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Dave-san 2010/3/4 08:10
I just got caught up on this post and saw those articles of yours - ! Awful!

Just read another story that says: some of the people whose recalled cars have supposedly been repaired with the metal bar being put in, which is Toyota's supposed fix - even those people say they still have the same problem of unanticipated acceleration. So, your idea that it may be electrical may very well be true. We're due to have an appointment for our car next week.

Question: I keep seeing references to "retrofitting automobiles with a brake override system". What does that mean? I assume it's different from what Toyota is doing, which I think has nothing to do with the brakes. Is this something we should ask for? Is it something we should just do and pay for ourselves if necessary?

Second question: if a car shows absolutely no symptoms of any accelerator problem, would it be safe/dangerous to assume nothing is wrong? Is it possible that a car that's been running well, that shows no symptoms of acceleration issues, will suddenly act up and be dangerous? Wouldn't there be warning signs? The stories about the accidents people have had fail to mention this issue. People are often careless. Is it possible there were warning signs?

I guess I'm trying to find reasons not to worry, either before or after we fix this darn stupid car of ours.
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Runaway Toyotas 2010/3/4 17:40
Steffi-san - Here's a video that's pretty good. There are several more with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boBB7Pz4XVk&NR=1
You can Google Toyota recall, fix, acceleration, etc. and come up with lots of information.
As I understand it a brake override system will cut off the engine if you slam on your brakes. It's not a quick easy cheap fix like the mechanical fixes they are currently trying and I don't think they have designed this for all models yet. This would be a major engineering change that would take time to design, test, and acquire parts to retrofit various models. I don't expect to see this happen anytime soon.
Mechanical problems such as a sticking gas pedal or floor mat may give some warning. Electrical problems probably won't give warning unless they are recurring. I don't have any idea what's in the electronic accelerator but I would guess it's a circuit that gets a control signal from the gas pedal position and feeds the signal to whatever controls the gas going into the carburetor.
If it sticks in high input you better know how to put the car in neutral quickly.
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Hawaii 2010/3/6 04:41
Wife Jeannie and I returned last Saturday night from a week in Hawaii. For Peter and anyone else who has interest, I'll recount some of the high points.
1. Bring money. Nothing is cheap in Honolulu. Groceries are 50 percent higher than anywhere on the mainland. Gasoline is $1/gallon higher, even with two oil refineries in the state.
2. Don't use VIP tours. Their web page claims service every half hour from the hotel strip on Waikiki to Pearl Harbor and back. They lied. Our choice was a $75 cab ride or the city bus system which took two hours to get us back to the Outrigger Hotel.

Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial and the battleship Missouri are "lump in your throat" attractions. The Arizona wreck gives up about a quart of heavy oil every day and the stain on the aqua water is quite obvious.
Our guide mentioned that the Navy is considering ways to keep the wreck from collapsing and spilling the remaining oil and the remains of those interred into the harbor.
The Arizona carried a full bunker of 1.4 million gallons of Number 6 fuel when it was hit. The bodies of 1177 young men were never recovered. While the need to take action is obvious, no Navy commander wants to be responsible for damaging the grave site.

The Mighty Missouri looked and even smelled brand new. She was just out of dry dock for painting and spiffing in December. Fresh grey paint covered everything but the teak decking. The Missouri was equipped with Tomahawk and Harpoon missiles in the 1982-84 upgrade and was converted to diesel fuel from heavy oil at the same time.
Inside the bridge are old radar scopes and a mass of cables and controls. Each Iowa class BB had a computer to aim the 16 inch guns. The vacuum tube analog system took in the ship's speed, air direction and a radar signature of the target and helped aim the guns. It weighed 3,000 pounds. The ward room featured a table setting for several dozen officers. Everything was clean and polished, awaiting their return.
A brass medallion marks where the surrender took place and a large plastic box on the deck containing a copy of the surrender documents.
The bow of the Missouri is less than 100 yards from the Arizona Memorial as if to signify the beginning and the end of WW II for the USA.
There is an air museum with a Japanese Zero fighter and other airplanes. There is also a submarine memorial with a granite standard for each American submarine lost in the war. The WW II submarine Bowfin is available for tours.

