Friday, February 27, 2015

General Motors refuses to fix damage caused by defective part





Consumer Watchdog: General Motors refuses to fix damage caused by defective part

  February 27. 2015

Christine Young, Consumer Watchdog
 
 
 
 
 
Is it possible for a company to habitually manufacture and sell shoddy, dangerous products and treat its customers as if they're fools – and still remain in business?

Sure it is.

Take General Motors, which recalled a record-breaking 30.4 million vehicles in 2014, more than any other car company in the U.S. The recall number includes vehicles with a defective ignition switch that prompted a federal investigation and the establishment of a victims' compensation fund that has 4,345 claims currently under review, including 479 deaths and 292 serious injuries such as quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputation, permanent brain damage and pervasive burns, allegedly received in accidents in 2.6 million GM vehicles with the faulty switch.

Unfortunately, the drivers and passengers in the other 28 million recalled GM vehicles don't have a victims' compensation fund, but not everyone who owns a recalled vehicle gets hurt or killed. Some just get the car fixed before anything goes wrong and that's the end of it. Those who aren't so lucky are left to their own devices to get a fair shake from GM.

Among those unlucky GM customers is schoolteacher Kevin Moran of Harveys Lake, who was driving his 2013 Chevy Spark on a bright and sunny Christmas Day in 2014 with his wife. The car was loaded with presents, and there was very little traffic on the Cross Valley Expressway. It seemed like perfect day to relax and celebrate with family – until they heard a horrendous, explosive noise and the blue sky disappeared.

The hood of the Spark had blown open and smashed the windshield, completely blocking their view and covering both Morans in shattered glass. Using the rear-view mirrors, Kevin maneuvered the vehicle to the side of the highway. Both he and his wife were shaken, but unhurt.

Realizing they were less than a mile from Bonner Chevrolet, Kevin tied the hood down, drove at a crawl to the dealer's lot, and called a relative to pick them up so they could enjoy what was left of Christmas Day. “Most of the day was spent retelling the story and hearing from everyone just how fortunate we were,” he said.

As it happened, GM had issued a recall for possible hood-latch failure in mid-November. The recall letter stated, “We will send you another notice to inform you when parts are available to repair your vehicle.”

By Christmas Day, however, no such letter had arrived, and Moran's car looked as though it had been in a crash – bent and broken hood and fenders, pulverized windshield, scratched-off paint, busted hinges.

The body shop at Bonner estimated the damage at $5,001.32. With the car's book value at about $9,500, it was worth the fix.

“The guys at Bonner were terrific,” says Moran. “They were confident that this was a simple recall issue and that GM would pick up the tab.”

The guys at Bonner were wrong.

Instead, GM instructed Bonner to jack up the estimate to a higher “warranty rate,” raising the repair cost to over $7,000 and enabling GM to declare the vehicle a total loss.

Instead of reimbursing Moran his vehicle's book value of $9,500, GM offered him $7,500 and a $2,000 “Owner Loyalty” coupon.

That's like $2,000 in Monopoly money – no good unless you're willing to play the game, which Moran was not.

With this offer, GM was forcing him to either buy a new Chevy or buy another make and lose $2,000 of what his car was worth — before the Chevy defect totaled it.

Moran refused the offer and spent several weeks trying to persuade GM “Customer Care” to fix the car at the rate Bonner had quoted, but “Customer Care” stopped responding to his emails.

“I ended up having my insurance repair the vehicle at Bonner for the initial estimate and paid a $250 deductible,” Moran told me.

I contacted GM Spokesman Alan Adler and asked if GM would reimburse Moran the $250 deductible he'd shelled out to repair the damage caused by Chevy's defective hood latch.

That afternoon Moran said he got a call from “Jennifer” at GM media relations.

“She seemed to think GM did everything correctly and that the offer they made originally would satisfy most of their customers.”

Really, Jennifer? Most GM customers would be satisfied with having their car destroyed by a GM manufacturing defect and then being arm-twisted into either buying another GM car or taking a $2,000 loss?

Maybe so, because in 2014, despite $4.1 billion in recall expenses, GM made a tidy operating profit of $6.5 million on worldwide sales of 9.9 million vehicles – a two percent jump over the company's record-setting 2013 sales.

I wrote another email to Adler, asking again if GM would reimburse Moran the $250. Seems like a simple case of right and wrong, I told him.

