Have you also noticed the lack of statistical evidence in the unintended acceleration issue?

Toyota Outbrakes The Competition In UK Brake Failure

We at TTAC pride ourselves as “equal snarkiness journalists”. We don’t care if you’re GM, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Fiat or anyone else. You try to pull the wool over our eyes, we’ll strike back with the truth you’re trying to hide. Likewise, not only are we journalists, we are also humans and as such we have our own brands and marques which we are partial to. Anyone who’s ever read my posts and articles (and not just to comment on my regional grammar and spelling) will know that I like, very much, Toyota and Jaguar cars. But that matters not a jot today. I am a blogger and an impartial one at that, so when I say this next article pains to me write, trust me, it PAINS me!
HonestJohn.co.uk reports that Warranty direct have released the results of their survey of brake failures in an average 12 month period and done over a database of 80,00 policies on cars between three and eight years old. The results are kind of, well, not that surprising. With all the media hoo-ha about Toyota’s quality problems you’d think that Toyota would be somewhere near the top. They’re not. In fact, they’re not even in the top ten (though if Warranty Direct, do an “unintended acceleration” survey, I’d be first in line to read that). Honestjohn.co.uk reports that Toyota came 12th in list of 36 brands. Here are the top five brands with the highest brake failure rate, in reverse order:
5. Mitsubishi: 2.48%. 4. Peugeot: 2.55%. 3. Fiat: 2.74%. 2. Chrysler: 2.78%.
No surprises here. We have the weakest of all Japanese makers, Mitsubishi and Peugeot in 5 and 4, respectively (If they ever do link up, imagine how reliable THOSE cars will be!). Then we have Fiat and Chrysler in 3 and 2, respectively (Those cars makers HAVE linked up, so that should be fun). But in number one position for the highest brake failure rate is:
1. Jaguar: 3.73%.
Pardon me, while I’m sick. Jaguar beat Chrysler by almost 1%. This will be a huge blow for a brand which is trying to shake its old image of Ye Olde Worlde cars with woeful reliability. Another blow to Jaguar, in this survey was the model breakdown (insert your own joke here). Jaguar’s model with the highest brake failure rate was the Jaguar XK8 at 8.38%, a car which was meant to be driven at high speeds and, therefore, should have good braking. Got to love that British sense of humour. Number one position was held by Peugeot’s 407 model. ”When it comes to safety-critical car parts, the brakes are top of every motorists list of items that should never fail,” said Warranty Direct’s Duncan McClure Fisher, “Not every brake problem will be a catastrophic failure though – brakes can have issues ranging from calliper malfunction to servo failure. These kinds of issue can be expensive to put right but they don’t always mean you’re going to have an accident.” Maybe Toyota could hire him as a PR speechwriter?