It seems that cars are just dangerous beasts, whether you spend a lot or a little. Some of the really expensive ones are surprisingly nasty.
In the wake of Toyota's grilling by Congress over its epidemic of runaway cars, NPR News did some digging and discovered that Toyota is not the only company that has had problems of this sort over the last 20 years.
Looking through the tables, it seems that neither luxury nor cheapo brands are immune.
Land Rover had more than 10 complaints per 100,000 cars sold in 1990, 1995, 1999, 2000, and 2002-2005. Jaguar had a similar level of complaints for 10 of the last 20 years. Volvo, which prides itself on safety had five pretty bad years. Mazda and Suzuki each had six years of complaints at this level or higher.
By comparison, Toyota landed in the doghouse in five of those years. And these were all complaints about uncontrolled acceleration. It's a sure bet there are lots of other problems that are worth noting as well.
The point here is not to belittle the grievances against Toyota, or the others for that matter. Any dangerous situation caused by auto malfunction is a bad one, not only for the driver, but for the other drivers on the road nearby. But it seems that Toyota is not the only car maker that has had these troubles.
Toyota is the scapegoat of the moment, perhaps because they are the largest target. The other car manufacturers ought to take these few moments out of the spotlight and make sure their own quality controls are in order before the light swings back their way.
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