When desktop, laptop (or notebook) computers generate errors, they can freeze up, crash, or whatever. When the computers in cars, trucks, and other vehicles generate errors, things can get extremely ugly really, really fast.

While I was in Phoenix last month, the 2004 (or maybe it's a 2003 model, I'm not sure because it's my son's SUV) Jeep Liberty my wife was driving starting drinking gasoline like there was no tomorrow, consuming twice as much as normal. At more than 3 bucks a gallon, we couldn't afford that at all. It wasn't until I disconnected and reconnected the battery (after a minute pause) that the computer reset itself.

It wasn't the first time I'd dealt with a whacky car computer. The 2001 Plymouth Voyager I used to own would do all kinds of strange things when the battery was ready to be replaced. The first telltale sign would be the windshield wipers activating by themselves.

Amazingly, the computers in our 1984 Toyota Corolla, our 1990 Toyota Corolla, and our 1993 Toyota Corolla never acted up. Not once. The first two were traded in for each subsequent model and well, the third one was totaled in a car accident when my older son was driving. Our latest model, a 2006 Toyota Corolla Altis, will probably take years to develop any signs of problems, if it ever does. I've had it nearly two years and it only has a little over 4,000 kilometers on it.

My best friend, Tim Allen (no, not the actor), has owned 3 Toyota pickup trucks, the latest being a 2007 Toyota Tacoma. He's never experienced computer problems with his vehicles either.