Companies have passed the buck on mistakes

In response to the March 5 Susan Estrich column, “My Toyota, an '81 Corolla, drives my loyalty,” it seems other examples of bad behavior of big car companies are in order.

Back in the early days of V-8 engines, Studebaker got a bad “rap” for a soft engine camshaft. It went public to try and fix the problem. The problem was industrywide, but companies such as General Motors replaced the camshafts and lifters quietly, using “overnight replacement.”

We had a 1988 Ford Taurus engine that would electrically “cut out” any time it felt like it. We spent more than $1,200 to try and fix it to no avail. Many years later after we sold it, Ford admitted to a design flaw in the placement of the computer that caused it to overheat.

When Ford finally agreed to fix the problem nationwide, there were estimated to be only 1 percent to 2 percent of those models still running and therefore not a significant problem, or expense to Ford, either.

The last example of “passing the buck” or ignoring a problem was when Firestone tires were considered defective because they blew out at highway speed. Firestone paid dearly for this, which later was found to be an incorrect pressure suggestion for drivers on the vehicles with those Firestone tires.

Firestone suggested a higher tire pressure for its tires and the tires could not run and hold up under the lower pressure suggested.

I am still driving my second Studebaker and third Toyota.

Tom Snyder

Dyersville