posted 11-04-2009 05:45 PM                  

Ooooh...What a Feeling.
http://www.comcast.net/video/out-of-control/1318526377/Comcast/popular/

This segment is 9:38 long

posted 11-04-2009 06:41 PM                  

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posted 11-04-2009 11:45 PM                  

Audi (VW) was the first to introduce the shift interlock to keep people from dropping an automatic into gear without having your foot properly depressing the brake pedal. Now every car on the road has it. This was one of the factors which attributed to the condition. I absolutely believe
floor mats ARE the problem. I have expereinced it on some cars myself.

Some idiots on 60 Minutes tried to make claims that the transmission could shift by itself and force the vehicle to go to full throttle by inducing forced pressure into the valve body, and then others tried to claim the cruise control had a mind of it's own and forced it into full throttle mode...all proven FALSE without any doubt to the results. Anxious people dropping car into gear and floor mats that crept up under the gas pedal were proven to be causes but by then the damage to the Brand was done,,and it took many years to gain back consumer confidence.

Here is the Toyota press release, and knowing this first hand, I accept every reasoning they have for the condition.

Toyota Begins Interim Notification to Owners Regarding Future Voluntary Safety Recall Related to Floor Mats
Letter Confirms No Defect Exists in Vehicles with Properly Installed Floor Mats

Video: Toyota update on safety advisory http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/electronic.aspx?fid=84801&id=E0C16905

TORRANCE, Calif., November 2, 2009 - - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today announced that it has begun mailing letters to owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models regarding the potential for an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat to interfere with the accelerator pedal and cause it to get stuck in the wide-open position.

The letter, in compliance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and reviewed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also confirms that no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver’s floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured.

The Toyota finding is consistent with a recent decision by NHTSA denying a request for an additional investigation of unwanted and unintended acceleration of model year 2007 Lexus ES350 vehicles and model years 2002-2003 Lexus ES300. After conducting an extensive technical review of the issue, including interviews with consumers who had complained of unwanted acceleration, NHTSA concluded that “…the only defect trend related to vehicle speed control in the subject vehicles involved the potential for accelerator pedals to become trapped near the floor by out-of-position or inappropriate floor mat installations.”

This is the sixth time in the past six years that NHTSA has undertaken such an exhaustive review of allegations of unintended acceleration on Toyota and Lexus vehicles and the sixth time the agency has found no vehicle based cause for the unwanted acceleration allegations.

“The question of unintended acceleration involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been repeatedly and thoroughly investigated by NHTSA, without any finding of defect other than the risk from an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat,” said Bob Daly, TMS senior vice president.

“Toyota takes public safety seriously. We believe our vehicles are among the safest on the road. Our engineers are working hard to develop an effective remedy that can help prevent floor mat interference with the pedal. As soon as it is ready, we will notify owners of the relevant models to bring their vehicle to a dealer for the necessary modification at no charge,” Mr. Daly added.

In the recently completed investigation, NHTSA conducted extensive testing on a Lexus ES350. The agency reported that:

“The vehicle was fully instrumented to monitor and acquire data relating to yaw rate, speed, acceleration, deceleration, brake pedal effort, brake line hydraulic pressure, brake pad temperature, engine vacuum, brake booster vacuum, throttle plate position, and accelerator pedal position. Multiple electrical signals were introduced into the electrical system to test the robustness of the electronics against single point failures due to electrical interference. The system proved to have multiple redundancies and showed no vulnerabilities to electrical signal activities. Magnetic fields were introduced in proximity to the throttle body and accelerator pedal potentiometers and did result in an increase in engine revolutions per minute (RPM) of up to approximately 1,000 RPM, similar to a cold-idle engine RPM level. Mechanical interferences at the throttle body caused the engine to shut down.”

The Toyota letter is an interim notice to owners of a future voluntary safety recall campaign. The following models are affected:

• 2007 – 2010 Camry
• 2005 – 2010 Avalon
• 2004 – 2009 Prius
• 2005 – 2010 Tacoma
• 2007 – 2010 Tundra
• 2007 – 2010 ES350
• 2006 – 2010 IS250 and IS350

Until Toyota develops a remedy, it is asking owners of affected Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and NOT replace it with any other floor mat.

The Toyota letter also informs owners of what to do if they experience accelerator pedal interference, general floor mat warnings and proper floor mat application information. Owners who have further questions are asked to visit http://www.toyota.com/floormats or http://www.lexus.com/floormats where the owner letter in its entirety can also be viewed. The most recent NHTSA report can be viewed on these websites as well.

Click here for the NHTSA report

Click here for Toyota owner letter

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posted 11-05-2009 04:44 AM                  

The only problem I see with turning off the key is that in the hysteria of the moment the key may be turned all the way off and lock the steering wheel.

Throwing car into neutral is sort of a no brainer. It just shows that people need to be trained on how to use their automobiles in an emergency. Most people do not have a clue.

If they would just return to the floor mounted gas pedal there would be no floor mat issue.

posted 11-05-2009 11:45 AM                  

Chrysler Admits Faults, Unveils New PlanNew Products Coming, But Viper And Others Gone
Posted: Nov, 04
by: Reilly Brennan, AOL Autos

If you wanted to see a group of executives perform a public mea culpa, I wish you could have sat next to me today for Chrysler's new business plan meeting in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

The beleaguered automaker, recently out of bankruptcy and now owned in part by Italy's Fiat, admitted faults and promised the future would be different.

