CKNSLS

Well, I agree that the Camry's design is nothing special....but neither is the Flex.

I personally get sick of the radio spots being aired in Southern California about people trading in their luxury Range Rover for a Ford Flex. I am thinking if these idiots couldn't afford the repair and maintenance costs why would they buy (a semi exotic SUV) one in the first place. Kinda like $700.00 front brake jobs for BMWs..... They traded it in to get out from under the costs, not because it's a better car.

It's interesting. Are they increasing their liability if they sell more cars?

Without looking I don't know if Cadillac and Lincoln together sells as many cars as Toyota does. The sheer numbers would account for some of this. Another thing I thought of (no bashing intended here) but the over 50 crowd is somewhat the "lost generation" for American car manufacturers. These are the folks who grew up watching their dad work on the "Detroit Junk" of the 70's on the weekends. So when it comes time to buy a luxury car is it a Lincoln, Lexus, or Avalon?

Don't underestimate Hyundai with the new Sonata and it's power train offerings, Kia, with the soon to be released Cadenza, and finally the Chinese Company, Geely (Sp?) with Volvo technology. The Chinese are a coming........

You would see brakelights if she had her foot on the brake and the gas at the same time.....

According to most on this board with all these problems they should be heading for an "out of business sales". Sales up 40% irregardless of their "issues" is an interesting dynamic. Are people saying the media is "over hyping" this? Is the public willing to buy a Toyota because of their perceived quality and take a chance on the SUA issue? This is a very interesting dynamic. I would appreciate comments on this of substance on what this increase really means......

Yes, when you "more mature" in years it takes very little effort to break something.

A part from the link - "Hale said investigators also will look at human error and a possible medical condition that could have led to the crash. The driver, Ann Snider, 83, of Vandalia, was in fair condition late Tuesday afternoon at Miami Valley Hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said. Her husband, Gordon Snider, 86, was in serious condition. " I would think that with every Toyota due to the nature of their current situation, investigators would look at every Toyota crash that involved the possible recalled vehicles. Even though there could obviously be other factors involved here in this situation. The witch hunt on this board is laughable.

I am sorry the 76 year old woman got hurt.

Well, I would like to point out the Mr. Sikes, the original runaway Prius (on the San Diego Freeway) was pretty much proved a fraud. Mr. Sikes, the dubious owner (owned an adult website, filed bankruptcy,etc.) went through quite a bit to try to get a new car from Toyota. Not saying this is the case here, I would just like to point out what Mr. Sikes did.

"All he really wants is to get out of his lease and never drive a Toyota again, he said." Ok- he smashed in to a walled because the vehicle was out of control for whatever reason.

Yea, at this point they are going to hook up their computer to the "little black box" and lie about the data. IF THEY HAVE COVERED THINGS UP THUS FAR, they are not that stupid to hide their black box data now while being under such scrutiny.

There we go again with the line "police experts". They not qualified to make a SUA call. Only the Feds (or Canadian equivalent) or Toyota. Also, a line from the link - "Another Toyota recall to fix potentially sticking accelerators does not apply to the Venza." To all posters who "google Toyota SUA"-Why don't you google ALL SUA EVENTS THAT HAPPEN OVER THE WEEKEND? Both Toyota and non-Toyota makes? That would make much more interesting reading than trying to find issues where there are not any!

We disagree again, I do not believe there was anywhere the media hype with the Ford/Firestone situation as with the Toyota situation. Hence, there was not a need to defend Ford as much as Toyota. Even though in public in my social circles I voiced my view that it was the driver's fault for ill handling of the vehicle in an emergency situation.

Maybe, Mr. Jensen , but we BOTH KNOW what the answer should be for my question.....................

Do YOU THINK there was any where near the media circus for the Ford/Firestone fiasco compared to this Toyota thing?

I said I didn't think the Ford/Firestone disaster was Ford's fault. The drivers hit the brakes in a blow out situation. The last thing you should do. As far as my link, there are those on this board who seem to think denial only belongs to Toyota (maybe these people are a little young-which could be the cause of their lack of knowledge). Well - it goes back a few years but Ford had a pretty bad case of it as well!

You can look at several car manufacturers for arrogance and half-truths that go back decades....... http://www.wfu.edu/~palmitar/Law&Valuation/Papers/1999/Leggett-pinto.html

Here is one line from the story on an owner who "blamed" the car - "The 2000 Solara did not have the electronic throttle system that some have suggested is responsible for sudden acceleration. That model has not been subject to any of the Toyota recalls." Owners are going back several years to file complaints. Some (most) are going to be futile and are nothing more than blaming Toyota for their poor driving skills. I wonder what the average age is of drivers of said complaints?

If you feel they are a waste of time simply don't read them. Go on Autotrader.com and read the used car ads instead...... I don't always agree with Car Reviews that I read, but find them informative. DC-please keep posting your reviews.

Maybe someone here can chime in who actually knows. Can brakes totally fail? We know they are crossed linked to opposite corners as a safety measure. Will they still work even if you loose the power assist? I don't understand how they can totally fail. Will they "totally fail" if you lose all the fluid in the system? Just asking.

Ok- the driver appeared to lose control. Nice for you to cite three different sources. NONE MENTIONED SUA. The point is as I have mentioned NUMEROUS TIMES is that this takes place ALL THE TIME...every weekend, every day, every type of vehicle. We can play "google it" every weekend if you want. As a matter of fact, being the fact base person that you apparently are, why don't you include "EVERY NEWS STORY WHEN SOMEBODY PLOWS IN TO SOMEBODY OR SOMETHING FOR EVERY MAKE OF VEHICLE"?

NOW, we are seeing posts here on this board where the driver even says it's his/her fault and because it's a Toyota it ends up on this board and it must be SUA. So, there are those on this board who post on here despite the facts that state it's driver error. So your right, there are those who post that EVERY Toyota that smashes in to something is SUA, regardless of what EVEN THE DRIVER SAYS. They won;t be convinced the Earth is round either! Tap the needle so the record doesn't stick any more with the bashers too! P.S. If you look at the Harrisburg case, the Police basically said it looked like SUA and The Feds said it wasn't. Which proves that most Police Departments (ESPECIALLY smaller depts.) don't have the expertise to prove OR disprove SUA.

It's hard to explain. I don't know why. In Southern California auto registrations for all models of Toyotas in the news (Camry, Corolla, Prius) are very high, but then again there are a lot of BMWs on the road as well. ARE BMW drivers better drivers than Toyota drivers? Perhaps, that's why they buy a driver's car.