Does all of this seem confusing? Opinions everywhere, pieces of facts here and there. Even suggestions of possible fraud in some cases have now surfaced in regards to some of the crashes. From a technicians viewpoint, I have to draw the line at personal experience with these cars and this problem. I have not observed a throttle sticking on one, so therefore I have not had the chance to actually search for the cause on my own. All I can do is rely on the information that basically everyone is getting to hear both from on the news and snippets from techs around the country. Remember all of these are also going to dealers to be fixed under warranty, the aftermarket (independent technicians) are not involved at all with this. One Toyota tech even did a video of how the repair is done and you can find it on YouTube which essentially amounts to removing the pedal assembly. The tech then measures a gap between two portions of the pedal assembly, and then he/she installs a shim to take up that space and that causes more spring return pressure in the pedal assembly. The push for years has always been to have techs that would robotic-ally simply identify a failed (failing) part, remove it and replace it. Remember its all about price, no matter how expensive one may think auto repair labor fee's are, I've said it many times it's under priced by a significant margin. Six months ago, the repair would again have been to replace the part if they found one sticking, and this may well have happened many times. I have never seen information to support or deny how often that may have occurred if it did much at all. The diagnosis and replacement of the pedal assembly likely paid a technician about 1/2 an hour's time for the job. I could very well imagine someone else at another time looking at that pedal assembly, and if they could not prove that it was faulty, they would back flag the dealership for the repair, who would in turn take back the pay that the technician got for doing the repair back off of him/her. Many people would take the position that the tech ultimately not being paid for that repair isn't their problem, and in a direct fashion that would be true on that day. But eventually these actions erode the technician talent pool, and is the fundamental cause of many of the anecdotal stories of poor service you have ever heard of, read or told. Lastly, there have been many times that I have seen people condemn American car manufacturers about quality, and they point to recalls as their proof. It really was just a numbers game before one of the imports suffered a big issue, Toyota's quality hasn't changed because engineering underestimated what appears to be the spring tension required on one specific part. GM and Ford especially were never as bad as consumer reports wanted to make them look. JMHO. Now the Prius brakes issue where there can be a delay under certain circumstances due to a rough road? I can picture what is occurring, the rough road bounces a wheel up and and immediately locks with almost no braking pressure. That would look like a need to begin an anti-lock function to the computer. This isn't something that a dealer technician could fix on his/her own. The fix would have to come in the form of software for the HV, and ABS computers. They could in some cases require a redesign of, or potentially add a yaw sensor if the car didn't come with one. They could even incorporate suspension height sensors to help detect road surface conditions. The wheel speed sensors alone do allow for detection of rough road conditions. There is a resonance to the lock-up that is occurring the system will recognize as not matching the anti-lock systems function, and be scored as road surface, which results in less ABS activation. In Toyota's case that time period must be significantly long which is allowing the drivers to observe it.

One thing to consider is the auto market in general. right now, the lots are jammed and deals are easier to get. Some companies will be raising the price of the 2009 models when these arrive in the show rooms later this year. If economy turns around this winter and is on the road to recovery next year, You'll not see the same deals available right now. However, a 2008 new model will have almost 1 year depreciation as soon as your drive it off the lot because the 2009 models will be comming soon. If the economy contiues to tank next year, its a toss-up which is the better choice for your purposes. The 4 cylinder Camry is reported to give good trip mileage. On the other hand, I've heard (from my friends) that repair costs in a Toyoto dealership is much higher than at GM. Other folks will argue that you'll be returning to the GM garage more often than at Toyoto. You can't win! Buy the one you like. The 4 cylinder Toyoto will return good fuel mileage and reliability while the 6 cy Malibu has more pep. Driven conservatively, I'd expect the Malibu to return decent fuel mileage, but less than the Toyota. Both of these engines should return at least 100,000 miles of life without major repair under reasonable driving conditions. Commuting traffic will shorten the life of the transmission because of more frequent shifts and bursts of acceleration. Since both cars are within $1000 of each other, check with your insurance agent for the cost of like insurance on both models. A significant cost increase of one over the other may signal a differential of body repair, replacement, or theft costs.

Welcome -- and I hope no one was hurt in the accident. What is the "usual" price? It's only been recently that many people quit paying sticker price or higher for the car. Your handle ("organic_smallhome") indicates that you're willing to pay more for something you perceive as "greener" (that's not a slam, BTW; I do that, too). But what are your goals in buying a Prius? Lowest possible tailpipe emissions or carbon footprint? Fuel economy? Something else? Are you planning to drive the car into the ground or hold onto it for several years before trading for the next advance in "green" technology? Fact of the matter is that you can get a better deal than a Prius for a lot less money. If you're after fuel economy and interior room, you could buy one of the larger GM models (Chevy Impala, Buick LaCrosse) and get an honest close-to-30 mpg highway (hybrids are notorious for not hitting their EPA numbers) in a car that's cheap to insure and fix. If you're after pure mileage, you could go for a Honda Civic (which is now the size of the "old" Accord) or Fit, or the Toyota Yaris or Corolla and get 85-90% of the mileage of a Prius without the purchase price and the expensive maintenance. If you're really concerned about the carbon footprint, you'll go for the Civic or Corolla (both manufactured in North America) or -- even better -- a good-quality used version of either. Keep in mind that the Prius contains two drive systems (electrical and gasoline-powered) and lots of complicated electronics to make everything work. To Toyota's credit, it works well and Toyota has effectively mass-marketed a new technology without much of a hitch. (I know, Honda was first with its Insight, but it didn't sell like the Prius has.) However, most aftermarket service facilities and parts vendors don't yet see enough of a market to invest in equipment almost exclusively for the Prius, so you will be back to the dealer (at dealer labor rates) for all but the most routine parts and maintenance. And the battery pack is still a huge question mark -- how long will it last in real life? How much will it cost to replace? What will a Prius be worth without a good battery pack? In addition to the extra money it costs for all the pieces-parts, you're gambling some money on future repairability and resale value. Hope that helps....

As far as buying American-Toyota has a mfg plant in Georgetown Ky, and it my po dunk town there is a factory that makes the interiors for Toyota-this plant employs over 4oo people, and no telling how many the plant in Georgetown employs. You can't get much more American than something that comes from Kentucky.