Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Great Toyota Cover Up?

by Bill Zervakos

According to an article in the Detroit News, Toyota has acknowledged they’ve had as many as 37,000 complaints about the brakes on the Prius acting funny. So out of the millions sold perhaps 37,000 may have a problem, not all of the millions produced are at risk which is what many would like you to believe.

Here’s something important to keep in mind; a problem that cannot be duplicated at a repair center cannot be fixed. Pretty easy to understand that one can’t fix what one can’t find and I have personal experience with that scenario having been both a service advisor at a dealership and owning my own repair center.

In the 1980’s, When ABS was a relatively new technology, I remember people coming in to the dealership I worked at complaining about brake problems. After examination it was in fact shown that there was no problem, it was just the difference in the way the brakes felt when ABS tried to kick in. If you’ve ever driven a hybrid you know the brakes definitely feel different and take a bit of getting used to.

Paul Nolasco, a Toyota spokesman talked about the time lag for brakes kicking in felt by some drivers that stems from the two systems in a gas-electric hybrid, the gas-engine and the electric motor, reacting to brake pressure. That feeling is apparently exacerbated when the car is on a bumpy or slippery surface. I certainly haven’t heard about any accidents attributed to the problem and Toyota says a software fix is likely the answer.

So, while Toyota is in fact addressing the situation, it isn’t apparently quickly enough to satisfy the media and our legislative leaders. However I have what I feel is a pretty simple question; why is it that we are so quick to believe that a company that has over many years, earned the reputation that Toyota has for quality and commitment by building safe vehicles and developing customer satisfaction, now covering up problems that they allegedly knew existed for years. It simply doesn’t make a any of sense.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been test driving cars and reporting on them for over 15 years and have certainly driven more Toyota’s than most. During those 15 plus years there have been millions of cars recalled from several manufacturers for myriad reasons, and certainly most all were valid as is this recall. What I’m most disappointed with is all the hyperbole from some of my colleagues in the media that seem to think it’s critical to eviscerate Toyota, I can assure you, I’m in no way absolving Toyota from problems that may exist by any stretch of the imagination. They, as all auto makers have to be, are responsible for making sure their products are safe.

Some legitimate questions surround the use of drive-by-wire technology in vehicles today and I certainly don’t pretend to have any answers about that. But I do know that when I get behind the wheel of a car, I’m responsible for controlling the vehicle and if the carpet jams the accelerator, which has happened to me over the years, the gas pedal doesn’t release, which has also happened to me, it’s my responsibility to cope with the situation at the moment. This may surprise you but brakes will always stop a runaway car period. Brakes will always overpower an engine so as drivers it’s our responsibility to not panic.

Electronics have exponentially changed how vehicles operate but handling a car hasn’t. So what I am asking is, why are we so quick to think that Toyota, or any other manufacturer is covering up anything. Could it be for rating points? How’s that for hyperbole.