We visited the Big Island to see the Volcanoes National Park and the Kilauea Crater which was quite smoky. The crater view point was closed while we were taking pictures because of excess sulfur dioxide.
The lava had destroyed a small village near the seashore but we saw a dozen new homes, built on top of four or five feet of black lava flow.

We took a whale watching tour on an excursion boat and saw a half dozen big humpbacks and their babies. One of the adults made a collosal jump in front of the slow-moving boat. It was as big as a tractor-trailer rig and gave us a real "cannonball" demonstration.

Hawaii is 6 1/2 hours flight time from Seattle. Bring a book or plan a nap. We flew Alaska Airlines and they did a good job.

We took a tour bus from the hotel next door to see the island. The hotel was HQ and boarding point for Japanese tourists visiting the same sites we saw.
A Japanese tour guide, who we named "Miss Ikimasho" corralled and cajolled legions of Japanese tourists onto the right bus at the proper time.
We visited with several tourists from Japan at the hotel and on the whale tour. None from my old Sannotani neighborhood, however.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Hawaii 2010/3/6 07:23
Eric-san Thanks for the extensive description of your tour. Sounds wonderful. Did you get to practice your Japanese ?
My pineapples have STILL not arrived..you need to check on this!!
I was in Hawaii once on my way back from Japan..how long was I there..about 90 minutes as they refueled the plane. I'm standing on the balcony of the airport looking at the palm trees sway in the gentle tropical breezes..why am I leaving here?? Never been back..got to work on that.. Big nwes here got to 50 !! [the temperature not my age]
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Dave-san 2010/3/8 02:32
Eric - thanks for the Hawaii tour - almost feels like we were there - very inticing. Sounds like you saw a lot. Didn't realize the Pearl Harbor ships were still in place - I had assumed that they were removed.

Dave-san: there was a Times article about the Toyota situation that gets worse and worse - see below -

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/06/business/global/06toyota.html?scp=1&...

We have been reading that the accelerator problem affected cars only from recent years, and only those sold outside of Japan. Now it seems that the problem was first noted in the mid 1980's when they started putting in automatic transmissions, and it has also been happening in Japan. However, the problem is being swept under the rug there due to lack of concern for public safety and a pro-business bias in government. There was talk about the brake-over ride system being needed back in the -80's. Very interesting and disturbing story. It makes you feel like maybe we should n't buy any Japanese cars, even other brands.
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Toyota problem 2010/3/9 08:38
Steffi and Dave-san, I've been reading your posts about the Toyota problem with great interest and appreciate the information you've contributed. I've been driving an excellent 1978 Mercedes for 32 years without problems and had hoped we would grow old together, but the car is no longer reliable and has finally earned a well-deserved retirement, Suggestions from anyone on a reliable, less expensive replacement comparable to the Toyota Camry? I'm no longer comfortable about buying any kind of Toyota. My husband has a Lexus, and now even that seems problematical. What about the Ford Focus? I would love to hear suggestions for a safe, utilitarian car.
by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Babs 2010/3/9 10:40
Whats your price range ? Right now I like the Ford Fusion.
I have has Subarus which I like and Saturns..do they still make saturns?
Perhaps you should get another Mercedies..the old one doesn't owe you anything. Congrats! 34 years..I have a pair of shoes that old but I wouldn't tell anyone..ooopps I just did..
On second thought I agree with Dave...what ever he says..He's always right..
Time for all of us to disclose our cars..I'm last... go Wally !!
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

