LHD Troopies without NHTSA - this is not photoshopped

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I think more than reliability and economy, which are proven, the factor here is safety. You're talking about a vehicle that was produced until 2010 without any airbags or any sort of traction or stability control whatsoever. It is produced right now with only TWO airbags and ABS only. Compare that to the amount of safety features your vehicles have and you can see a massive difference. This represents an unsafe vehicle for the passengers and other vehicles on the road. I'm sure nowadays you give a vehicle without stability control, hill start assist, active traction control, abs, to the masses, which are already accustomed to modern features, and most of the people will wreck in less than a week, specially in the varying conditions you guys get.. Dont even get me started on backup sensors/cameras, self-parking vehicles and the like..

I, on the other hand, as most venezuelans, have never been used to driving a vehicle with any sort of traction control. All i can get used to is ABS. My car doesn't even have ABS, and it was produced in 2008. You can buy a brand new 2014 Hilux without ABS or any other fancy safety feature, not even airbags. Give me a vehicle with all the modern features and I'll think its completely tame. I had the oportunity to drive a 2010 JK with the 3.8 V6 and what I expected to be a rocket, turned out to feel less powerful than my 2.7 Prado. The damn thing had Hill Start Assist being a manual, it made starting up a hill I had to stay on the clutch, riding it until the damn thing let me go. I think that's unacceptable..

Me? I chose a basic vehicle, because I'm used to it. Give one of those to the people used to driving vehicles with all the bells and whistles and you've got a rolling safety hazard time bomb on your roads...
 
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lugueto said:
Me? I chose a basic vehicle, because I'm used to it. Give one of those to the people used to driving vehicles with all the bells and whistles and you've got a rolling safety hazard time bomb on your roads...
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We belong to the same club. Even with a "modern" vehicle, it isn't pretty. The bells and whistles have helped dumb many drivers down to the point that even with all the tech, they have a hard time dealing with anything other than normal conditions - just look at any metropolitan area when weather hits that is not "normal" such as snow, ice, heavy rain, fog, etc. Add in driver distraction due to mobile phones, texting, complicated entertainment systems, etc. along with younger/older drivers in larger numbers with longer commute times and it makes for a dense, distracted and often more dangerous driving environment than thirty years ago.

Google and Siri makes it possible to generally ignore where you are and where you are going. Folded maps? Who needs them? Why worry about braking and separation when you have ABS and "smart" cruise control? Why worry about snow, ice or saturated roadways when you have ABS and traction control? In a few years, autonomous vehicles will reduce the need for training, skills and situational awareness even more - at least in USA.

As vehicles have become more sophisticated and complicated, maintenance has become the domain of technicians vs. mechanics, with owner service and repair statistically less significant, other than bolt-on stuff like oil, filters, wheels and non-integral systems and accessories. Not that long ago, USA basic education included "shop" and "home economics" classes for boys/girls respectively during the last few years prior to graduation. Some of the reasons were vocational, but mostly they were required so people could survive in a world where people were expected to have certain skills and the service sector had not grown to today's scope and scale to meet people's basic needs (like sewing, oil changing, basic carpentry, etc.)

A good friend on MUD (Kevin Rowland) introduced me to an author, Matthew B. Crawford, who has written on the subject of shop class, the dumbing of USA students and the impact upon (among other things) the demand, tolerance and/or dependency upon highly automated, standardized products. Interesting read. The original article in The New Atlantis can be seen here. Or you can preview the book that followed here.

So what does that have to do with the original post, 7X series Toyotas and NHTSA? (to paraphrase/quote/anticipate an earlier respondent). I think it is about vehicular technology and the ability of the driver to operate and maintain the vehicle in a safe manner without the intervention of a Toyota service technician. It may be that NHTSA and the other regulators actually make us less safe by requiring us to buy vehicles that require less functional intelligence to operate and maintain the vehicle.
 
r083rt said:
In complete agreement with what has been said above.

As to my comment above about not knowing what the NHTSA had to do with these particular Cruisers, what I meant was I did not understand the context which the OP had used it since the NHTSA is strictly a US entity.
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No worries, I didn't connect the dots - it was an obtuse and localized reference on a site and forum supporting global members. My bad and thanks for raising the issue.

