APNewsBreak: Probe questions runaway Prius story

USA-1 said:

They were worn down to nothing. How would that not be consistent with what he claimed?

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A hard stop on the brakes could overheat the pads and the rotors and can show more damage to them rather than a gradual press to normally stop a car that will show a complete wear out of the pads. If you want to do a hard stop, it will most likely destroy the rotors as well as the pads, but this shows just being worn out. So the question is, did the driver do a hard stop with the e-brakes like he was instructed to do? Don't know if this is true, can anyone refute or support my argument?

I'm siding with the guy on this one because of Toyota's past on this. First they claimed on other models they couldn't duplicate the stuck pedals then an engineer replicated it exactly. I've heard the tape and the guy sounds confused and scared. I'm still trying to find any reason why he would make this up. The officier said he could smell the brakes being worn out and saw the guy literally standing on the pedals. What I saw today especially was a flat out hit job on this guy's character.

USA-1 said:

They were worn down to nothing. How would that not be consistent with what he claimed?

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They are now claiming the wear isn't consistent with his story whatever that means.

I just heard on the news that the cars black box indicated the brakes were lightly applied over 200 times during the incident rather than smashing the brakes and keeping them applied. If that had been done cars engine cutoff would most likely engaged. The investigation stated that this system is working fine.

Car and Driver has done a recent test on a few cars

Testing whether the brakes can stop a car even with the gas pedle floored

Even at 80 mph a Camry came to a full stop

Only the Ford Mustang GT 500 ( a supercharged 500 hp car ) had dramatically longer stops at high speed with the throttle open and the brakes fully applied, but it still stopped

Toyota casts doubt on account of runaway Prius - washingtonpost.com

"There are significant inconsistencies between the account of March 8 and the findings of this investigation," Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said. After weeks of public apologies by top-level company officials, Toyota has begun to fight back with engineering evidence to say that its cars are safe.

Michels and other Toyota officials said that Sikes's Prius was subjected to extensive testing at a Toyota dealership in El Cajon, Calif., including the inspection of individual parts and vehicle systems as well as diagnostic testing of the car's on-board computers and data recorder. The front brakes on the Prius were found to be ground down, said Toyota product quality vice president Bob Waltz, so the car was outfitted with new brakes and test-driven several times. It did not experience runaway acceleration.

Michels said that if Sikes had heavily applied the brakes simultaneously with the accelerator, as he said he did, "it would have easily stopped the vehicle."

I just heard the Toyota spokesman on the radio, he said the grinding down of the brakes was consistent with applying the brake lightly for a long period of time, not with applying the brakes hard all at once.

So this guy did not follow Toyota's or the 911 operator's instructions, and it turns out he has a bit of a shady past, so I'm going with Toyota on this one.

I have not seen this anywhere so here it is.

My buddy bought a 2010 Camry.

I took it on a 2 hour trip.

On deceleration the revs stay the same and the car applies the brakes to slow it down. I assume that is to reduce emmissions. It bothered me because the brakes are going to wear out much earlier than any other car and I think safety trumps emmissions.

For example if you were at freeway speeds and the revs were at 1500 RPM and you took your foot off the gas, the revs stay at 1500 and the brakes are applied by the car to get the same declleration that you would normally get. The revs came down slowly during that time.

It is not hard to believe, being that the gas pedal is not connected to the engine but goes through the computer, that it can accelerate itself.

If you have a crazy computer it will control the car.

After driving my buddys car all I can is it is possible for the computer to accelerate the car.

To know how the system works we would have to talk to a Toyota mechanic.

Cars are getting too technologically advanced for me. Too many issues can happen.

I will stick with my old cars because I understand how they work.

My 1969 Impala wagon runs just fine and looks good too.

Mason66 said:

I have not seen this anywhere so here it is.

My buddy bought a 2010 Camry.

I took it on a 2 hour trip.

On deceleration the revs stay the same and the car applies the brakes to slow it down. I assume that is to reduce emmissions. It bothered me because the brakes are going to wear out much earlier than any other car and I think safety trumps emmissions.

For example if you were at freeway speeds and the revs were at 1500 RPM and you took your foot off the gas, the revs stay at 1500 and the brakes are applied by the car to get the same declleration that you would normally get. The revs came down slowly during that time.

It is not hard to believe, being that the gas pedal is not connected to the engine but goes through the computer, that it can accelerate itself.

If you have a crazy computer it will control the car.

After driving my buddys car all I can is it is possible for the computer to accelerate the car.

To know how the system works we would have to talk to a Toyota mechanic.

Cars are getting too technologically advanced for me. Too many issues can happen.

