Aged Tires

[Executioner]

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Interesting report. I never new that aged tires were sold as new.

[b-man1]

i saw a similar story (didn't watch your vid...so maybe the same one?) a year or two ago. i checked my vehicles and didn't have any oldies, but was happy to be aware of it.

a bit OT, but funny how Toyota is being slammed when Ford had 250+ deaths linked to rollovers due to the firestone tire debacle. millions of Toyotas vs. hundreds of thousands of Fords and factors of 10 more deaths from Ford. good 'ol media.

[FlyingPenguin]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Plenty of other companies have had recalls worse than this. It almost smacks of a smear campaign.

It's also assine to call Toyota strickly a "Japanese" company. They arguably hire more workers in the US than any one of the big 3 detroit companies. That's why I didn't have any qualms about buying a Camry in 07. My car was manufactured right here in the USA by American blue collar workers.

Technically my car is on the recall list some - not specified how many - 07 Camrys are on the list but I've received no official notice yet. I suspect I will eventually because I was on the recall list for the floor mats and even though Toyota says that was a separate issue, most insiders believe that it was Toyota's original attempt to address the gas pedal issue.

Meanwhile I'm not concerned. Never had a problem but I'm just aware of it now and I'll be on the alert. I'll wait until there is an official recall list that confirms or denies that my car is on it.

With modern electronic throttles, this can happen to just about any car (and it has) despite fail-safes. Heck it was pretty common with cabled throttles. I had a '68 chevy that did this too me and scared the crap out of me. However I just popped it into neutral, pulled over and killed the engine. Turned out it was a standoff for the spark plug wires rubbing against the throttle linkage after a mechanic replaced my spark plug wires.

[EvilHorace]

The aged tire story has been discussed here before, maybe ~ 2 yrs ago yet I've never seen any new tires sold that had old dates on them since we last discussed this. Maybe at discount places that don't sell many tires?
The Explorer Firestone tire problems were probably more the faults of negligent owners rather than being either the faults of Firestone or Ford. Most were aged, higher mileage tires, low inflation and overloaded vehicles. Never expect people to check their own tire pressures or even look at their tires on a regular basis. I see cars with one or more almost flat tires in front of me on the freeway daily and I know that it's just a matter of time before it blows like that so I pass those cars ASAP so they're not my problem when the tire blows. It's because of all that that cars since '08 now all have tire pressure sensors and still, people don't understand that either. We get cars with low tire lights daily in colder weather and no, nitrogen doesn't help either as we do that too.
The initial Lexus floor mat issue started with the cop who had the wrong floor mat installed in a loaner ES 350 and even though certified in runaway vehicles as a CHIP, couldn't think to put it in neutral or use the brakes (always proven to overcome full throttle conditions in tests by Car and Driver). Lexus's come with two sets of floor mats, carpeted and rubber for winter and in winter, we often see where people just put their rubber mats right over the carpeted ones and sometimes add even more stuff over that like carpeting or towels.
It's hard to make idiot proof cars but that's what has to be done these days.
Sticking throttles in the old carb days wasn't uncommon either, especially if one drove a car driven by an older person who never put the pedal down. The secondary shaft would sometimes be seized from lack of use and stick when forced by someone else. Happened to me a few times but even though startling, stand on the brakes and you'ld stop. Back then if you then put it in neutral, the engine might blow. Seen the results of that too.

[darcy]

here is the old thread, ~ http://www.pcabusers.com/forums/showthr ... post290902

i had bookmarked it 'cause i reckoned it important,,

[b-man1]

