TOYOTA stops production in USA (Recall)

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by XR6 Martin

You have to remember alot of the Lexus' and top model Aurions dont have a key, so you cant pull it out to turn the car off.

True. I cannot switch off my XR5T while driving. Pressing the power button will not kill the engine. However it would be common sence to depress the clutch in a manual to disengage the engine from the transmission. Most automatic transmissions have fail-safe features which will not allow reverse or park to be selected while the vehicle is moving at speeds over 40-60km/h. Only neutral will disengage the engine from the transmission.

It's up to the manufacturer to explain the way the vehicle operates. Failing to do so holds them manifestly accountable for these accidents.

[Trendseeker]

Originally Posted by 388cube_edxr8

6 miles at 160kph takes about 10mins if my maths is correct.

Your maths is incorrect. It takes 3.6 minutes to travel 6 miles at 160kmh (100mph).

[388cube_edxr8]

http://9.media.collegehumor.com/coll...07c9f00526.jpg

http://8.media.collegehumor.com/coll...8668ac881c.jpg

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0316-qa6f.html

Toyota casts doubt on runaway Prius case
ELLIOT SPAGAT AND TOM KRISHER
March 16, 2010 - 8:01AM

SAN DIEGO, California: Toyota has cast doubt on a man's claim that his Prius sped out of control, saying the report is inconsistent with the findings of the company's preliminary investigation.

Toyota said in a statement that the accelerator pedal was tested and found to be working normally and a backup safety system worked properly.

The carmaker said the front brakes showed severe wear and damage from overheating, but the rear brakes and parking brake were in good condition.

The motorist, James Sikes, said his car raced to 150km/h on a freeway near San Diego last week.

The March 8 incident ended when Sikes stopped the car with help from a California Highway Patrol officer.

"While a final report is not yet complete, there are strong indications that the driver's account of the event is inconsistent with the findings of the preliminary analysis," the statement said.

Other details of Toyota's examination of the vehicle were being released at a press conference in San Diego.

Earlier in the day, federal regulators said they were reviewing data from the petrol-electric hybrid but so far had not found anything to explain the out-of-control acceleration reported by Sikes.

"We would caution people that our work continues and that we may never know exactly what happened with this car," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement.

Inspectors said they tried to duplicate the acceleration during a two-hour test drive but could not.

Sikes has said he jammed on the brakes trying to stop the car when it sped up to 150km/h on the freeway.

Sikes called an emergency phone number, and a highway patrol officer helped bring the vehicle to a safe stop.

Though no one was injured, the episode is quickly becoming a high-profile headache for Toyota, which like NHTSA sent in an engineering team to investigate.

John Gomez, a lawyer for Sikes, said the failure to recreate the incident was insignificant and not surprising.

"They have never been able to replicate an incident of sudden acceleration. Mr Sikes never had a problem in the three years he owned this vehicle," he said on Sunday.

But representative Darrell Issa, a California Republican, suggested the failure to duplicate the stuck accelerator, and the presence of a backup system in the car, raised questions about Sikes' story.

"It doesn't mean it didn't happen, but let's understand, it doesn't mean it did happen," Issa said on CBS' The Early Show.

NHTSA is looking into claims by more than 60 Toyota owners that their vehicles had accelerated unexpectedly even after they were supposedly fixed.

Regulators said in a statement that Sikes' Prius was equipped with a backup safety device that reduces power to the wheels when the brakes and accelerator are pressed at the same time.

"The system on Mr Sikes' Prius worked during our engineers' test drive," the statement said.

Toyota has recalled millions of cars because floor mats can snag accelerator pedals or accelerators can stick.

Sikes' car was covered by the floor mat recall but not the one for sticky accelerators. He later told reporters that he tried to pull on the accelerator pedal during his harrowing ride, but it didn't "move at all".

AP

[388cube_edxr8]

Well seeing as how the top speed of a Prius is somewhere near 159km/h, I sincerely doubt that it 'raced to 150km/h on a freeway'.

My 2c.