“Mr. Moran's case is with GM customer assistance and I hope it can be resolved to his satisfaction,” Adler replied.

There you have it, folks — GM “Customer Care” at its best.
Christine Young is the Times Leader's Consumer Watchdog. She can be reached at nepaconsumerwatchdog@gmail.com. Her column appears weekly.




http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/152094269/




Parris Boyd
I've also (see previous comment) been blogging about the "total loss" racket, having experienced a situation similar to Mr. Moran's, whereby directives were issued to a body shop to pad repair costs in order to meet state requirements for "totaling" my vehicle. Search "Like a good MUGGER, State Farm is there..." and read my post "Why is State Farm 'totaling' my car?"


Parris Boyd
It should be obvious to all that we have a corporate-controlled government - Repukes n Demagogues alike - that allows crooked special interests to run roughshod over consumers amidst a never-ending parade of blood-spattered scandals. NHTSA is a lapdog for the auto industry and the "Just Us" Department stands guard to make sure none of the executives at Toyota, GM, Takata, etc. ad nauseum wind up in prison. I've been blogging about the sorry state of affairs - search "Beware of Toyota. Their next victim may be YOU..."



 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Where's NHTSA?



The National Car Wash Association knows which cars are prone to SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION and circulates the LIST to protect employees....




Consumers don't know...you can't get that information to avoid purchasing these vehicles and jeopardizing the safety of your family.




Why aren't these vehicles being recalled to protect the public?




Where is NHTSA?




Consumers are not being protected by NHTSA!



Woman's newly cleaned car flies onto three at dealer




image: http://media.philly.com/images/ardmorecrash.jpg
Investigation underway into an unusual crash at a car dealership in Ardmore. <br />
Investigation underway into an unusual crash at a car dealership in Ardmore. NDN

 

It's easier to sell a new Acura when there isn't a used Jeep crashed on top of it.

An Ardmore car dealership learned that the hard way Tuesday morning, after a customer leaving an adjacent car wash accelerated into a ramp-like snow embankment several feet high and landed atop three cars in the dealer's lot.

Police and witnesses said the driver, a 74-year-old woman, had just had her white Jeep Grand Cherokee washed at Arrow Car Wash on Lancaster Avenue around 9 a.m. when the car sped into a guardrail, over the embankment, and onto the cars at Piazza Acura of Ardmore.

Images from the Fox29 helicopter show responders standing on top of crushed metal inspecting the Jeep, still gleaming from its fresh wash.

"That's one of the pictures you see on the Internet and say, 'How did you do that?' " said an employee at the car wash who asked that his name not be used.

No one was in the parked cars at the time, and no bystanders were hurt, said John Tucci, patrol sergeant for the Lower Merion Police Department. The woman reported no injuries but was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, where she later reported soreness, Tucci said.

Tucci said the woman told police that her car "took off" into the piled-up snow. No drugs or alcohol were involved, he said, and police do not suspect a "mental episode."

Randy Bridegam, general manager of Piazza Acura, said the accident caused about $80,000 in damage to three Acuras, two of which - a new RDX and a 2005 TSX - were most likely totaled.

"It was quite a noise," Bridegam said.

The car wash employee said the woman appeared to have trouble following directions from workers trying to guide her through the wash tunnel just before the crash. He said he did not recognize the woman as a regular customer.

The accident was not the first involving a customer leaving the car wash, the employee said. At least twice in the last two years, customers hit the accelerator instead of the brake on their way out, he said. But he said he had never seen one car end up on top of another.

Tucci did not release the woman's name and said the department would not test the vehicle's mechanics.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150225_Woman_exits_car_wash_onto_three_parked_cars.html#KH0XgetddX0X4p0D.99

Car Wash Association Put Out Warning on Jeeps - See first entry below.


JEEP CHEROKEE WARNING SHEET-Benny's Car Wash


www.bennyscarwash.com/welcome/jeepwarning

· Jeep Cherokee Warning ... Jeep Cherokee & Grand Jeep Cherokee Customers ... accelerates quickly and sometimes uncontrollably upon exiting the carwash ...

· Car washes unfairly target Jeeps as dangerous - Autoblog


www.autoblog.com/.../car-washes-unfairly-target-jeeps-as-...


Aug 8, 2006 - Vines then turns the mirror towards the car wash industry itself, ..... than 400 complaints about Jeep Cherokees accelerating without warning.

