I'm Back.

It's been just over a month since I last posted, and so much has happened. This is unforgivable. But like that title says, I'm back.

There's one very large piece of business that I have to get out of the way. Everyone's been talking about it for so long, and so much, that I almost feel bad to add to the discussion. But since I hate talking around issues, I'm going to jump right in.

Toyota. What the hell?

For sake of brevity, I'm limiting my commentary to the recent recall with the sticking accelerator pedals. I mean, really, anyone who thought that floor mats were causing cars to speed up at random intervals needs to have their head examined.

However, I would like to mention that no one, so far, seems to have gotten onto Toyota for their floor mat explanation. To me, that reeks of red herring. They knew there was a problem with the accelerator pedals, they'd had recalls in Europe for heaven's sake, but they tried to foist blame onto a different cause. That is a load of shit, and it's an indication of just how much Toyota's image differs from the reality.

Toyota's image is that of the caring, loving, benevolent car manufacturer. Their sole purpose, they say, is to create cars that are gentle on the environment, provide safe transportation for families and have a reliability that is topped only by the laws of physics.

For a while, that was the real company. But, within the last ten years, they realized something. They were making tons of money all over the world. They were within striking distance of GM for the largest car company in the world. They wanted that spot, they wanted the prestige, they wanted the money.

And I don't blame them for it. Toyota is a company. It's purpose is to make money however it can, so long as it's legal. (I'll save unsavory business practices for another day)

So they went for it. They increased production, started new sale promotions and began to bulk up their lineup with new models. New Toyotas, like the Venza and full-size Tundra pickup came out. Toyota improved the comfort of their large SUVs so they would appeal to customers that typically bought American cars. They gave Lexus new models like hybrids and sports cars. They created the Scion brand to attract a younger buyer.

But this expansion came at a price. But then again, it always does, right?

Whenever someone makes more of something, the quality is probably going to go down, at least initially. It is very hard, almost impossible, to keep quality at a high level while pumping out a car every few minutes, if not faster. Robotic technology can only do so much.

But, as the Washington Post pointed out, there was another place where quality control started slipping: engineering. Toyota's engineers gained on the job experience in a mentor set up. Over a period of years the engineers would learn their job from their immediate superior. It was the reason Toyota made such high quality cars, everyone knew their job inside and out. It was an environment that put engineering first as a matter of pride.

However, when Toyota started increasing its model lines, the engineers couldn't keep up. The mentor system was strained, the engineers themselves were stressed and overworked. New blood came in that didn't get the full mentorship experience. Inevitably, things were going to start going downhill.

In a way, it's obvious now. First, in the late 90s, early 2000s, there was the recall on Toyota and Lexus V6 engines. The oil ports were plugging up because they were too small. Toyota denied it and blamed the consumers. They quickly reversed that idea and quietly settled it.

A few years later, and Toyota quietly made headlines with their Tacoma pickup truck's rusting frame. The entire rear section could rust and the spare tire drop off the car. But there wasn't any big hubbub. After all, that won't kill anyone.

So now we're at the acceleration debacle. With this problem prevalent over so many models, and maybe even a different problem with the Prius (which I'll talk about later), it's hard to believe that this slipped through Toyota's quality control net.

But it did, and it's a perfect example of the growing pains that companies regularly go through when they expand. It's natural, it's inevitable. If Toyota had handled it a different way, it might even approach forgivable.

Yet they didn't handle it correctly. They made excuses, they pointed fingers and they were finally forced to admit that there was a problem. That was the biggest blow to Toyota. That was when they lost part of the customer friendly image, when they tried to sweep the issue under the rug.

Toyota will recover. It's too big not, too established and they will regain their image. People will keep buying their cars.

I hope, though, that, someone, somewhere will remember this. No car manufacturer is perfect. Every car manufacturer will have a major recall at some point.

The most important thing is that they live up to the mistake and take responsibility.