Toyota's ThrottleGate Recall

[altspace]

Toyota is expanding its sticking-throttle recall to some 2 million European vehicles, Japan's big Yomiuri daily newspaper is reporting.

The Reuters news service public website (www.reuters.com) says an unnamed Toyota spokesman wouldn't quite go that far. The Reuters item says: "A Toyota spokeswoman said the company was still in the process of considering a recall in Europe, and that no decision had been made."

Last Thursday in the U.S., Toyota said it will recall 2.3 million Toyota-brand cars and trucks, back to 2005 models in some cases, for potentially faulty throttle pedal assemblies.

The throttle pedals, supplied by a Canadian facility of CTS Automotive, can wear prematurely and stick open. General Motors' 2009-10 Pontiac Vibe is to be recalled, too. It is similar to the Toyota Matrix and was built for GM's defunct Pontiac brand by Toyota at a California factory.

Toyota says it has not yet figured out how to fix the problem, which an ABC News report last Thursday tied to the deaths of four people.

Once Toyota comes up with a fix, and gets it approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Toyota dealers will perform the repairs free on Toyota models. GM says Buick and GMC dealers will repair the Pontiacs.

Toyota says the sticking-throttle recall is entirely separate from November's recall of 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus models. In that recall, throttle pedals could get stuck under floor mats and the cars could zoom out of control

In that recall, Toyota said it will trim the pedals, then replace them with redesigned pedals later this year.

Also last year, Toyota recalled 110,000 of its Tundra pickups. The crossbeam that holds the spare tire under the trucks could corrode and the tire could fall off.

Despite the drumbeat of bad publicity because of the recalls, longtime Toyota owners might not care. "If you're forty something and had, say, three Toyotas that worked fine, you're probably more likely to give Toyota some slack," says Jesse Toprak, vice president at price- and industry-tracking site TrueCar.com.

"But if you're twenty something, you're less likely," he says, because you lack the years of positive experience with the Toyota brand. "You could have a negative brand image and that's important. Those are the people" that Toyota counts on to keep buying its products as the buyers age.

 

[Kymerik]

bwahahaha...

 

[mikeyb]

Toyota Suspends Sales, Production of Eight Vehicles

In an unprecedented move, Toyota announced Tuesday night it was suspending sales of eight Toyota-brand models — some of its bestsellers — due to safety concerns regarding sticking accelerator pedals on vehicles that only last week were covered in the company's voluntary recall.

"Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company," said Group Vice President and Toyota Division General Manager Bob Carter. "This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized. We're making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible."


Vehicles that will not be for sale temporarily are the:



2009-'10 RAV4

2009-'10 Corolla

2009-'10 Matrix

2005-'10 Avalon

2007-'10 Camrys

2010 Highlander

2007-'10 Tundra

2008-'10 Sequoia


In addition, Toyota will halt production of vehicles the week of February 1.
The suspended vehicles make up 65 percent of Toyota's market share over the last 12 months.


[insideline]

 

[mikeyb]

No Hybrid, Lexus, or Scion models are not effected. I am surprised that the Lexus ES350, RX350, and the Scion tC are not effected.

 

[Kymerik]

and again, bwahahaha "sudden unexpected acceleration" i almost died laughing when i heard that on the news this morning...brings back stories of the pinto...sudden unexpected fireballs lol

 

[mikeyb]

Report: Toyota was legally required to stop selling recalled models



Toyota has quite the PR nightmare on its hands. The boiling cauldron of complaints surrounding unintended acceleration issues bubbled over this month with two separate but giant recalls. The latest involves eight Toyota models that contain defective accelerator pedal mechanisms that could stick over time due to wear.

There is no fix available for the pedal mechanisms yet and dealers have continued to sell new models affected by the recall, so Toyota announced yesterday that it's suspending the sale and production of these eight models for the week of February 1. It was a bold move that made headlines, as Toyota stands to lose a lot of money. On the other hand, the Japanese automaker got some pats on the back for doing the right thing.

Turns out, the decision to stop producing these vehicles wasn't made by Toyota alone. The Detroit News reports that Toyota is required by law to stop selling the vehicles since there is no fix available yet. David Strickland, the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that Toyota consulted with his agency, which informed the automaker of its obligations and it complied. That still doesn't answer why these recalled vehicles were being sold five days after the recall was announced.

Nevertheless, Toyota spokesman Mike Michels is reported saying that the company's decision to stop selling the recalled vehicles was voluntary, but that they also had a legal requirement to do so. How do you voluntary do something that you're obligated to do?

In related news, General Motors has confirmed to Autoblog's sister site, AOL Autos, that it is putting a hold on all remaining Pontiac Vibe sales, as the model is under recall for the same throttle issue that afflicts its mechanical twin, the Toyota Matrix. Fortunately for GM, there are apparently only six Vibe units left in stock nationwide as the brand's shutdown continues.

[autoblog]

 

[mikeyb]

Report: Toyota to take pedal recall global

The Detroit Bureau reports today that Toyota is currently in discussions with other world governments and safety agencies about expanding its latest recall involving defective accelerator pedal mechanisms that may cause unintended acceleration. Eight models are included in the current U.S. recall, which affects some 2.3 million Toyota branded vehicles. Without a fix for the issue, Toyota is required by law to stop production and sales of the vehicles, which it did yesterday some five days after the recall was announced. Toyota also announced another recall earlier this month affecting 4.2 million vehicles with floor mats that could trap accelerator pedals, also causing unintended acceleration, and while the two issues are said to be unrelated, around 1.7 million vehicles are affected by both recalls.

