Is the Toyota recall really so bad?
Posted By: slngsht
It's all over the news: "Toyota recalls millions of cars with faulty gas pedals which may get stuck in the acceleration position." It's been plastered nonstop on the news, talk shows, etc. and everyone's spewing this doom and gloom attitude over it. Nobody's talking about how the Pontiac Vibe has the same recall, and Honda quietly announced a recall of their own. Recalls happen all the time, and it's a very responsible action to take to make a recall of such proportions. Why is nobody talking about how noble it is that Toyota is voluntarily doing this recall, and how its dealerships are preparing to stay open late to do the repairs? I see this as normal and expected, if not overdue for Toyota. Why do I say this? I'm no fanboy of Toyota. I've owned Ford, Saturn, Honda, Dodge, and now a Scion, which is made by Toyota.
For decades, Toyota has been a beacon of high quality, reliable vehicles. In my memory, I can't remember a single recall I've heard of for Toyota products. Hence, for years I've heard people say "Yeah, those Toyota's are built right. Great quality cars!" And I have the firm belief that because people generally hold this high regard for the quality of their vehicles, the reason it's big news when they announce such a recall is because of this virtually spotless reputation they hold. We hear about recalls all the time from GM products, but does it make the news like this? No, because we expect recalls from GM because we all know they skimp on the R&D and pump out substandard products. I guarantee if this were to happen with GM, it wouldn't be such a huge deal in the news.
I was listening to NPR's Marketplace show last night, and there was a guest interviewed on there saying that generally it will take a decade for a carmaker to rebound from a recall like this, and a full generation of people to really get past it fully. I think statements like that are alarmist, and have if repeated enough, have the possibility of becoming a self-fulfilling propehcy. People are spouting this kind of information left and right, but I'm not hearing any argument FOR Toyota on this. They subcontract out most of their parts, and have been doing-so for over a decade and a half. It's worked well for them, and all of a sudden, one slipup on something very simple, according to all these pundits, spells doom and gloom for them. I've not heard a single one of those pundits say that Toytota is handling the situation in a responsible and punctual manner, which is exactly what they are doing from what I'm hearing. In my opinion, I think they are handling the situation just fine, and because of this, my trust in their products has only wavered only a tiny bit. I will still seriously consider their products when it comes time to replace my current cars.
I think what has happened here is a media blitz of undeserved and overwhelming negativity. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not something that Toyota has any control over. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to do.
In the end, if you own a Toyota, continue driving it. You have a higher chance of getting struck by lightning on a sunny day than your gas pedal getting stuck. Pay no attention to the media blitz. They are just riding the wave of profits due to boosted ratings due to this unfortunate turn of events from this undeserving car maker's bad luck.
