Toyota Recalls

[Yaris Hilton]

Woz says it's a computer problem:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584716,00.html

[ddongbap]

Maybe his feet hit all 10 pedals at once?

[MadMax]

And it gets worse...

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Toyota owners Wednesday they should stop driving their vehicles, then quickly took back his words, adding to confusion over the safety of millions of recalled cars. Toyota, for its part, tried to reassure drivers that sticky gas pedals have been rare — and the cars can be stopped in any event by firmly stepping on the brakes.

The final word from LaHood: "What I meant to say or what I thought I said was, if you own one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and they're going to fix it."

The back-and-forth played out as word surfaced that Toyota Motor Corp. also has been the subject of more than 100 complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems with the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid, which is not part of the recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 100 complaints, two of them involving crashes that resulted in injuries. In addition, Japan's transport ministry said it had received 14 complaints.

Rep. Bart Stupak, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee, said he planned to ask Toyota about the complaints related to the Prius.

Further clouding the picture for consumers: the notion that problems could extend beyond Toyota vehicles. Federal officials have widened their investigation of malfunctioning gas pedals to see if the same problem exists in cars made by other auto companies.

The traffic safety agency said it had sent a letter to CTS, the Indiana company that made the pedals for Toyota, to find out more about the pedals it has manufactured for other auto companies, including Honda, Nissan and a small number of Fords in China. CTS has been adamant that the issues are limited to Toyota alone.

The Toyota recall in the U.S. covers 2.3 million vehicles and involves 2009-10 RAV4 crossovers, 2009-10 Corollas, 2009-10 Matrix hatchbacks, 2005-10 Avalons, 2007-10 Camrys, 2010 Highlander crossovers, 2007-10 Tundra pickups and 2008-10 Sequoia SUVs. The recalls also extend to Europe and China, covering nearly 4.5 million vehicles overall.

Toyota said the sticking gas pedal situation is unusual and "generally does not occur suddenly. In the rare instances where it does occur, the vehicle can be controlled with firm and steady application of the brakes."

LaHood said the government is considering civil penalties against the carmaker but that it appeared "Toyota is making an all-out effort to do all that they can to fix these cars."

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said plenty of questions remain.

"Obviously, there are concerns regarding the consistency of information that is entering the public domain," he said.

Issa is right, LaHood's original comments were inflammatory and he should be held accountable. He was nominated by Obama and most likely got that because he is from Obama's home state of Illinois. His résumé on transport matters is seen as thin by many critics...

[galactus]

This looks like media hype to me. Of course, society at large can be rather weak-minded and believe everything they hear on the 'news'. Pretty soon, angry mobs are going to attack Toyota owners and dealers. Now, since they smell blood in the water, they are going to start on something else....Prius brakes. It is all overblown BS propagated and exacerbated by a pukey, liberal media who believes that all corporations are inherently evil anyway. This does not affect my feeling on Toyotas one little bit. I would buy another and probably will one day.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by galactus

This does not affect my feeling on Toyotas one little bit. I would buy another and probably will one day.

Agreed, we are looking at a Venza to possibly replace our Honda Odyssey when it craps out one day. You can really mod them to look quite nice...

[wooverstone8]

Originally Posted by galactus

This does not affect my feeling on Toyotas one little bit. I would buy another and probably will one day.

As long as Toyota provides good customer service and continue to build fun to drive and fuel efficient cars (like the Yaris) I'll stay with them. I'm planning to stay w/ my Yaris long term. It's an excellent little car!

[advocate]

The fact that this thread is 14 pages long and the Yaris isn't in the recall only proves the fact that this American media classic fear campaign has really gotten to people.

If you operate a machine and you are unaware of how to use it properly and completely you take that responsibility and any consequences into your own hands.

This wouldn't be a problem if it took more than 5 minutes to get a drivers' license in America. Or more than $5.

[ddongbap]

Originally Posted by advocate

The fact that this thread is 14 pages long and the Yaris isn't in the recall only proves the fact that this American media classic fear campaign has really gotten to people.

If you operate a machine and you are unaware of how to use it properly and completely you take that responsibility and any consequences into your own hands.

This wouldn't be a problem if it took more than 5 minutes to get a drivers' license in America. Or more than $5.

Well, there are wait times at the DMV, and I thought there were card fees?

And I think there should be testing and licencing to have and operate horns.

[fmicle]

^ LOL +1

[devinlamothe]

Aren't the Prius brake parts the same as the ones used in the yaris? I know a lot of our parts are the same.

[127.0.0.1]

Prius has a software glitch


just needs new software loaded.


Toyota officials described the problem as a "disconnect" in the vehicle's complex anti-lock brake system (ABS) that causes less than a one-second lag. With the delay, a vehicle going 60 mph will have traveled nearly another 90 feet before the brakes begin to take hold.

1 second is an ETERNITY in a panic. I will still buy a dozen Toyotas over any other maker, but DANG!!!!

[cdavidhess]

On the positive side, when Toyota starts selling the recalled vehicles again, they will inevitably be offering some great rebates and other incentives to get customers back.

[Twistoffate0817]

I truly believe my Yaris has some issues that need to be resolved. As some may know, I have always felt my yaris had some type of flaw. My Brakes are not stopping my vehicle well enough, and now today I was driving down the road, had a cd in, and it just randomly chaged from the CD to AM radio. It is just all very weird.

[bigbang]

conspiracy!!
Take Ford for instance, and not that long ago. In October of last year, Ford recalled 4.5 million cars to replace a faulty cruise control deactivator, which was shown to be a fire hazard. That brought the total number of cars recalled for this specific problem up to 16 million - the largest single recall ever in automotive industry history.
were is the media on this story

[127.0.0.1]

Originally Posted by bigbang

conspiracy!!
Take Ford for instance, and not that long ago. In October of last year, Ford recalled 4.5 million cars to replace a faulty cruise control deactivator, which was shown to be a fire hazard. That brought the total number of cars recalled for this specific problem up to 16 million - the largest single recall ever in automotive industry history.
were is the media on this story

yeah. Fords would catch fire while sitting in your garage at night and burn your whole house down. the switch always had current and when it failed, it Trogdor'ed yer arse.

[eht13]

Originally Posted by 127.0.0.1

yeah. Fords would catch fire while sitting in your garage at night and burn your whole house down. the switch always had current and when it failed, it Trogdor'ed yer arse.

Yes, I remember this! And while it was in the news, I don't remember it being made up to the same level that this Toyota thing is.

[yannis-b]

Originally Posted by 127.0.0.1

yeah. Fords would catch fire while sitting in your garage at night and burn your whole house down. the switch always had current and when it failed, it Trogdor'ed yer arse.

My last car was a ford puma (small coupe) which blew up on the motorway... Then I decided to go for something more reliable, either a honda or a toyota but I didn't really like the jazz (fit) and the civic was too expensive with only a 1.4 engine so the yaris was the obvious choice. I've done 1000 miles so far and I love it, especially after installing the rear sway bar :p Sure the recall is a pain but they are doing their best to fix it.

[MadMax]

The biggest rub is that there was nowhere near as much coverage in 2008 when Ford had to recall 12 million vehicles due to a cruise-control switch catching fire. As a matter of fact, the top six recalls of all time were American-built cars. The 2.3 million cars affected by the Toyota recall doesn't even make the top ten list of recalls! #10 is the 1987 Ford recall of 3.6 million vehicles, which affected 1.3 million more vehicles than this Toyota recall!