For our friends outside of North America, Ford USA has a TV commercial in rotation that presents a young married couple crowing about what a great and informed decision they made in purchasing a new Focus. Wife actor states power, economy, etc. attributes while husband actor says "basically, I don't know how to parallel park" or something similar. He goes on to say that the Focus auto-park system makes it possible for him to drive his car.....

The concept of accountability and empowerment have changed in this country over the last few decades. Not opining on good/bad, just stating a fact. It is not only acceptable for drivers to not be able to safely operate your vehicle without substantial technical intervention (hill holder, power assists, ABS, enhanced cruise control, rear/surround cameras, park assist, auto trans, etc.) but the marketing message is that it is "normal."

Personal accountability and responsibility (not from a moral but an operational perspective) is apparently no longer necessary, as the technology is now the prime mover. Just like it is apparently OK to not understand how your car works or how to fix it.

Seems kind of like the question of public health and personal responsibility. Tobacco, exercise, nutrition all impact longevity and quality of life (and health care costs). If you don't understand the system (your body) how to operate it (what to eat, benefits of exercise) or how to maintain/repair it (what to do when something hurts - indigestion or heart attack?) your results will not be optimized (personal and societal costs of health care and how long/well you live).

To summarize and bring it back to Toyota tech, we may not have basic (7X series) and durable (simple/diesel) Yotas in the USA because that would not be consistent with objectives of government, corporate and individual interests. Most people do not want what we want and the auto industry doesn't want to provide it to us.

My opinion only.
 
one of the reasons the missus and i decided to do a long Americas trip now before having kids instead of later as grey nomads, is i really believe that in 20 years time it won't be legal or possible to drive through north america in my hzj78, which is probably already now the last non-computerized diesel vehicle produced that is up to the rigors of the trip which i could maintain myself. aside from that, i want to do it while its still an adventure, and i egocentrically hope drivers keep getting dumber so there'll be less people where we go off the beaten track. after all we're basically the back end of what will be remembered as the "brutishly reckless" driving generation, as they won't be able to fathom how we could have hurtled ourselves around at deathly speeds on the road in steel death traps while trusting in the human reactions of others to avert death.

i'm sure (and hope for the planet's sake) that in 20 years we'll all be flying around in free to run solar/water/magnetic powered craft with modern drone-like automated nav systems that don't pollute nor require any modifications the ground... imagine the beauty of the roadless world with parking lots!

i might have to apologize for this rant seeing as though its so off-topic!
 
[QUOTE="damienperu, post: 9143019, member: 71776"i might have to apologize for this rant seeing as though its so off-topic![/QUOTE]
Seems spot on to original intent to me:clap:
 
DamoPeru said:
What, you mean the spaceship parking lot bit? LOL!
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I grew up on the Jetsons, will believe anything.

jetsons.webp
 
Yeah,

Thanks for showing us how cheated we are....:flipoff2:


If Toyota Gibraltar was playing with a full deck they could order vehicles in the correct color up front....just sayin".....:lol:
 
OGBeno said:
:lol:

Repost. I posted that video 2 years ago.

:lol:
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"Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery" - Charles Caleb Colton

""good artists copy but great artists steal" - Pablo Picasso

"Never had an original idea that I didn't borrow" - Ward Harris
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Onur -

Been on this site 2 years, been busy reading every post of you, Dan, Georg, Tor, Wayne and a boat load of other senior members, haven't gotten to that post yet....I think :idea:
 
I think he's pulling your leg.......:lol:
 
Gun Runner 5 said:
I thought "high thread count" simply made bed sheets more comfortable and expensive.
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OK, so I guess this is now a tech thread on bed linen....
 
No wonder the ordered so many in Venezuela, the way the police is handling their trucks is very bad

 
I never expected to see that video here. Those were actually BRAND NEW. Even though this is unusual, and effectively an isolated event, it is not unusual to see badly abused and worn 2011 and newer government Toyotas, as previously mentioned. Just goes to show the lack of care the people have for what they're given. Also shows the lack of education we have, Police department and similar agency vehicles dont respect traffic laws, drive recklessly, willingly disregard other drivers and what not.

They also sell the spare tires, emblems and even light bulbs. The level of corruption, excess of power, ignorance, indifference and general will to do everything the wrong way in the government agencies is truly sickening.

I still hope the current situation ends up in something better than what we've been living in for the past 15 years. Those government vehicles are still being burnt, by the way...
 
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