See, when it comes to crunch time for something like this, with my product getting ready to unzip its fly for everyone, by God I make frakkin sure the goods are ready for showing!
When you arrive in the presentation Highlander, do not turn it off. For any reason. It's running, let it run. It's in gear, you just stay there with your foot on the pedal. Don't you frikkin move I'm so serious. Wait for my signal. Not anybody else, me. When I wave, you go. If for some reason you decide you don't want to go, I'll kill you. If God's finger comes out of the sky to tell you to stop, then you stop. Otherwise, you go when I signal.
If the car dies as you pull out, then you just hold still while the backup presentation Highlander takes point.
Hey, there's an idea. Hey Toyota! Ever hear of an understudy?
There was nothing wrong with the Highlander pictured. It belonged to Jeremy Mayfield.
NASCAR tested it in accordance to their substance abuse policy, and it was found to have unapproved chemicals in its system. They were just escorting the Highlander from the premises.
I had a Toyota Celica, 250,000 miles plus on the original clutch. Show me any American car that can do that. Never one breakdown, ever.
Gas, oil, lubing the zircs and compare that to the lads at work with the Ford Focus that's a rolling repair waiting to happen or the Ford Mustang convertible with more squeaks, groans and rattles than a WWII jeep.
Good thing the worthless hillbillies who would go to something like this aren't the target market for anything except F-150s and Cobalts anyway. Something tells me the San Francisco hipster demographic who will be buying these things missed the whole snafu.
"Due to the recent events at Lowe's Motor Speedway, we will no longer conduct design meetings with a Ouija board. Contacting the late Joe Lucas for design input on our Hybrid drive system has not worked to our advantage."
@Ash78: Toyota press release: "The Toyota Highlander Hybrid is even safer than the Chevrolet Cruze 'safety car', because it won't allow the driver to merge into oncoming race traffic under any circumstances."
This is awesome. Maybe this will help to jumpstart the change in perception needed to save the US carmakers. Ford and GM quality ratings are as good as or better than Toyota's. A combination of Ford and GM stepping up their game and Toyota slipping due to rapid expansion has meant that Toyota (and Honda) can no longer claim to be quality leaders. The public perception needs to adjust, though. This takes time.
Rusting frame rails, breakdowns like this, etc. all help. The media harping on this as much as they do domestic car company recalls would help, too.
@grzydj: The reliability data proves that Toyota is no longer more reliable than Ford or GM.
However, it's anecdotes like these that change public perception. How many people do you hear say something along the lines of, "My dad had a [insert automaker here] that kept breaking down. I'll never buy a [insert automaker here]." Some people are swayed by hard data. Most people are swayed by the perceptions they and those around them hold.
@engineerd: Which means GM still has a long way to go. The GM chickens from decades of lagging behind Toyota quality are still coming home to roost--even if this Highlander incident indicates a trend, then you still need someone to drive a Trailblazer for a quarter-million trouble-free miles to drive the point home. As it sits today, you've got Highlanders on tow trucks and Camaros on tow trucks. GM needs better than that stalemate to regain its dominance.
@engineerd: I used to say you couldn't sell me an American car at the point of a gun. Japanese or nothing, I'd say. Now, not so much: the reliability stats are pretty darned close together anymore, often within the margin of error. So set me up with something flying behind the Blue Oval, I'm good for it.
Man I've seen some of those frame rail shots. Holy Sh!t that's awful. Last time I saw something rust that bad, it'd been parked in a forest for thirty years.
05/19/09
There, I took care of that for you.
Weird coincidence, sure. I won't care, though, until whatever this is affects every single current-gen Highlander. Then I'll be thrilled.
05/19/09
When you arrive in the presentation Highlander, do not turn it off. For any reason. It's running, let it run. It's in gear, you just stay there with your foot on the pedal. Don't you frikkin move I'm so serious. Wait for my signal. Not anybody else, me. When I wave, you go. If for some reason you decide you don't want to go, I'll kill you. If God's finger comes out of the sky to tell you to stop, then you stop. Otherwise, you go when I signal.
If the car dies as you pull out, then you just hold still while the backup presentation Highlander takes point.
Hey, there's an idea. Hey Toyota! Ever hear of an understudy?
I bet they have now.
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NASCAR tested it in accordance to their substance abuse policy, and it was found to have unapproved chemicals in its system. They were just escorting the Highlander from the premises.
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05/19/09
Let me help you then.
I had a Toyota Celica, 250,000 miles plus on the original clutch. Show me any American car that can do that. Never one breakdown, ever.
Gas, oil, lubing the zircs and compare that to the lads at work with the Ford Focus that's a rolling repair waiting to happen or the Ford Mustang convertible with more squeaks, groans and rattles than a WWII jeep.
Yeah, those Toyotas sure are junk.
05/19/09
My father had a Corolla, years ago. Great car. Rust ate it.
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"Due to the recent events at Lowe's Motor Speedway, we will no longer conduct design meetings with a Ouija board. Contacting the late Joe Lucas for design input on our Hybrid drive system has not worked to our advantage."
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Better now?
05/19/09
I feel all better.
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PR crisis averted!
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This is awesome. Maybe this will help to jumpstart the change in perception needed to save the US carmakers. Ford and GM quality ratings are as good as or better than Toyota's. A combination of Ford and GM stepping up their game and Toyota slipping due to rapid expansion has meant that Toyota (and Honda) can no longer claim to be quality leaders. The public perception needs to adjust, though. This takes time.
Rusting frame rails, breakdowns like this, etc. all help. The media harping on this as much as they do domestic car company recalls would help, too.
05/19/09
Your anecdotal reliability evidence proves zilch.
05/19/09
However, it's anecdotes like these that change public perception. How many people do you hear say something along the lines of, "My dad had a [insert automaker here] that kept breaking down. I'll never buy a [insert automaker here]." Some people are swayed by hard data. Most people are swayed by the perceptions they and those around them hold.
05/19/09
05/19/09
Man I've seen some of those frame rail shots. Holy Sh!t that's awful. Last time I saw something rust that bad, it'd been parked in a forest for thirty years.
05/19/09
05/19/09