Spike in Prius complaints may not be all it seems

yahoo ^ | Wednesday March 10, 2010, 8:10 pm EST | Erin Mcclam and Tom Krisher

[Touch Not the Cat]

Reports of sudden acceleration in the Toyota Prius have spiked across the country. But that doesn't mean there's an epidemic of bad gas pedals in the popular hybrid.

Experts on consumer psychology say the relentless negative media attention Toyota has received since the fall makes it much more likely that drivers will mistake anything unexpected -- or even a misplaced foot -- for actual danger.

"When people expect problems, they're more likely to find them," said Lars Perner, a professor of clinical marketing at Marshall School of Business at University of Southern California.

In just the first 10 weeks of this year, 272 complaints have been filed nationwide for speed control problems with the Prius, according to an Associated Press analysis of unverified complaints received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

By comparison, only 74 complaints were filed in all of last year, and just eight the year before that.

For problems with the brakes, rather than the gas, the figures are even more stark: 1,816 filed so far this year versus just 90 in all of 2009 and fewer than 20 in every other year of the last decade. Toyota recalled 440,000 Priuses on Feb. 8 because its antilock brakes seemed to fail momentarily on bumpy roads.

It's doubtful the Priuses of the past two years suddenly became more dangerous than those made in years past. After all, Toyota's own recall for Prius floor mats that can trap gas pedals covers model years 2004 to 2009.

Earlier this week came one of the most high-profile case of any Toyota problem so far: A man driving on a Southern California freeway said his 2008 Prius sped out of control, reaching 94 mph, before a patrol officer helped him bring it to a stop.

[annieokie]

Thinking about this today, there is no way an average person could control that car for 20 minutes at that speed on that road, without being a professional driver. Not only that but he managed to make a call and talk. I say NO WAY, he was a pro driver. JMO

[TankerKC]

"When people expect problems, they're more likely to find them,"

Racism works the same way.

...Lars Perner, a professor of clinical marketing...Professor of what???

[WalterSobchak2012]

When I worked for an electronics company we shipped approximately 1200 devices with a a cable installed incorrectly. The plastic insulation could melt because of its proximity to a component that got very hot, causing a short and a fire.

We knew exactly which dealers had the defective product, most of them having been shipped to dealers in the Southeast, Puerto Rico and Mexico with most having been delivered to a single retailer and still in their distribution channel.

When it hit the media all of the sudden our product was catching fire all over North America. Other unaffected product lines also began catching fire.

Assholes were holding the device over their stove to deliberately melt the cable. We paid thousands of dollars to obvious con-artists in our of court settlements.

[OafOfOffice]

Listen to the 911 tape also if you can bear it.

http://jalopnik.com/5491101/did-bankrupt-runaway-prius-driver-fake-unintended-acceleration

Did Bankrupt Runaway Prius Driver Fake “Unintended Acceleration?”

James Sikes, the San Diego runaway Toyota Prius driver, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and now has over $700,000 in debt. According to one anonymous tipster, we’re also told he hasn’t been making payments on his Prius. [Jalopnik]