Car Advice & Hawaii 2010/3/9 15:53
Barbara-san - In spite of what Peter-san might think, I'm the last person in the world you want to get advice from on what to buy. I've just never been that much interested in cars for anything except transportation and knowing how they work. I don't keep up with style or what is best to buy. I've owned a bunch of them over the years but if I had to go shopping for a new car tomorrow I wouldn't have a clue what to get. The one thing that occurs to me is that if I had a 1978 Mercedes for 32 years without problems that I'd loved, I'd probably be thinking about treating myself to a new Mercedes.
I bought a 95 Geo Metro new in 95 because the sticker said it got 54 mpg on the highway and it was cheap enough that I didn't need financing and I've saved a lot on gas and car payments since then. I haven't put gas in it in a couple months because we usually use my partner Barbara's bigger car any place we go together. She has a 2000 Camry that I talked her into getting because it was a lot quieter than anything else we looked at. It's been a great car and is still so quiet I have to step on the gas to make sure it's running. The best car I ever owned was a 66 'Cuda formula "S" that I bought new. That car would flat get up and go but it was ugly with a big window in back. I foolishly traded it in on a new 73 Barracuda that was a lot better looking but in spite of having a bigger engine didn't have the performance of my older 'Cuda. The car I enjoyed driving the most was a 69 Chevy van, that I'd bought as a second car way back when I lived in Arizona, because I was up high where I could see over everyone else. I got a lot of tickets in that van because it looked like something a hippy would drive. I keep thinking I want to buy a big pickup truck but I'd have to move back to Arizona because gun racks in the back of the cab are frowned upon here in Northern Virginia.
Steffi-san - Interesting NY Times article about lack of interest in consumer complaints in Japan. Here's another article, Toyota disputes critic who blames electronics: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNwJcVe09iBDYjmKOaeF... I'm still betting on an electrical problem. Are Japanese cars unsafe? I would say no more unsafe than anyone else's. The Japanese have made top quality cars and electronics for many years. Problems happen.
Eric-san - Sounds like a good vacation. I got to Hawaii once for one day. Liberty off the USNS Sultan in 1964, en route to Japan. Those were the good old days when we had to wear a uniform on liberty and the USMC summer uniform included a long-sleeved shirt and neck tie that the Marine Corps called a field scarf for some unknown reason. So me and the guy who I'd driven across country with caught a bus into Honolulu and sweat so much on the way there that we got off looking like we'd been swimming in our uniforms. After walking around Waikiki all day we saw a sign saying Don Ho was playing at some fancy watering hole. So we got in line with all the other tourists and then got lucky. The doorman, a former Marine, spotted us and said he had a couple seats at the bar we could have and took us around the line. At the bar we met two friendly school teachers who had been there on vacation for a week and apparently hadn't managed to snag any men during that time and insisted we had to see the magnificent view from their hotel room. The only problem was that we had to catch a bus back to our ship at midnight. So, reluctantly, we got to the bus stop at the proper time, but in true military form the guy driving the Navy bus wouldn't leave until he had a complete bus load and we ended up sitting there a couple of hours waiting for a enough drunks to straggle in to fill the bus. When we finally got to the ship it was a couple hours past the time we were due there and we had some jerk who was Officer of the Deck that decided we should all be written up for being AWOL. While he was dealing with the near-riot he had caused, my friend and I and a few other guys slipped past him and ran up the gang plank and into the ship and back to our compartments. That was my one visit to Hawaii although I did manage to switch planes there a couple times later on but never got out of the airport. We did see the Arizona Memorial from the Sultan going into Pearl and coming back out. I would like to see the Missouri. The Sultan had teak decks like the Missouri. Much more comfortable than steel. I got to see the cannon fire coming in from the New Jersey once. Pretty impressive. If I ever go back to Hawaii it will be on my way to Japan. I liked the story about Miss Ikimasho. That is a word I had forgotten but used often years ago when I was in Japan. We'll have to call that our word of the day.
Barbara and I went to our usual Japanese restaurant last week and had our usual assortment of sushi and shrimp teriyaki and Kirin Beer for me and plum wine for Barbara. Our Korean waitress acted insulted when I ordered in Japanese and said, I AM NOT JAPANESE! I don't think she is going to last there.
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Car advice & Hawaii 2010/3/9 18:39
Whoops! Thank you Peter. Maybe the Ford Focus I mentioned doesn't exist -- maybe I had a synapse slip and meant to say Ford Fusion -- just shows how little I know about cars. For me they are just a way to get from Point A to Point B, and unlike Dave-san, I can't even claim to know how a car motor works. In a high school chemistry class, we had a practical unit on how a car engine operates, but whatever I learned went to the same obscure place in my brain where calculus went. For the past year, I've been walking or riding my bike and have thoroughly enjoyed the change -- I'd be a complete convert were it not for the occasional need to use the freeways. Does anyone have any experience owning or driving a hybrid car -- a Prius? Or maybe I should wait for an electric model?

