I just skimmed through 3 pages of venting and not ONE person has touched on the REAL reason that Toyota is in trouble: It's the idiot behind the wheel. Plain & simple. Wanna know why?
People get in their car, sit down while pushing with their feet they push the floor mats off their anchors, and they roll up and get stuck under the gas pedal. Sometime people complain about the car not running right with no power. Pedal is stopping against floor mat. Sometimes poor braking. The mat is stuck. And sometimes it will stick after giving it gas. The idiot whom killed himself & his family is a good example of idiot drivers.....all you have to do is turn off the key, STAND on the brake, and steer. Done.
I went through this in the 80's with Audi's "unintended acceleration" issues. Want to know what the final verdict in that fiasco was? Driver error was the reason.... Everyone wants to sue someone when THEY screw up. Business as usual in this country.
I've been in the business for over 35 yrs. and I've seen MANY idiot drivers.... Toyota is just jammed up trying to make their cars "dumb proof".
BTW: One more political reference and this get's locked....