Car & Driver on the Toyota Recall

There's a great editorial in Car & Driver on the Toyota Recall. I love the headline:

Scandal, Media Circus, and Stupid Drivers

Mike Dushane takes on the screaming media, including a jab at 60 Minutes for their coverage of a similar situation with Audi in 1986.

He also opens with a great piece of advice on personally dealing with the situation if it arises:

First, What to Do if Your Car (Not Just a Toyota) Starts to Accelerate Uncontrollably

If your car starts accelerating unexpectedly, hit the brake (it's the one to the left of the gas) and shift into neutral. After you do this, the engine may race loudly but the car won't accelerate. Pull off the road, brake to a stop, shift to park, and shut off the car. This is a simple solution we guarantee will save your life in any car that suffers from unintended acceleration. For more, read our story “How To Deal With Unintended Acceleration,” which is based on our own instrumented testing.

While he offers a more rational look at the numbers and the likelihood of this happening to you, he gives a scathing look at the Toyota's product line over the years and the motivation of the majority of purchasers.

Toyota has earned a reputation in this country over the past 30 years as a maker of utterly dull and utterly reliable transportation appliances. Readers of Consumer Reports and their friends buy them by the millions. But with the notable exception of the Prius (which now is facing its own recall fiasco), Toyota hasn't produced many interesting or exciting products.

It's worth your time to read the entire piece.

Comments

[Anand G]

Great stuff... This one's a real eye opener. I really wanted to know all about this so called 'recall fiasco' and i've got my answers now. Reports say that toyota may have to recall almost 8mn vehicles... which nearly levels up with their total sales in 2009! Some number, isnt it?
And what will happen to the brand? Will they really suffer like Audi... A contrition or confession may not do much good to them in cleaning up this mess. Can miracles really happen?
And i was really shocked at the author's description of Toyota having 'chintzy' interiors and 'poor handling'... They're considered to have high levels of quality and value in Asia!