Comments on: Toyota apologises to customers on YouTube http://www.furlongpr.com/toyota-apologise-to-customers-on-youtube/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=toyota-apologise-to-customers-on-youtube Furlong PR is a London based Social Media & PR Agency Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:03:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Rupert http://www.furlongpr.com/toyota-apologise-to-customers-on-youtube/#comment-1407 Rupert Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:05:06 +0000 http://www.furlongpr.com/?p=2389#comment-1407 Some years ago in the 80s, Audi had a problem with their gear selectors on automatic boxes. It seems that the Americans were uniquely able to shift directly from P (Park) to D (Drive) bypassing N for neutral while still pushing their feet on the throttle. At the time this was trumpeted as ‘sudden acceleration’ problems by the safety lobby. After the 60 Minutes program ran the story there was a deluge of claims. The result of this incompetent behaviour meant that we all now have to suffer with auto boxes that cannot be shifted out of P or N without having your foot on the brake pedal. Thanks to the poor skills of a minority of drivers, Audi's reputation was trashed for years and is in fact still in recovery mode in the US. Toyota which is a byword for manufacturing quality and integrity will need to fix the problem quickly before the press once again whips up public hysteria. Strangely the exact same accelerator assembly is used in the Pontiac Vibe for which there has not been a single claim. Separately from the recall for the alleged sticking accelerator pedals, Toyota is in the process of recalling vehicles to address rare instances in which floor mats have trapped the accelerator pedal in certain Toyota and Lexus models (announced November 25, 2009). Presumably there will be a rush of drivers asking their dealers to move or replace the offending floor mats. Some years ago in the 80s, Audi had a problem with their gear selectors on automatic boxes. It seems that the Americans were uniquely able to shift directly from P (Park) to D (Drive) bypassing N for neutral while still pushing their feet on the throttle. At the time this was trumpeted as ‘sudden acceleration’ problems by the safety lobby. After the 60 Minutes program ran the story there was a deluge of claims. The result of this incompetent behaviour meant that we all now have to suffer with auto boxes that cannot be shifted out of P or N without having your foot on the brake pedal.

Thanks to the poor skills of a minority of drivers, Audi’s reputation was trashed for years and is in fact still in recovery mode in the US.

Toyota which is a byword for manufacturing quality and integrity will need to fix the problem quickly before the press once again whips up public hysteria. Strangely the exact same accelerator assembly is used in the Pontiac Vibe for which there has not been a single claim.

Separately from the recall for the alleged sticking accelerator pedals, Toyota is in the process of recalling vehicles to address rare instances in which floor mats have trapped the accelerator pedal in certain Toyota and Lexus models (announced November 25, 2009). Presumably there will be a rush of drivers asking their dealers to move or replace the offending floor mats.

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