Posts Tagged ‘ Toyota ’

Car Recalls: Technocrats and Bureaucrats Need to put Safety First

February 12th, 2010. By Hunter West

 

If the recall troubles of Toyota and now Honda are knocking you out of your comfort zone, better get used to it. As cars become more complicated and sophisticated, recalls are going to be a fact of life. 

In other words, the more automakers do, the more they have to ‘undo.’ 

Tacked onto an MSNBC story about the recent Honda expanded recall for airbags was a comment from Yoshihiko Tabei, chief analyst at Kazaka Securities. 

“While the way automakers handle recalls is important, I think people should be careful not to overreact to every single recall,” he said. “Rather, my concern for the auto industry is their earnings for the next financial year, given the absence of the boost they enjoyed from government incentives this year.” 

Other automotive analysts agree that automakers regularly trigger recalls, although some have suggested the media reaction to the Toyota case has been overblown. That latter statement may, or may not be true depending upon one’s perspective. In the Toyota case, the story for decades has been that the Japanese automakers had it Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Automotive, Honda, Honda Recall, Toyota, toyota recall
Posted in Defective Products | No Comments »

Got a Toyota Recall Story? Share it!

February 4th, 2010. By AbiK

I’m amazed at some of the stories out there from folks who are affected by this massive—hell, unprecedented—Toyota recall. There’s over 5.3 million affected Toyota owners out there, each with his or her own story of how the recall has affected them.

One I heard (or, overheard) yesterday: woman says she’s afraid she might lose her job because she doesn’t want to drive her car to work; apparently her commute is one hour each way… and I’m guessing she had no other means of getting to work other than her Toyota.

If you’ve got a Toyota recall story to share—whether it’s something that happened while you were driving, an issue you’ve had with Toyota or a Toyota dealership, or maybe just the sheer confusion you’re experiencing about whether your car is even safe to drive, let us know…

Share your Toyota Recall story

Tags: Toyota, toyota recall
Posted in Accidents, Defective Products, Emerging Issues | 2 Comments »

Toyota Recalls for Idiots

February 3rd, 2010. By AbiK

“Dummies” was already taken so I’m going with “Idiots” (no trademark infringement!). But the Toyota recall—actually make that plural: recalls—needs a down and dirty IKEA-type schematic for anyone to get what the hell is going on.

Why I Need an Idiot Guide to the Toyota Recall

See, this morning, I was tracking the latest info on the Toyota Prius. For the brakes. According to reports, at least 100 complaints have flowed into the NHTSA. About potentially poorly performing brakes. Oh, but wait a minute—didn’t we just see “Prius” listed somewhere on a recall list?

Yes! We did! That was when the Prius was recalled for risk of “floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals”—but not for sticking accelerator pedals. Are you with me? And that’s on 2004-2009 Prius models.

Now, if we’re talking the Toyota Camry, the recalls are for the 2007-2010 models—BUT Camry Hybrids are not included in that. And if you’re Camry has a VIN that starts with lucky “J”—you’ve won a mini lottery—YOUR Camry isn’t in the sticking accelerator pedal recall. BUT otherwise (lucky “J” folks stay alert here) ALL Camry’s from 2007-2010 are part of both the floor mat recall and the sticking accelerator pedal recall.

See my confusion? So rather than go on here and try to sort out all the other models, let’s skip over to what you’re supposed to do if you have, say, a 2007-2010 Camry without a “J” VIN.

Why I Need an Idiot Guide to the Toyota Recall Remedy

Well, first up, the floor mat recall. Toyota says you’re supposed to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat until you receive the vehicle-based remedy. Sounds pretty simple. Then Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Accelerator Pedal, Camry, Floormats, Prius, Toyota, toyota recall
Posted in Defective Products, Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Toyota Recall: Speed and Greed?

January 28th, 2010. By janem

Perhaps car makers, Toyota in particular, should figure out how crash test dummies can work a worn gas pedal–it might have saved lives. The latest accelerator recall is none too soon: In March 2007 Toyota began receiving reports that pedals were operating roughly or were slow to return to the idle position in the Tundra pickup, and again in December 2008, similar problems with its Aygo and Yaris models.

Toyota reported the Tundra problem was fixed in February 2008 and said it lengthened a part and changed the material to fix Aygo and Yaris, starting in August 2009. But the world’s largest auto maker recently seems to be plagued with even bigger problems.

On its website, Toyota says that “certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position…it can occur when the pedal mechanism becomes worn and, in certain conditions, the accelerator pedal may become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position.”  YIKES!

Just months ago, the company recalled of 4.2 million vehicles due to its gas pedals getting trapped under floor mats, causing sudden acceleration. Several crashes, including a number of fatalities, prompted that recall. This recent recall involves eight models affecting more than 2.3 million vehicles.

Toyota has one of the best track records for building safe cars, so why has it gone off the rails-or I should say, assembly line? Perhaps greed is a component. Analysts say the company’s former president, Katsuaki Watanabe, was a cost-cutting expert with an aggressive growth strategy that landed Toyota into the Number 1 global sales spot two years ago, beating out General Motors.

Wanna know what happened to Watanabe? In 2006, the Japanese government launched a criminal investigation into accidents suspected of being linked to vehicle problems, though nobody was charged. Watanabe later acknowledged overzealous growth was behind the quality problems.

Last year, Watanabe was replaced by Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder. I bet Toyoda is pissed.

Toyota predicts that 2.19 million vehicles will be sold in North America in 2010, up 11 per cent from 2009. Globally, Toyota said it was planning sales of 8.27 million vehicles this year, up 6 per cent from 2009. But those targets might need to be tweaked somewhat…

Tags: defective auto, Toyota, toyota recall
Posted in Defective Products | 2 Comments »

Do Toyota Floor Mats Mask a Larger Problem for All Manufacturers?

November 4th, 2009. By Hunter West

In late August, after an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer and three passengers were killed when their runaway Lexus crashed at speeds exceeding 120 mph, Toyota triggered the largest recall in its history and placed a focus on ill-fitting, or improperly-installed floor mats that could jam the accelerator pedal and hold it down. 

But then came the statement released yesterday by the US Department of Transportation (DOT)… 

“Toyota has announced a safety recall involving 3.8 million vehicles in which the accelerator pedal may become stuck at high vehicle speeds due to interference by the driver’s side floor mat, which is obviously a very dangerous situation. Toyota has written to vehicle owners stating that it has decided that a safety defect exists in their vehicles and asking owners to remove all floor mats while the company is developing a remedy. We believe consumers should follow Toyota’s recommendation to address the most immediate safety risk. However, removal of the mats is simply an interim measure, not a remedy of the underlying defect in the vehicles. NHTSA is discussing with Toyota what the appropriate vehicle remedy or remedies will be. This matter is not closed until Toyota has effectively addressed the vehicle defect by providing a suitable remedy.” 

The one sentence is telling: “…removal of the mats is simply an interim measure, not a remedy of the underlying defect in the vehicles.” 

What is the defect? The DOT won’t say, or doesn’t know. Meanwhile the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has done six separate investigations Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Automobile, Car, Floor Mats, Toyota
Posted in Defective Products | 3 Comments »