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Rise of the Buyer-Beware Society
“All Toyota vehicles bear my name,” the president and grandson of the founder writes. “When cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well…I, more than anyone, want Toyota’s cars to be safe.”
A heartfelt OpEd, written by the best hired gun money can buy, and in testimony before Congress, Akio Toyoda amplifies his regret and sincerity.
Yet a criminal investigation of the car maker’s problems is showing “too cozy a relationship” between the company and government regulators, with Toyota negotiating down the scope of safety recalls over the years.
On his second day in the job last July, Mr. Toyoda was given a presentation by his Washington lobbyists, bragging about “a series of examples where the government didn’t force the company to do as much as some would have liked, specifically on sudden-acceleration complaints, where they only recalled about 55,000 floor mats, rather than a more comprehensive mechanical fix.”
So much for family pride, but Toyota hypocrisy is not unusual in a society where trust has eroded everywhere in relations between individuals and the corporate and government institutions that control their lives.
In every transaction now, the rule is read the fine print or take the consequences. “Let the buyer beware” has expanded from good advice to an imperative.
Yesterday the President did some bragging of his own, about new credit rules that went into effect to limit “deceptive, unfair tactics that hit responsible consumers with unreasonable costs.”
15 Responses to “Rise of the Buyer-Beware Society”
Sadly, Americans will most likely continue to purchase Toyotas….I will never purchase a Toyota.
I understand that many auto manufacturers probably act the same…but I don't have any proof of this. I have proof of what Toyota has done and will act accordingly.
What use are laws if they aren't enforced? In the end, civil lawsuits are still the last great defense against abuse. That's the problem I have with laws that limit or prevent lawsuits for certain industries, without a proper, incorruptible replacement.
Although my first car was a Toyota (ran like a top, forever), I probably won't buy another either.
OTOH, the US auto-makers alienated me LONG before Toyota did — for very similar reasons. Arrogance and an assumption that people will buy their cars no matter what they put out there.
Which is why Repugs are always in favor of tort reform…
I vaguely remember reading an article about an auto defect in the 60's? (i think) in which the manufacturer after speaking to it's actuaries decided that it would be cheaper to lose a few court cases than to recall the defective cars… It lost a few court cases…
There are reasons that I reject both of them. Oh, by the way, the Democrats just renewed the Patriot Act for another year.
I'll give someone a pass after 40 years
If I were to ever buy an American car again, it would probably be a Ford brand.
Right now I trust pre 06 VW's, their latest models are riddled with poor design and workmanship, and the German 3. For some reason I find Kia attractive, but probably would never buy one…no idea why really
I hope Detroit can put together a couple of years worth of good cars. I want to buy American…I just don't want my car to fall apart.
The rise? Caveat emptor is Latin, which should be a clue that it goes back a ways.
It is not so much the laws but the regulations written to implement the laws. Google the economic term Regulatory Capture. Or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_captur
Basically the industries that fall under the regulations have a big stake in having favorable regulations written for them while each member of the public has only a small stake in the regulations favoring them.
This is the reason that legislation has become so detailed and the bills so long. The fear that future administrations hostile to the intent of the bill would re-write the regulations to render the legislation moot. This has happened in the past especially with environmental regulations.
It is a truism in the industry that none of the manufacturers have the reputation they deserve. Either they have a good reputation they don't fully deserve or a bad one they don't fully deserve. Toyota was not as good as people thought they were last year at this time and they aren't as bad as people think they are now.
I admit to enjoying this comeuppance with unbridled glee. Certainly not the deaths or injuries of other human beings, but the company has had this coming for a very long time. They cut corners, all the while touting themselves as the bestest car company on the planet, funnelling billions of dollars in profits back to Japan. Perception and reality are at great odds with this company.
All I have to say is, buy American, folks. These companies are fighting for their lives, they know they've abused the public trust in the past, and are eager to make up for it–but the mistakes of the 70's and 80's were made a long time ago. Americans are making great cars these days, they employ and support millions of people and they deserve another chance.
Good point, but it's not even that easy. I was also referring to the way that even the regulations that are in place can be useless if the administration hires people who are favorable to the industry. Exhibit A: the financial regulations that weren't enforced lately.
I remember watching Bush's regulators holding a chiansaw in the air pledging to cut the red tape constraining the mortgage market. I am certain the tape of that was wrapped in the Mission Accomplished banner and dropped into the deepest ocean that could be found.
There is no rise of anything new (and no need for anything new and huge in Washington, either).
[sigh]
Don — you're not thinking of the Pinto, are you?
Detroit dinosaurs jealous of the Japanese — where's your companies' rotary-engine car like the one I drove for 400,000 miles? Of course, while the US makers have still a way to go (made worse in GM and Chrysler's case by the Dems' follies this past year), I'll vouch for the two Ford Rangers I've had, including the one I have right now (approaching 200,000; the previous one almost reached 250,000 in perfect condition, original clutch, everything, until someone hit it). It's hard for them to mess up a pickup truck, I guess. (Actually, they're good and the first one I got almost new was a true jewel. Vancouver, BC to San Diego, through Georgia, throughout the midwestern USA after being in the Mid-Atlantic, and through the Maritimes and Quebec, and Ontario multiple times.) (BC-AB-SK-MB on the way back from one trip from STL out to the Northwestern USA.)
Ford stands to do well right now, I think, with some nice cars. (Get that global small pickup here!)
Hearings-related chatter can be found here.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/