RUNAWAY PRIUS ( 2004 - 2009 ) : Monday afternoon ; go to ...

[kustom play]

I like how he took the time to call 911, when you dial 911 you just dont hit the "call" button and magically your transferred to 911, it takes about 30-60 seconds before the call gets picked up but somehow he cant figure out to put the car in Neutral.

he claims he went 30 miles doing 90 before it stopped? I dont know about most of you but the speed limit here is 65, I have a hard time doing 80 in the passing lane before some stupid driver is going 55 and causes me to slow down

all off a sudden the highway patrol comes out and tells him some common sense things like "use the e brake" and "shut the car off" shouldn't that be the first common sense thing to do?

we need harder driver testing or at least some kind of common sense test to weed out the morons

[agibby5]

Originally Posted by DerFlosser

Does anybody aside from me find it funny that these Toyota problems reared their head shortly after the US government bought GM and Ford? This is all sabotage!

LOL, he does look a lot like Joe Biden!


In all seriousness...

The lady on the 911 call tells him to try neutral. It doesn't appear he does, or maybe he does and it doesn't work, but he definitely doesn't let the dispatcher know the result.

I'm thinking the whole time, just use neutral and turn it off! Then I talk to my friend who's really, really into cars. He says he spoke with a reputable mechanic friend of his just last night and basically, on a Prius neutral is locked out, for some reason. Can anyone verify this?

Maybe this guy is just trying to build himself a lawsuit and when she suggested neutral, he realized then "F**K, there IS a way outta this... oh well, play it off!". All joking aside, why would Prius not be able to use neutral like any other car on earth?

[kustom play]

Originally Posted by agibby5

LOL, he does look a lot like Joe Biden!


In all seriousness...

The lady on the 911 call tells him to try neutral. It doesn't appear he does, or maybe he does and it doesn't work, but he definitely doesn't let the dispatcher know the result.

I'm thinking the whole time, just use neutral and turn it off! Then I talk to my friend who's really, really into cars. He says he spoke with a reputable mechanic friend of his just last night and basically, on a Prius neutral is locked out, for some reason. Can anyone verify this?

Maybe this guy is just trying to build himself a lawsuit and when she suggested neutral, he realized then "F**K, there IS a way outta this... oh well, play it off!". All joking aside, why would Prius not be able to use neutral like any other car on earth?

i wouldnt say hes very reputable mechanic, you can shift into neutral on any car, here is the video to prove it on the prius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_03lbr-Jw

[agibby5]

Originally Posted by kustom play

i wouldnt say hes very reputable mechanic, you can shift into neutral on any car, here is the video to prove it on the prius

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II_03lbr-Jw

I was thinking it was bogus that the Prius cant shit into neutral. But obviously the video shows you can... however, what happens that causes the gas pedal to depress automatically and uncontrollably? Perhaps that issue causes the switch to neutral to fail.

I'm not buying it that the car can't shift into neutral, but what if?

[kustom play]

im willing to bet hes faking it

they were saying its a spring or something, but the prius didnt have the bad pedal so it was prob his old age combined with stupidity

same way these old people somehow forget they are in reverse and hit the gas into the car behind them

[Hershey]

well if he did fake it he'll be in some serious deep sh*t . Sad to think that there are people desperate enough to do it for the money ( lawsuit ) and the spotlight . Crazy times . I won't pass judgement until all the facts are on the table .

[Mouse]

The 911 call....http://video.foxnews.com/#/v/4097490...ylist_id=87249

In all honestly...I still believe the guy is faking it.

[Mouse]

Here is another video showing that the brakes should work under full acceleration....by the same person that Kustom Play posted. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiSQeaeWxGU&NR=1

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by Hershey

well if he did fake it he'll be in some serious deep sh*t .

For reference, Balloon Boy's father got 90 days in jail, some minimal community service, and a ban on profiting from the hoax for 4 years. Presumably, after 4 years, he can profit from it all he wants. "Serious deep sh*t" is all relative, I guess.

Anyway, regarding all the evidence being on the table... there is enough on that table right now to form a fairly firm opinion. There are just to many gaping holes in his story. And a clear motive for his perpetrating the hoax.

