I remember having to make arrangements to dispose of my Mother’s belongings after her sudden death at age 56 from an Aneurysm. Among the many items I had to get rid of was her Toyota Cresada. The Cresada was the predecessor of the Avalon, Toyota’s highend car in America before the Lexus. When I sat in the drivers seat of her car I was shocked to read the odometer  read my mother’s Cresada had 410,876 miles on it! Yes, she died before it did. She owned it for over 14 years. She loved her Toyota Cresada. My mind drifted into a swirl of memories; the many heart to heart conversations we had in the car, the many secret purchases we did not want my Dad to know about; the countless times we stopped for Dunkin Donuts coffee; the many times she waited and waved at us either delivering or picking us up from school; the many trips we took to the beach. I looked around the inside of the car and found on the floor behind the passenger seat an old box of Chees-it, her favorite snack. I heard the ghost of her laughter while saying all she had to do was change the oil and the tires on her reliable Cressie. Cressie, was a personality and part of our family. I remember sitting there with my forehead on Cressie’s stirring wheel while we both cried about my mother’s absence and felt like I had had a good cry with a living close friend.

I am not making light of the safety issues with regards to the recalls of the Toyota recently. I would like to remind many Americans to be aware of their car’s performance and take all precautions but let us not let the Press blow things out of proportions as it often does by sensationalizing faults of others. Let us not forget that it was Toyota who set the present American car industries standards for reliability and quality control. Remember to use common sense and appreciation seeking out facts, not speculative fiction about our particular brand, year, make and model Toyota. Rather than join in a mob of negative, irrational behavior keep your wits about you and remember to thank them for their innovations and quality controls. In the past twenty years I have owned three Toyotas and have never had any mechanical problems with them. No, I am not getting paid by Toyota to write this blog. I just felt compelled to. I believe that their cars have had a major part in this latest National Highway report saying that there have been fewer car deaths in the past decade then the decade before.
Further reading: Highway Deaths Down Sharply

~ Yovette Mumford

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