I haven't read of where the victim in this scenario has talked about or filed suit against Toyota. Is it possible that Toyota is already performing damage control by attacking the victim's credibility?? I wouldn't put it past the company. Furthermore, I find it odd that Toyota's President hasn't committed seppuku by now. He has disgraced the company and at this point, is participating in a cover-up, IMO. The Japanese don't take that kind of stuff lightly.
I have to go with Thor on this one. What a bag of worms this may open up.
We expect to get service due safely from items we buy. Lots of ways to have the sellers get around all kinds of laws. I know longer trust the big stores with their factory sealed items.
We buy a $150.00 coffee pot. We get it home follow directions and the darn thing has a wiring problem, sparks fly out of the machine. Place it back in box and return it to the store.
What the heck is this restocking fee, means they take back the pot, charge us $30.00 for restocking. [ store policy and even the manager of the store can not give a reason for the fee on damaged or unsafe products.----Store policy, theirs to make.
We as most of us do thought the machine was going back to the factory to be replaced.
One Sunday morning I got a call from a man who had found my water bill in the box his brand new coffee pot had come in. Of all things, I do not know how that paid bill got in there ,very strange, HMMMMMMM the winds of fate.????
Anyway, the man told us his new coffee pot had caught fire and dammag ed the cabinets below it. The store refused to even send someone out to check if there was in fact damage.
This store had taken in return a product from us that we found to be dangerous had been resold after sealing it to look band box new.---fraud- to the new owner,extortion of me for having to pay $30.00 fee to get a replacement.
Fortunately I and the new buyer had kept the receipt with all that factory bar codes, the plant that made it and the time of day it left the plant. What a mess, what would have cost the company perhaps less then $1000, now went into the world of Big money.
I have no idea today how this case turned out, I do see about 4 times a year that man tooling about town in a nice car. He has painted his house and put in a pool.
BTW, there is a site on line, I do not have the link but you guys know how to look up something much better then me. I found this when I considered buying a new car. 9 years ago.
With this site one can track new or old cars from the moment it rolls off the assembly line.
Believe it or not the VIN number is used by most reputable dealers and then some not so reputable for most transactions.
I sent them $25 bucks as I remember and entered the VIN of every car or truck I looked at. No problem even new cars with more then 10 miles on the odometer.
Surprise, millions of cars and trucks that are brand new and were being sold, out of state from a flood area are listed. I would not pay full price for a brand new car if I knew it had sat under water for 2 days.
For $25.00 one could get all history on using the VIN number. The car loader that took the car to it's first dealership, when it was sold, how long it sat on that lot or another lot before first sale.
Here the auto dealers swap autos every 3 weeks, they send them out of state or Mexico claim theft, on their IRS. So I have heard have no knowledge of this is true or not.
Me myself, I had my breaks fail on a big 30 year old van. Heart stopping time when the breaks fail at any speed. I was lucky I pumped the breaks out of terror and finally stopped with no problem for others.
Van was towed to nearest garage. They took my van in and I sat for a few hours waiting and then the head mechanic came into the room.
First thing out of the experts mouth was to ask if my husband could come to the shop. I replied that he was out of town. Next question was " Does your husband like you."
Seems there were a few dozen problem with this old Van that made it unsafe at any speed.
Back then there were no PC and sites to help one. I had taken precautions by taking this for sale Van, to 2 different dealerships to check on it's condition. Both places told me the van was sound and fit. I buy it and 2 weeks later find out the darn thing is a death trap.
BTW buy a car in a lemon state like Maine, All cars and trucks have a 90 day guarantee new or used. If 2 months after buying a car the transmission falls out or there are problems with the plug on your oil pan, the seller has a choice, fix the problems at their expense or repay you the original cost.
