Why did Toyota owners start complaining AFTER the recall?

I believe it can be like anything in the world. You don't think you have a problem until you hear that other people are habving problems and them perhaps you start to get a bit paranoid and decide that you may have a problem too. I am sure that no one except the car inspecters as well as the owners of the vechicles will know if their were "fake" problems with the cars, I presume that Toyota will strive to stay away from the press at any cost just to keep their names out of the press long enough to fix the major problems that they are having.

Below is an interview with the President of Toyota stating what his responses plan to be about the recall. WASHINGTON — Toyota president Akio Toyoda said Thursday he will testify at a congressional hearing next week about the automaker's massive recalls in the United States, meeting face to face with lawmakers after enduring criticism that he responded too slowly to the company's safety crisis. Toyoda, the grandson of the Japanese automaker's founder, said in a statement he looks "forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people."

The auto executive accepted the invitation from the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as the government opened a fresh investigation into Corolla compacts over potential steering problems. Toyota has faced a burgeoning safety crisis over the past four months with the recall of roughly 8.5 million vehicles over questions involving gas pedals, accelerators getting jammed in floor mats and brakes on various vehicles. Rep.

Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told Toyoda in his invitation that motorists were "unsure as to what exactly the problem is, whether it is safe to drive their cars, or what they should do about it. " Towns and the committee's top Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa of California, said later that Toyoda's testimony "will be helpful in understanding the actions Toyota is taking to ensure the safety of American drivers."

Towns said late Thursday that Toyoda would be joined by Yoshimi Inaba, chairman and chief executive of Toyota Motor North America, and Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA. Toyoda had said previously that he did not plan to attend a series of hearings scheduled to start on Capitol But he had told reporters in Japan earlier that he would consider appearing if invited. The decision to testify came as the Transportation Department formally opened a preliminary investigation into 487,000 Toyota Corolla and Corolla Matrix compacts from the 2009-2010 model years over concerns about steering problems at highway speeds.

The government has received 168 complaints and reports of 11 injuries and eight crashes on the Corolla and Matrix compacts with electric power steering. The Corolla investigation was expected after Toyota said it was looking into complaints of power steering difficulties with the vehicle and considering a recall as one option. Reports of deaths in the U.S. connected to sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles have surged in recent weeks, with the toll of deaths allegedly attributed to the problem reaching 34 since 2000, according to new consumer data gathered by the government.

Just like so many greedy people, they saw a chance to cash in. I truly believe that last guy with the speeding car that the police brought to a stop, faked the whole thing. I also think it was blown up because the American car makers need business and this was a way to put Toyota down.

I have two Toyotas and have had Toyotas before and I love them. They absolutely run forever. I have a '99 Corolla and an '87 pickup that was completely rebuilt for me.

I love them both. The American manufacturers have had recalls from time to time, but they were not played up like this one. To me it was just a chance to try to ruin Toyota and get people to buy American.

Toyota has made great cars that have been good on gas for years. My '99 got 42 mpg from Colorado to Missouri and 32 going the other way. I had a friend that had over 400K on his pickup that he used on a farm and it was still running!

My other pickup before this one had over 200K and was still running and the one they just rebuilt for me had 206K when they put in the engine my mechanic rebuilt. I love 'em!

I think people started complaining more after the recall simply because awareness was raised. The number of people who were actually killed or had direct experience with a problem was very small. However, once the news gets out, everyone starts to worry and then the story snowballs.

Like another answerer said here, you also have to wonder if some people exaggerate or make up stories. There was apparently one person who carelessly rammed their car into a storefront and then blamed the Toyota recall. They likely simply weren't watching where they were going, or somehow pressed the gas pedal instead of the brake.

I think most of the actual problems, including the fatal accidents, occurred before the recall. I know there is lots of questioning going on about Toyota's reliability from here on out, but I think they've been doing a good job. With any news story like this, things are bound to get blown out of proportion.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.