The aged tire story has been discussed here before, maybe ~ 2 yrs ago yet I've never seen any new tires sold that had old dates on them since we last discussed this. Maybe at discount places that don't sell many tires?
The Explorer Firestone tire problems were probably more the faults of negligent owners rather than being either the faults of Firestone or Ford. Most were aged, higher mileage tires, low inflation and overloaded vehicles. Never expect people to check their own tire pressures or even look at their tires on a regular basis. I see cars with one or more almost flat tires in front of me on the freeway daily and I know that it's just a matter of time before it blows like that so I pass those cars ASAP so they're not my problem when the tire blows. It's because of all that that cars since '08 now all have tire pressure sensors and still, people don't understand that either. We get cars with low tire lights daily in colder weather and no, nitrogen doesn't help either as we do that too.
The initial Lexus floor mat issue started with the cop who had the wrong floor mat installed in a loaner ES 350 and even though certified in runaway vehicles as a CHIP, couldn't think to put it in neutral or use the brakes (always proven to overcome full throttle conditions in tests by Car and Driver). Lexus's come with two sets of floor mats, carpeted and rubber for winter and in winter, we often see where people just put their rubber mats right over the carpeted ones and sometimes add even more stuff over that like carpeting or towels.
It's hard to make idiot proof cars but that's what has to be done these days.
Sticking throttles in the old carb days wasn't uncommon either, especially if one drove a car driven by an older person who never put the pedal down. The secondary shaft would sometimes be seized from lack of use and stick when forced by someone else. Happened to me a few times but even though startling, stand on the brakes and you'ld stop. Back then if you then put it in neutral, the engine might blow. Seen the results of that too.

yeah, the floormat thing is just goofy. i see many people with stacked mats as well...i hate that. it doesn't feel right under my feet when driving and (obviously) both mats can't hook into the retaining clips, so the top ones slide around. i swap out my winter/summer mats in my lexus and make sure it's secure. just sad how people blame the manufacturer for their own ignorance.

about the sticking accelerator, i can't say how i would react if my IS350's got stuck. the problem is that it sticks and isn't just suddenly going FULL throttle, right? so people must step on it more to get it to un-stick...which just makes it worse? if my 350 went full throttle i would probably freak out too...that's a lot of power on a city street in traffic...but i'm pretty sure the brakes would win if i slammed on them. if i was already at highway speeds and it happened and got into triple digits, then maybe the brakes would fade before working...but by then you could at least get it into neutral.

[Pugsley]

My Car (VW NB TDI) will return to idle after about a second on the brake. Kind of a pain in the ass when trying to upshift with out using the clutch.

[normalicy]

Yeah, I remember that. I can't look at a tire anymore without checking it's date.

[EvilHorace]

but i'm pretty sure the brakes would win if i slammed on them. if i was already at highway speeds and it happened and got into triple digits, then maybe the brakes would fade before working...but by then you could at least get it into neutral.

Read this:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09 ... -tech_dept

Brakes won even with a 540HP Roush Mustang at various speeds.

[b-man1]

excellent article...and it's refreshing to see common sense.

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10 ... -editorial

How Big is This Problem?

We're no Toyota apologists, but if you look past the media circus, the numbers don't reveal a meaningful problem. Every man, woman, and child in the U.S. has approximately a one-in-8000 chance of perishing in a car accident every year. Over a decade, that's about one in 800. Given the millions of cars included in the Toyota recalls and the fewer than 20 alleged deaths over the past decade, the alleged fatality rate is about one death per 200,000 recalled Toyotas. Even if all the alleged deaths really are resultant from vehicle defects—highly unlikely—and even if all the worst things people are speculating about Toyotas are true, and you're driving one, and you aren't smart or calm enough to shift to neutral if the thing surges, you're still approximately 250 times likelier to die in one of these cars for reasons having nothing to do with unintended acceleration. So if you can muster the courage to get into a car and drive, the additional alleged risk of driving a Toyota is virtually negligible

[RubberDuckie]

"hit the breaks" --- Duh.

[MidnightSin]

Neutral or brakes = blown engine

Why not just simply turn the key off?

[EvilHorace]

Today, all cars (that I've seen) have built in rev limiters so the engine can't be over-revved, even if put in neutral at full throttle. Even if the engine were to blow, better that than death any day.

Cars with the push button start/stop switch don't just shut down the moment the button is depressed, takes a few seconds. In a panic situation, unless you knew that about the switch you might just push it too quickly thinking it's not going to work. Cars with a key will most likely loose steering if the key's turned to off.

[Pugsley]

I like how people thing you loose steering when the engine is off. True.. it will get stiffer, but if your rolling its not that bad. I used to coast into peoples driveways in my old wagon with the engine cut to sneak up on them. The steering did get heavy, but it's not like its unusable. Then again some of the newer power steering systems could be different.

[CaterpillarAssassin]

I think he is referring to the steering wheel lock when the key is off. Of course, that usually requires turning the wheel a ways before it engages. Of course the brakes usually win. It boggles my mind how someone can just freeze in a situation like that.

I've had throttle stick on a motorcycle before. Pulling the clutch its a good option as well.