By the way, it's been fun to read about Hawaii during these cold winter months. The first time I was there was so long ago that the only hotel on Waikaki Beach was that big old pink place (the Moana?) with the enormous banyan tree. Does anyone remember that?
by Barbara (guest) rate this post as useful

Barb 2010/3/10 00:22
You donft want advice from me about cars, because I am one of those Rednecks who only buy American cars. I drive a 2009 Chevy Silverado pick-em-up. I donft get very good gas mileage, but if I have a front-end crash with a Prius, I will probably be the one walking away.
by Wally (guest) rate this post as useful

Pink hotel on Waikiki 2010/3/10 00:36
The pink hotel is still on the beach. It is next to the Outrigger Reef where we stayed. All the newer hotels are big rectangles with ocean views from either side of a big box.
The pink hotel is now the Royal Hawaiian and is probably the most expensive place to stay in Hawaii.
All the hotels appear to be "open air" along the beach. While we were there, a minister led long line of couples on their way through our hotel to the beach for a service to repeat their marriage vows. This was very cool to watch while we chowed down on breakfast.
On our last night, we walked out on a stone beach pier and found a man and his son gathering shrimp with lights and a net. The lights attracted the shrimp and the fellow said he could net the little critters because of the reflected glow in their eyes. I think you'd have to net a couple hundred of em to make a meal...
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

Barbara-san 2010/3/10 02:45
Those poor little guys - the little shrimp, I mean. Has anyone wondered how something that looks so awful can taste so good? All seafood looks awful but is the best!

Barbara-san - as everyone by now knows, I know nothing about cars. And I'm ready to sent hate mail to Consumer Reports for their completely useless advice that rated Toyota as number 1 for years and years and pretended to know what they were talking about - everyone should end their subscriptions immediately.

But I do have several friends who have Subarus, and they seem very happy. We tried our friend's sedan - we found the car drives like a sports car, handles tightly, and seems fine. But it is kind of narrow and small and I don't think there's much storage space and will feel a bit bumpy after a Mercedes. It does have 4 wheel drive which does well in bad weather. They also make a station wagon - for those of us who think that's the most practical design for cars. The models are the Legacy, or the Outback - I forget which is which, but one is smaller, the other a bigger, heavier, more substantial car if that's what you're after.

Then there's Honda, which people seem to love. The current model is a bit bigger which takes it out of the mid-sized range, handles well, seems fine. I found the seats in front to be impossible for my back - some others have complained about that, but if you don't have back problems, that won't be an issue for you.

On the other hand, these are Japanese cars, and according to the last Times article, maybe we should be wary of all Japanese cars, or maybe not - as Dave-san points out, they have made lots of people, including myself, pretty happy for years. My 87 Camry wagon is still going strong and has only required new mufflers, new batteries, and new tires - I don't remember anything else ever happening, and it's certainly never accelerated when it shouln't.

Maybe it's time to trust and support a US-made car, but which one? Never having owned one, know little about them. Maybe it's time to trust and support a US-made car, but which one? Our friend has had a little spiffy Lincoln that he loves. He swears by the brand.

Hawaii - I hear they're preparing the islands to be the first state that will have electric cars. Also San Francisco. And Israel will be the first country to be fully equipped for their introduction next year. Maybe that will spread to the states - that would be nice. Hate giving all that money to the oil producing countries.
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Another Toyota Story 2010/3/10 07:20
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Toyota electronics - Dave-san 2010/3/11 11:13
I was just able to download the second to last article from Dave-san - thank you!

So Toyota says there's no proof that it's electical, and everyone else says it probably is. The bottom line is - no one can demonstrate or prove i either way since there is no equipment that will do this. Fine kettle of fish!

Meanwhile we're going to the dealer for the recall.

I'm still not clear why the Prius-driver in California couln't put the car in neutral, or even shut off the engine - and how was he able to contact highway patrol while going 100 miles an hour? Wouldn't getting it into neutral do the trick? Or was he going too fast for that to work?

