No Complaints
The first thing that we must acknowledge is that the modern car is a computer-on-wheels. One of the reasons that Volkswagon had so much success with it’s “Beetle” was that it was a simple machine that got the driver from point A to point B without too many things that could go wrong.
Now we all drive computers, and the annoying thing about computers is that they have a tendency to “crash” every now and again. Relate that to cars and the crashes can take lives. Toyota has some big problems to deal with, and these must be especially painful for the brand that enjoyed top ratings for so many years. The thing to bear in mind is that these are simply machines and as such, there is no such thing as perfection.
I drive a Volvo, a brand name that stands proud on a reputation of safety. However, as the years roll by unexpected problems can occur. In my case my car would simply shut down without warning. After about two minutes I turned the key and it started up again and sometimes would run just fine for months. Volvo engineers determined that the most likely cause was probably the major fuses malfunctioning. We changed those and the problem has not resurfaced.
I also drove a Chrysler Voyager seven seater mini-van before that and suffered through the same effect, only that was laid at the feet of the computer motherboard that was shutting down the system. We changed that and the problem went away.
When a customer brings in his car with a tale of these types of problems, I believe it is incumbent on the dealer/garage to take the matter seriously and detain that car until a solution is found. Perhaps they could provide the driver with another car on loan while they confer with the brand network to find the answer. Toyota seems not to have done this for a long time, and I shudder to think what some consequences might have been.
Unintended acceleration seems to be the major problem that Toyota is facing, but apparently Ford and GM seem to be battling similar concerns.
I was a regular follower of the CBS program “60 Minutes” for many years. On Sunday November 23, 1986, Ed. Bradley presented a segment entitled “Out of Control” following the unfortunate death of a six year-old boy who was crushed to death because his mother said her car suddenly accelerated. That car was an Audi 5000 and the report was so damming that it nearly drove Audi into bankruptcy. (Allegedly there was a police report where the mother said her foot slipped onto the accelerator and the car shot forward, but this was not contained in the CBS report.) The program has since been criticized for not being strictly objective and I wonder whether Audi still suffers from its sting. It was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard of Toyota’s troubles.
We all like to show off all the bells and whistles of our latest acquisition, but they can come at too high a price if your car is simply laden with too much technology that can go horribly wrong in the fullness of time.
One last thought about cars that take on a mind of their own: Didn’t Stephen King have a car like this that he called “Christine?”
Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael
The first thing that we must acknowledge is that the modern car is a computer-on-wheels. One of the reasons that Volkswagon had so much success with it’s “Beetle” was that it was a simple machine that got the driver from point A to point B without too many things that could go wrong.
Now we all drive computers, and the annoying thing about computers is that they have a tendency to “crash” every now and again. Relate that to cars and the crashes can take lives. Toyota has some big problems to deal with, and these must be especially painful for the brand that enjoyed top ratings for so many years. The thing to bear in mind is that these are simply machines and as such, there is no such thing as perfection.
I drive a Volvo, a brand name that stands proud on a reputation of safety. However, as the years roll by unexpected problems can occur. In my case my car would simply shut down without warning. After about two minutes I turned the key and it started up again and sometimes would run just fine for months. Volvo engineers determined that the most likely cause was probably the major fuses malfunctioning. We changed those and the problem has not resurfaced.
I also drove a Chrysler Voyager seven seater mini-van before that and suffered through the same effect, only that was laid at the feet of the computer motherboard that was shutting down the system. We changed that and the problem went away.
When a customer brings in his car with a tale of these types of problems, I believe it is incumbent on the dealer/garage to take the matter seriously and detain that car until a solution is found. Perhaps they could provide the driver with another car on loan while they confer with the brand network to find the answer. Toyota seems not to have done this for a long time, and I shudder to think what some consequences might have been.
Unintended acceleration seems to be the major problem that Toyota is facing, but apparently Ford and GM seem to be battling similar concerns.
I was a regular follower of the CBS program “60 Minutes” for many years. On Sunday November 23, 1986, Ed. Bradley presented a segment entitled “Out of Control” following the unfortunate death of a six year-old boy who was crushed to death because his mother said her car suddenly accelerated. That car was an Audi 5000 and the report was so damming that it nearly drove Audi into bankruptcy. (Allegedly there was a police report where the mother said her foot slipped onto the accelerator and the car shot forward, but this was not contained in the CBS report.) The program has since been criticized for not being strictly objective and I wonder whether Audi still suffers from its sting. It was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard of Toyota’s troubles.
We all like to show off all the bells and whistles of our latest acquisition, but they can come at too high a price if your car is simply laden with too much technology that can go horribly wrong in the fullness of time.
One last thought about cars that take on a mind of their own: Didn’t Stephen King have a car like this that he called “Christine?”
Copyright © 2010 Eugene Carmichael