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/16/t...lled-vehicles/

Toyota being sued for full refund of recalled vehicles

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Mar 16th 2010 at 4:57PM

"When we talked with Toyota owners, they all voiced the same desire – to drive the car back to the lot, hand them the keys and pick up a check." So says Steve Berman, a lawyer from Seattle who has filed a class action lawsuit against Toyota on behalf of "dozens" of owners in Arizona and Washington. Fat chance, right?

Not so fast, answers Berman. "Fortunately, we think the law allows for exactly that solution, and we are asking the courts to make it happen." While this isn't nearly the first class action suit filed against Toyota since revelations of the car's possible tendency to accelerate out of control, it is the first such case that seeks a full refund for each car sold.

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, most such suits are only seeking to get back around $500 per owner, or roughly the amount Kelley Blue Book believes the average Toyota has lost in resale value due to allegations the vehicles are unsafe. That would equal more than $3 billion. Berman's suit, though, could add up to many times that amount if successful.

Even if Berman's would-be class action suit fails, Toyota may be in for more rough times courtesy of the Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium (ATAC), which is adding racketeering claims to a number of its lawsuits. Northeastern University law professor Tim Howard, who is coordinating the ATAC, says, "It's become increasingly apparent that Toyota profits were not built on quality products, but on a willful pattern of deception, fraud and racketeering."

In any case, a group of federal judges in San Diego will meet in one week to determine whether the 110 or so class action suits against Toyota should be combined into one single case and whether that case should proceed to trial. We'll be watching.

[Source: San Francisco Chronicle via Inside Line | Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty]

[Ohio XB]

Hospital emergency rooms have been reporting an uptick in business since the Toyota recalls. It seems that lawyers have been coming in with broken legs and cracked ribs as they trip over each other to file new lawsuits against Toyota.



Steve

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

Hospital emergency rooms have been reporting an uptick in business since the Toyota recalls. It seems that lawyers have been coming in with broken legs and cracked ribs as they trip over each other to file new lawsuits against Toyota.



Steve

Your a brave man putting that in writing and living in the States - might be a few more lawyers tripping over them selves beating a path to your door

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by SB076

Your a brave man putting that in writing and living in the States - might be a few more lawyers tripping over them selves beating a path to your door

I don't think anyone could bring a defamation suit against someone for degrading "lawyers". Even in the US.

[388cube_edxr8]

Lol good luck finding a lawyer to defend you against defamation of lawyers.

[Ohio XB]

Originally Posted by SB076

Your a brave man putting that in writing and living in the States - might be a few more lawyers tripping over them selves beating a path to your door

First Amendment - Freedom of speech. 'Nuff said. Besides, it comes across plenty facetiously.


Steve

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/18/t...an-ross-repor/

Toyota asks ABC News for apology, retraction of Brian Ross report

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Mar 18th 2010 at 4:58PM

"Toyota deserves a public retraction and formal apology from ABC News." At least according to the automaker itself. For what, you ask? For ABC's "irresponsible broadcast entitled "Expert: Electronic Design Flaw Linked to Runaway Toyotas." You surely remember the piece, which originally aired the night before a Congressional Panel began investigating the issue of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

That dubious timing has also drawn ire from Toyota, which says ABC News "Rushed out the report" and "denied Toyota the opportunity to review specific manipulation" ABC and its expert, Dr. David Gilbert, "performed in the broadcast." If it had been given an opportunity to respond, Toyota claims it would have shown that Gilbert's technique required conditions that are "virtually impossible to occur in real-world conditions."

It's also pointed out in Toyota's four-page letter, which you can see in its entirety below, that ABC News faked at least one shot of a tachometer shooting from 1,000 to 6,200 RPM, insinuating that the vehicle was speeding out of control with Brian Ross behind the wheel when it was actually sitting in a parking lot with the transmission firmly in Park.

Toyota concludes that Brian Ross "failed in his basic duty as a journalist" by not disclosing that Dr. Gilbert's work was being paid for by a group of "trial lawyers involved in litigation against Toyota." Finally, the Japanese automaker "reserves the right to take any and every opportunity to protect and defend" its reputation.