· Jeep Recalls - ConsumerAffairs.com



· Chrysler is recalling 313,236 model year 2011-2013 Jeep Wrangler vehicles ... man was run over and killed by a Grand Cherokee in a Connecticut car wash ... Texas, Joanna said her 2006 Jeep Commander stalls without warning during turns ...


· Jeep Grand Cherokee Sudden Acceleration (Not Just ...




· Jan 29, 2010 - Uploaded by dodgechryslersucks

Chrysler's Sudden Unintended Acceleration problem was so bad that the International Carwash Association ...

· Jeep's a comin' through! - Professional Carwashing and ...


www.carwash.com/articles/jeep-s-a-comin-through-2

· Oct 11, 2010 - Strong measures to be sure, but given the reputation — earned or not — which those Jeep models have in the industry, the is a first ...

· Car Wash | Rothrock Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram | Allentown ...


rothrock.com/Car-Wash.aspx

· ... vehicle in to the Reconditioning Department at Rothrock in Allentown for a car wash. ... seats, clean and dress door panels and dashboard, clean trunk area.

· [PDF]2013 Jeep Wrangler User's Guide


www.jeep.com/download/pdf/ug/2013-Wrangler-UG-4th.pdf

· Jeep

Low Fuel Warning Light ... be warned not to touch the parking brake, brake pedal, or the shift lever. ..... Do not run a fabric top through an automatic car wash.

· Jeeps banned from carwash chain for 'safety issues' | Video ...






Boy suffers head injury, 3 others injured in accident at Monrovia car wash


By Ruby Gonzales, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Posted:

  
Five people, including a 10-year-old boy was injured when a driver lost control of his Toyota Camry as he exited the Fast 5 Express Carwash in Monrovia on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. The Camry initially struck a vehicle that was parked and being vacuumed, pushing it into a 10-year-old boy who was standing on the opposite side. The child fell to the ground, striking his head, and was taken to a hospital for treatment, said Monrovia police Lt. Nick Manfredi. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda/ Pasadena Star-News)

MONROVIA — A 10-year-old boy suffered a head injury and four other people were hurt Friday when a driver leaving a self-serve carwash lost control of his car and stuck four other vehicles, police said.

The accident occurred around 3:40 p.m. at Fast5XPress Car Wash in Monrovia at 935 Huntington Drive.

Monrovia Police Lt. Nick Manfredi said the driver of a Toyota Camry lost control before his car struck a parked vehicle that was being vacuumed. The impact caused one of the cars to move, striking a 10-year-old boy standing on the other side.

“The boy fell to the ground and received a head injury,” Manfredi said.

The Camry continued to accelerate and then hit another vehicle in the process of being dried by a woman, Manfredi said. She suffered an arm injury and was transported to a hospital.

Monrovia police Officer Jim Mead said the injured boy was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. He didn’t know the boy’s condition. Three out of the five cars damaged had to be towed away while two others were able to be driven.

Store manager Erik Martin said in the nine months since the self-serve carwash has been open, it has processed more than 100,000 cars without an accident. This was the first time his staff had to clean two spots of blood off of the asphalt.

“You could tell (the driver) was kind of shocked at what happened,” Martin said. “You would think after he hit the first vehicle that that would’ve been it. Just take your foot off all pedals, but I can’t answer for him.”

The driver at the front end of the chain reaction said he believes his brakes gave out.

“I see the Go symbol (in the carwash) and I put it on ‘D’ and go slowly, slowly,” said the Camry’s driver Jagdish Rajgor. “I made a right turn and my brakes weren’t working.”

When Rajgor exited the carwash tunnel, he hit the back of a truck and caused it to fall into landscaping by the sidewalk. Then he hit a Honda Civic, Martin said. The boy was helping wipe down the Civic, so he flew upon impact. The Civic hit another car, and the Camry kept going. It collided with a white Toyota Rav 4, which hit an elderly lady who was wiping down her car. The lady fell to the ground, Martin said.


Rajgor’s two sons, 8 and 3, were in the car with him, he said.

Manfredi said Rajgor had a minor nose injury and a child sitting in the back seat complained of pain.

They weren’t hospitalized.

A girl who was in the car being vacuumed didn’t have any visible injuries, Manfredi said. He said she was shaken up and also was transported to the hospital for observation.





