Daihatsu showrooms running out of stock (UK)

Daihatsu customers are finding it ever more difficult to find a car of their choice because dealers are running out of stock.

IM Group, the company that imports Daihatsu’s, hasn't brought in any new cars since last Summer because of the poor exchange rate between the Pound and the Yen. An IM spokesman admitted that numbers of new Daihatsu’s in the UK 'are limited'. However, a Daihatsu dealer told a mystery shopper: 'We are out of new Daihatsu’s, as are most dealers in the UK. The manufacturer hasn't exported any new cars to the UK for a while and will not be doing so for the foreseeable future.'

According to the latest figures from the SMMT, Daihatsu sold 22 cars in January, compared with 97 in same period 12 months earlier. Daihatsu has around 100 dealers in the UK and currently sells the Materia, Sirion, Copen convertible and Terios 4x4.

Toyota's Lentz Weeps

Toyota USA's Lentz, relating how his 30 year old brother was killed in a car accident, got teary eyed while answering a question for Rep. Rush (D-Ill).

Why Stuck Throttles Are So Dangerous: Loss Of Vacuum

Something that hasn't been discussed widely is the role of engine vacuum in the unintended acceleration issue.

The reason that you only have one chance to brake a car which is experiencing a stuck throttle or unintended acceleration is that at wide-open-throttle, the engine is not generating any manifold vacuum.   Without manifold vacuum, on most cars, the hydraulic brake booster will ingest air as the brakes are applied.  Pumping the brakes will fill the booster very quickly.  Without vacuum, the brake pedal will be very hard, and it will require a huge amount of brake pedal force to stop the car.

Rep. Buyer Defends Toyota

Rep Steven Buyer (R-Ind) is coming to the defense of Toyota.  Which makes sense, the Subaru plant which builds Toyotas is in his district.  He points out that work by Prof. Gilbert is commissioned by an "advocacy" organization which is being funded by trial lawyer. 

Toyota: Gilbert's Test "Sabotage"

Toyota's lawyers told the House Oversight Committee members that the test that Prof. Gilbert did to the Toyota electronic system was "sabotage".  Professor Gilbert is testifying that the short circuit he introduced could happen in real life.

Gilbert: Toyota Electronic Throttle Diagnostics Poor

The gist of Professor Gilbert's testimony to the House Oversight Committee is that Toyota's electronic throttle sensing system is poor, in that the redundant signals are insufficiently different from one another, so that the diagnostic system can be fooled into thinking that a short circuit between them is a driver request for wide-open throttle, and not a fault state. He also just testified that other automakers would catch the fault that he induced "right away".

"If I would have done that on a Buick or a Honda... it would have set a DTC or code".

Texting While Driving = Death

The new issue of Autoweek sports a graphic and effective full page ad, to warn of the dangers of texting and driving.

See it for yourself here.