The ball is officially in your court, ABC News.

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

First Amendment - Freedom of speech. 'Nuff said. Besides, it comes across plenty facetiously.


Steve

The comment was made tongue in cheek as a joke.

Its interesting that to the general public (at least in Australia and the ones I have spoken too) most seem to be completely unaware of the issues surrounding Toyota is it similiar in the States?

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0318-qhww.html

Who can we sue?
TONY DAVIS
March 19, 2010

Toyota, of course. Mr Toyoda's misspelt mega-corporation is this season's fashion.

And why wouldn't it be?

The company has now recalled so many cars, it has run out of its own and has had to start recalling other people's.

And vultures - sorry, lawyers - know a golden chance when they see one.

When I last checked there were so many new lawsuits against Toyota in the US, they were considering a ticketed queuing system. One suspects some of these suits are on behalf of people who haven't even driven a Toyota.

A man currently in a Minnesota jail - one Koua Fong Lee - is trying to have his 2006 conviction for 'criminal vehicular homicide' quashed. Apparently it was his Camry that killed three people, not him.

Lawyers have already dubbed this the 'Toyota Defence' and are furiously rifling through accident files looking for opportunities, sorry, injustices. After all, if a cashed-up corporation and not a penniless immigrant can be blamed for death and mayhem, well, pass that man a bigger cigar.

Accident victims are now talking about how their Corolla or Camry accelerated to 160 km/h 'in an instant' despite them standing on the brakes.

Who's ever heard of a Corolla or Camry doing that even when someone is standing on the accelerator. With both feet. If a software glitch or errant floor-mat has really caused this extraordinary increase in performance, how can Toyota harness it and get back into Formula One?

Such filth and fury has been unleashed on others before. Remember Audi's 'unintended acceleration' drama of the 1980s? The company was eventually exonerated completely when investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration showed in every case it was 'driver error'.

Although the NHTSA didn't use the term 'stupid Americans' I feel it was implied in the judgement.

Did that stop the lawsuits? Er, no. One man argued in court that his calamitous 'pedal misapplication' was Audi's fault because the German car's pedals were different to those in the Detroit models he was used to.

Audi dealers sued head office because their sales were down. Owners sued because their resale values had tanked. People walking past sued because it was cheaper than buying a lottery ticket and looked like it could be just as lucrative.

The company's US sales fell by more than 80 per cent and didn't recover their former strength until the 21st century. Amazingly, some of these lawsuits against Audi are still going.

I'm not suggesting car companies shouldn't be held to account; many of them spent years arguing against safety legislation. Some of them still wouldn't fit a single life-protecting device that the law didn't require, or that they couldn't gouge extra money from.

Nor am I denying that some lawsuits are justified.

But there is something ugly about the modern tendency to immediately look for someone else to blame - ideally the person with the deepest pockets. And there's something weird about a place like America where people with a straight face sue because their 2 metre tall SUV has a greater tendency to roll over than a conventional car. Why don't you sue Isaac Newton?

In his novel Bonfire of the Vanities Tom Wolfe wrote, "The Bronx jury is a vehicle for redistributing the wealth."

It was a jury in the US District Court, however, that ordered Chrysler to pay $262.5 million for the 1994 death of Sergio Jimenez II. This six-year-old boy had been the unbelted passenger in a Chrysler minivan that his mother had driven through a red light.

Nope, can't think of anyone but the car company to blame in that scenario.

Mark Bunim of Case Closure LLC (a New York mediation firm) recently told Reuters news agency that this first burst of Toyota lawsuits is just the beginning. 'There's going to be one of these cases in every town.'

[Ohio XB]

Originally Posted by SB076

The comment was made tongue in cheek as a joke.

Its interesting that to the general public (at least in Australia and the ones I have spoken too) most seem to be completely unaware of the issues surrounding Toyota is it similiar in the States?

Sorry I didn't pick up on the joke.


I believe a vast majority of Americans are aware of the issue. This has been all over the news and in the papers for quite a while now. New surveys are showing just how many people will not even consider a Toyota for their next vehicle purchase.

