We live in a ridiculously litigious society. People like to make lawyer jokes, but the reality is people would still sue one another (or the equivalent) even if every lawyer in the world was dumped into the bottom of the deepest ocean.

Some, of course, have legitimate reasons to sue. However, many (MANY!) do so because they believe they are ENTITLED to whatever their heart desires.

“I deserve to be rich, so doggone it my car being slightly rear-ended by that BMW is my ticket to money town,” they might say.

“Ouch, my neck! Call an ambulance. You’ve physically and emotionally injured me,” they might add.

The fact there are so many people out there like this is why, if I was ever to get rich or win the lottery, I, despite my intense frugal ways, would splurge on two things: 1) I would have umbrella insurance and 2) I would only own sensible vehicles and would never, ever drive myself. I’d hire a personal driver if I had to — anything to keep me from behind the wheel and the target of a potential lawsuit.

But I digress.

Last year, I wrote an entire blog post dedicated to society’s sense of entitlement, so I don’t want to rehash all of that. My thoughts on entitlement are fleshed out very well in that blog post.

So, then, what’s the point of THIS particular entitlement-related post?

To express my pessimism regarding all the “issues” people are having with Toyota vehicles.

Are there problems with certain Toyotas? Yes, absolutely. Toyota has problems and needs to get them fixed before their good name permanently goes in the toilet.

That said, I believe some of these “incidents” are made up. They’re scams. They’re initiated by people hoping to get rich, get their names in the newspaper, or both.

It’s been reported that you cannot always duplicate the hiccups that are happening in faulty Toyotas. To a scammer, this news is like beautiful, beautiful music.

“Oh crap, I just ran a red light and hit a SUV! What am I gonna do?! I know, I’ll blame in on my Toyota! Everyone knows crazy things are happening with them, so people will believe me. I might even get to sue someone!”

And then you have the people (who I KNOW exist) that will premeditatedly decide to get into an accident so they can blame their Toyota. Has something like this already happened? Will it happen? Could it happen? Yes, yes and yes.

Let me be clear, I am not saying EVERYONE who reports an issue with their Toyota is being untruthful. I’m not saying that at all.

What I’m saying is SOME people who are reporting incidents are flat-out lying through their soon-to-be-gold-capped-once-they-get-rich teeth.