The so-called Toyota 'fix' has an economic survival variable given 2.3 mil cars(so far) affected...

[Blackhatjack]

There is always an economic variable that affects every major product recall and repair.

A simple mechanical fix of an accelerator pedal as opposed to fixing an onboard computer electronic problem represents two ends of the possible cost spectrum.

I tend to think Wozniak is onto the correct solution, that there are software issues that are contributing to the problems reported.

But in the end, whatever Toyota does it is looking at a massive economic hit. Lost sales of new cars, damage to brand reliablity, lawsuits resulting from those killed or injured, costs of repairs to 2.3 mil cars to be recalled, and fines by the US Regulatory Authorities for being less than forthcoming and being slow to recall the affected vehicles.

In the end, the very viability of Toyota might be at stake here.

Economics will play a large roll in how this situation plays out.

[liberal N proud]

1. Toyota may wish they had listened to Wozniak

Saw him on ABC last night.

He tried to call Toyota and suggest such, but they refused his calls.

Now he has the public forum to express his thoughts.

[teknomanzer]

2. Interesting...

If I got a call from the Woz I'd put all my other calls on hold. Maybe thats just me - I dunno...

[Blackhatjack]

3. The question of 'plausible deniability' applies to what did they know and when did they know it

I would suspect that Toyota knows a lot more about the problem (and possible fixes) than they are willing to admit right now.

Put yourself in their shoes .... it is like trying to keep several plates spinning at once. And some of those plates are worth a lot more to Toyota than others.

Of course the possible nightmare scenario is that there are no 'easy fixes' here, and they have known the problem existed for a long time, have run an economic cost analysis (like Ford did with the exploding gas tanks on the Pinto), and decided to make the problem go away by settling claims confidentially and ignoring the problems publicly. IF they went down this path, then their future liability could indeed be threatened.