Posted on 02/04/2010 1:54:59 PM PST by Starman417
There's something inherently sleazy and suspicious about an WH administration mouthpiece that unequivocally states that Toyota owners should simply "stop driving" their cars until they've taken them to a dealership. In the wake of such an unprecedented fear mongering campaign, the mud slinging began, and within days, Transportation Sec'y Ray LaHood, was softening his harsh blow.
But "just words" matter, and one of the nation's most popular vehicle manufacturers saw their shares fall as much as 8% on the heels of LaHood's explosive remarks. Obama's pet, Goldman Sachs, downgraded Toyota from a "buy" to "neutral". If you use AutoBlog's figures, it's 16.7 % over the past five days.
But the Chicago thuggery style of this WH is abundantly clear when LaHood also revealed that the reason Toyota halted manufacturing and commenced the massive recall was at the insistence of the Obama administration.
Much seems to be overblown considering that the gas pedal sticking has occurred in fewer than 300 vehicles. Or, per an IBD op-ed, "Out of 1.8 million cars manufactured each year in the U.S., Toyota has 100 complaints, a handful of injuries, and in two cases deaths are alleged."
In fact, the sudden acceleration events in both Toyota and Lexus models in the past decade resulted in 815 crashes since 1999... eleven years, averaged out at 74 annual events. Two resulted in fatalities. Of the 2000 complaints received in the same time, only five percent - or 100 of them - were attributed to gas pedals potentially sticking.
What's more, NHTSA has conducted eight investigations into Toyota accelerator problems in the last seven years. None have been found to be a faulty sticking pedal as the cause.
"The way the sudden-acceleration problems are occurring in reported incidents doesn't comport with how this sticky pedal is described," said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research & Strategies, a Rehoboth, Mass., auto safety consulting firm. "We know this recall is a red herring."
And that "red herring", forcefully imposed by a WH administration, has further economic repercussions. Economic Journal Policy blog states:
Read more at floppingaces.net...
Wonder how many democrats ‘in-the-know’ have been shorting Toyota equities?
1) I will never buy another GM or Chrysler vehicle, or any other UAW vehicle, for that matter.
2) My next vehicle will be a Toyota.
Thanks for helping me in my decisions, Mr. Obama et al.
Obama and the Unions are the real owners of GM ... is it any surprise he is attacking Toyota. This is a political attack to make his previous decisions look good. It will probably work.
Spectacular problems even if rare seem to command disproportionate public interest.
Toyota needs to fight back—The question of Obama’s citizenship comes to mind.
Obambi did not need to take over the entire auto industry- only one company
Then he uses the power of the government and a willing compliant media to drive the others out of business
I admit - this whole Toyota thing smells fishy. I love my Toyota, and won’t stop driving it.
It was obvious from the beginning that this was going to produce thorny ethical issues. When the same government that is supposed to adjudicate fairly now has a dog in the fight then ugly things happen. To Toyota itself (which in the past has profited mightily from protectionist Japanese government policy) we could well say “Now you know what it feels like to have a thumb on the OTHER side of your scale.”
Here is the story Rush was talking about:
http://dailyme.com/story/2010012700005151/unions-protest-toyota-japanese-embassy.html
Obammma is a Racist
They produced a total return of 21.2% over the last 12 months and pay a small 1.25% dividend, not much but better than the average savings account.
I have never once so much as changed a sparkplug or had any repair other than normal maintenance. I always wait at least 7500 miles between oil changes and I do my normal 30,000 mile services every 60,000 miles (whether it needs it or not).
I'd probably still be driving my old Toyota, but they came out with the 4 door model and I really needed the extra doors.
Obama can have his WOT, but my next truck is going to be another Toyota, if I ever get tired of the one I have.
Is RICO an impeachable offense?
SEVERAL huge problems in a relatively short period of time doesn’t pass the smell test. Am I far out to suspect sabotage?
“this whole Toyota thing smells fishy”
Do you think it could be some kind of sabotage, or just exaggeration?
Well of course he is a racist, but that’s not the reason he’s doing this. This is just cheap attention seeking. It’s more mundane to have someone forget to air up their tires and blow out for that reason than it is to have an accelerator pedal fail, but it is also much more likely.
Amen to that. 2005 Tacoma crew cab, 2005 Sequoia, 2002 Solara. Never a problem with any of them and 2 of them have over 100,000. Had a Sienna before the truck. That was over 100,000 and never a problem. Go Toyota!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.