Editor's note: With more than 300 million cars and at least 26 million new cars sold each year, China has become a veritable auto powerhouse.
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Auto-First | Sun Jinfeng
Special support | Auto Complaint Network
"The engine yellow light alarm caused by the throttle failure does not affect the driving, and there is no need to set up a system logic that can only travel 2 kilometers, which will cause danger." Mr. Liu, the owner of the Beijing car, because of the failure of his Own Leiling Double Engine Throttle, caused him to lie down on the road three times. Mr. Liu tried to contact GAC Toyota to communicate the logic setting of the engine failure system, but it has not been successful.
Mr. Liu purchased a Leiling Dual Engine in late 2016 and experienced engine failures three times since September 2021, most recently earlier this month. The driving computer engine failure light is yellow, beeping, and the text that the vehicle is only allowed to drive for 2 kilometers to stop and wait for rescue is displayed. Mr. Liu went to the 4S shop and the auto repair plant to check, and the results were confirmed three times that it was a throttle failure.
Mr. Liu told Auto-First that at present, due to the three-year warranty period of the vehicle, Mr. Liu has replaced the new throttle at his own expense, and the vehicle is currently running normally. But he is worried that the same problem will occur in the future, bringing inconvenience and even safety hazards to his car.
As a professional engaged in the electronic and electrical industry, Mr. Liu said that the throttle failure is not a serious failure, which may lead to unstable engine idle, slow speed and fuel cost, etc., will not affect the safety of driving, and can fully allow drivers to drive a certain mileage and reach the rescue area. There is no need to set a uniform rule that only 2 kilometers are allowed.
He analyzed that Toyota is a Japanese car, Japan is relatively small, densely populated, timely rescue is faster and more convenient, so the system sets the alarm light after the throttle failure, only allowed to travel 2 kilometers feasible. However, China's vast territory, no telecommunications signal no man's land, no rescue areas, once the throttle failure is prohibited engine work, drivers can not drive to close to the rescue area, may cause freezing, starvation and other serious personal injuries.
Therefore, Mr. Liu believes that the Leiling automotive engine system control software is set up with major safety hazards, and the throttle fault should be excluded from the list of serious engine failures. Drivers can be alerted to throttle failures, and even allow drivers to agree to drive themselves to rescue to save lives on the condition that partially damaged engine performance. Mr. Liu said: "The modification work is nothing more than modifying the conditional statements in the software, and it is not difficult. ”
In response to Mr. Liu's question, Auto-First contacted the relevant staff of GAC Toyota on March 9 and sent a communication letter about Mr. Liu's vehicle problem, hoping that GAC Toyota would respond to Mr. Liu's question in a timely manner. The staff member said on the same day that he hoped to go to the contact information of the owner of the car, Mr. Liu, and forwarded it to the CR department to follow up with Mr. Liu.
However, as of the time of the press release of Auto-First, GAC Toyota did not contact the owner of the car, Mr. Liu, and did not respond to the request for further communication of auto-First.
Auto-First also contacted the senior maintenance personnel of 4S stores such as Beijing FAW-Volkswagen and Dongfeng Honda, who said that at present, FAW-Volkswagen, Dongfeng Honda's models, the engine failure light is yellow, the vehicle can still drive, and there is no similar restriction that can only travel 2 kilometers, but the owner needs to go to the 4S shop or maintenance plant as soon as possible for testing and repair. For the vapor auto-first proposed throttle failure will cause what impact on the vehicle, the above maintenance personnel said that it may cause the vehicle to be unstable, poor acceleration performance, insufficient power, etc., but it can still be driven, and the owner should also repair it as soon as possible.
So the question is, will Leiling Double Engine set up this way cause greater security risks? Once the owner of the Leiling Shuangqing car appears as Mr. Liu worried: due to the throttle failure in the no-man's land nest, in the absence of mobile phone signal, no one to rescue, how to ensure the personal safety of the car owner, is this setting of the Leiling Shuangqing to a certain extent will become a murderer?
GAC Toyota's questioning of the owner has not yet clearly responded. For a model with a monthly sales of more than 5,000 units and sometimes exceeding 10,000 vehicles, such a large group of car owners may face potential dangers, and GAC Toyota's attitude is really chilling. (Some pictures provided by the owner)