Toyota Told To Put Cars Where Its Mouth Is In IIHS Response To 2010 Vehicle Safety Report

IIHS Fires Back, Tells Toyota To Put Cars Where Its Mouth Is

Toyota stamped their feet earlier claiming the IIHS Top Safety Pick awards were "extreme and misleading." Now, Russ Rader of the IIHS responds, saying, basically, Toyota can put its cars where its mouth is.

Well, Russ didn't actually say that. He's too nice to say something like that. But, what he does say seems to refute Toyota's inference that IIHS selectively choose certain vehicles for testing and the insinuation that the IIHS was trying to mislead the public by only selecting three cars to fail an "extreme" test. Russ tells us

"Toyota was notified in January that roof strength would be a new test. The IIHS asked automakers to flag any vehicles they'd like to have included. Toyota had plenty of opportunity to flag other Toyota, Lexus or Scion models — including being present at roof strength tests at the IIHS facility — but choose not to. So IIHS assumed that there were no models that met the new guidelines. If there are other vehicles Toyota would want to include they were able to submit them at that time or at any time in the process — including right now."

So basically, bring it Toyota, don't sing it.

This doesn't refute Toyota's other contention that the new test is "extreme." As we said before, we're not sure whether or not the new roof-crush test is extreme, but we will point out again that not only did other automakers have vehicles that passed it, but the Toyota Camry passed it as well. We'll also reiterate we're not sure how far the argument of "it was too hard" will go with consumers and the general public.

Toyota would probably do more to show it stands by their vehicles ability to pass this new roof-crush test by flagging their entire lineup to allow the IIHS to test it. Unless, of course, they know the vehicles won't pass — which, in essence, proves the IIHS point.

Source: jalopnik.com

COMMENTS POSTED TO JALOPNIK:

Far be it from me to support Toyota here, but I would not be surprised to see the IIHS demand vehicles be capable of surviving atmospheric reentry. As long as they continue in their myopic focus on building safety barges to reduce medical claims resulting from accidents instead of active safety and enabling good drivers to drive well, they're going to be perfectly irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. 11/18/09

@Thrashy, perpetual Minardi: I disagree because I see them as providing information--I can use that information or not, but it's out there, and car makers are conscious of it. Look at Kia, for example.

Reinforced roof? Who wouldn't want that? Ever seen the stats for head injuries in US car rollovers before this became an issue? They collapsed like collapsed like a cheap lawnchair. It was shocking.

And of course there are many car makers out there who are getting "satisfactory" or even "unsatisfactory" ratings because they are not making changes. IIHS is not the law. But if a car has hidden defects that might kill me, yeah, I'd at least like to have that information. And the other side of the "lowered medical costs" is a) you being alive and not dead and b) lower insurance rates if you're in a safer model.

Still seems to be tons of free choice there to me, for both buyers and makers.

Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred Image of dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!

11/18/09 @Novaload: Ironically, the increased weight up top to reinforce the roof makes a car more prone to rollover.

dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! was starred dolo54 blows minds and blows engines! was unstarred

@dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!: I believe that it is driving like a jackass and overcorrecting is what causes most rollovers. Rollovers don't happen because a car doesn't have stability control or because of a high CG, rollovers happen because people are not prepared to successfully pull off emergency maneuvers and they are unfamiliar with the performance of their own vehicles.

dolo54 blows minds and blows engines!

@Frisco Fairlane500: uhh, no a high CG is the main cause of rollovers.

Volvo says, put up or shut up. From a 1971 ad. The Headline was "Are you in the market for a hardtop?"

@Novaload: The good old days of car advertising.

@Novaload: THAT is AWESOME.

@Novaload: That photo was taken at the abandoned Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile, Alabama in the early 70's. I lived there and watched them stack the cars. There were wooden platforms between the cars to steady them. After the photo session wrapped, the crane operator knocked the stack over. BIG FUN! The next morning several of the cars came up missing - some of the neighborhood hooligans rolled them back on their wheels and 'liberated' them. The local fuzz found the cars and the ad agency refused to press charges. The cars were water damaged during shipping - they found one more use for them before the cars were crushed. Thanks for the memories!

@Novaload: I thought i heard somewhere a while back that this ad was debunked and that volvo had a bunch of 2x4s in the car to brace up the roof. Could have been a rumor though. Anyone know?

@UnlimitedRevs: Truly. I have a decent collection of some old ads, I post them here when they fit...

@Novaload: I did some googling around and it was actually an ad where they dropped the Volvo onto it's roof, but it had welded supports in it to prevent it from crushing in. I mixed up the 2 ad's.

@Novaload: My 960 sedan was a Tank, I would love to have it back!!

I have had a sneaking suspicion that the mighty Toyota, market monster for so long but never with the "perfect" halo Honda has had, has been up to who knows what.

If I recall, the Euro car makers were laughing at US roof strength a couple of decades ago.

