Competition for Christine?

Car’s 2d owner finds trouble, too

Not long after buying his used Lexus in 2003, Mark Pinnock discovered that the luxury sedan’s motor sometimes raced on its own, twice causing fender-benders. A mechanic friend told him it was a quirk of its powerful eight-cylinder engine.

What Pinnock didn’t know was that the car, manufactured by Toyota Motor Corp., had a checkered history — it had prompted the first of what would become a series of federal investigations into mysterious acceleration in Toyota-made cars.

Seemed like a good place to use this:

The car caused fender benders on its own? Oh, I beg to differ. Not paying attention caused the fender benders. Even if - and that's a mighty big if - the car did accelerate suddenly on its own, I don't buy the second accident. That's blaming the car for your own inattention, which, IMHO, casts doubt on whether the first accident was the car's fault as well - or simply someone trying to blame a fender bender on Toyota rather than their own absentmindedness.


No word on whether the Lexus tried to strangle occupants with the seat belt, though...


That is all.