I can't believe that I'm actually defending a slave-driving International Megacorp. But in this case, it is clear that it is Toyota and its employees who are being wronged. And to the extent that it could affect resale value, its (honest) customers, as well. Not that that bit matters to me. I tend to keep my cars for *at least* 250,000 miles. I'm strange that way.

-Steve

[Twistoffate0817]

I keep hearing stories on the news how this is fake, and how its real. Does anyone know if this really was a case of the car being disfunctional, or was it the man behind the wheel?

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by Twistoffate0817

I keep hearing stories on the news how this is fake, and how its real. Does anyone know if this really was a case of the car being disfunctional, or was it the man behind the wheel?

Consider the facts. He went to his dealer wanting a fix, and they said his car wasn't on the recall list. Shortly thereafter, he claims that the accelerator stuck wide open, the ignition switch would not turn off the engine, the transmission would not come out of drive, and the brakes would not stop the car. I and others have posted links to formal tests regarding the ability of brakes to stop pretty much any car even with the throttle locked wide open. (As a reminder, Car & Driver found that the Toyota Camry's 60-0 stopping distance under those conditions was one foot *shorter* than the Ford Taurus' *regular* stopping distance.) His story is the stuff of really bad 1970s "B" grade horror movies.

Predictably, he made sure to get the highway patrol involved, ensuring plenty of media coverage.

So... what do you think? Does this, as a package, seem plausible? Or is he just another nut that got mad when the dealership said his car wasn't on the list and decided to get even?

Don't ask other people to decide for you. Look at the facts and use your brain to arrive at the logical conclusion.

-Steve

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Twistoffate0817

I keep hearing stories on the news how this is fake, and how its real. Does anyone know if this really was a case of the car being disfunctional, or was it the man behind the wheel?

It's either a hoax, or he's the most incompetent driver in the world.
All evidence points to this being staged for personal gain.

[BLAZINBLUEVITZ]

sucks for him that his prius ISN'T even on the recall list and that TOYOTA already has downplayed the incident.....

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by BLAZINBLUEVITZ

sucks for him that his prius ISN'T even on the recall list and that TOYOTA already has downplayed the incident.....

Apparently, you feel that this alleged incident has some validity. And yet you fail to present any evidence which led you to that conclusion. Let's discuss the particulars. I have quite a few issues with the story he tells, some of which I have outlined in numerous other posts.

[127.0.0.1]

FAKE


FAKE

he denied being behind on his Prius payments, but that is a lie. he is behind in those as well
as a whole lotta other things
---------------
lying sack of shit
---------------

from Jalopnik and FBI investigation

http://jalopnik.com/5491101/did-bank...d-acceleration

James Sikes, the San Diego runaway Toyota Prius driver, filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and now has over $700,000 in debt. According to one anonymous tipster, we're also told he hasn't been making payments on his Prius. UPDATE!

We received an email earlier today from an anonymous tipster who claims James (Jim) Sikes, the driver of the runaway Toyota Prius, was in financial trouble and even behind by five months on his payments for the Prius. If that's true, it's potential motivation for wanting to find an out — any out — on paying for the vehicle.

We did some public records searches (thanks to the help of Gawker's John Cook) and found Sikes and his wife Patty found themselves, like many in the California real estate business, on the bursting side of the real estate bubble last year. The two declared bankruptcy in June of 2008 and have a combined liability of over $700,000 dollars in debt.

Among the list of creditors holding secured claims is none other than Toyota Financial Services for a lease on a 2008 Toyota Prius with 7,200 miles on the odometer. Total value of the lease at the time of bankruptcy was $20,494.

[sbergman27]

Originally Posted by 127.0.0.1

We did some public records searches (thanks to the help of Gawker's John Cook) and found Sikes and his wife Patty found themselves, like many in the California real estate business, on the bursting side of the real estate bubble last year.

Funny thing is... amongst all this negative information about him, my opinion of him took a *real* dive where It said he's a real estate agent. :-P

-Steve

[Kal-El]

Check this hilarious video demonstration by someone proving the stopping techniques in a Prius.

Heavy language NWS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4Pt...layer_embedded

[Cutie Pie #2]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Check this hilarious video demonstration by someone proving the stopping techniques in a Prius.

Heavy language NWS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4Pt...layer_embedded

That got the point for sure, and yeah it was pretty funny too if you don't mind the language! I think some of these people on the news need to watch that.