@Novaload: Yeah, Volvo's always been a pretty clean team but they all used to cheat like crazy. Ford had one in the late 60s showing a Galaxie in a field, IIRC, discussing its crystal clear glass. Turned out the window was rolled down.

Roh, ry rhe ray, rill Russ Rador rest ra rot rod?
how the hell are auto makers supposed to make everything lighter for fuel economy, faster for gearheads, yet still more crush resistant. good grief!

I'll take 2 ,fast and light. cars are already safe enough, thanks.

Toyota PR person: "Dude, that's not fair. Chrysler weren't using road-legal tires!"

IIHS PR person: "What? It was inspected to be completely road-spec when their cars got to the facility!"

Toyota PR person: "Dude, that's not fair. Ford weren't using road-legal tires!"

IIHS PR person: "What did I just say? Again, they were pretty thoroughly inspected upon arrival, and what does it matter anyways?"

Toyota PR person: "Dude, that's not fair. Honda weren't using road-legal tires!"

IIHS PR person: "Again, not true, and rather poi...

Toyota PR person: "Dude, that's not fair. Kia weren't using road-legal tires!"

IIHS PR person: "I think you should just bring your cars to the test on whatever tires and see if there's any diffe..."

Toyota PR person: "Dude, that's not fair. Porsche said the same things and I don't get a break?"

I was talking with a friend the other day. Their family is hosting a foreign exchange student this year. Their house is zoned to a competitive school.

He was complaining that the student has been compeltely brainwashed by his homeland. They've taught him that Americans are academically inferior. The student, at the beginning of the school year, signed up for Advanced Calculus, instead of the math class two levels down, where he should have been. His reasoning was that if the "stupid" American kids could understand it, he would be able to excel at it.

When the first exam was given, he flunked it. He couldn't pass the second exam, either. In fact, he couldn't pass any of them, so they transferred him to the class two levels down, where he should have been originally.

The student blames the Calculus teacher for his failure.

@OA 5599: Naturally. This kind of shit, along with every kid on every team getting a trophy at the end of the season infuriates me. Our nation and culture have gone so soft...

@KeyserSoze: The kid who blames the teacher isn't from "our nation and culture." So your boilerplate rant doesn't make sense.

Two evil empires - IIHS and Toyota - in a slap-bout. My reaction to this is like how the US felt about the Sino-Soviet split of the '70s - you don't really care who wins because they're both your enemy, but it's fun to watch.

I am forced to agree with Toyota, that test does appear to be a little extreme.

So the Camry will protect your fool head but you get violently buttsexed by that nosey Sebring when it slides upside-down into your backside.

The guy in the Sebring will be okay.

Wah, wah, wah. Invited to play, but unable to compete, Toyota declares the game is...what, exactly? Rigged? A stack of other carmakers scored highly. Too hard? A stack of other carmakers scored highly. Irrelevant? Those other carmakers aren't bitching.

The Toyota I drive was built by a Toyota that had one goal: win the world by building good, competent vehicles. These new Toyotas are probably significantly better in most ways but this one: I don't like the company anymore. It whinges and whines like a congressman at pay raise time.

Finally, we have a new slap fight in the automotive world, Toyota vs IIHS, and Stud Beefpile is nowhere to be found.

Way to pour salt in their bland, Russ.

Well, what Toyota needs to do now is list a car they think can beat all the other cars out there, then challenge people to find a better one. Hold an event, invite members of the press. They may have a tough time getting other manufacturers to agree to this publicity stunt, but I'm sure if they open it to everyone, some people will be happy to bring their own Volvos and Hyundais to see how they compare against the big, bad, Toyota, right?

@Taki: Why would Toyota hold an event that they're obviously going to lose?

More fodder for those Howie Long ads.

Oooo...it's on now. *pulls out a lawn chair and a bag of popcorn*

TOYOTA! GO TO YOUR ROOM AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! STOP YOUR CRYING OR I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT!

When you're done with your tantrum, you can come out and we can discuss it.

@KeyserSoze: Toyota: " You guys never listen! You don't know how I feel, and that's because you're never there!*sob-sniff* I'm gonna run away and you'll feel sorry! I HATE you!"

@AclockWorkApple: Listen Toyota, I know it seems like we don't love you, and sometimes the whole world is against you, but really, we're just doing this for your own good. Believe me, this hurts us more than it hurts you. It's okay Toyota, we can work this out together. Sometimes an opportunity for growth can be painful, but that's how we learn. We love you very much... (hugs Toyota, kisses Toyota on the tear stained cheek)

I suggest a dance-drift-off.

"You've Been Served: Tokyo Style"

I really do like steelies.

I wonder how well the Miata did?

It seems like it loses something from the original "Y'all biatches step the f*ck up or shut the f*ck up"

@Pessimippopotamus: Tough call between which is better...you could make a strong argument that if it isn't going to be clear, it might as well make NO SENSE at all.