Do you folks think the Prius problems mark, at least temporarily, the decline of Toyota? Or is this just a speedbump.

Someone seems to have it in for Toyota, and they are getting unfair press and treatment for this… If you own a Dodge or GM you’ll be used to getting tons of recalls, which are almost never publized.

No one seems to have mentioned that the pedals were designed and made in the US, by a US firm (CTS Corp). Essentially i see this leading to Toyota taking back a lot of things in house so as to better control the quality. US suppliers will suffer most as, like it or not, they produce lower quality parts than their Japanese competitors…

Let Toyota burn to the ground, good riddance. Get all the Americans that work there proceed to the nearest Ford plant, with all the good cars their putting out now, they need a ton of workers to feed the demad because people are walking away from their Toyotas ;P.

I have owned a FJ40 Toyota with a 327 Chevy engine and currently own a 2nd gen Toyota 4RUNNER. The issue at hand is actually a problem with NHTSA failing to address this problem five years ago when the issue was infantile and could be easily corrected with a small scale recall. It seems that for the last eight years, the billions of taxpayer dollars spent on federal regulatory agencies have provided an eight year vacation. Now that the agencies are being held accountable, the scale of the recall is extraordinary.

Toyota builds world class vehicles and they probably always (next ten years) will.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/

I do not think the ship is sinking.  I believe what is happening to Toyota are the growing pains of the move to electronic components that don’t have all the bugs worked out.  The throttle went from being manual to electronic and it has issues.  The brakes are controlled by the computer in the Prius.  Other manufacturers like Range Rover, Mercedes and others have problems as well with all the new electronics.  I live in LA and see nice, new cars on tow trucks all the time because of electronic issues, not mechanical.  Toyota just happens to be the goat today. 

A few years ago, it was Ford with Brigestone/Firestone tire problems.  All car manufacturers have a recall or problem.  When the Fiat’s and Lancia’s come stateside again, you will see the cycle even more.

I agree that it’s very unlikely for Toyota to be unable to complete this process and move on.