The company's head of quality, Doug Betts, explained that problems were systemic.

"When I arrived at Chrysler, there was no definition of quality," Betts said. In one startling example, Betts detailed a period where customer-reported vehicle problems went unresolved. The problems weren't acted on, with Betts saying that the company "did nothing for 71 days." Chrysler promised that a new quality system would ensure those problems don't happen.

What's Changing

Key to Chrysler's plan will be a close sharing arrangement with its new shareholders, Fiat Group (Fiat owns 20% of Chrysler Group LLC now but could have as much as 51% in a few years). A few popular models will be lost in the transition, but many new models will arrive over the next five years.

Dodge
Dodge is splitting its car and truck groups, creating a new "Ram brand" which will focus only on trucks. All Rams will still feature Dodge branding, but those emblems will be downplayed. Ram Brand CEO Fred Diaz told AOL Autos that when customers were asked about what the Dodge brand meant to them, they nearly always responded by mentioning the trucks.

"Dodge was trying to be all things to all people," Diaz said. Now, he said, the cars can grow on their own and the trucks can get unique Ram branding. All dealerships will sell Ram trucks.

In addition to this split, expect the following:

Going Away:
- Dodge Viper: Gone in the summer of 2010, while company officials say a return in 2012 is under consideration
- Dodge Caliber: Dead in 2012, but a vehicle of a similar segment is set to arrive around the same time
- Dodge Dakota: Wound down in 2011, but a new mid-size truck using a unibody construction will arrive around the same time

New products:
- A new small car, in partnership with the Fiat Group, in 2013
- Charger: All new Charger is expected in 2010
- New mid-size truck: Under construction for a 2011 launch in a unibody construction
- New large commercial van: 2012
- New small commercial truck: 2012, shared from the Fiat Group
- Potential for long-term focus on the commercial truck market

Undefined:
- NASCAR: Ram Brand's support for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series isn't known right now, but Ram's Diaz says he personally feels like it would be a good match. Dodge's support of the Challenger in NASCAR is secure, at the Sprint Cup level and Nationwide level next year.
- Hybrids: Hybrids will likely be a part of the Dodge cars, but not a part of the Ram brand plan right now, but could be. Diaz indicated that the jury is still out when it comes to fitting hybrid powertrains into trucks; quite simply, he's not sure truck buyers want them right now, but says that could change down the road.
- SUVs: With Ram becoming a truck-only brand, one might imagine that full-size trucks will be a part of the Ram brand (as GMC does -- it only sells trucks and SUVs). Diaz says SUVs will stay with Dodge car, though, and not be a part of the Ram brand.

Jeep
Jeep is positioned to become quite a jewel in Chrysler (and Fiat's) crown, but it has a ways to go. The high time for the brand was the 1990s, when they sold 629,000 models with only 3 models; in the new millennium they expanded the model lineup to seven but sales actually dropped by over 150,000 units. Clearly, the strategy failed.

Research Chrysler Vehicles

But the future of Jeep looks bright, with the Wrangler rightfully positioned as the centerpiece. Among the other changes:

Going Away:
- Jeep Compass and Patriot: Will be consolidated into a new vehicle that will debut in 2013. Until that time, both vehicles will undergo "major modifications" next year
- Jeep Commander: Going away as of the end of 2010, with "international reallocation" for the vehicle occurring around the same time. This could mean that the Commander would live on in a different country with different equipment.

New Products:
- Jeep Wrangler: New diesel model in the end of 2010
- New Small SUV: 2013 launch, appears to be even smaller than the Patriot and Compass and will likely be imported from Fiat.
- New small crossover: 2013 launch, consolidating both the Compass and Patriot, imported from Fiat.
- Jeep Liberty: Will be replaced by a Fiat product in 2013, but will likely carry on the Liberty name
- Jeep Grand Cherokee: New model debuts in the end of 2010 as a 2011 model

Undefined:
- Jeep could become a key way for Chrysler and Fiat to export more products around the globe, but those plans were not discussed today.

Chrysler
Chrysler, which debuted a new logo, is set to return to the notion of American excellence. The brand's CEO is eager to debut a new marketing campaign, a new website and new catalogs, all in an attempt to reposition Chrysler as an American icon.

Going Away:
- PT Cruiser: The retro city car will wave goodbye in the end of 2010

New Products:
- 300: There's a new model coming in 2010
- New small car: A new Fiat-sourced product will arrive in 2013
- PT Cruiser replacement: A C-segment vehicle, sourced from Fiat, will replace the PT Cruiser
- Midsize crossover: A new midsize crossover vehicle will launch in 2013, sourced by Fiat
- Town & Country: A new Town & Country will launch in 2014
- Special models: Special models of the 300, Grand Caravan and Sebring will launch early next year
- Mid-size sedan: A replacement for the Sebring is scheduled to appear in the latter part of 2010

http://autos.aol.com/article/chrysler-business-plan-2009

posted 11-05-2009 12:40 PM                  

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posted 11-05-2009 07:17 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by catfish:
as for turning the key off,it will not go into the lock position while moving.

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I've got an 89 GMC 3 speed manual that begs to differ with that.