“Brakes, brakes not working!” screamed Lee moments before crashing his 1996 Toyota Camry into the back of another car, killing a family of three. In 2006, the Minnesota jury didn’t believe this testimony and sentenced Lee to 8 years in prison. In 2010, they might be changing their mind. [More]
cars
Chicago Is Worst Place To Get Your Car Repaired, Memphis Is Best
By 2.25.10
The website AutoMD.com sent mystery shoppers to 600 auto repair shops in 50 different market areas to ask how much it would cost to replace the front brakes on a Ford Focus. They found that on average, repair shops in Memphis were among the most affordable shops tested, and they tended to consistently quote their prices to customers. The worst was the Chicago area, where shops quoted anywhere from $425 to $150, and where every shop tested changed its quote depending on what information the mystery shopper presented. [More]
FBI Raids 3 Auto Parts Suppliers In Detroit As Part Of Anti-Trust Case
By 2.24.10
While the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform was busy raking Toyota’s chief executives over the coals in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Federal agents in Detroit were going all Untouchables-like at the offices of three auto parts suppliers, including one company owned in part by Toyota. [More]
GM Executive Complains About Being Underpaid
By 2.16.10
The Treasury Department now owns 61% of GM, but apparently the new owners are being stingy. The Detroit News says GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Friday that the top 25 senior executives (whose pay packages are being reviewed by the Treasury) are “way, way, way” underpaid. [More]
Toyota Wants To Kiss And Make Up, Wants You To Keep Buying Toyotas
By 2.15.10
Now that Toyota has almost nearly completed its time in the naughty spot for dumping a few million potentially deadly vehicles on the market, the world’s largest auto manufacturer is looking to make nice. But instead of flowers, candy or poetry, Toyota is making plans to woo you back into their showrooms with increased cash incentives and improved maintenance plans. [More]
Learn To Love Your Messed Up Toyota With This Parody
By 2.11.10
Funny or Die wants to help Toyota out of this awkward situation it’s found itself in, so the site has posted a helpful video of a cheerfully steely spokeswoman who likes to point with both hands. It’s like she’s shooting good news in your face! Pow pow! And really, it’s true that you can have an awesome garage party without ever needing to take your Toyota on the road, so maybe you should stop being so pessimistic. Video below. [More]
Consumers Are Shockingly Uninterested In Buying A Toyota Right Now
By 2.10.10
Kelley Blue Book says that they’ve commissioned a new survey showing that consumers who were considering a Toyota before the recall party started are now much less interested — and the effect seems to be growing. As each week passes and Toyota recalls more cars, people are thinking about buying… Fords? [More]
Toyota Recalls More Than 400,000 Cars For Faulty Brakes
By 2.9.10
Hey! The rumors were true! Toyota is recalling more cars! This time they are hauling you back to the dealer for a braking problem that is affecting several of their hybrid models — including the 2010 Prius, the Sai, which is not sold in the U.S., the plug-in version of the Prius, and the Lexus HS250h. They are also recalling 7,300 Camrys for a completely different problem. [More]
Report: Toyota Will Recall 270,000 Prius Hybrids Over Brake Problems
By 2.5.10
The Associated Press is reporting that a top Japanese business newspaper (that we don’t understand because our Japanese reading comprehension really sucks) says that Toyota will recall 270,000 Prius hybrids over complaints about “inconsistent” braking. Consistently being able to brake, of course, is something you tend to want in a car. The braking problem is unrelated to the floor mat and the “sticky pedal” issue. [More]
Here's The Repair Process For Toyota Accelerator Pedals
By 2.3.10
The Providence Journal of Rhode Island filmed a service director at a Toyota dealership fixing an accelerator pedal. If you own one of the recalled models, Consumer Reports’ Cars blog recommends that you learn the warning signs of pedal trouble and get to a dealership as soon as possible if you notice any of them. [More]
Guy Refuses To Return Insurer's Calls, So Insurer Says It Doesn't Have To Pay For The Car He Hit
By 2.3.10
A woman in Philadelphia says her neighbor just laughs every time he sees her now, because his insurance company refused to pay a claim on her car that he hit. The company told her that the man won’t answer his phone, so there’s nothing they can do. Update: Right after I posted this, the OP emailed with an update. See the bottom of the post. [More]
Epic Toyota Cluster#$@% Continues: Repair Kits Shipping To Dealers
By 2.1.10
2.3 million Toyotas will need to be repaired and the kits to do so are being shipped to dealers this week, says Bloomberg. The repair should take about 30 minutes and Toyota says they are “confident” the problem isn’t electronic. [More]
Zipcar Pulls Recalled Toyotas From Service
By 1.29.10
Zipcar is concerned about the runaway stuck pedal Toyotas of doom, and so they have pulled all the recalled models from their fleet until Toyota gets their #@$% together.
Behold Zipcar’s press release: [More]
Honda Dealer Mocks Toyota, Touts Cars' Non-Deathtrap Status
By 1.29.10
Well, this is classy. The photo at left purports to be of a Honda dealer in Dallas taking advantage of Toyota’s own private carpocalypse. That is, the serious gas pedal issue that has led to the recall of 2.3 million vehicles and halted production and sales of Toyotas. Hondas, as we all know, are free of mechanical defects. [More]
Every Time VW Fixes My Car, They Break Something Else
By 1.27.10
Amy’s ’06 VW Passat has been in the shop 106 of the past 141 days. After the engine broke down on a road trip and needed replacing, VW replaced it, but broke the transmission. When they replaced the transmission, they broke an axle. When they fixed the axle, the car started leaking oil worse than the Valdez. All Amy and her family want to be able to do is drive their car around like normal. So far, that’s not happening, and VW’s only offer of contrition has been to waive one car payment and $250 in services. So Amy launched her EECB, complete with a graph of how long VW has held her car hostage: [More]
Toyota Stops Selling 8 Popular Car Models
By 1.27.10
A week after issuing a recall on over 2 million vehicles due to faulty acceleration pedals, Toyota has announced it will stop selling 8 popular models in the U.S., as well as shut down 6 U.S. factories, while it deals with the problem. The faulty pedals were made by a U.S. manufacturer but have also been installed in cars sold in Europe, although Toyota hasn’t said what it plans to do outside the U.S. for now. Update: SafetyResearch.net says Toyota was required by law to stop selling the models after it announced the recall last week, so it’s actually kind of strange that it waited five days. [More]
GM Reaches Deal To Sell Saab To Spyker
By 1.26.10
Spyker, a specialty car maker that makes only a dozen cars a year, has actually managed to come to a deal to buy Saab from GM, says Dow Jones. [More]
