Toyota to go before Congress

[JC5123]

Someone explain this to me. Toyota has massive recalls. Mostly because of peoples own stupidity. But besides that vehicles are very complicated machines and there are bound to be bugs in the system from time to time. (think windows here)

My question is this. If a company has the integrity to risk its reputation to satisfy its customers. (Even the stupid ones that don't understand that floor mats move and the pedals do catch on them) Why does Congress feel they need to step in and conduct and investigation? I mean give me a break, are the asshats in washington just looking for someone to take the heat off themselves for awhile?

And FQ don't try to feed me a bunch of "it's about safety" garbage. Toyota did this on it's own. When they decided to recall almost every vehicle they have produced in the last 4 years there had been 6 incidents. 6 out of what, probably 3 million vehicles? I wish I had that kind of safety rating.

I still stand behind this company. Because I believe they are one of the few left that still believe in customer satisfaction and making a quality product above anything else.

[fightingquaker13]

Hey, don't look at me. As far as I'm concerned this is about as big a national crises as steroids in baseball. Don't these people have day jobs? Seriously, it would be worth hearings if Toyota tried to cover it up like Ford did with the Pinto back in the day. That doesn't seem to be the case. If they had, you could argue new disclosure regs were necessary and thus justify hearings. As it is, its just Congress trying to get the votes of Toyota owners and their names in the paper. Congress is not an investigative body (absent their role in overseeing the executive and the courts). They should not be involved in overseeing the private sector and leave it to the NTSB and state agencies.
FQ13, who will remind you he is a libertarian and doesn't like the feds meddling in the private sector without darn good reason, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

[mudman]

 UNION vs NON UNION  GOVERMENT MOTORS

[MikeBjerum]

Our elected ... what polite word can I use since these clowns ain't the leaders they were hired to be ... are looking for the flash and glitz, media coverage, etc. that will get them reelected.  Too bad they have no idea what they are talking about.

Count Toyota as the next failed business in the United States.  Once the clowns get done with Toyota, nothing will have been accomplished except Toyota will have spent millions on travel and attornies, and Congress will have nothing else ... maybe this ain't such a bad thing ... keep 'em busy chasin their own tail and out of our hair 

[JC5123]

Hey, don't look at me. As far as I'm concerned this is about as big a national crises as steroids in baseball. Don't these people have day jobs? Seriously, it would be worth hearings if Toyota tried to cover it up like Ford did with the Pinto back in the day. That doesn't seem to be the case. If they had, you could argue new disclosure regs were necessary and thus justify hearings. As it is, its just Congress trying to get the votes of Toyota owners and their names in the paper. Congress is not an investigative body (absent their role in overseeing the executive and the courts). They should not be involved in overseeing the private sector and leave it to the NTSB and state agencies.
FQ13, who will remind you he is a libertarian and doesn't like the feds meddling in the private sector without darn good reason, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

Fair enough. I just know how you like to play devils advocate. You hit it on the head though that this is simple meddling and nothing more. Anything to take the focus off the real agenda. I think Mudman has a very good take on this too. Anything that Congress can do to take away competition from the two auto makers that they own is going to force people to buy from GM, and Dodge. Allowing Congress to come back and tell us what a success taking them over really was...

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

Let's see if the gov't has the same initiative if "Gov't Motors", or Chrysler/Dodge, ever have another recall.

If I remember, the American car companies that issued a recall were a "blip" on the nightly news, and that was it. Regardless of ABS failures, transmission's jumping into gear spontaneously, cruise controls that were a fire hazard,...etc,..

This is just a thug Darth Rahm pressure push to motivate American car sales. According to recent sales figures from Motor Trend, Toyota is down 16% in sales.

Probably now a good time to get one.

[Pathfinder]

Fair enough. I just know how you like to play devils advocate. You hit it on the head though that this is simple meddling and nothing more. Anything to take the focus off the real agenda. I think Mudman has a very good take on this too. Anything that Congress can do to take away competition from the two auto makers that they own is going to force people to buy from GM, and Dodge. Allowing Congress to come back and tell us what a success taking them over really was...

Hate to correct you here, JC, but I think mudman had it right - Toyota is non-union and did not take bailout money, so they must be broken. They are, after all, the leading car maker in the US and it just ain't right (according to the gummint anyhow). All that initiative and success and stuff?

[bulldog75]

The cartoon caption says it all.

http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/toyota-236069-politicians-global.html

[twyacht]

based on my previous post this week,

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7298865

Chrysler IS RECALLING over 350,000 mini vans for a "chip" issue with its airbags...

Can't wait for the hearings......

[tombogan03884]

Hey, don't look at me. As far as I'm concerned this is about as big a national crises as steroids in baseball. Don't these people have day jobs? Seriously, it would be worth hearings if Toyota tried to cover it up like Ford did with the Pinto back in the day. That doesn't seem to be the case. If they had, you could argue new disclosure regs were necessary and thus justify hearings. As it is, its just Congress trying to get the votes of Toyota owners and their names in the paper. Congress is not an investigative body (absent their role in overseeing the executive and the courts). They should not be involved in overseeing the private sector and leave it to the NTSB and state agencies.
FQ13, who will remind you he is a libertarian and doesn't like the feds meddling in the private sector without darn good reason, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

As I understand it the excuse for the hearings is that Toyota did exactly that, supposedly they were aware of the problem as far back as 07 and did nothing.
A profitable nonunion company can not hope to get away with that sort of thing with union stooges running the Gov.