and wheel not-exactly-rolling as triggering the traction control/abs. Since at that point the car is 100% regen braking, it's solution is to open the electrical connections to the motor.... Resulting in no mechanical nor regen braking - just until the wheel recovers. JUST LIKE ABS on any other car. I am no 'yota fanboy, but uncle sam is really piling on.
Back in the day, dad took away my 82 corolla at 205k, and I swear it would have had another 100k EASY.
WV: bomma
Best. Post. Ever.
In fairness I should add the smug (and requisite clueless) is pretty high for Prius drivers. I wouldn't expect them to actually know how to control an automabile anyway. And that thinking always results in it being someone else's fault.
The only people it'll kill are treehuggers. Feature, not bug.
The best part of the Prius story is that the recall was announced the same day Scott Brown was sworn in. It must've been a moonbat kristallnacht to lose the "kennedy" seat and have your badge of betterness within hours.
One more thought... maybe no brakes is how al gore jr got his dope mobile prius up to 100 MPH a few years ago?
Toyota, now built by Audi...
To tell the truth, Toyota is lucky. They have a good amount of good will built up among their customer base, and they are handling the problem properly.
From my two years in the auto industry, if I had to wager a guess, once they get this little problem fixed their will be massive rebates and excellent finance options for returning customers and new customers alike, and in a few months, this problem will float away and Toyota will be none the worse for it.
I've had 2 Toyota pickups now, and have absolutely NO complaints. (Although I'll probably never buy another one new. My current one is a '99 Tacoma, bought 5 yrs. ago from a mom-n-pop lot.)
I recently took it in for service, and they gave me a Prius as a loaner. I'll never own one, let's just leave it at that.
Good snark here, Jay!!!
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