Leighcm

How loud is the noise? Some clatter IS normal.

Welcome!!

Another interesting one: OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH FEBRUARY 18, 2010, 7:05 P.M. ET Washington's Toyota U-Turn Government Motors is finding it hard to handle a safety recall. That vague screeching noise you hear in D.C., the slight odor of burning rubber? That's the government trying to brake its anti-Toyota campaign. It may be a little late. The Toyota spectacle has become slightly surreal, as a few uncertain questions about "sudden acceleration" morphed into a media and political firestorm over the safety of its entire fleet. It is also proving an interesting case study in the treacherous politics that accompany government ownership of U.S. industry. Washington's initial enthusiasm in bashing Toyota is beginning to backfire. There's no question that in the first, heady days of recall, at least some in the Obama administration and Congress saw advantage in undermining Toyota. The majority owner of Government Motors felt it couldn't hurt to fan the image of a "foreign" auto maker disregarding the safety of American drivers. Shoppers might just buy a Chevy instead, propping up government investment and bolstering United Auto Worker union jobs. And of course the trial bar would be thrilled by a fat new class-action target. Vehicle recalls (there were 16.9 million in 2009 alone) are usually handled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration—but the Toyota case was commandeered by Obama Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He skewered the firm for being "a little safety deaf," complained it hadn't been responsive, and bragged it was the government that forced a recall. Associated Press Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood "This is a big deal, this is a big safety issue," he exclaimed as part of the LaHood Vs. Toyota Media Tour. It was, in fact, the "most serious safety issue" of his tenure. It was, to repeat, such a huge, scary, safety deal that his "advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it." Mr. LaHood later claimed he'd misspoke. Over in Congress, a geographically notable contingent of representatives piled on. Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) announced an investigation into "dangerous" malfunctions. Toyota was ordered to report to his Oversight subcommittee hearing next week. Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.) berated the company for taking "two years" to step up and ripped them for not recalling more models. UAW lobbyist Alan Reuther demanded Toyota make amends by keeping open a unionized factory in California, currently scheduled for closure. Chrysler, GM and Ford started offering cash incentives for car buyers to trade in recalled Toyotas for domestic wares. The results of this campaign are now making pols queasy. It was inevitable that such a loud attack would lead to questions as to whether the administration was carrying water for the domestic industry. The White House is today fielding as many queries about its role as owner and regulator as Toyota is fielding about recalls. This thinking also inspired reporters to dig into Congress's Toyota ties and to question, conversely, whether it can be tough enough. The press dredged up Senate Toyota investigator Jay Rockefeller's role in landing his state of West Virginia a Toyota plant. Did you know, the head of NHTSA, David Strickland, worked eight years for Mr. Rockefeller? Or that California Democrat Jane Harman, who sits on the House investigating committee, once made money selling stereo systems to Toyota? You do now. It is also occurring to some Democrats that, while Toyotas are mainly assembled in red states, they are, uh, sold in blue ones. In addition to idled Toyota factory workers, Toyota dealerships and suppliers are getting hit by the company's sharp drop in sales. Some of these folks even live in Michigan. The angry phone calls to Washington only increased last week when four governors—three Republicans and Kentucky Democrat Steve Beshear—sent a sharp letter to Congress, accusing the administration of a "conflict of interest." They unsubtly noted that many recent recalls were "as serious as or more serious" than Toyota's. This sent the media digging into the recall record of U.S. auto makers, which may have to revisit their own safety issues. Some politicians are worried about Japanese retaliation against U.S. auto makers. All of which accounts for Washington's recent piping down. Mr. LaHood devoted a lot of this week to touting stimulus grants. Quite a few Democrats have gone mute, leaving the issue to NHTSA and wishing it would go away. Some lawmakers are even stepping up to defend Toyota. Yet having revved up the drama, the administration is now all but obliged to take action against Toyota, say with civil penalties. Mr. Rockefeller and other Democrats with ties to the carmaker are under pressure to get rough. And if Toyota bungles Washington as badly as it did the initial recall PR, this could go on a long time. Toyota has not yet laid off a single one of its 34,000 U.S. workers, but that may change. Only a year ago, Democrats were wailing about economic damage if GM or Chrysler went bust. They forestalled that with government ownership. They, and Toyota, are now dealing with the all-too-easy-to-predict political behavior that followed such meddling in the private economy.

