Toyota Troubles!

I have to chime in on this one. I do believe the car that crashed on the 911 call was a Lexus with a push button start. I remember seeing a news clip informing you that you have to hold the ignition button in for 2 seconds to get these to shut off. If I had one before I saw this and my car was accelerating quickly with my family in it and I am on the phone with 911 I might not have known this. Who reads their owners manual?

I worked as a Quality Manager for a company that made electronic throttle controls or ETC's from 2001 until 2008 until they shut our plant down and moved it to Mexico. I remember we bid on these jobs but our ETC wasn't cheap enough. Something like $8+ instead of $6+.

We made ETC's for GM including the Malibus, Buicks and Cadillac DTS's. The testing on an ETC is extreme with millions of test cycles under extreme conditions. I also made many other safety parts for Toyota in the past and would be surprised if their testing wouldn't have shown an issue. Hopefully CTS tested the parts correctly and reported the results correctly.

I would hate to work for CTS right now. I couldn't imagine the pressure shutting down a customers plants for its top products, replacing them and the lawsuits that are following would cost. If I worked for them I would be looking for another job. They will be bankrupt in the next couple weeks.