I really doubt the dad is the cause of the suit. He seems like a cool, understanding guy, who's grieving because he lost his son. Their lawyer, on the other hand, seems like a total sleazeball. I bet that lawyer approached them rather than the other way around, or maybe the mom had something to do with it, but I really think the main motivation in this case is the lawyer who thinks he will get a fat settlement out of this. People like him who take advantage of our screwed up legal system to make money make me so angry

 

I had my relay rod replaced several years ago under this recall. The dealership replaced the tierod ends and several other small parts for free (I think my alignment sleeves were seized). I did not notice till I got home and looked under the front end and there were a lot of new parts. I was not charged a dime and they only had my truck for 4 hours. Its a free fix and you get yota parts. You can always tell them to only do the free recall stuff. You should not have to pay anything unless you consent.

As for the story is sad and more than likely nobody will ever really know what caused the crash. Its hard to point the finger totally at Toyota with speeding AND alcohol involved. To come to court you have to have clean hands. The speeding and alcohol bring in a good deal of reasonable doubt. More than likely Toyota will settle just to try and keep this out of the media any further. Even if they would win the court case its not good for yotas rep to seem so noncaring about the loss of a life in their vehicle. Nobody wins.

 

it is a sad story , i dont even want to think about going to my kids funeral, i want them to come to mine, its tough for any parent to have to live with out there children, i would be devesated
i am going to raise some cain if Permain Toyota dealer give me a song and dance, my wife and my daughter drive the 91

 

I didn't want to chime in, but I've read most of this thread, and so, here's my post. As some of the longer standing members know (Abe, 'Cougar, and others) know, I have buried my son. He had just turned 3. My son would have been 19 this month. It is something you never move past, never fully accept. You are reminded of your loss everyday, seeing other people kids. My son and his mom, my fiance was killed by a drunk driver. I do speak from experience, that we always look to/for some1 else to lay the blame on, ourselves being the last in that search. It's extremely hard to see, let alone accept that we, as grieving parents didn't do something right.

An accident, is just that, an accident. You need to look at the MAJOR contributing factors that caused the accident. Alcohol, prolly some excessive speed, goofing off, and driving inexperience. Is it Toyota's fualt, the kid was drinking, maybe trying to show off for his friends? No, and it's stupid to lay the blame entirely on them. Look up the examples that DeathCougar posted, 'bout the Ford Pinto, and others. I have personally had the steering relay rod on my old '91 2 1/2" lifted longbed snap on me at freeway speeds, and didn't lose control. Got it pulled over to the side of the freeway with lil problems.

If you were not INVOLVED in the accident, relayrod, how can you speak 'bout the relay rod snapping on the youngster, as being the sole cause of the accident? Do you know if his truck was covered under the recall? What if the owners truck was covered by the recall, and written notification was sent, and ignored by the owner of the vehicle? Is that Toyota's fault? Do you KNOW any of the answers to these questions? Or are you 1 of those people who believe everything the media tells you, just 1 side of the real story? That is just stupid in my opinion. I would suggest getting all the facts, then forming your own conclusion before posting something like that. Back up your statements with facts, first, before you say anything.

And bringing up 'Cougs mod status, is rather childish and immature, in my opinion. You don't know him, or the knowledge he provides to Yotatech everyday. Or any of the rest of us members, for the most part. I don't know how they award mod status on other forums you may belong to, but here it's not given merely on post count, or date of register.

I do feel for the parents, on more levels than most can imagine, on their loss. A parent is suppose to be buried by their children, not bury their children. I do pray that they can survive this loss, together, as a family.

Ok, I'm done. Just had to add my .02

 

 

"relayrod" repersents (aka lawyer) the Stewart family from the nbc video. I would say this is a quest for a class action suit. So, i would imagine he is familier with the particulars of the incident. If the rod failure was at fault toyota needs to pay, but if it was a drunken teen out goofing off with his friends, then he is to blame. Bottom line its a tough loss for a family, no money is fixing that, but suing toyota is not bringing anyone back. How about taking up the cause of making better drivers training available? Or teaching these kids some defensive driving skills. Champion a cause for some kind of positive change, and you will get a following, but suing some corporation to line your pockets and ego in the name of protecting the little guy, will get you nothing.

 

Wait, really?

 

I hope that he doesn't rep for the family. If he does, he is more narrow minded, blaming Toyota soley for the death, than I imagined and gave him credit for.

I do like the points you've brought up, 'bout champion-ing a worth while cause, that will help to prevent this from happening in the future, i.e.. the better driver's training, and defensive driving skills. Good things to think 'bout.

 

He is apart of the stewart family repersentative team, he PM after reading my post about my relay rod breaking.

 

Great...... just great.

 

Hey wait a second...

DC said nearly every rolled vehicle had this relay rod broken correct? Since he works at a toyota yard i respect that piece of information.

How is this said lawyer going to prove that the broken rod was because of the default instead of the rollover?

Don't get me wrong i feel for the family, but this is ridiculous..
Toyota DID send out the recall notice didn't they? In that clip it said that the DMV is supposed to notify toyota to allow them to update their records? I don't see how we can blame this on one particular side.


Sorry to hear about your loss to a4runnerfreak. I was unaware.

Death of anyone is awfully sad regardless of the situation, i just don't see how this situation has the all the information to what really happened.

My condolences go out to the family though.

 

Thank you, 904. I'm curious, why'd you change your avatar? Wasn't cuz your avatar made mine jealous, was it?

 

Nah we saw this BEAT tundra driving around one day..
Super overloaded, riding on the bumpstops and the side is ALL dented up.

 

Ah, ok. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't cuz of something I said......

 

America is so sue happy

my question is how did a car with a failing relay rod flip over? the highway looked pretty straight, and by assessing the damage they were speeding... Seems like the dad wanted to blame a failed relay rod rather than the fact that his son is dumb.

Drunk, speeding teenagers

I feel worse about the car than i do about the dumbasses who decided to get into their friends car while he was drunk.

 

Really dude you are talking about someones life. Thats another problem greater then the suing problem

 

While I don't agree with xyzragon's comments, I can totally imagine the dad hearing a "ka-ching" sound in his head......... Even if it wasn't about the money, you'd want to lay the blame almost anywhere, instead of letting it fall on the head of your dead son.

There is no doubt in my mind the lawyer is looking for a fat payday.

 

I dont doubt it for a second! Its not like he is on here telling us this story to encourage everybody to get their relay rods fixed, no he is here fishing for ammo
.

 

He is indeed here fishing for Ammo.

I have sent him a PM, and I am speaking with administrators for what can be done about this harassment.

Edit: here is his info, publicly available: http://www.lawyers.com/California/Sa...5524816-a.html

If any members experience any form of harassment from Mr. Kristensen, or anyone who may be using RelayRod's account, please contact a moderator and we will handle the situation.

Yotatech is a place of information, and technical knowledge. While the story is a terrible one indeed, we are doing everything we can here to inform members of it. It has helped countless members get their rods done. The attacks on Toyota are unacceptable, and one must realize there will never be 100% coverage as the sensationalized report states toyota is going for.

 

That right there is a great idea. I can't speak for anyone else here but IMO if he stays here "fishing for ammo" then my replies are quickly going to read like I was a pirate regular.