I saw that...looks great. It's really a good idea. I can't transport anything in my car for fear of the carpets getting messed up.

Looks nice...good use of $5!

There's no accurate book value for that car, it's all highly subjective, and really depends on condition and your prospective buyer. If it's in good shape, and runs well, and has not had any accidents or paint work done, it's probably worth a couple thousand at least if you are trying to sell it. A good thing to do would be to check eBay, Cars.com, and Autotrader.com nationally for similar cars (check several model years), see what other people are asking for them, and price it somewhere in the middle. Don't compare it to the highest priced ones or the lowest priced ones as the high-priced ones are usually the result of a wildly optimistic or just plain clueless owner, and the lowest priced ones are usually junk.

Welcome!!

They can only do it if he has a loan through TFS...

And Fords were rolling over (got blamed on Firestone)? And some of the GM cars were catching on fire (think Fiero)? And how about BMW M3s and Mazda RX-7s consistently blowing motors at 60k miles, and Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth minivans all needing new transmissions at 60-80k miles? Don't recall too much of that in the news, with the exception of the Ford/Firestone issue.

Ran across this interesting article today: http://biggovernment.com/brjohnson/2010/02...led-witch-hunt/ Any comments?

Really? Those 6 cars with proven problems out of 8 million vehicles are just terrifying me!!

Nice!

Yes, Toyota has problems...but so does every other manufacturer. There's no such thing as a perfect car, but Toyota comes closer than everyone else. I have to think that there's some politics going on with this situation...the domestic manufacturers are having problems, and this sudden focus on Toyota is incredibly convenient for the Big 3. It was especially nice when LaHood stood up and said "don't buy/drive Toyotas". Toyota isn't the first company to have problems, but it's been much more highly publicized than the others. I believe the current accident total is something like 6 cars out of 6 or 7 million built...how is that a major issue? Especially as accidents can be prevented if you do something simple: step on the brake!!

Congrats on your new car! On the manual: you can pick them up pretty cheap on eBay. You can also order one from the Toyota dealer.

Welcome! I didn't understand all of your post, but welcome to TOC USA.

Yes, it sounds like it's probably pretty well gone. I think the 1989 should be a match, at least for the front, but not 100% sure.

Just set it up for a cold day. From what I understand, the gas pedal thing is a very quick inspection, not even necessarily a repair.

I think you're probably right then...most likely some sort of short somewhere. Wires expand and contract slightly with heat and cold, so that would explain why it happens when it's cold. The fix for it would probably be expensive though. Unless the car is still under the 3 year/36k warranty?

It's not the ASL function, is it? It's supposed to turn up when you go faster to compensate for wind/road noise.

Check to make sure you're pressing firmly on the brake. If you don't have it pressed all the way down, it can cause the same issue.

Congrats! Those new RAV's are pretty cool. Welcome to TOC!

Welcome! I think your Toyotas are almost identical to ours, just with speedometer/odometer in KM?

I've always been a proponent of doing your maintenance on time...better safe than sorry, and a car is a big investment, especially if you're trying to avoid buying another one. Maintenance is still cheap insurance. If you do break the timing belt, best case is that you'd be stranded on the side of the road (or in my case where I had the misfortune to break one of mine in the middle of the road and was stranded in the left turn lane...).

It depends on the model...some have belts, some have chains. Chains are much more long term than belts. Some will totally destroy the engine if the belt breaks, most won't. If it's a belt, it should be changed around 60-90k...think of it as cheap insurance compared to buying a new motor.

http://www.toyotacertified.com/ebrochures/09_sienna.pdf