Wednesday, February 25, 2015

TOYOTA FJ CRUISER 2014 Recall




Please click on the following NHTSA Campaign ID links to view the recall information.
NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 15V081
Manufacturer : Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing
Make / Model Years : TOYOTA / 2014
Subject : Intermediate Steering Shaft Weld may Fail

Thank you,

Recalls Subscription Team
Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)


To file a vehicle safety-related complaint, please go online to our File a Complaint web page, or call us toll-free at 1-888-327-4236.

To find out more about NHTSA, please go to the Safercar.gov website or call our Vehicle Safety Hotline toll-free at 1-888-327-4236


RECALL Subject : Intermediate Steering Shaft Weld may Fail

Saturday, February 21, 2015

SUV slams into Wendy's


THE NATIONAL CAR WASH ASSOCIATION knows which vehicles are prone to SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION.

As a consumer, YOU don't! 



Is this one of the vehicles? Are we all at risk because of SECRECY?











 

12-year-old boy suffered minor abrasions after car slammed into Wendy's in Bayonne

 


By Jonathan Lin | The Jersey Journal 
on February 20, 2015



BAYONNE -- A 12-year-old boy who was taken to the hospital after a car slammed through the front door of a Wendy's yesterday has been released after being treated for minor abrasions, according to a hospital spokesman.
 
The boy, who police said complained of pain to his leg after a BMW sports utility vehicle crashed into the Wendy's on Lefante Way, was treated at Bayonne Medical Center and released within two hours, the spokesman said. 

Another person struck by the BMW, an 89-year-old Bayonne man, is in critical condition at Jersey City Medical Center-Barnabas Health after undergoing surgery last night, The Jersey Journal reported earlier.
 
At 3:12 p.m. yesterday, police were notified that a car crashed through the front door of the Wendy's, according to police. Shortly afterward, a fleet of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene.
 
The driver of the car, a 77-year-old Bayonne woman, didn't suffer any injuries, Bayonne Police Capt. Robert Geisler said today. She wasn't under the influence of any drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident, police said earlier.
 
The woman didn't drive into the Wendy's with the intent to harm anyone, police said. As of this afternoon, the woman has not been issued any summonses or charged with any crime, Geisler said.
 
"It appears she was attempting to park head on into one of the parking spots adjacent to the north side of the restaurant," he said, adding that it's not clear at this point why the car then accelerated into the building.
 
The vehicle made it 10 feet into the building, but appeared to have stopped short of hitting the wall on the other side. The entrance to the building was littered with broken glass and twisted metal shortly after the accident.
 
Geisler said seven Wendy's employees and four patrons were in the building at the time. The patrons consisted of the 12-year-old boy and his mother, the 89-year-old man and another patron.
 
Shortly after the collision, officers cordoned off the parking lot and entrance to the Wendy's. They cleared the scene by 6:15 p.m. after examining the site of the crash for several hours. The car was then towed away. 
 
 
Car towed after slamming into Wendy's in Bayonne, Feb. 19, 2015A car was towed away after slamming through the front door of a Wendy's in Bayonne on Feb. 19, 2015. Jonathan Lin | The Jersey Journal.
The Wendy's building remains structurally sound. The entrance was boarded up this morning, with a sign reading, "Sorry. We are closed!!," but the restaurant opened for business later in the day.




http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/02/12-year-old_boy_suffered_minor_abrasions_after_car.html


Witness to car crash at Bayonne Wendy's: 'There was blood all over the wall'

 
What was the model and model year of this BMW?


Most Toyota SUA victims use the word "terrifying" in their description of the crashes or even in the event without a crash, IF they are lucky enough to stop the vehicle before it crashes! The witness said "horrific" and that word is also used a lot to describe these frightening events of unintended ELECTRONIC acceleration.
 
These accidents are described as a "freak" or "bizarre" because of the erratic behavior of the vehicles at the time of the incidents. Drivers are "shocked" or "dazed" or "confused" afterwards as you can imagine ANYONE would be!

This isn't about age, medical condition, or any other cause superficial to the ACTUAL no-speed or low-speed to AIRBORNE speed in seconds electronic cause of such accidents.

Make no mistake about it...there is a Big PR push to make sure the driver is found to be at fault...even if it means conjuring up the most "handy" excuse possible. A real Toyota Corolla victim tells all about Toyota's coercion (a.k.a. BULLY) techniques on Twitter. It is NOT funny what the automaker is doing to their own customers when the customers come to them to report this serious safety issue happening in their vehicles!