At the heart of this latest recall are accelerator pedal mechanisms produced by Indiana-based CTS Corp. at its plant in Mississauga, Ontario. What's not immediately known is whether the pedal mechanisms produced by CTS Corp. have been used in any models sold outside North America, or whether the problem with these parts is in their manufacturing or an issue with their design, choice of materials, etc. If it's the latter, the defective pedal mechanisms could be produced in other Toyota supplier plants around the world and be used in millions more vehicles than the ones covered by this latest recall in the U.S.

Toyota has not officially commented whether or not its considering expanding the recall to other markets, or other brands like Lexus and Scion. Stay tuned as more news about Toyota and its recall woes continues to surface.

[autoblog]

 

[Shadow102]

something none of these sites says either is that all japanese manufacture vehicles do not fall under this. That mean only VINs starting with 4T are effected and dealers are still able to sell JT VIN vehicles (all hybrids are JT vins which is why they say those are all ok)

The other thing here is the chance of having a pedal fail is highly unlikely i think i heard somebody refer to it like the chance of getting hit by lightning

 

[JCell]

i can see people getting speeding tickets and blaming the pedal...

 

[mikeyb]

The Fix is In: Toyota reportedly has replacement pedals ready to go



Much of the controversy surrounding Toyota's latest recall of 2.3 million vehicles for defective accelerator pedal mechanisms has to do with the fact that the automaker didn't have a fix ready when the announcement was made last week. These assemblies can reportedly wear over time, causing the accelerator pedal to return to position slowly or even stick and cause unintended acceleration. Since there was no fix at the time of the announcement, Toyota halted sales of all eight models involved in the recall and decided to shut down the plants where they're assembled in early February to prevent inventory from backing up. This action occurred five days after the recall began and was reportedly done in consult with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since it's required to do so by law.

Well, the fix is in, so to speak, as Automotive News reports that affected Toyota plants are now gearing up to receive replacement accelerator pedal mechanisms. A Toyota spokesperson confirmed to the industry paper that the supplier responsible for manufacturing the parts, CTS Corporation, has finished developing a replacement mechanism and that some units have already been shipped to plants, though the amount and which plants received have them is unknown. The factories will likely still shut down from February 1–5 in order to keep inventory in check, but having the replacement assemblies now will help ensure they're in the pipeline when production of each model resumes.

Despite the good news for anyone considering the purchase of a Toyota model affected by the recall, Automotive News rightly points out that current owners may not benefit as quickly. There are 2.3 million vehicles in customers' driveways that require the replacement part, but AN sources say the plant that makes them has an annual capacity of just 2 million. Considering that Toyota's assembly plants also need to be supplied, we're wondering how Toyota will be able to fix each recalled vehicle in a timely manner.

On a related note, Toyota dealers are also reportedly getting instructions from the Mother Ship on how to answer questions related to the recall. AN editor James B. Treece reports that when asked if any accidents have been reported, dealers are encouraged to respond, "The number of accidents is still under investigation" without further confirmation. As Treece notes, the spin continues, as just a simple yes or no would suffice.

[autoblog]

 

[mikeyb]

Toyota adds another 1.1M cars to floor mat recall




If you need to announce another recall around the same time a controversial president is making his highly anticipated State of the Union address, you probably won't curse that particular luck. That is exactly what Toyota felt it needed to do, revealing yesterday evening that it's recalling a further 1.1 million cars to fix "pedal entrapment problems" caused by floor mats.


This action is tied to Toyota's largest recall ever last year of 4.26 million cars for the same issue, but is different than the recall of 2.3 million cars for a sticking accelerator announced last week. The new models in question are:

• 2008-2010 Highlander
• 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Venza
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe

Toyota reportedly has a number of fixes planned for all of the issues. Now it will just want the time to be able to focus on fixing them, without any more surprises.

[autoblog]

 

[Kymerik]

*continues to laugh hysterically*

they found faults in 8, count it, 8 outta what, 4million vehicles? what happened to chalking it up to an OOPS...

 

[JCell]

the lawsuits from those 8, plus the extended lawsuits from all the other unaffected greddy owners could hurt them more financially.

not to mention all the bad press

they are responding in a good manner, doing spin control and paying out the ass

 

[Kymerik]

out the ass is an understatement...dealers havent been able to sell any of the above cars since the recall and the plants are on hold as well...

 

[BlackCherry06]

All a result of buying their electronic components from the lowest bidder. Most likely a Chinese part. I don't know if I'll ever be 100% comfortable with drive-by-wire.

 

[Kymerik]

All a result of buying their electronic components from the lowest bidder. Most likely a Chinese part. I don't know if I'll ever be 100% comfortable with drive-by-wire.

Drive by wire can suck my balls

 

[Shadow102]

the "pedal entrapment" garbage already has a fix in place its just modifying the current pedal assembly, removing some material under the pedal and reflashing the ecu. That entire recall was a joke because it was forced upon toyota by the goverment aka government motors. The real issue with the pedal entrapment is all the dumbasses that fail to install their floor mat clips or the people that run multiple floor mats for some odd reason.

 

[Shadow102]

All a result of buying their electronic components from the lowest bidder. Most likely a Chinese part. I don't know if I'll ever be 100% comfortable with drive-by-wire.

no wrong

this can go with the old adage BLAME CANADA!!!

the company that manufactures the pedal assembles is CTS and more specifically its their canadian arm that builds them

 

[Shadow102]

out the ass is an understatement...dealers havent been able to sell any of the above cars since the recall and the plants are on hold as well...

the can sell any and all of the above listed cars as long as they dont have a 4T VIN

 

[JCell]

would you buy that car?