On 02/03/2010 02:07 PM, Terry Blanton wrote: > Okay, go figure this, according to the list on CNN.com models whose > VIN start with 'J' are not affected by the recall. Now, why are they > different? Could it be that Japanese cars are RH drive and are > "adapted" for shipment to the US?
I've seen that, too, a day or two back. But that list was based on the assumption that the problem is *just* a stuck accelerator pedal, and, specifically, it was assumed that the problem is a "frictioner" on the pedal which gives it correct "feel". The problem, supposedly, is that the "frictioner" sticks. The "fix" is to slip a steel sleeve or shim over some piece of it to reduce the tendency to stick. Of course, for some small mechanical part like that, the exact part used could easily vary from one minor revision of the cars to the next, even from one production run to the next. So, it's no great surprise that certain VINs were not affected. The problem I have with this is that it doesn't seem to explain the last words of the highway patrolman who went into the pond, who said they had "no brakes". Normally gas+brakes = weak brakes, it's *not* uninterrupted acceleration. This is particularly true when panic gives the driver the strength of 10. A cop would certainly know that. Why didn't the brakes work for him? If the detected flaw does not account for all symptoms then it's not the real bug, it's just a red herring. This looks like floor mats all over again.