If you read comment sections on these articles, you see a lot of inappropriate joking going on at the car crash victim's expense. It happens time and time again if you take the time to track the articles about these horrific crashes. Think that's innocent? Think again.

Charlene Blake
 
There is a BIG hidden secret in the auto industry...it's called ELECTRONIC sudden unintended acceleration! I know...you thought that was just about FLOOR MATS and sticky pedals, or "driver error," right? That's certainly what TOYOTA would like you to continue to believe, BUT DON'T!

These ultra-complex new engines are completely computer driven. Software is needed to control the throttle system. You THINK you are giving gas when you press the accelerator, but you are only SUGGESTING this to the computer. In electronic SUA cases, the throttle software may be glitch-prone and NOT do as you wish.

What happens then? Well, the glitch may (and has for countless SUA victims) result in an OPEN THROTTLE situation. The brakes become INEFFECTIVE in these situations and crashes into storefronts, buildings, and homes have resulted.

What does the automaker say? They hook the vehicles up to the computer and declare NOTHING WRONG! They cite the EDR which has erroneous data and say YOU were NOT braking. They point the finger at you based on AGE, GENDER, MEDICAL history, prescription meds, etc. YOU name it, they've TRIED it!

Get the picture? And you THOUGHT the GM issue was big? Think again! This cover-up of ELECTRONIC SUA is scandalous and very well-orchestrated.

Why even a WHISTLEBLOWER has been legally harassed by Toyota as it does NOT want her Toyota internal docs posted online anymore. The automaker wants to intimidate and SILENCE her. It doesn't

 
What a load of propaganda to support NHTSA's 26 year old...ANCIENT..."study" to blame the drivers! STOP the age-profiling! NHTSA is distracting the public away from the DEFECTIVE vehicles! Time to focus on the ALL ELECTRONIC throttle control system GLITCHES that are deadly and destructive!

 


JUST MY OPINION...AT THE MOMENT!






Head On TOYOTA Accident



THE LEMON LADY gets the CREEPY CRAWLIES each time a HEAD ON TOYOTA ACCIDENT is reported.....



Is there another TOYOTA DEFECT that is not being addressed?
What is this? Is this a TOYOTA STEERING FAILURE?





Two seriously injured in Queenstown crash

 A car appears to have crossed the centre line before a head-on crash near Queenstown that left two people with serious to moderate injuries.



A 57-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a head-on crash near Queenstown.

A Toyota Corolla sedan was travelling on State Highway 6 in the Gibbston Valley just after midday on Saturday when it collided with a Toyota Corolla hatchback.

Police say it appears the sedan crossed the centre line on a stretch of road between Queenstown and Cromwell, near the Kawarau Bungy Bridge.

The 57-year-old male hatchback driver had to be cut from his car and was taken to Dunedin Hospital with moderate to serious injuries.

His 63-year-old female passenger also suffered moderate to serious injuries while the two passengers in the sedan only suffered minor injuries, Senior Sergeant Craig Brown says.

Both cars have been extensively damaged.

The crash occurred on a straight section of road and the weather was fine at the time.

A serious crash unit is investigating what caused the crash


http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=202346&cat=1033&fm=newsmain%2Cnarts



JUST MY OPINION...AT THE MOMENT!

Friday, February 20, 2015

Toyota Death by Snow Bank?



Doesn't it seem as if an awful lotta TOYOTA DRIVERS experience MEDICAL CONDITIONS leading to their deaths?

A TOYOTA Driver is killed in a crash, can't speak for him/herself....a MEDICAL CONDITION is blamed?

What if the TOYOTA SUDDENLY ACCELERATED? Where the brake marks on the road?  

When the TOYOTA BRAKES FAILED on the LEMON LADY'S NEW TOYOTA, she was taking inventory of obstacles to avoid injuring others....or becoming ROAD KILL under a loaded 18-wheeler.







2nd crash in Nine Mile River

Just before noon Wednesday, East Hants District RCMP were called to a single car crash on MacPhee Road in Nine Mile River. Paramedics and members of the local fire department also responded.

RCMP say a 58-year-old man driving a Toyota Yaris lost control on MacPhee Road and landed in a snowbank.

