Death by Prius

[Britethorn]

Run time: 01:42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAKzArEL540   Posted on YouTube: March 14, 2010 By YouTube Member: britethorn Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 14, 2010 By DU Member: Britethorn Views on DU: 1211

 
As the owner of a 2008 Prius, I have to say that I am NOT impressed by how Toyota is handling their sudden acceleration mess.

[Tommy_J]

1. Bull

The concern with the Gen III Prius has to do with inconsistent braking performance. Reports of out of control Prius acceleration are almost certainly fakes.

[Britethorn]

3. Fakes

You may be right, but that doesn't change the fact that Toyota has not handled any of this very well. I love my car but and very unimpressed with the company at the moment.

[Tommy_J]

8. Agree with that

My wife's Prius just needed a $5,000 transmission at 82,000 miles. That was painful after singing the Prius' praises the last 3 years.

It was actually the electric motor which failed but Toyota insisted on calling it a transmission failure. The tranny is not considered part of the 100,000 mile "hybrid component" warranty coverage that they boast about.

[splatshot]

9. So...

...which was it? On your invoice, was a transmission or an inverter charged.

[liberal N proud]

2. Death by floor mats

:rofl:

[divideandconquer]

4. THE FRUITS OF SLAVE LABOR AREN"T SWEET

The Dark Side of the Toyota Prius
By PAUL ABOWD

The National Labor Committee (NLC), a New York-based human rights group, has been investigating working conditions at Toyota Motor Corp., and the labor used to produce its best-selling Prius hybrid cars.

In its 65-page report released in June, NLC includes first-hand testimony of factory conditions in “Toyota City,” outside of Nagoya, Japan — less than 200 miles southwest of Tokyo — where the largest auto company in the world employs some 70,000 people.

The report alleges that Toyota exploits guest workers, mostly shipped in from China and Vietnam. According to the NLC, these workers are “stripped of their passports and often forced to work — including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota — 16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.” Workers are forced to live in company dormitories and deported for complaining about poor treatment, the report finds.
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<http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3796/the_dark_side_of_the_toyota_prius/>

[Britethorn]

5. Yikes!

Didn't know any of that! Thanks for posting!

[LittleGirl]

6. unbelieveable! OMG

If I had read this before November, I would have never let my husband talk me into buying one of 2010 models. Now I feel like I have contributed to that guys death by overwork. We Americans...we taught those Japanese well, didn't we? damn Capitalism. should be named instead, "Death by Capitalism"

[liberal N proud]

7. Toyota may face some criminal charges for intentionally mislead federal regulators

Toyota faces the possibility of criminal charges for handling of safety issues.
Posted by Joshua Condon on Thursday, March 11, 2010 5:26 PM
It's hard to believe, but the worst for some at Toyota may be yet to come.

Thanks to the tough legislation -- known as the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act -- put in place after the much-publicized Firestone Tire / Ford Explorer rollover recalls 10 years ago, those who intentionally mislead federal regulators about safety defects now find themselves subject to criminal fines, and even prison time.

Given that the seemingly endless congressional hearings have yet to produce a satisfactory answer as to who at the company knew what about the myriad safety defects (chief among them unintended acceleration), and when, it's not out of the realm of possibility that someone in the Toyota corporate structure will be brought up on charges -- especially given that legislators seem to be champing at the bit to make an example of, well, anyone, really.


http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2010-03-11-toyotacriminal11_ST_N.htm?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomMoney-TopStories+%28Money+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader