A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article on BestCashCow that Toyota is entering a death spiral. I continue to think that Toyota's problems are real and are just beginning. Their refusal to address the sudden acceleration issue as an electronics problem - instead opting to satiate customers by moving the pedals around - is doing dramatic damage to the brand from which the company will never recover. To boot, Toyota was, as I predicted, poorly prepared in front of Congress two weeks ago. I drive a Lexus. My next car will be an Infiniti.
Putting the marketing damage aside, I am amazed by the parallels between this case and the Ford Pinto cases in the 1970s which led to the development of product liability tort law in the US. We give large product liability awards in the US in order to stop manufucturers from putting low values on human lives and producing products that may kill people. That gets manufacturers to fix problems rather than than treat them as inconsequential. A couple of large awards will take down Toyota. I am short Toyota stock and long very long-dated Toyota puts.
But this situation two nights ago with James Sikes and his Prius is really bugging me. It seems like the guy is piling on to a news story. He was too prepared to go straight to the media. He called 911 before trying to pull the emergency brake. Sikes, according to published reports, is a 61-year old real estate executive and longtime lottery player who won $55,000 and was selected in 2006 to appear on a California Lottery TV game show. This smells to me like a washed up Californian angling to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit or to be on the Amazing Race 18.
If it happened in Iowa or Kansas maybe I'd believe it, but these days anything coming out of California just seems scripted for Hollywood.
Comments
Pomonym
March 12, 2010
How dare you accuse this poor guy of doing this on purpose. Well, okay, maybe he made some bad decisions, and maybe he had some good reasons to seek publicity, and maybe he had a death wish, and maybe he needs the money. But we just don't know yet, so all we can do is speculate. I hope Toyota can figure out what went on in Sikes' car, and I hope this makes everyone aware of what to do if your accelerator sticks. Just hits the brakes and put it in neutral.
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Tired of Nonsense
March 12, 2010
To Pomonym - - we should show the same respect to Toyota that you advocate providing Mr. Sikes. Lets get the facts before anybody gets blamed.
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sal monella
March 12, 2010
I told my wife this was a scam from day one....his account just makes no sense. When I heard he was on the phone for 26 minutes with 911 I was certain. How would anybody who's breathing, believe this scam artist??? His past is coming to light with a history of deception and fraud. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put the car in neutral or at least downshift to a lowewr gear or kill the engine. Did you notice he was wearing a CORVETTE CLUB jacket......It would seem he would have some auto savvy!!!!!
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Michael P Dielo
March 12, 2010
SCAM...SCAM...SCAM!!!! Mr. Sikes should have staged this a week earlier so he would have been up for an academy award performance!!!! I have had dealings with this scumbag and I hope they lock him up. He has a long history of fraudulent behavior including insurance scams. Ask anybody in the real estate business in this part of California about he and his wife....SCUM!!!!!
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Sherwin Rossmeyer
March 12, 2010
Are you kidding me!! I've been a certified mechanic for 32 years and I can tell you this guy is lying!!!!!First of all the brakes can stop a Prius at full throttle, but why not just put the car in neutral as the 911 operator repeatedly told him to do??? The engine button has to be held for 3 seconds to shut down but he was on the phone for 26 minutes!!!!! The previous crash that killed a trooper and family hapened in a matter of seconds and in no way can be compared to this "incident". This low-life should be prosecuted along with his wife who has made complicit statements.
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Heather Guadabasco
March 12, 2010
When I first heard this story I really felt sorry for the guy , but then his name sounded familiar. He's well known in this part of California for all the wrong reasons. I don't know a whole lot about cars butI do know if there's a way to make a quick buck Jim Sikes is your guy....look in the dictionary under con artist and there's his picture!!!!
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Ingrid Joensson
March 12, 2010
I drive a Prius and am obviously concerned about the prospect of unattended acceleration. Whe I heard this story I decided to take my car on the highway and see if I could turn it off or slow it down by using the brake. I live in Arizona and found a long stretch of deserted highway south of Apache Junction. I acclerated to 90 MPH ( this took quite a while ) and pushed the engine "OFF" button for a few seconds. The car shut off and slowed down with no drama whatsoever other than a firm steering wheel feel. I didn't even touch the brakes and the car slowed very quickly as I pulled to the side of the road...that was easy!!!!
I tried it again, this time setting the cruise control at 90 MPH and used just the brakes....It slowed the car dramatically with a slight pull to the left, but not close to any control issue.
I now feel confident I can deal with any unintended acceleration.
It escapes me how Mr. Sikes couldn't do any of these procedures.
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Vern Braswell
March 12, 2010
I think this guy should go on Glenn Beck and have him exposed for what he is!!!!!
Maybe Obama will hire him as Transportation Czar!!!!!
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Amy Wuertlitzer
March 12, 2010
When I first saw Jim Sikes picture on the news the other night I yelled to my husband "Hey, they finally nailed Sikes". I soon realized he was babling some nonsense about a runaway car. I don't know much about cars but I do know a lot about Mr. Sikes and it's easy to tell when he's lying....his lips are moving!!!!!
Lock him up, throw away the key...the world will be a better place!
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H . Anderson
March 12, 2010
I'm a clinical psychiatrist and from looking at Mr. Sikes body language he shows serious deception....Rapid eyeblinks, tongue moistening lips repeatedly, Shifting weight from side to side rapidly, Failure to establish eye contact, intentionally trying to make his voice quiver to feign nervousness and fear.
In my opinion, he's an actor and not a very good one!!
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