fiveoh2go Wrote:O how the mighty have fallen...

meanwhile in related news....

Ford's January sales jump 25%

fiveoh2go Wrote:Nothing new there, and as long as Ford stock keeps increasing (along with recovering market share that was lost to the Japanese in the 90's) I'm happy. Mulally for Prez!

Goodspeed Wrote:Is no one else finding it interesting that the feds, owner of Government Motors are stepping in and going after Toyota?

fiveoh2go Wrote:If anything I find it interesting that the feds, the geniuses that came up with the notorious Cash for Clunkers bill (a program meant to stimulate the US economy and help domestic automakers), ended up helping Toyota out the most (they had two of the top three replacement cars).

Apoc Wrote:

fiveoh2go Wrote:If anything I find it interesting that the feds, the geniuses that came up with the notorious Cash for Clunkers bill (a program meant to stimulate the US economy and help domestic automakers), ended up helping Toyota out the most (they had two of the top three replacement cars).

Toyota employs 35,000 Americans...

fiveoh2go Wrote:...and at the same time Ford alone employs more than 87,000 Americans. So what?

Apoc Wrote:

fiveoh2go Wrote:...and at the same time Ford alone employs more than 87,000 Americans. So what?

Bitching that the Feds aren't helping the economy when Toyota benefits is a stupid argument because they employ thousands of Americans who spend money in it. Need a diagram or something?

fiveoh2go Wrote:I'll ask you who has more buying power, 35,000 or 87,000?

Quote:Originally Posted by AutoBlog
Will it ever stop? Yo, we don't know. And yes, we're quoting Vanilla Ice because... well, at this point in the never ending Toyota tale of woe, why not? Anyhow, there have been 83 complaints about the power steering systems in 2009 and 2010 Toyota Corollas, most of which are claiming that the car will veer to the right or left at speeds over 40 mph. Coincidently, the Corolla is one of the eight Toyota models affected by the production and sales stoppage. The alleged problems have purportedly caused 10 accidents and six injuries. Here's the gist:

Complainants have compared the movement to being buffeted by strong winds, sliding on black ice, or hydroplaning. They said that after trying to straighten the car, it can overcorrect -- requiring the driver to use a tight, persistent, two-handed grip on the wheel to travel in a straight line.

Of course, you should always have a tight, persistent, two-handed grip on the wheel. That's known as driving. Not that people aren't actually experiencing problems with late model Corollas, but this kinda reminds us of the Seattle Windshield Pitting Epidemic.

If you don't know, in the 1950s Seattleites began complaining en masse about pits (or holes) appearing in their windshields. Everything from hoodlums with BB guns to sand flea eggs to a million watt radio antenna to atomic testing were thought to be maybe causing the pitting. Also, shifts in the earth's magnetic field and even gremlins (the fictional creatures, not the AMC product) were blamed.

Finally, after a full investigation Seattle Police Sergeant Max Allison announced that the windshield pitting was, "5 per cent hoodlum-ism, and 95 per cent public hysteria." This happened on April 15, 1954. All reports of windshield pitting stopped on April 17. Is this related to reports about the Corolla's power steering ills? More closely than we might think, we think.

UPDATE: There might be a little fire under all this smoke. Our friends at AOL Autos have also been reporting on this breaking story, and have discovered this:
"notice the steeering wheel sometimes pulses only when my cell phone is...docked to the right of the steering wheel," wrote one Corolla driver in an official complaint on June 26, 2009. "It's strange I can sometimes tell if my Blackberry is going to ring or get an email. The steering wheel seems to shake or try to steer on its own. This is similar to my other 2009 Toyota Corolla that I resold to the dealer. I wonder if more shielding is needed to reduce any interference."
If that's the case, we take back what we said about Seattle.

Evan Wrote:electronic shielding on power steering? :lol: :lol:

autoblog says dumb shit on a regular basis, but are they really that clueless about the machines that they try to be experts on?