In article ,
"Bill Noble" wrote:

"cavelamb" wrote in message
m...
Bill Noble wrote:
before you call the dead idiots, perhaps you could check your facts - the
car could not be shifted into neutral, and to turn the ignition off
required holding a particular button down for (if I remember) 90
seconds - there was no key to turn to make it go off -

There are going to be some heavy law suits over that...

Betcha

probably, but lawsuits don't bring back the dead. One advantage of driving
a standard transmission car is that there is almost nothing that can prevent
you from disconnecting the engine from the drive train - you have both a
clutch and a shift lever (and the skill to use them).


Ahhh... but with some sticks you can be surprised by the occasional
busted clutch cable.

I don't have one, but understand the emergency shutdown procedure for
Toyota products equipped with the start/stop button is to depress and
continuously hold this button for over 3 seconds. No amount of
'stabbing' at it will initiate a shutdown. The owners manuals supposedly
have a good bit on this subject, and suggest not actually doing an
emergency shutdown unless condition warrant.

Also, I hear Toyota products with the start/stop buttons are 'drive by
wire', at least as far as opening and closing of the actual throttle
valve is concerned. There is no direct pedal linkage or cable
assembly... the throttle is actuated via an electric actuator/servo
unit, controlled by the ECM.

Rumor on the street, and supposedly reported by numerous drivers is that
throttles are occasionally being opened to various degrees,
un-commanded, and irrespective of pedal position... due to ECM or
actuator/servo assembly failure is unknown. The carpets may or may not
even be involved and/or could possibly be a secondary issue altogether.

Word also has the NHTSA dismissing a lot of complaints stating them to
be 'driver error'... without even an investigation. Pretty sad if it's
true... I suspect it is for some reason.

If this weren't bad enough, last night I hear Toyota has now a new
separate issue with the Tundra. Seems they sent out a recall telling
owners to pull down their spare tires, and keep them in the bed till
further notice. Something to do with retaining the spare is failing in
areas where roads are salted, and spares are being released onto the
roadway.

Erik