Not only was there a tremendous expense born by them to defend themselves, including a massive TV ad campaign, but their sales suffered. Last year the industry reported a significant pick up in sales, by most companies, but Toyota's sales were flat.
I can't possibly calculate the cost to them, but it's easily well into the billions of dollars. That's real money. Again, Ford, with significantly more cases of UA during the last five years didn't have their name mentioned once. Coincidence?

 

My sympathies are obviously with Toyota. However, political realities in today's America dictate that they just take their loss and move on.

Usually, the less said about damming allegations, even if untrue, the better. The public confuses easily. They'll remember only that there's some kind of controversy. Better play it safe and shop at Chrysler!

And Toyota can never risk criticizing the government, however deserved. That's riskier than dating a Mafia Don's daughter.

 

"...None of them, it turns out, were true..."

Yet to be determined.

 

>>Yet to be determined.

Absolutely true. But your point is also a conversation killer, for at least as long as proving a negative is impossible.

I say gremlins exist in Toyota's software. Your failure to find them doesn't prove they don't exist. It may be that you didn't look hard enough, and so on ad nauseam.

 

The floor mat problem was not Toyota's problem. It states on the back of the floor mats not to stack them. Not only this, if you do stack them you cannot use the floor hooks to secure the top mat. Toyota also sent owners of Toytoas a letter stating not to stack floor mats and that if you bought the heavy floor mats that they would replace them for free. But as almost everyone knows, you cannot protect people from themselves. For instance, cars have seat belts and not everyone uses them even though seats saves lives.

 

Then why, other than a huge smoke screen(***), did Toyota do a totally un-necessary recall...?

And when did they come to realize that the bottom of the accelerator pedal could get trapped on/in the floor carpet alone.......?

Or could it, really...??

*** Since they had not a clue at the time about what was actually happening they needed to aswage the public's concern about UA by at least doing something, anything, that would be widely publisized.

 

I can only speak for myself, but I do believe that Toyota used the recall for the hammering down of the floor panel, removing some of the backing from the carpet, cutting off some of the gas pedal, and the replacement of the heavy duty floor mats, to protect people that can’t seem to read and follow instructions. I did not take my wife’s TCH in for this recall because I looked at the situation and decided that there was no problem because I can read and follow instructions. The recall for the sticky gas pedal was justified, (my wife’s TCH was not included in this recall).

 

I received a recall for my TCH, I never took it in for what I believe to be unnecessary modifications.

Since this info has been divulged, does this effectively cancel the recall?

 

I doubt it. The floor mats were found to be defective because the design didn't prevent people from misusing them. So, Toyota devised a "fix" that would allow people to pile on a couple of mats without making contact with the gas pedal.

One service writer at my local dealer thought I'd one day have to agree to have the modifications performed. After all, it's a federal recall that Toyota is obligated to follow.

 

I have the carpet mats and the original deep snow mats stacked in my TCH and they have been that way since I bought the car. There is plenty of room, at least an inch+, between them and the gas pedal and they have never moved. It has never been an issue, not even close to any interference between them.