Week One & My Soapbox

Hey again!
Well, week one is in the books and I think I will weigh myself tomorrow morning, so that I can start my week Mondays weighing in and seeing any progress. I'm not sure how I feel about the first week, except that I feel like it was a good start, but not quite what I had hoped. Overall, I feel like I made some very positive changes this week, but know that I, flat out, need to do more. I saw myself today reflected in the glass at River Park Square today and was fairly appalled by what I saw as I was walking toward the door. Man, I do have a lot of hard work ahead of me....

So, I am not prone to things political, but there is one subject right now that makes me very angry and indignant. We have all heard of the Toyota recalls. In the past few months, over 7 million late model Camrys, Corollas, Priuses and RAV4s (and there may be other models, too, but I cannot remember off the top of my head). There have been problems with excelerators sticking, carpets getting stuck, problems with braking, etc. Now, please don't misunderstand me here, I believe, as well as Toyota admits, that these cars need to be fixed so that they are safe.

I don't believe I am a conspiracy theorist, however my problem with the Toyota recall has very little to do with Toyota. It seems very coincidental that after the US Government has bailed out two of the three main auto makers in the past year or so, that all of the sudden a recall is hyped up to be a major crisis. Once again, I believe repairs need to be made to make these cars safe, but I also believe that because Toyota is the largest automaker in the world and just a couple years ago surpasses GM in sales in the US, I am concerned that the US auto makers are trying to give Toyota a black eye in the minds of the American consumer, to bring them over to buying "Big Three" vehicles.

I personally don't buy this witch hunt. I am a Honda fan and also as an owner of an older Toyota, you will NEVER convince me that any vehicle produced by the big three US auto makers will ever hold a candle to Toyota or Honda in reliability. What has also not been said is that the US auto makers have had MANY times the number of recalls that the Japanese have had and have with all likelihood, have well exceeded the number of vehicles involved in the recent Toyota recalls. I am concerned that lobbyists, which are paid millions of dollars by the big three auto makers, may have been pressuring and possibly even paying off individuals in our legislature to do inquiries into these issues with Toyota. I believe their witch hunt will not produce the scandal they are hoping to scare Americans, and we should be careful to scrutinize their findings.

Especially in light of these recalls, I am convinced now more than ever that if you buy a Toyota (or a Honda), you will get some of the best vehicles on the road today. They are reliable, they will be safe (yes, they will) and they will do exactly what they were meant to do. For me, I have no interest in supporting any company that for years has not kept up with the reliability of these Japanese brands. Then, on top of that, to have my tax dollars spent to keep them from going bankrupt. I don't wish any harm to these companies, however if you make an inferior product, there will be less of a market for that product. It's survival of the fittest.

The moral to this story, is please don't just listen to the propaganda. Toyota is taking care of the problems, and they are paying a huge price for it: current estimates I have heard is $2 Billion. They are not escaping this unscathed by any means. I do hope that you will look at the facts and not the hype. I might suggest that you do some research of your own. Here is a link to the government website's information on auto recalls: http://www.nhtsa.gov . Toyota is a good company that has admitted to making some mistakes. We need companies like Toyota and Honda to continue to pressure on the good old boys in Detroit to step up their game in making more reliable autos. By the way, most Toyotas are now built in the United States, and many of the Big Three Auto makers do still build some vehicles in the US, but in the past decade have sent many US jobs to Canada and Mexico.

I'll step down from my soapbox now.... Have a great week. Please pray for me to find a job!