I wonder if this will taint Toyota, their parent company.
In the US, I’d say no… Very few people in the US even know what a Daihatsu even is.
In other markets like Australia and Europe, maybe it will have some effect. Pacific rim buyers, hard to say.
Clearly there will be some Daihatsu execs shown the door by their Toyota parent.
In an earlier era, those execs would likely have been urged to commit seppuku.
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Sort of like when Tom Hagen advised Frank Pentangeli to lay in a warm bath and “open his veins”.
The only Daihatsu I have seen have been little non-street vehicles used by maintenance at the U. I assumed they were electric.
Never seen a 90’s Daihatsu Charade or Daihatsu Rocky, huh?
I don’t know what was a worse name for a car, Charade or Aspire.
Not and noticed it. I’m not a motorhead.
Aspire hopes; Charade admits it isn’t even trying. At least the makers of the Charade weren’t native English speakers.
I haven’t seen Daihatsus in the US for a very long time. I had one as a rental in 2013 for a weekend on Yakushima Island in Japan. It was a buzzy little tin box with ill fitting panels (hence the buzz). I’m not surprised there are shortcuts. If the cheap GM brand Chevrolet did something like this GM would take a beating. IMO Toyota should too. I find it hard to believe that this was done without Toyota executive management knowledge, just like I don’t believe that VW executive management didn’t know about the diesel fiasco.
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+1
The last time that I saw one of the few Daihatsu Charades that they sold in The US, it was probably ~25 years ago. But, in Costa Rica, new Daihatsus are fairly common.
They’re already tainted by trying to deny the uncommanded acceleration issue in their cars for years. You could be pulling in a parking spot and your Toyota would suddenly go to full throttle.
Just my demented view but if you need to have the government tell you certain cars are unsafe, need to open your sources of information.
I’m not suggesting Mary draw a warm bath but my intuition tells me ford and Gm may not make it another ten years if they don’t mend their ways. Is the customer the government or the public? They need to decide. In any business there are hero’s and villains. Just hard to know which sometimes. Ok, a little off topic so sue me.
BS. Thoroughly investigated, shown to be false, aside from floor mat problems.
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I disagree. If we don’t have a powerful organization looking out for our well-being then no one is protected from dangerous products. IMO product recalls might not exist if NHTSA didn’t manage them on our behalf. Certain groups want to maim or terminate the IRS. Who are they protecting? It certainly doesn’t seem like it helps normal citizens, only liars and cheats that want to evade taxes. Our government provides vital services. It’s inefficient because all larger organizations are. I prefer that form of inefficiency to the laissez faire version that you seem more interested in.
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You response was far kinder than mine might have been. Thank you.
+1
Additionally, I would love to know what other sources of valid information on auto safety (other than the privately-run IIHS, our NHTSA, or the government-run auto safety agencies of The EU, Australia, and other nations) actually exist.
Don’t assume you know what I prefer. Taking a test drive in one should be sufficient to disprove their safety. I rented one and the only rental I have had to turn back in. Now as far as labels on my appliances and water heater-useless. Deep in the corporate maze are folks that may have a different opinion.
Some still believe the floor mats were the source of rapid acceleration. I suspect though that there are some engineers, buyers, or programmers that are forever silenced.
I dont know of any.
Don’t assume that a test drive is enough to show almost any safety issue that leads to a recall. The issues aren’t binary. Some vehicles are affected and others aren’t, or at least the initiation is over a distribution of time and not at a specific time. I also didn’t assume anything about your post. I took it at face value.
Well you dredge up a term from the 1600’s that you think fits my view. I probably have a different view than those in dc, but probably closer to what the framers had in mind. Just pick and choose words to support your view.
After you carry out the necessary crash test on the cars that you test-drive, I seriously doubt if a dealership would ever again allow you to test-drive one of their vehicles.
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