Well... back Chevi

I heard a discussion of this report earlier in the week.

What it came down to, is that just because you could hack into the wiring system and *create* the issue, doesn't mean that THAT is the cause of the issue in the other cases.

If microwave ovens started exploding, there would be investigations. Just because I could stick some aluminum foil wrapped dynamite in a microwave and make it explode, doesn't mean that's what was happening in the other cases.

*DISCLAIMER*

Please don't wrap dynamite in aluminum foil and microwave.

Please.

PASS!

You can get a speedup from Toyota which is very very improbable...

You can also get struck by lightning!

Shame on you Nature!

If it happens like the guy says, can you not just slip it out of gear into neutral, - and then brake?? Anyway, you have more chance of being struck by lightening than this happening, and if it does happen you would have to be a moron (or complete driving novice) to loose control.
People are making way to big of a deal out of this recall, all manufacturers have to make recalls, it's only being made out to be a big problem because it's toyota, (biggest manufacturer in the world) and because toyota is killing off all the american (inferior) car manufacturers.

Tin whiskers..... they will kill us all eventually.

How ironic that a "lead foot" death trap scenario could be cuased by a lack of lead.

Make the Lada do that!

#6 - there's at least one reported case of a car that wouldn't shift out of gear, even when it was thrown in neutral AND reverse.

#6 9 is correct, I am having a hard time locating a reference to support this but I recall 2 such reports. 1 involved an issue with a car with a normal shift mechanism that the linkage broke when the transmission was moved from drive to neutral under full throttle. This was supposed to be due to the force of the engine acceleration being similar to trying to shift out of park on an incline. And a 2nd report was an issue of an electronic shifter being ignored by the cars computer when attempting to shift from drive to neutral under full throttle, The explanation was the cars computer software was trying to prevent damage to the drivetrain by preventing the gear change while under full throttle.

I just remembered... These were dealership service bulletins.

As all ready pointed out while you can try the gear shift , even with abs brakes they still work with the motor off and you have the hand brake too if your not a complete retard you turn off the ignition use brakes untill safe speed pull over and scratch your head , and as this guy makes this so called short ....bull i smell a mile away , as he said before he connected the wires ....those too sensors are shorted together ? no they werent they were only when he jumped them manually while the guy was driving

Making a big deal out of some thing that has a 0.1% chance of happening and if it ever does big manufactures like toyta dont give a shit if its .1% chance or even less they dont consider that wort while or cost effective to recall so they work out how much a claim will be if some one does die and well pay up if it ever does . Even air lines work like this sometimes when some one points out a very very minor fault.

So this is what's all the Toyota failing fuzz about. Quite interesting, actually.

OK, I'm having a hard time all around with this. Who is this guy? Who sponsors him? He had a lot of patches on his smock. What were they?
He created a fault?! Well, I'm sure that I could CREATE a fault! Was it ABC or CBS that "created" a fault with the gas tank of a pick up truck several years ago?
This whole scenario is so messed up. How can the government hold hearings on this and threaten possible prosecution against Toyota when the government hold a majority share of ownership in Toyota's competition?! The government bailed out (and now owns)GM and Chrysler and is now going to put the screws to it's competition! That's like having the catcher in a baseball game calling balls and strikes!
And even then we're only talking about 35 deaths over 10 years when during the same time there's been 350,000 auto deaths. If 35 deaths deserves this much attention, what about the other 349,965?
Can you say fascism? How about witch hunt?

Jury-rigging a car to "suddenly accelerate" proves nothing. The reporter said that the brakes didn't work and had to be corrected by the guy who did the jury-rigging. Seems like a attempt by some to try and generate bad press on Toyota in the hopes that some people will buy a domestic car. Give me a broken Toyota any day over anything GM makes

it wouldnt be the first Toyota recall

#(removed comment): I think you hit the nail on head there. That is why a government should never ever own, operate or become a partner in any kind of business. When it can't successfully compete - and it never can - corrupt politicians and bureaucrats (in other words, typical politicians and bureaucrats) will dishonestly use the government's police power to oppress and destroy its competitors.

As far as the government's ability to run a business, look at what happened several years ago when the federal government took over and tried to run the Mustang Ranch in Nevada (they ran it at a loss for a few years, then shut it down and sold the assets). If they can't even make a profit off of slot machines, whiskey and whores then there's no way they can run an auto manufacturer without some serious corruption.

Sensors can short out, this is not un-common. When your check engine light comes on and you end up replacing a sensor there is a good chance that it is because it shorted or opened. Sensors WILL fail as with any electronic device, the point this video makes is that the computer will not report the defective sensor.

I think your missing the point of that demonstration. He created that fault in the accelerator wiring to show that the car's computer system would not pick it up. So if it did ever happen, there would be nothing you could do about it. The car would just keep on accelerating and the computer is thinking nothing was wrong and would not shut the car down.

for those who say "even if it did happen, you gotta be an amateur driver" - imagine a situation when its not a sunny day and the straight piece of a road but a turn on a wet day. your car can spin due to this.
anyway just dont undermine what it can cause just because it hasnt happened yet.

and #16: just one note: not being overly profitable in a business is nothing rare - happens all the time, can happen to anyone. the example you were talking about concerns sunk money: that loss cannot be reversed and smartest solution in such case is stop financing such business and accept the money lost instead of trying to keep running it in case it improves. just a note.

Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

#18

So the computer did not pick up a fault that wouldn't have happened unless someone physically screwed with the wiring.

Proves exactly nothing other than a computer can't find something it wasn't programmed for ... especially when you have someone deliberately trying to avoid being detected.

#20

Perfect reference from one of the best movies EVER! lol

(in case others didn't pick up on it)

Wow.....I thought this was plain as day and yet the majority of the commenters here don't see what the issue is. Yes, the guy artificially introduced a fault condition into the wires (like what might happen with a short or a sensor that's screwed up) but the only reason they did it artificially is because waiting around for it to just happen would probably take awhile....
All they did was artificially reproduce a situation that CAN and DOES happen in the real world on a fairly regular basis. I can only assume that most of the people commenting on this have never owned a car long enough to have an 02 sensor go bad, or a throttle position sensor go bad. It happens, and it happens quite frequently in real life. Granted for this demonstration they recreated the scenario, but it DOES happen. Hell, even Steve Wozniak was able to recreate a situation of unintended acceleration in the cruise control module of these vehicles that he could *reproduce at will*. He called Toyota and they ignored him. When (arguably) the worlds best electrical engineer calls you and says, there's something wrong with your software because I have an issue here that I can reproduce at will, you don't IGNORE it. Toyota made their bed, now they have to lie in it.