Members of the local fire department also responded to the scene and paramedics rushed the man to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police say they suspect the crash may have been the result of complications due to a medical condition but the matter remains under investigation.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/man-killed-in-beaver-bank-crash-may-have-had-medical-issue-before-crash-1.2962908



JUST MY OPINION .... AT THE MOMENT!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Recalls reach unwanted record - NHTSA's Failure to Protect YOU!


This family was killed in a RUNAWAY LEXUS:



TOYOTA settled for $10 MILLION with a CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT.



TOYOTA settled this SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION case with a CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT....you'll never know what the price of silence is worth to TOYOTA....



Koua Fong Lee was imprisoned because his RUNAWAY TOYOTA killed:



His story is here:




Claribel Nunez was injured by TAKATA AIRBAG SHRAPNEL:


Air Bag Lawsuits: S. Florida Woman Sues Takata Over Exploding Fragment That Injured Her Head




Hien Thi Tran was killed by TAKATA AIRBAG SHRAPNEL:









Takata airbag victims looked like they had been shot or stabbed




TRAFFIC SAFETY

Recalls reach unwanted record

Total of nearly 64 million vehicles exceeds three preceding years' total
 
 
One of the biggest recalls of 2014 was over faulty ignition switches used by General Motors in a range of cars for more than a decade. Molly Riley/Associated Press file


By Christopher Jensen
The New York Times
Posted Feb. 17, 2015 @ 2:01 am


The auto industry recalled almost 64 million vehicles for safety problems last year, a record, according to figures released Thursday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The number of recalled vehicles exceeded the total for the previous three years combined.
The agency and automakers faced intense scrutiny in 2014 and sometimes scorching criticism from Congress about whether safety defects were being investigated properly and vehicles recalled promptly.
Of the 803 vehicle recalls, 123 resulted from NHTSA investigations or contacts with automakers. The other 680 were initiated by the automakers after they discovered a problem and, as the law requires, reported it.
While the recalls last year covered a wide range of defects, two problems were most prominent, affecting millions of vehicles: faulty ignitions in General Motors cars, and flaws in Takata air bags that could send shards of metal into the passenger compartment.
An investigation last year by The New York Times of the NHTSA found that the agency had frequently been slow to identify problems, tentative to act and reluctant to employ its full legal powers against companies.
In a statement Thursday, Mark R. Rosekind, who was confirmed in December as the agency’s administrator, said, “These figures demonstrate the need for vigorous, effective oversight to remove safety defects from our highways.”
The agency said the 123 recalls it prompted resulted in the recall of 19.1 million vehicles. That was, the agency said, “the highest number of vehicles recalled due to NHTSA investigations and enforcement efforts” since 1981. But that was also the smallest number of recalls resulting from agency action since 2010. In 2013 the agency influenced 166 recalls, but that resulted in the recall of only 7.1 million vehicles because the problems affected fewer models.
The number of vehicles affected by a single recall can vary widely.
In a departure from its practice in previous years, NHTSA did not release the number of recalls by manufacturer. But General Motors accounted for almost 27 million of the recalled vehicles, the automaker said.
According to the automakers, Honda recalled about 8.9 million vehicles last year, Fiat Chrysler recalled about 8.8 million, Toyota recalled about 6 million and Ford recalled almost 4.9 million.
Automakers recalled almost 22 million vehicles in 2013 and about 16 million a year in 2011 and 2012.
The agency also said that almost 7.7 million seats designed to restrain children in an accident were recalled in 2014, the second-highest number since it began recording such actions in 1972.
Almost all of those child restraint seats were recalled as a result of pressure from the federal regulators on Graco Children’s Products, which recalled about 6.1 million seats, and Evenflo Co., which recalled 1.6 million. The seats had the same problem, a bulky buckle that federal regulators worried could trap a child in a seat.



This highlights the failures of the Automotive Industry and NHTSA [dubbed: No Help To Solve Anything by Parris Boyd].

NHTSA has become little more than a revolving door for industry, lacks the expertise to examine many of the defects and has ignored complaints filed by vehicle owners.

NHTSA is grossly underfunded for the tasks with which it is charged, lacking the manpower and expertise.

While this isn't political, the GOP have vowed to shrink government to drown it in a bathtub. That means you are NOT protected!

The National Car Wash Association knows which vehicles experience SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. Consumers don't!

http://jessiepowell.blogspot.com/search/label/National%20Car%20Wash%20Association

Exploding Takata AIRBAGS kill! Where was NHTSA?