I personally have not spoken with people that were Toyota fans that are now disgruntled, but I have seen them speak with reporters on the news.

Toyota continues to run a commercial on TV that I have not yet met anyone who believes it. It shows several people saying how wonderful their Toyotas have been and that's why they are there to buy another one. They go as far as having one guy say "Two, two Toyotas are what we are looking to get this weekend."

NOBODY believes this commercial for one second and many feel their intelligence is being insulted when this commercial aires.

Steve

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/22/t...-its-business/

Toyota being sued by shareholders for lying about its business

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Mar 22nd 2010 at 4:28PM

Last Friday, Toyota's stock closed at $79.56. That represents a 12-percent drop in market capitalization. For those keeping track, that's a loss of $15 billion. Naturally, there are a number of none-too-pleased shareholders hanging on to their stock in the Japanese automaker.

As such, it comes as little surprise that law firm Murray, Frank & Sailer has filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in California on behalf of any and all shareholders who purchased stock between Dec. 22, 2009 and Feb. 2, 2010. The suit contends that Toyota issued "materially false and misleading statements" and "failed to disclose ongoing safety issues and quality control problems with Toyota's automobiles," especially issues related to alleged cases of unintended acceleration.

Would shareholders that purchased stock in Toyota have done so if the automaker had taken a more pragmatic stance on the problems it was about to face? It would seem that's up for a judge to decide.

Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor cited by The Detroit News, points out that securities cases are notoriously difficult to prove. "You are going to have to prove knowledge among the corporate management. Unless something else emerges, it seems that Toyota didn't think that it would be the kind of problem that it turned out to be," said Henning.

A three-judge panel is set to meet on Thursday to consider this and all other impending class action suits against the beleaguered automaker. Until then, Toyota certainly has its hands full with potential headache-inducing litigation to consider.

[Source: The Detroit News | Image: Junko Kimura/Getty]

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/25/r...ded-accelerat/

Report: 100 cases of death caused by Toyota unintended acceleration

by Eric Loveday (RSS feed) on Mar 25th 2010 at 7:56PM

The Los Angeles Times scoured public records and discovered that the number of deaths possibly linked to Toyota's unintended acceleration issue could top more than 100 – twice the amount previously reported earlier this year.

With recalled vehicles reaching record numbers, complaints have poured in to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the number of reported accidents involving sudden acceleration have increased accordingly. A review of police reports, lawsuits and NHTSA filings have revealed that sudden, unintended acceleration could be a possible cause of death in as many as 102 cases.

The rise in possible deaths related to sudden acceleration has led to a thorough evaluation of each and every fatality reported involving a recalled Toyota vehicle. All accidents involving recalled vehicles, and in particular cases that involve a fatality, will be investigated by the feds, and the government's final report should finally solidify the gruesome numbers.

[Ohio XB]

...discovered that the number of deaths possibly linked to Toyota's unintended acceleration issue...

Breaking News......A meteor could possibly slam into the Earth within 50 years, destroying all life.


I wish they would stop reporting on what may be, could possibly, might, or any other non-definitive term as "news". It is speculation, and speculation is not news. It would take too long to report it ALL!


Steve

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0331-rck1.html

NASA probe could throttle Toyota
MATT CAMPBELL
March 31, 2010

The US Government has called on NASA to investigate Toyota’s sticking throttle problems.

NASA will investigate whether electronic interference is to blame for the spate of sticking accelerator pedals on Toyota vehicles.

US transport secretary Ray LaHood told US car industry journal Automotive News that experts from the space exploration agency would bring expertise in electronics, electromagnetic interference, software integrity and complex problem solving to the Toyota review, which has been initiated following the recall of more than 8.5 million Toyota built vehicles around the world.

The move is a blow to Toyota, which has steadfastly maintained the sticking accelerator pedals have nothing to do with the car’s electronic throttle.

"We are determined to get to the bottom of unintended acceleration," LaHood said, referring to the lack of findings tabled to date regarding the acceleration problems.

