Toyota Image On The Mend After NASA ClearsThrottle System

Just two days after NASA engineers cleared Toyota of electronic flaws in its throttle control system, the company's battered image among consumers had already experienced a lift.

The 10-month investigation into causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles turned up no electronic problems. Instead, rocket scientists called in by the Department of Transportation said floormat interference and sticky gas pedals -- both subject to recalls in 2010 -- caused incidents of runaway vehicles.

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kpaxx - 2/15/2011 1:17:25 PM

-9 Boost

Not conclusive

Clarence Ditlow, executive director for the Center for Auto Safety, said the NASA report was inconclusive. Just because engineers could not find an electronics problem, doesn't mean a problem does not exist, he said.

"There are portions of the report that say they're not ruling out electronic failure," Ditlow said.

"There are vehicles out there that are still having sudden acceleration problems, even after the recalls. If there were no problem, why is Toyota installing brake override now?"

Toyota has recalled 5.77 million vehicles for floormat issues, and 4.45 million vehicles for the sticky-pedal fix.

The NHTSA database contains about 6,200 complaints about Toyota "speed control" technology since 2000.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110214/OEM01/302149949/1143#ixzz1E3KzRJvh

Hoorayforpeepee - 2/15/2011 3:05:30 PM

+8 Boost

I wish cars could lie the way lawyers do ...

LexSucks - 2/15/2011 1:42:24 PM

-7 Boost

Sorry Toyota. The cat is already out of the bag.

LexSucks - 2/15/2011 3:45:47 PM

-7 Boost

nonofyo BlackDynamite

SHOWTIME - 2/15/2011 2:21:07 PM

-7 Boost

There is no doubt in my mind that it was an electronic problem!

What the hell? All these people that crashed/died were flooring their cars? Because it's the only way I see the gas pedal sticking to floormat or whatever the hell else they claim.

Hoorayforpeepee - 2/15/2011 2:53:26 PM

+4 Boost

Knowing the way americans are with lawsuits, I can't wait to see what the real numbers are when it came to deaths directly associated with UA

Hoorayforpeepee - 2/15/2011 2:51:27 PM

+6 Boost

Sorry Kpaxx, if you knew anything about Ditlow you'd know he's just a consumer advocate, not an '' official '' government spokesperson to state with ANY authority what NASA's finding concluded.

Toyota was cleared of the MOST important doubt preying it's rep, that there was a ''ghost in the machine '' that the car would just randomly accelerate due to an electronic malfunction.

The cars are safe to drive, Toyota even recalled their entire line to change the pedals just in case anyone had any doubt.

thetruth01 - 2/15/2011 4:01:14 PM

+3 Boost

And they did so even though a mininiscule number of the pedals had any problems.

knowitall1985 - 2/15/2011 5:01:56 PM

+4 Boost

clarence dickweed should retire. He was on the same witch hunt with Audi and it went nowhere.

Hoorayforpeepee - 2/16/2011 11:48:42 AM

+1 Boost

Look at it this way, thanks to congress's Toyota witchhunt GM, Ford and Chrysler managed to repay their tax payer funded bailouts.

Now they can go back to making OPels ... err ... I mean Buicks