AIRBAGS fail to discharge in an accident or discharge while driving.
Where is NHTSA? 


The Auto Industry can't get your vehicle to function uneventfully and they're gonna give you a driverless vehicle?

Do you trust them?

The lackeys in Congress has mostly remained silent with the exception of a few.

Please support those who have supported protecting consumers and spoken out against well-funded lobbyists.  




JUST MY OPINION .... AT THE MOMENT!

Toyota's Tactics!






Koua Fong Lee went to prison because he was unable to STOP his RUNAWAY TOYOTA CAMRY!



Instead of fixing TOYOTAS.....restoring their reputation for dependability....



TOYOTA hires gaggles of attorneys to flood our courts with nonsense.....




Toyota, told to pay $10.9 million in car crash, wants driver to pay $4 million

  • Article by: RANDY FURST , Star Tribune
  • Updated: February 17, 2015 - 11:26 PM
 
 
The carmaker wants driver Koua Fong Lee to pay $4 million of its $10.9 million settlement.
 
 
The Toyota Motor Co., which was ordered by a jury to pay $10.9 million as a result of a fatal accident in St. Paul, has asked U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery to make Koua Fong Lee pay more than $4 million of the award because the jury found Lee 40 percent at fault in the crash.
 
Bob Hilliard, the Texas attorney who represented Lee in the federal trial that ended earlier this month, was informed of the motion by a reporter. Hilliard called the proposal “baseless and desperate.”
 
Hilliard said that Toyota never filed a counterclaim against Lee, 37, the driver of the 1996 Toyota Camry. “They never brought him in as a third-party defendant,” Hilliard said. “They can’t now seek a contribution from him. It’s ridiculous.”
 
Following a three-week trial and about four days of deliberation, the jury of six men and six women on Feb. 3 found Toyota 60 percent at fault and Lee 40 percent at fault in the June 10, 2006, accident in St. Paul.
 
Lee’s attorneys argued that two nylon accelerator pulleys became stuck as Lee exited from eastbound Interstate 94 at Snelling Avenue, and despite efforts by Lee to apply the brakes, his Camry gained speed and rear-ended a 1995 Oldsmobile Ciera which was sitting at a stoplight at Snelling and Concordia. Toyota claimed Lee accidentally stepped on the gas pedal rather than the brakes.
 
The driver of the Ciera, Javis Trice-Adams, and his son, Javis Jr., 9, were killed instantly in the crash.
 
Devyn Bolton, 6, the daughter of his ex-wife, Bridgette Trice, sustained serious injuries and died more than a year later.
 
In one motion filed Tuesday, signed by Toyota attorney Bard Borkon, Toyota said that 40 percent of the $10.9 million in damages that Toyota must pay totals $4.076 million. “The $1,250,000 the jury awarded to him would offset some of the $4,076,000, but he would still owe Toyota $2,826,000,” the motion stated, adding that Lee should pay that amount.
 
Toyota also sought reductions in other payouts awarded to victims of the crash. For example, it said that Bridgette Trice was paid through insurance $1 million for medical expenses for her daughter, and $6,407 in funeral expenses. The $4 million Toyota was ordered to pay Trice and the little girl’s grandmother should be reduced by that amount, the Toyota attorneys wrote.
 
Similarly they asked that Quincy Adams, the little girl’s grandfather, who was also injured in the crash and received $1.25 million in the jury decision, should have it cut by $77,894 which were medical expenses for which he was already reimbursed.
 
Jemee Lee, Koua Fong Lee’s daughter, who got $150,000, should have her award reduced by $19,768 that she got through insurance, the Toyota motion said.
 
Jassmine Adams, who was also in the Ciera, was awarded $4 million for serious leg injuries she sustained that will require more surgery. She should have her payout reduced by $30,000 which she received from Lee’s insurer, the Toyota attorneys said.
 
The company also asked for several other reductions based on insurance payments.
 
Minnesota law requires attorneys seeking to have a jury award reduced for collateral payouts must file motions within 10 days of when the judgment is formally entered in court records.
 
Hilliard, Lee’s attorney, said Tuesday, “It’s amazing the world’s largest car company is now trying to nickel and dime this judgment and go after these very modest-income, working-class people.”
 
A Toyota spokesman said the company’s attorneys would not comment.
 
The lawyers also filed a motion asking for a hearing before Montgomery on April 22 or as soon thereafter that it can be scheduled.
 
