Brake line recall

I think she was clearly at fault for spilling the coffee on herself. What she wasn't at fault for was the coffee being served at 190F, way hotter than most places served it at. At that temperature the risk of scalding should a spill occur is high. And people spilling coffee on themselves is something that probably happens 100s of times a day but not at 190F for the most part?

 

Yes but ice buildup is another matter and not the drivers fault per se since it can happen on road and in a short time. I once was driving in Colorado on I-25. Between gas stops almost frozen water on the road had splashed up and coated the entire sides of the car then continually froze to a three inch sheet of ice along with the jagged ice packs in the wheel wells. Imagine the same situation with the Tacoma. Driving along, ice constantly building up in the wheel since on an interstate you're never using brakes to heat up the wheel, with only 1/2" clearance. Jagged edges get knocked off as they pound the brake hose with more water freezing, over and over and over. It could get damaged in a short time. And who would even think to look there to periodically check? Only a few owners who even know the hose is dangerously close to a moving object.

 

I actually think there's general consensus here, in that for better or worse, our current legal environment basically made it essential for Tacoma to do this voluntary brake line recall, because it would cost them less than the lawsuits which would have followed. They did the financially responsible thing for themselves and their shareholders.

 

If you want to horrify yourself, find the pics of the injuries

 

All fair. I'll just add that if you're a type of person who puts a paper cup full of scalding liquid between your legs... you're a special kind of stupid too.

-edit-

RE: coffee temperature. It's brewed at 200 degrees, give or take 5 or 10 degrees. Doesn't matter if it's drip or espresso. Same general temperature range for brewing.

That coffee immediately served is too hot to drink should come to no surprise to anyone who has made a pot of coffee - and might constitute good reason to not put a paper cup full of the stuff between your legs.

 

Seriously. It's like carrying a loaded weapon.

 

McDonald’s didn’t give the woman a fresh pourover (which still isn’t that hot)

 

This thread seems to have taken an odd turn lol. Is this White Knighting for toyota and their stupid design decisions? People are special kinds of stupid if they get a torn brake line and brake failure by driving through the wrong snow storm, or the wrong mud puddle?

That brake line is literally hanging in the breeze. Slow abrasion by someone that doesn’t muck out their wheels is only one possible failure mode. And probably the least likely one.

Why are we lamenting Toyota stockholders? Shouldn’t it be Toyota laments having angry stockholders angry at them for taking stupid shortcuts? Toyota should know saving a few dollars on a clip or two, and appropriate routing, is always cheaper than hoping nobody will notice and nothing will fail. You can’t take stupid shortcuts and then blame customers for the consequences.

Toyota failed to implement a design that would pass a simple common sense standard…simple as that. They’re taking responsibility for it (granted, in the cheapest way possible).

Customers waiting on the recall should be pissed, but why would anyone throw blame at theoretical “specially stupid” customers,or lawyers, or consumer protection laws?

 

I expect in the future they will have a recall on their recall because taking a straight rubber hose and making such a tight loop will present premature wear on the outside of the loop that's being stretched so much. As far as I'm concerned, unless and until a real fix is implemented in future production, inspecting that hose becomes a check at every oil change requirement for DIYers.

 

I think the 'odd turn' merely puts the thing in the right perspective.

The design is kinda dumb.

The one off incidence where you can't be inconvenienced to attend to your vehicle because "hur dur, weather" is kinda dumb. That's the guy with the little porthole carved out of the ice covering the windshield kinda lazy.

The redesign is still kinda dumb. Maybe even dumber.

There's a whole lot of dumb to go around. It still works just fine in 99.9% of people's lives.

 

Maybe the coffee was too hot, but the lady spilled the coffee on her lap. If the coffee had burned her mouth that would be different.

 

Checking on this thread because it jumped to the top.
Just wanted to add to @Snakepilot 's comment.
I have not received any repair/replacement notice for my iForce Max (Hybrid) with 18" wheels as of July 14th. I did receive the trailer software update notice. VIN search shows only that trailer software mod (for which, my poverty edition does not have that functionality, so why is there a notice?).

 

There’s a bit of shared negligence, for sure. While it’s imperative to prevent injury to oneself, a company also has a duty to not sell unduly dangerous products that can injure buyers more than is reasonably expected.

Which is also why Toyota is obligated to fix the problem instead of saying “hey you should just stop and check for damage every 10 miles in icy conditions, dummy”

 

Hybrids have bigger brakes so the brake line routing is probably different.