Tests fail to duplicate acceleration problem in Prius

[JBougie]

If it looks like a chicken and walks like a chicken, it must be a .........

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031402019.html

Investigators from Toyota and the government have been unable to duplicate the runaway acceleration in a 2008 Prius that a Southern California man said took him on a 30-mile wild ride last week, according to a draft memo from a congressional panel.

The tests on the Prius -- belonging to San Diego resident James Sikes, 61 -- were conducted in California on Wednesday and Thursday by officials from Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Also observing the test was a staffer from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been investigating Toyota recall problems and heard testimony from top-ranking company officials in recent weeks.

Toyota and the NHTSA allowed the Republican committee staffer to observe the tests and report the findings to both parties on the committee after pressure was applied by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the committee's ranking member. The memo obtained by The Washington Post is a draft of the final report.

The memo was reported over the weekend by the Associated Press.

"On our test drive, the field technician tried to duplicate the same experience that Mr. Sikes experienced," the staffer wrote in the memo. "After about two hours of driving he was unsuccessful. Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down."

The failure to duplicate the incident is not unusual; Toyota has said it has had difficulty duplicating other reported incidents of runaway vehicles. Sikes's attorney, John Gomez, told the Associated Press that the results do not cast doubt on his client's story and that Sikes is not trying to profit from the incident.

Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella disagreed, saying Sunday that "these findings certainly raise new questions surrounding the veracity of the sequence of events that has been reported by Mr. Sikes."

Sikes reported last week that he was unable to get his Prius to stop as it reached speeds of 94 mph even as he pressed both feet on the brake. That part of Sikes's story was verified by the technicians.

"The investigators removed the front tires from the car and a handful of brake dust fell out," the memo reads. "Visually checking the brake pads and rotor it was clearly visible that there was nothing left."
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The congressional memo quotes Toyota's David Justo, identified as the company's expert on hybrids, as saying the Prius was designed in such a way that it will shut down if the gas pedal is pushed to the floor and the brakes are applied.

"It does not appear to be feasibly possible, both electronically and mechanically that his gas pedal was stuck to the floor and he was slamming on the brake at the same time," Justo is quoted as saying.

Sikes and his lawyer also witnessed last week's tests on his vehicle. Records show that Sikes filed for bankruptcy two years ago with $700,000 in debt, but has said repeatedly since the incident last week that he seeks no money from Toyota. Sikes called 911 from his runaway vehicle and was finally able to stop his car, he said, after a police cruiser pulled alongside and shouted instructions over a loudspeaker.

On Wednesday, another Toyota driver reported a runaway Prius, this one a 2005 model, which police said struck a stone wall, causing minor injuries to the driver.

The NHTSA has identified 52 deaths in instances of runaway Toyota acceleration. The company has said all along that the problem is caused by mechanical, not electronic, issues. As such, Toyota has recalled more than 6 million vehicles to fix what it calls floor-mat entrapment and sticky gas pedals. However, the NHTSA is investigating Toyota's electronics, including its electronic throttle control system, and Toyota has hired an outside consultant to do the same.

The congressional memo says that the NHTSA bought the gas pedal, throttle body and two on-board computers from Sikes's Prius for $2,500 and plans to investigate them further.

[sbergman27]

So as the score stands, Sikes has made $2,500 from this incident. And the executive branch of the U.S. government is keen to reward him further. Logic and reason have clearly been defenestrated by the United States.

[silver_echo]

no he has not made any money... the government bought the parts from toyota for further investigation...

[JBougie]

I'm glad they are exposing this guy for a fraud.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by silver_echo

no he has not made any money... the government bought the parts from toyota for further investigation...

Who owned the parts? Sikes bought the car, and so they were his parts. But he was several payments behind on his loan. So if the loan company foreclosed, they'd own the parts. And if the loan company was Toyota, then they would get the $2,500. So was the loan company Toyota? And did they foreclose upon James Sike's loan? Or did Sikes get the money?

-Steve

[Kioshi]

only a few exist in current times that will find a cure to problems themselves....*sigh*

[coffiend]

http://snasm.com/article/abc-news-to...-fiasco-fakery

while were in the topic of false information...

[JBougie]

That is so upsetting :/

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by JBougie

That is so upsetting :/

If I watched TV, I'd boycott ABC. That's the problem with a lot of these nasty companies. I don't use or do business with them anyway. So when they do something especially evil, all I can do is *continue* not using them. It is sometimes frustrating.

-Steve

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by PK198105

wow that is a classic from echodrivers.com....

I don't know why they would do that given that they already have the clips to hold the mat in place.