 
 
 
THE PAID TOYOTA SHILLS ARE AT WORK!
 
How do you know who's a TOYOTA SHILL?
 
THE TOYOTA SHILLS resort to:
 
NAME CALLING
INTRODUCE FALSE ACCUSATIONS [such as Koua Fong Lee was intoxicated, when in fact, he was returning from church and no evidence of such has ever been presented]
MISREPRESENT THE FACTS or MAKE UP THEIR OWN
Continue to repeat the same lies
 
and much else clearly revealed in their comments  
 
 
 
 
Thanks Toyota! You just made my next car purchase easy. I'll be sticking with Honda. Shut up and pay the damages. Trying to reduce the judgment to family members who lost their loved ones by nickel and diming this and that (and to Toyota it is nickel and diming) just convinced me.
For those that don't like it ....guess what??? This is America. In America juries are the finders of fact. The jury spoke. You may not like their decision, but you also weren't privy to much of the information which they had

 
 
NHTSA still has no documentation on suggested repair or maintenance on any of this equipment for 1996 camry's. The only thing close is a recall on cruise control acceleration with a recall date 10 yrs before this accident occurred. That recall makes no reference to breaks [sic] not working or not being able to auto turn off cruise control.

These 1996 camry's are almost 20 yrs old now. Every time this story comes up, I feel bad for everyone involved. But the party I get upset with is NHTSA. They've had ample time to put this issue to rest. Either there is a problem or not. They are the ones that have to use science, engineering, and facts to prove a problem does exist and to what extent.

 
 
 
What poor PR on Toyota's part. My last three cars I purchased were Toyotas. I've lost a lot of respect for Toyota with their tactics in this case. I think I'm done buying Toyotas.


Ok folks, this is tactical. Toyota is upping the ante to force a settlement that will vacate the verdict. It does not give a rip about this case except for the bad precedent it sets for many other cases. Google res judicata/collateral estoppel.


I will never buy another Toyota as long as I live, or at least until I see some of Toyota's "top brass" agree to spend 60% of Mr. Lee's time in prison behind bars.


As a Toyota Camry owner, Toyota's actions/inactions are shameful. Sorry, Toyota, you lost me as a customer.

@aqualungman "Tort Reform" is nothing less that a GOP gift to corporations. Limit liability on malpractice and misfeasance only encourages bad behavior. Tell me aqualungman, if your brand new regulator failed because of design or manufacturing flaws and you suffered irrecoverable brain damage would a gross limit on compensation be okay with you and your caregivers? We should not protect corporations from liability. GAD!!


I have owned several Toyotas in the past. Never again.

@codger1016 I have owned 3 Toyota Corollas. I have been driving the current one for 18 years. At 103,000 miles it is starting to show a little rust around the back wheel wells. The body will go long before the engine does.
That said, I am rethinking which brand to go with in the future.
Toyota - do the right thing and foot the entire bill. This man spent two years away from his young family. He has paid enough. Don't tarnish your image any further.

@codger1016 I've never owned one, and certainly won't now. There is nothing wrong with letting your pocketbook speak for your moral values. It's no longer about the quality of the vehicles; it is about the honor and integrity of the management of Toyota.


Why did Toyota OK the use of nylon pulleys in something so extremely important as the accelerator cable routing? A hint: they can MELT and WARP plus become brittle after heating and cooling over many years time.
I want to ask that question to the engineer that proposed and had the design approved. Were metal pulleys just that much more expensive?

@aqualungman Two minutes of research shows that engineering grade nylon (called "Nylon 6-6") has a melting temperature of 516F. And, if the engineering grade was not used, that temp is much lower.
That is the MELTING point. I bet warping (due to softening of the nylon) occurs at a much lower temperature, especially with a tensioned wire/cable wrapped around a portion of it is causing physical stress.
PLUS, all critical parts are supposed to have a "safety factor" of 3 (three). So, 516/3 is 172F. That part should never reach or exceed 172F.
Also, while cleaning, I found a pair of 20 year old Bauer "Turbo" (all plastic bodied) hockey skates. They used to easily support every bit of torque my 225 lbs could put into them. But, when I picked one up, the nearly 1/4" thick plastic ankle area broke apart into pieces. It had dried out and become brittle. And they have been in the basement for years at a stable temperature, not inside a vehicle's engine bay.





JUST MY OPINION....AT THE MOMENT!