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Are Toyota vehicles really safe? Sure we got recommendations from Consumer Reports but really have Toyotas become death machines. Think of all the safety recalls they had this and in the past year, even involving Lexus! Being a Dodge person, I personally have no interest in Toyotas whatsoever. I dont care if they came out with the next big thing in the industry, I do not trust my life to them. How do we know Scion wont follow suit? Sure the tC looks cool, but uh-oh, you go for daily commute and Wham! the insides of the vehicle take control, increasing your speed and locking the steering wheel. In the hospital, you learn from the dealer it was sticky acceleration pedals. Scary no?

Heeve this warning: Dont fall for their commercials, buying a Toyota puts yours and others lives at risk.

Baltoluv, you are putting no one's life at risk by driving a Toyota, of course; unless they are part of the "break? What break?" series.

No, Toyotas are fine. Like most things, their QC issues have been blown way out of proportion.

I know tons of people with Toyotas. I've driven a few myself. They work just as good as any other car. As far as I really care the only way a car can really be a "death machine" is if the driver is a bloody idiot.

Actually, what I have to say about the "Breaks? What breaks?" issue...

Apparently they were informing their drivers that if they get into a bad situation, they should first press down hard on the break pedal...

Isn't that what you would normally do?

Youre correct Conay but the acceleration problem was mechanical. The following vehicles were recalled:

Toyota Corolla
Toyota Matrix
Lexus RX
Toyota Camry

There may be more, I'll have to check.

Just to make a point, nearly every model of Dodge car and truck ever made has had a recall every single year. See here: http://www.automotive.com/used-cars/rec ... index.html

That's the point I was making about Toyota's problems being blown out of proportion. Toyota got the most bad press, but they definitely were not the only company with recalls.

Toyota makes great vehicles, indeed, their quality control issues may be blown out of proportionate, but to have that many recalls, on that many vehicles, in the short time span they did, says that they've forgotten their "quality over quantity" goals that they had earlier on in their life. Who knows what else is going to pop up? American cars don't get as much recall press most of the time, is because they DO have so many recalls, during the late 80s the 90s, and into the 2000s, all the American companies had massive problems, but even with that, the only truly serious one was the Firestone recall, which was mostly driver error in handling the blow out the wrong way. Companies like Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Honda and the rest came in, and upped the bar, and now, ironically, the American vehicles are beginning to surpass the Asian made cars and trucks, and a lot of the European manufactured vehicles in quality, safety and reliability.

I myself, am a Nissan/Infiniti and Ford fan, just tossing that out because I can. LOL And my opinion on Toyota cars is that they're great for people who just want a car, but if they want to enjoy their driving experience, their cars are too dead, and robotic. I drive a Peterbilt 389 for work, and I must say, it feels sportier then 90% of the Toyotas I've ever driven (Cars like the Supra, or the Celica are an exception, I'm talking about their main stream vehicles.) I guess I'll just stick with the winner of Infiniti's fleet, my 1999 I30.

Just noting something on your comment, the Ram 1500 won Motor Trends 2010 Truck of the Year. And the Avenger in itself has many safety features and more backroom than the Camry.

Now for Toyota, Ford has topped them in sales this year.

Whatever.
They can still be lethal.

ANY, let me repeat that - ANY - vehicle can be 'lethal'. Again, ANY! Put an idiot behind the wheel and you have given them a huge weapon.

Also, you're sitting here swearing that Toyotas are unsafe yet you have no referances linked. None. If you're going to be silly and insist that Toyotas are screaming metal deathtraps - without hearing anyone else's opinion on the matter - do yourself a favor and find some highly credible sites as referances and link them.

overlawyered.com/2010/.../u-s-news-toyota-death-toll-rises/
www.nypost.com/.../toyota_death_toll_2v ... A70I5utegM
www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/.../26toyota.html
priuschat.com/.../78390-la-times-toyota-unintended-acceleration-death-toll- tops-100-a-3.html

Heres your proof.

Unfortunately you didn't read those links. The first one was calling out US News for running that headline (Toyota death toll rises!) which was sensationalist and borderline yellow journalism, as the article goes on to prove. You want the truth about Toyota and the bad press? Go here:

http://www.fumento.com/toyota_acceleration/

And read all ten of those articles. I'll even get you started with some quotes:





Yeah, driver error. So why are Toyotas lethal again? The answer is that they aren't. At least not any more lethal than any other vehicle that weighs over a ton and has more than 50 horsepower. If you want to hate Toyota for whatever reason, that's your choice, but don't start libeling them with accusations of being "lethal" when you don't have all the facts.

I should jump in again...this time with links...from Toyota themselves!

http://www.toyota.com/recall/pedal.html

Accelerator pedal issue (not floor mats, those were fixed before this happened.)

1. What is the solution Toyota announced to fix sticking accelerator pedals?
Toyota’s engineers have developed and rigorously tested a solution that is both effective and simple. A precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the accelerator pedal assembly, thereby eliminating the excess friction that has caused pedals to stick in rare instances.

Gas pedals sticking aren't hard to deal with, put it in neutral, and apply the brakes. But if you're one of those unlucky people that manage to get into that multiple failure position...

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyo ... der+Recall

Luckily, the vehicles affected don't have the gas pedal issue.

The Toyota recalls weren't exactly major, like some, but considering the various different ones that plagued their entire line-up within months of each other is an indication of something going afoul here...regardless whether they make good cars or not.