I do read that the likelihood of this happening is extremely small - much smaller than having a normal killer-accident while driving on US roads. But somehow that isn't so comforting - what if you're the one?
by Steffi (guest) rate this post as useful

Japanese Food and Cars 2010/3/11 16:28
We finally tried out a new Japanese Restaurant, Kyoto Sushi, in Bradlee Tuesday night. Not bad for "Melican" Japanese food but definitely not the real stuff. They do have a bigger menu than the Bonsai Grill Village in Shirlington where we've been going for shrimp tempura and sushi so we tried something different, teriyaki steak and soft-shell crab tempura. Not like the wonderful teriyaki steak I used to get at Granny's Steak House in Yamato but tasty and the soft-shell crab tempura was delicious but expensive. The waitress was not Japanese or Korean but looked oriental. I would guess Cambodian or Lao or possibly Central American but she did speak a little Japanese (with an accent as bad as mine) and enjoyed using it unlike the Koreans at the other place. We've added Kyoto Sushi to our list of local places to eat. It's funny, all the sushi places around here have Japanese names and menus but are staffed by Koreans but there are no Korean restaurants nearby and Korean food is wonderful.
Someone mentioned shrimp awhile back. One of my favorite sea foods now but there was a time when I wouldn't eat shrimp because I used to use live shrimp for fish bait in South Carolina and I got to where I just couldn't eat it.
Steffi-san - I think the problem with the Prius is that there is no key ignition, just a push button to turn the engine off and on. The article doesn't mention why he couldn't put the car in neutral. I wondered the same thing. I also wondered if this guy was faking the problem. Assuming the problem is real and there is a computer glitch behind it keeping everything controlled by the computer from working properly, what are the chances the problem will come back after the computer has been shut down and then rebooted? Here's another story.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-prius11-2010mar11,0,79828...
Now the politicians are getting involved. Are we protecting the bailed-out American auto producers by discrediting the competition?
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Beware sushi ! 2010/3/11 22:59
Dave-san:
There is a sushi restaurant in Tulsa that is sort of Japanese and sort of not. Once inside, it was easy to figure out they were faking it.
A dining room, just off the main seating area proclaimed itself the ''Tatami Room,'' in neon (ugh.)
Since I didn't see any shoes under the neon, I asked the receptionist, ''Where's the tatami?''
''You're in it,'' she said.
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

For Good Japanese Food Visit Japan 2010/3/12 13:16
Eric-san - Finding good Japanese food in the states is kind of like the old saying about looking for a prince. You gotta kiss a lot of frogs before one turns out to be a prince.
There was an excellent Japanese restaurant in Norfolk when I lived there owned run by two wonderful Japanese women who were married to Navy men.
There is one Japanese restaurant not too far from here that is pretty good, Matuba in Arlington, but further than we generally want to travel because we probably have twenty or thirty places we like to eat that are closer. There is every kind of ethnic food imaginable as well as plenty of places with good American food in Alexandria and Arlington and we like to eat out.
Most of the places that pass as Japanese restaurants around here are sushi bars because sushi is what sells. The DC area yuppies all consider themselves to be sushi experts which is unfortunate because the sushi bars consequently don't have much of anything else. Even the local Chinese restaurants have sushi bars now. Amazingly, all the sushi bars are nearly identical. They have two oriental guys behind the bar making sushi, they have the same menu, and it all tastes the same from one place to the next. All the sushi chefs must go to the same training school and all the sushi bars must get their supplies from the same place and follow the same recipes.
I don't ever remember eating sushi in Japan. I ate sashimi and I ate rice balls with sashimi inside but I don't remember going anywhere to eat sushi but I do remember what was probable sushi in carry-out lunches along with other goodies.
Here's a link to a Yokohama sushi bar: http://www.gyo-en.com/
There's nothing like that around here.
I did learn to cook excellent fried rice while in Japan. Fixed it this evening.
I found more unbelievable Yokohama pictures and information:
http://gojapan.about.com/cs/photogallery/a/yokohamaphoto.htm
by Dave-san (guest) rate this post as useful

Japanese Restaurents 2010/3/13 10:56
The following is a synopsis of good Japanese Restaurents in New Hampshire.


............None....................

[I'm moving to Virginia]
by Peter (guest) rate this post as useful

I know the answer... 2010/3/13 22:19
It was in Honmoku. Found 60-70's pictures of NEX parking lot sceneries in a book.
by Thomas (guest) rate this post as useful

Welcome 2010/3/13 23:09
Welcome to the chat, Thomas.
Honmoku was my turf too...
by Eric (guest) rate this post as useful

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