Whether or not the Toyota'a suffer from AES (Audi Emulation Syndrome), I submit Edmunds motives are far from an attempt to pillory the automaker. Rather, the difficulty in "proving" the gremlins exist will in time vindicate one of Edmunds' most frequent comparison winners and (coincidentally?) advertisers. Further, their willingness to pay the award for exposing any automaker is a brilliant Machiavellian twist, since it has a real chance of pulling other automakers into the mud with the Japanese leviathan, thereby diminshing the effect of Toyota's bad press. "See? They all do that!"
If all goes well, Toyota sales rebound, the ad spending increases, and Edmunds can pat themselves on the back for backing a 'winner'.
