Toyota stays quiet about design defects

Toyota's MR2 Spyders have an alarming number of engine and exhaust failures requiring replacement. Spyderchat.com (USA) features a multitude of postings from MR2 owners. My post is number 128. There's also a detailed documentation of pre-cat removal. For an in-depth technical discussion of these engine failures, visit the British MR2 Roadster Owners Club's official information thread. British Spyder owners have started a number of forums addressing this problem. CarSurvey.com features an especially interesting personal account.

Talk about financial schemes and rip-offs. This one puts Wall Street to shame. Its another one of those deals where an automobile manufacturer stays quiet about a known defect, buys time and then claims they aren't liable because the warranty has expired. No regard whatsoever for folks who suddenly find themselves with ruined engines and exhaust systems costing about $8,000 to replace. Adding insult to injury, owners can't be assured the problem has been corrected when their engines are rebuilt. Numerous engine failures have occured within low mileages, prompting some owners to sell their cars rather than chance another failure. Of course, this puts the next buyer at risk while Toyota basks in the sunshine of getting paid enormous sums of money to correct their own error. And insofar as a class action lawsuit is concerned, forget it. Not many Spyders were produced, and with a relatively small number of owners, lawyers aren't interested. Furthermore, industry lobbyists have made it extremely expensive to file class actions. So I guess Toyota has played it pretty smart. In a crooked sort of way...

I now have a separate blog, "Beware of Toyota: Their next victim may be YOU..." at http://www.uc2.blogspot.com/