Gas 2.0

According to Edmunds.com’s Green Car Advisor blog, ever since the news about potential Prius braking problems broke in the mainstream media, shopper interest in the Prius on Edmunds.com has risen significantly. “Both consideration and purchase intent for the Prius have risen about 10 percent among car shoppers doing research on Edmunds.com since the Prius brake story became news earlier this week,” said John O’Dell in a post on Green Car Advisor.

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Toyota’s certainly been having a hell of a time recently. Millions and millions of cars recalled, public relations disasters, seemingly aloof executives—the scope of the whole thing is so mind-boggling to me that it’s almost hard to imagine that this is the same Toyota I grew up with. So I’ll admit it, I’m a Toyota fan boy. My family owned way more Toyotas than anything else and my first car was an ‘84 Tercel hand-me-down I got from my parents.

But none of that stops me from objectively evaluating the company and judging for myself if there really is a reason to stop buying Toyotas. Certainly now that even their untarnishable Prius seems to be tarnishing, my trust in Toyota is more shaken than at any point in my life. On top of the stuck accelerator pedals, the Prius braking problems threaten to put a stake through the very heart of a car company that hundreds of millions of customers worldwide hold so dear.

But when I take a step back, I’m left wondering what this is actually all about.

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