[JBougie]

^Because those clips suck, and don't keep your mat held in place.

That's a good extra to ensure your mat doesn't get stuck under your clutch/gas/brake.

[Altitude]

Originally Posted by JBougie

^Because those clips suck, and don't keep your mat held in place.

That's a good extra to ensure your mat doesn't get stuck under your clutch/gas/brake.

Hmmm... hasn't been a problem for me. In fact, I find it difficult when I try to remove them from the clips for cleaning.

Anyhow...

Here's some more BS:

Driver claims runaway Camry
John Moscicki, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, told the AP his 2007 Camry accelerated on its own five times before he got the vehicle fixed under the floor mat recall last month.

On March 4, his repaired Camry took off from a standing stop on the freeway and accelerated to 50 mph (80 kph) before Moscicki managed to stop it by shifting into neutral, hitting the brake with his left foot and pulling back the gas pedal with his right.

"It just went to the floor like some other system had control of it," said Moscicki, who raced high-performance sports cars and previously owned a Porsche restoration business.

----------
Bullshit. Apparently this guy didn't bother to review the dissection of the pedals as they contain no cables, motors, solenoids or other type of actuator that would cause the pedal to become depressed of its own accord. He may have pressed it and it became stuck, but it sure as hell didn't move on its own.

[127.0.0.1]

Originally Posted by Altitude

Hmmm... hasn't been a problem for me. In fact, I find it difficult when I try to remove them from the clips for cleaning.

Anyhow...

Here's some more BS:

Driver claims runaway Camry
John Moscicki, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, told the AP his 2007 Camry accelerated on its own five times before he got the vehicle fixed under the floor mat recall last month.

On March 4, his repaired Camry took off from a standing stop on the freeway and accelerated to 50 mph (80 kph) before Moscicki managed to stop it by shifting into neutral, hitting the brake with his left foot and pulling back the gas pedal with his right.

"It just went to the floor like some other system had control of it," said Moscicki, who raced high-performance sports cars and previously owned a Porsche restoration business.

----------
Bullshit. Apparently this guy didn't bother to review the dissection of the pedals as they contain no cables, motors, solenoids or other type of actuator that would cause the pedal to become depressed of its own accord. He may have pressed it and it became stuck, but it sure as hell didn't move on its own.

yup.

the old cable operated ones move, as in my 4runner. but not anything drive-by-wire

[sqcomp]

I have to apologize for this John Moscicki dip$hit. I am ashamed to say that this baloonhead is not 5 miles from my old house.

I don't have much good to say about Lake O denizens anyway. Bunch of money grubbing, stuff shirt jacka$$es.

[fmicle]

Originally Posted by JBougie

^Because those clips suck, and don't keep your mat held in place.

That's a good extra to ensure your mat doesn't get stuck under your clutch/gas/brake.

What???

I don't understand what people do to make their mats move like that. The ones in my car (whatever comes standard with the base version) don't even slide around because they stick almost like velcro to the carpet layer underneath. Even without the clips, what do people do to make that mat slide? They do realize this is not a "Fred Flintstone" type of car, right? You don't have to push it with your feet... Beats me...

Same thing, I found it difficult to take the mat off just to wash it, let alone "accidentally" move it...

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by fmicle

What??? I don't understand what people do to make their mats move like that.

Just to inject a little reality into all this... in 30 years of driving... I have *never* had a car with floor mats that hooked, tied, or were otherwise secured, and have *never* had *any* sort of an issue that even *hinted* at being a safety problem.

Even we here on YW seem to have bought into the media hype on this matter. Perhaps the pedals on some Toyota models *are* designed such that it can (on rare occasion) become an issue; I don't know. But one thing that's for sure is that the pedals on *our* cars aren't.

I think that as the media claims have become more and more outré, we've come to be less critical about the earlier, less bizarre, but no less flawed claims that have been made. Personally... I suspect that the floor mat recall is largely due to the fact that Toyota felt that they had to appear to be doing *something*. It's hard to know what to do when it's clear to you that there isn't really a problem, but the media has whipped half the world into a frenzy of distrust against you.

-Steve

[why?]

the clips on my car broke within a few months, and i did have problems with them sliding around. So I took them out, not exactly hard. I've had problems with floor mats sliding around in a few different cars, and i removed them.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by why?

the clips on my car broke within a few months, and i did have problems with them sliding around.

My "Certified Used" Yaris didn't come with factory mats, so I'm using aftermarket mats, as I always have. Do the factory mats not come with non-slip bottom sides?

-Steve