Landcruiser | Notes from the Hollow

Everyday I anxiously await the nice lady that delivers our mail, dreading, but also hoping for the recall notice from Toyota. See, I take safety seriously.

The first I heard of the various Toyota recalls had to do with brakes. I would like to get the brakes fixed on the Land Cruiser. During the “Great Ice Storm of 2009” I drove over fallen trees and branches that blocked our little road and apparently snagged something that tore loose the brake line to the rear, passenger-side brakes. Ever since, we’ve been driving without rear brakes, but the front brakes still grab good so I’ve not worried about it too much. Rarely have occasion to get out of first gear in low-range and with a top speed of five miles-per-hour stopping doesn’t take too long.

Next I heard that something might be wrong with the power steering. I went out and drove the Land Cruiser and it steered okay. I raised the hood to take a gander at the power steering components and realized it didn’t even have power steering.

Reading the news out of the UK, there was talk of electronic throttles. I doubted the throttle was electronic on the Weems Toyota, so I dismissed that with a smirk.

Tuned into the morning news on the Berryville radio station and there was some serious sounding people worrying about Toyotas having malfunctioning floor mats. I immediately dropped the spoon into the bowl of corn flakes and then frowned when the milk splashed on my white t-shirt. I raced outside and pulled open the door on the 1971 Toyota Land Cruiser. With relief I remembered it didn’t have floor mats.