Toyota Recall - Accelerator Pedal may get stuck [merged]

**Monseratto** · February 12th, 2010 12:32 PM

Some comic relief, brought to you by Toyoyta...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The crisis facing Japanese automaker Toyota has been a gift for joke-makers in the United States as the company recalled over eight million vehicles worldwide for faulty accelerator and brake systems.

"Toyota has issued a recall of 8.1 million vehicles whose faulty gas pedals could cause them to accelerate out of control. In their defense Toyota's slogan is "Moving Forward" -- they don't say anything in there about stopping," quipped late night comedian Stephen Colbert on his eponymous show "The Colbert Report."

The other night-time US talkshow hosts were quick to jump in, too.

"Over the next two weeks, we're going to have the Winter Olympics... They're doing something this year that is going to add a little more excitement. All the bobsleds are made by Toyota," joked NBC host Jay Leno.

Comedian David Letterman at CBS similarly couldn't help himself.

"Critics of the automobile industry are saying that Toyota executives knew about the problems with the brakes years and years ago. And they're wondering, rightly so, why did they drag their feet? Well, trying to stop the car. That's what they were doing," he said.

"Things are dangerous, and I'm coming to work in my car. Here's how scary it is. The navigation lady was actually praying," he laughed.

On the Internet meanwhile, fun-making users of micro-blogging site Twitter were keeping up with their professional counterparts.

User *evilray posted: "Hey, y'all! Check out my new Toyota keyboaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."

The technical problems have become a public relations nightmare for Toyota, one of Japan's greatest corporate icons, after millions of recalls were issued because of "sticky accelerators" that can cause cars to race out of control, and because of braking problems on Prius and other hybrid models.

US officials this week said they were also reviewing complaints about steering problems on Toyota's popular Corolla cars.

**jaymd** · February 12th, 2010 12:37 PM

may special service campaign na toyota for locally released prius models nakalagay sa phil star. special service campaign or recall for short hehe. ilan kaya naman bumili na ng prius? 3?

**Monseratto** · February 12th, 2010 12:52 PM

Nice read regarding the sticky pedal saga...

Toyota's deadly secrets

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...y-secrets.aspx

**agent_ysann** · February 12th, 2010 03:36 PM

saw this article while browsing in yahoo page...

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1295/relatively-few-complain-about-toyota/

just wanna share it...

**tidus1203** · February 12th, 2010 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by jaymd

may special service campaign na toyota for locally released prius models nakalagay sa phil star. special service campaign or recall for short hehe. ilan kaya naman bumili na ng prius? 3?

25 as of July 2009. Bakit pa sila nag broadsheet might as well just send individual letters to 25 owners...

**xda2jojo** · February 12th, 2010 08:42 PM

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite a ******* of high-profile recalls that have tarnished Toyota's once stellar reputation, a study published Wednesday reveals that the automaker actually gets fewer customer complaints per car than the majority of its competitors.

Edmunds.com reviewed more than 200,000 complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the last decade and found that Toyota ranked 17th among the top 20 automakers in the overall number of complaints per vehicle sold.

The results come amid a series of recalls totaling more than 8.1 million Toyotas worldwide, including 400,000 of the popular 2010 Prius hybrid for problems associated with sticking brake pedals, software glitches and faulty floormats.

The study was based on the percentage of complaints each automaker received versus the total number of vehicles they sold in the United States between 2001 and 2010.

As a result, British carmaker Land Rover had the highest proportion of complaints relative to the number of cars it sold. The company received 0.6% of the total complaints in the database, while its sales amounted to only 0.1% of all new cars sold in the United States.

Meanwhile, Toyota had 9.1% of all the complaints in the database. But the company was number 17 on the list because its sales made up 13.5% of the U.S. market.

According to the study, Toyota had fewer complaints than its American rivals. Ford was number 10 on the list, while General Motors came in at number 11.

The only automakers to receive fewer complaints than Toyota were Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and the Mercedes-made Smart Car.

Among the other automakers that ranked high on the list were Suzuki and Isuzu, which came in at numbers 2 and 3 respectively. German automaker Volkswagen came in at number 4.

The complaints lodged against Toyota ranged from minor problems with lighting to more serious issues such as sudden acceleration and difficulty steering. But the study did not rate the reported incidences for severity.

Edmunds.com said that it found some unreliable reports in the database, including one complaint indicating that 99 people had died in one vehicle as a result of an accident. It also said that about 10% of the complaints appeared to be duplicates.

Quality control: Not just Toyota's problem

While the issues raised by Toyota's recent recalls shouldn't be overlooked, quality control concerns are apparent across the entire automobile industry, said Jeremy Anwyl, Edmunds.com chief executive.

"A broader view shows that consumer complaints reflect an industry issue, not just a Toyota issue," said Anwyl. "It is no longer an option for car companies to dismiss consumer complaints, even if the event is difficult to replicate or diagnose."

Some automakers assume that customer complaints are the result of driver error and not necessarily a reflection of design problems, said Jeannine Fallon, an Edmunds.com analyst.

"It depends on the culture of the car company," she said. "But it's clear now that Toyota has not had very many conversations with NHTSA."

Link: http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...-about-toyota/

**scharnhorst** · February 12th, 2010 08:53 PM

Grossly, it'd be Toyota.

I hope this would be a wake up call to the entire industry to stop producing substandard crap.

**honismitoy** · February 13th, 2010 12:07 AM

Prius is now being recalled here in the Philippines. Followed by Camry and Corolla soon.

Toyota Phil is trying to market it as a free upgrade...not recall. tsk tsk tsk.

**tidus1203** · February 13th, 2010 12:22 AM

Free upgrade kasi pangit pakingan recall pero sa totoo recall na nga yun!

**Monseratto** · February 13th, 2010 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by honismitoy

Prius is now being recalled here in the Philippines. Followed by Camry and Corolla soon.

Toyota Phil is trying to market it as a free upgrade...not recall. tsk tsk tsk.

Please back read the thread. The local Corolla and Camry have never been included in any recall...