I will stick with my old cars because I understand how they work.

My 1969 Impala wagon runs just fine and looks good too.

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Toyota didn't find a problem with the car's computer.

Jerry said:

Toyota didn't find a problem with the car's computer.

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Have you ever had a crazy computer in a car?

Sometimes codes don't show up.

I don't know what happened with this particular car but all I am saying is it is possible considering their system.

I was unaware that a Prius could break 60 mph.

Jerry said:

Toyota didn't find a problem with the car's computer.

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I listened to Paul Ingrassia yesterday on the Dennis Prager show, he is a man with a reason to hold a grudge against Toyota. He and his wife were almost killed in a defective Toyota in the early 90's. He however debunked the Prius accelerator issue pretty effectively. Pointing out that statistically these Prius accelerator issues have only happened to "older" people and pointing out that statistically Toyotas are pretty safe cars. He also raised serious concerns about this man's story and the sad job the press did in covering the story so far. An example being that it was initially reported that a CHP officer had to maneuver his car in front of the Prius to bring it to a halt. Never happened.

Furthermore he pointed to Car & Driver Magazine which went out last year and tested four different Prius', while they were successful in getting the accelerator to stick in each case, they were also able to slow down and bring all four to a complete halt using the brakes.

I'm trying to find a link to his website, which was mentioned on the show yet does not seem to exist on the net, nor is there a good link to the info on the Prager website. There was also supposed to be an article he wrote for the WSJ about this online, yet I can't find it either.

I am all for waiting for all the facts to come in, but after listening to Ingrassia's common sense points and debunking and refuting most of what has been reported on the issue thus far, I'm starting to smell something fishy about this whole Pruis accelerator issue.

hazlnut said:

I have a question about these runaway cars...

Is there no neutral on the gear shift?

Does the ignition not shut off when they're in runaway mode?

I had a '79 Chevy Caprice Station Wagon that would stick from time to time. You usually just shift into neutral, pull over, and shut off the engine.

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LOL.......... does the engine not shut off when you turn the key off?

Funny how all of this stuff comes to "light" now that Barry owns the car companies and they still aren't doing well.

Damn those rice grinders.... they's takin' all our bidsness.

RightinNYC said:

More stuff worth considering:



Man at Wheel of 'Out-of-Control' Prius Has Troubled Financial Past - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

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Wait a minute........

On Monday, James Sikes called 911 to report that he was behind the wheel of an out-of-control Toyota Prius going 94 mph on a freeway near San Diego. Twenty-three minutes later, a California Highway Patrol officer helped guide him to a stop, a rescue that was captured on videotape.

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He called 911 instead of turning off the key?

He should have wrecked, it would improve the species.

Crunch said:

LOL.......... does the engine not shut off when you turn the key off?

Funny how all of this stuff comes to "light" now that Barry owns the car companies and they still aren't doing well.

Damn those rice grinders.... they's takin' all our bidsness.

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So these 37 deaths over the years were faked to sell more Chevys?:roll:

Toyota deaths reported to safety database rise to 37 - USATODAY.com


These problems came to light long before Obama even won the election.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/unintended-acceleration-rears-its-ugly-head/
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-unintended-acceleration-or-sticky-floor-mats/

Mason66 said:

Have you ever had a crazy computer in a car?

Sometimes codes don't show up.

I don't know what happened with this particular car but all I am saying is it is possible considering their system.

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There were codes, and they showed about 250 attempts of applying the brake lightly. This is consistent with how the brakes were worn down.

Less heat applied over time has a different effect on metal then does extreme heat applied within a short time span.

There is no evidence supporting the driver's claims.

Jerry said:

There were codes, and they showed about 250 attempts of applying the brake lightly. This is consistent with how the brakes were worn down.

Less heat applied over time has a different effect on metal then does extreme heat applied within a short time span.

There is no evidence supporting the driver's claims.

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Not too mention he refused to do anything the 911 dispatcher asked him to do that might have stopped the car. He refused to put the car in nuetral, he refused to turn the car off, stating that he thought doing so might cause the car to flip over. Seriously. Also he claims that he tried to pull the accelerator pedal up from the floor at 94 miles an hour, which stretches credulity. Ingrassia, who has long 33 inch arms, tried to do so at twenty miles an hour in a Pruis and almost lost control. Sikes claimed he did so at 94 miles an hour...........

Add to that the fact the the first thing the CHP officers on scene noticed when examining the car, is that the accelerator pedal was in the extended position or "up" position, not locked down, which is what has happened in other verified cases.

Last but not least, Sikes was out front and granting media interview after media interview the next day. Smells fishy as hell.:naughty