General Motors issues stop deliver for 2,800 corvettes over defects in 2015 model

Saturday 13th September 2014 16:40 GMT Anonymous Coward

You'd never get that kind of problem with a Toyota

Then again, perhaps you might, though for some reason you wouldn't yet have seen a Register article about the following...

Toyota customers have already had problems that should never happened, and EE Times (that's Electronic Engineering Times, for any non-engineers reading) has a collection of interesting writeups (and comments) prompted by evidence revealed in the court case(s) following the incidents.

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1319903

(and http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1319936 also well worth a look, and various others)

Toyota Case: Single Bit Flip That Killed

Junko Yoshida

10/25/2013 03:35 PM EDT

104 comments

MADISON, Wis. — Could bad code kill a person? It could, and it apparently did.

The Bookout v Toyota Motor Corp. case, which blamed sudden acceleration in a Toyota Camry for a wrongful death, touches the issue directly.

This case -- one of several hundred contending that Toyota's vehicles inadvertently accelerated -- was the first in which a jury heard the plaintiffs' attorneys supporting their argument with extensive testimony from embedded systems experts. That testimony focused on Toyota's electronic throttle control system -- specifically, its source code.

The plaintiffs' attorneys closed their argument by saying that the electronics throttle control system caused the sudden acceleration of a 2005 Camry in a September 2007 accident that killed one woman and seriously injured another on an Oklahoma highway off-ramp. It wasn't loose floor mats, a sticky pedal, or driver error.

[continues]

3 8 Reply
1. Saturday 13th September 2014 17:15 GMT LarsG
  
  Re: You'd never get that kind of problem with a Toyota
  
  Really?
  
  If I recall correctly they have had a number of recalls, something to do with the brrrraaaaaaaaakessssss!
  
  0 1 Reply
2. Saturday 13th September 2014 17:41 GMT MarkGates
  
  Re: You'd never get that kind of problem with a Toyota
  
  "though for some reason you wouldn't yet have seen a Register article about the following..."
  
  Maybe now they don't need to.
  
  2 0 Reply
3. Saturday 13th September 2014 18:24 GMT Hud Dunlap
  
  Re: You'd never get that kind of problem with a Toyota @ AC you a are wrong
  
  http://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2014/02/12/toyota_prius_recall_software_glitch/#c_2105507
  
  So you see the Register does have articles about Toyota problems. Maybe not the one you are talking about but they only have so much space on a page and they have to decide how to use it. I didn't bother searching back to 2013 to see if they covered it. Maybe you should do so
  
  3 0 Reply
  1. Saturday 13th September 2014 18:31 GMT tfewster
    
    Re: You'd never get that kind of problem with a Toyota @ AC you a are wrong
    
    El Reg diligently reports all ROTM sightings.
    
    4 0 Reply
  2. Saturday 13th September 2014 18:38 GMT Anonymous Coward
    
    Re: You'd never get that kind of problem with a Toyota @ AC you a are wrong
    
    "I didn't bother searching back to 2013 to see if they covered it. Maybe you should do so"
    
    I used one of those search engine things, and El Reg's own search/
    
    No hits. Unlike Toyota. Thanks for the suggestion though.
    
    0 1 Reply
Saturday 13th September 2014 17:10 GMT Outcast

Brakes ?

They'll only slow ya down !

1 0 Reply
Saturday 13th September 2014 17:20 GMT Pen-y-gors

2015 model?

Is some sort of time machine in use here? Or are we just slipping into that strange time zone where the 'September edition' of Good Food magazine comes out in late July, and Euro 2016 footie matches take place in 2014.

Please bring back the old calendar!

3 0 Reply
1. Sunday 14th September 2014 09:46 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Re: 2015 model?
  
  This has been motor industry practice for years, and reflects annual product cycles with mid-year launches. The "new" models (often just a trim change) are announced during the year at various motors shows. If labelled according to year of launch, then in the following spring the (often) talent free retards that sell cars are going to have a VERY hard time selling a 2014 model in spring 2015.
  
  Label the car as the "model year", which is the calendar year after launch, and hey presto! this problem goes away. In the industry everybody knows what "model year" means, punters buy with confidence that they're not buying old stock, and everybody's happy. And for the canny buyer, this creates opportunities to buy at a discount from residual stock when new models are announced. Who's got a problem with all that?
  
  0 0 Reply
  1. Sunday 14th September 2014 13:00 GMT Trigonoceps occipitalis
    
    Re: 2015 model?
    
    In the UK at least the date related registration plates were set to begin/end at certain times to try and spread out new car deliveries. Works in tandem with new model years.
    
    0 0 Reply
Saturday 13th September 2014 17:22 GMT AndrueC

Maybe they shouldn't have released the 2015 range so early?

Honda did the same thing- they released the 2012 Jazz in 2011. At least they seemed to get it right though.

1 0 Reply
Saturday 13th September 2014 18:45 GMT Anonymous Coward

The problem with GM is how much they cut corners. They cut corners on the most idiotic places. As a former GM customer, I have firsthand experience with this. The "new" GM operates just like the "old" GM did.

1 0 Reply
1. Sunday 14th September 2014 01:31 GMT Aoyagi Aichou
  
  Well, the Cadillacs (STS and 2008 CTS) seem OK. I mean, I haven't heard of any notable issues with them, unlike the newer ones or the older ones.
  
  0 0 Reply
2. Monday 15th September 2014 06:51 GMT werdsmith
  
  No, the old GM would have shipped all these cars out to dealers and let the dealers argue with the customers about warranty.
  
  0 0 Reply
Saturday 13th September 2014 19:35 GMT cosymart

Time Warp

Bit like Garmin issuing their map version 2015.10 in spring 2014. Confusion or what!

1 0 Reply
Sunday 14th September 2014 00:39 GMT Michael Hoffmann

Airbags?

With Corvettes and their drivers, aren't "airbags" generally part of the... uhm, "removable accessory" in the passenger seat?

0 0 Reply
Monday 15th September 2014 05:47 GMT Christian Berger

Well quality in that area is rather bad

After all you have people developing with insane methodologies like the V or W model, plus outsourcing to the lowest bidder or people who care even less about the project than you do.

It's not uncommon for conceptual bugs to go all the way down to implementation, because nobody in the chain had the guts to report that bug. This is why certain German cars have bugs in their targeting systems causing the brakes to malfunction and stop you car when you target someone.

0 0 Reply
Monday 15th September 2014 08:34 GMT MJI

GM are slowly dying

They are slowly getting rid of the interesting parts of the business, the big European cars are dead. Now Holdens is going, not much interesting left.

0 0 Reply
1. Monday 15th September 2014 09:46 GMT AndrueC
  
  Re: GM are slowly dying
  
  They are slowly getting rid of the interesting parts of the business, the big European cars are dead. Now Holdens is going, not much interesting left.
  
  I don't want an 'interesting' car. I want a car that gets me from A to B safely in reasonable comfort while consuming as little fuel as possible.
  
  1 0 Reply
  1. Tuesday 16th September 2014 08:30 GMT MJI
    
    Re: GM are slowly dying
    
    Quite a few people already make cars for you.Why cannot manufacturers make cars for me?
    
    1 0 Reply