Toyota has stumbled into the new year and is now skidding face first through the end of January. The car company has announced that it would stop selling and building eight models in its lineup, including the popular Camry, Corolla, and Rav4. The reason for this is the sticking acceleration pedal that was a reason for a recall of millions of vehicles in 2009. After further investigation, Toyota seems to have found the problem and is taking drastic actions to correct the problem. This is a huge blow in reputation to the car company that became worlds leading car maker only 2 years ago. While I applaud the quick decision making of Toyota and their corporate responsibility to the public despite what this will have on the company's bottom line, I wonder how well they will come out of this. They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Unfortunately, with Toyota's large and growing business size, it seems to have become too difficult for Toyota to maintain the same quality control as it once had.
I still love Toyota. I was raised in a Toyota family and even though I don't think they arent a very exciting car company, I definitely believe that they are a great and reliable car company. When I started driving, I once drowned my dads Camry in a gigantic puddle. The car stalled as I tried to cross a flooded intersection outside my house. I pushed the car home and would only hearing water slosh around when I tried to start the car. After a couple days letting the car recover in my driveway, it fired back up perfectly and ran just as great for many more years. A British car show proved how well Toyotas were built when they tried repeatedly and creatively to destroy an old Toyota pickup truck. Fire, Water, Exploding building. It didnt matter. The thing would magically start up each time no matter the abuse.
Millions of vehicle owners are affected by this new press release and it will take some time for everyone to get their vehicles sorted and fixed. So lets say you're driving down the road and, suddenly, you feel a burst of speed and acceleration.
Oh Noes! What to do!? Don't worry, it was a "burst of speed and acceleration" so you probably weren't in a Toyota. OK, kidding aside, lets say your gas pedal does get stuck. What do you do?
First, lets not be hasty. I would actually consider this a blessing since you have an honest and legitimate explanation to any authority who tries to pull you over for flying down the road weaving and ducking in and out of traffic. It definitely beats that "I got the runs" excuse. But eventually you may want to slow down and if regular braking doesn't slow you down enough, just stay calm and try this:
Move the shift lever into (N)eutral and the car should stop accelerating which will let you pull over and stop safely. A word of caution: This will probably result in your car over-revving since the throttle is stuck and the engine will scream and pout in the redline, but hey, better a dead motor than a dead you.
*DO NOT just turn off your car. You will lose your steering and brakes.*
If that doesn't work, say a prayer and aim for something nice and soft to cushion your crash: like a smart fourtwo.
