The Daily Show

[CL Pgh]

My apologies to the Toyota folks... but I had to put this video up.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-february-2-2010/toyotathon-of-death

:D

[Ralph]

Well worth the load time...holy cow that was funny.

[XDCX]

That was funny.

Who would have thought Toyota would ever be the butt of so many late night jokes?

[Ralph]

And such a long segment...LOL

[CUD]

For some time now Toyota has made cars that generated any driving enjoyment. They made cars that were, suppossedly, safe and reliable. Take those two attributes out and you have boring cars that are no longer safe or reliable. Not a good combination. Not a great time for Toyota right now.

[Ralph]

I do have to temper people who talk about it in person, who say..."hahaha it's great to see Toyota on the ropes," I liken it to laughing at a guy broken down on a highway in a downpour in the night. Bad Karma.....next thing you know, you could be out there in the rain too

[XDCX]

I bet the Toyota P.R. people hated to watch that segment. Not only was the segment long, the title "Toyotathon of Death" has to be an OEM's worst nightmare.

That said, I did laugh when Jon Stewart commented about what Toyota's problems meant for GM, Ford and Chrysler:

"Boys, we're back in the game. All we had to do was to have the leading competition become a death trap."

[scooter]

I do feel bad for the Toyota dealers.......but I would get so tired of customers, famliy (my in laws), consumer reports, jd power etc how wonderful Toyotas are and they are so reliable they are. All I could respond with is there is a service department at the Toyota store just like anyother dealership has because cars can have problems. My inlaws thought a Toyota service department was just for maintnence, because they would never breakdown....I think Toyota has done a lot to force the industry to improve quality, but their vehicles are man made and not perfect and things can go wrong...as we are seeing now....This may just prove to the consumers that we are now all on a more level playing field...but back to the dealers, I hope they get through this ok...

[CL Pgh]

I hesitated a couple different times yesterday about posting this video... but the reality is that there’s probably not an audience that understands what Toyota is going through more than the folks here! I’ve no doubt that the Toyota folks are fed up with this crap the past few weeks… but fortunately for them… they haven’t experienced a tenth of the crap we’ve been drug through the past 18 months. (or is that 18 years… I can’t remember anymore)

[XDCX]

I do feel bad for the Toyota dealers.......but I would get so tired of customers, famliy (my in laws), consumer reports, jd power etc how wonderful Toyotas are and they are so reliable they are. All I could respond with is there is a service department at the Toyota store just like anyother dealership has because cars can have problems. My inlaws thought a Toyota service department was just for maintnence, because they would never breakdown....I think Toyota has done a lot to force the industry to improve quality, but their vehicles are man made and not perfect and things can go wrong...as we are seeing now....This may just prove to the consumers that we are now all on a more level playing field...but back to the dealers, I hope they get through this ok...

Great comments. :)

I feel the same way regarding the Toyota dealers. While Toyota has a great reputation and strong dealer relations, there's no question they've handled the whole sudden acceleration issue poorly. Sadly, the Toyota dealers are going to have to pay for their OEMs mistakes - something Chrysler and GM dealers will be able to relate to.

Concerning the image of Toyota, I couldn't agree more. There's a great editorial in the AutoExtremist (http://www.autoextremist.com/) this week that illustrates the exact same point you're making. It's definitely worth the time to read.

[XDCX]

I hesitated a couple different times yesterday about posting this video... but the reality is that there’s probably not an audience that understands what Toyota is going through more than the folks here!

I'm glad you post the video, I probably wouldn't have heard of it otherwise.

Concerning the Toyota dealers, you're right, there's probably not an audience anywhere who could better relate to what they've been going through. In fact, I've been thinking of issuing a Press Release inviting the Toyota dealers to the forum. The dealers here know what it's like to weather a storm and there's definitely some value in being able to discuss issues with your counterparts across the country.

[Ralph]

I came home last night with my tail between my legs, after the Super Bowl, and there was a segment on Geraldo/Fox News, with a woman who describes her death ride in a Prius. She explains the gas pedel was free and in its normal position. It seems to go on and on.