The US transport watchdog, NHTSA, was previously responsible for a review into the case, but LaHood has said that congressional hearings surrounding the Toyota case has meant that external parties need to be considered.

"We've used [NASA] before. We've heard that they may have some influence," LaHood said, referring to past studies on electronic stability control and airbags that NASA played a part in.

Toyota has also asked an external party to look into the company’s throttle issues, despite its denials of electronic failure.

Exponent, a US engineering company, has reportedly found no problems in its preliminary studies.

Toyota has maintained that its unintended acceleration problems relate to either a faulty component in the pedal or floor mats that can catch on the pedal and force the throttle to stay open.

Source: smh.com.au

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/30/m...celeration-oc/

More Toyota accidents allegedly caused by sudden acceleration occur in Wisconsin, Canada

by Zach Bowman (RSS feed) on Mar 30th 2010 at 5:20PM

The past few days have seen a new rash of stories about Toyotas run amok. First, a 2009 Venza struck a house in Hamilton, Ontario. According to The Hamilton Spectator, the driver said he lost control of the vehicle after experiencing uncontrolled acceleration. While 2009-2010 Venzas were recalled for the infamous floor-mat issue, police have yet to determine whether the Hamilton incident was a result of faulty hardware or driver error. No one was injured.

The Seboygan Press is also reporting that a 2009 Camry accelerated and climbed a small embankment while the driver had her foot on the brake in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin. The 76 year-old driver, Myrna Marseille, suffered a broken sternum from the impact. In Marseille's case, her Camry had already been serviced to correct the floor mat interference issue.

The reports join those of a San Diego man who had to call on the police to help him slow down his Prius after high-speed stint on the interstate and another Prius crash in New York. In the California case, both the NHTSA and Toyota found nothing wrong with the car (though the California Highway Patrol's view may differ). Likewise, the New York incident was found to be driver error.

[Sources: Sheboygan Press, The Hamilton Spectator]

[Ohio XB]

Now Toyota is claiming that their EDR's (Electronic Data Recorders) are only prototypes and the data they collect is not very reliable. Yet, GM, Ford, and Chrysler not only have used the data in court to successfully uphold their case but make the data readily available to the owner of the vehicle, even claiming that the data is the property of the vehicle owner.

Yet, Toyota, credited many times with being one of the most technologically advanced auto makers, claims their EDR's are merely for monitoring air bags and not much else, and that data is questionable.

Meanwhile, the loley Big3 have EDR's that provide vehicle speed, engine RPM, whether or not the brake was being applied, and other critical data in the seconds before a crash.



Wow, who woulda thunk it? The Big3 have technology in a common field far superior to Toyota??

Steve

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/05/r...recall-scanda/

Report: NHTSA to seek $16M fine against Toyota for recall scandal

by Steven J. Ewing (RSS feed) on Apr 5th 2010 at 4:28PM

After much deliberation, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has decided to issue a $16.4 million penalty to Toyota – the maximum fine allowed – for failing to recall vehicles due to faulty accelerator pedals in a timely fashion. This will be the largest fine ever issued to an automaker by the government.

The U.S. DOT says that Toyota failed to promptly notify the government about the defective gas pedals amongst its model range. According to NHTSA, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says that there's evidence to prove Toyota knew of the gas pedal problem as early as late September, yet the official recall was not issued until the end of January.

For now, Toyota has two weeks to either accept the penalty and pay up, or contest the government's decision and continue deliberations. Hit the jump to read NHTSA's official press release.

[Image: Alex Wong/Getty]

[vztrt]

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25770000275753

US goes for Toyota jugular with $17.4 million fine

Pain rolls on for recall-hit Toyota, accused of “knowingly hiding dangerous defect”

9 April 2010

By RON HAMMERTON

A MAXIMUM $16.4 million ($A17.6m) fine being sought by the US government against Toyota over tardy safety recalls for sticky accelerator pedals in its cars may not mark the end of the pain, as investigators are still trawling though 70,000 pages of documents supplied by the car-maker.

If further breaches for “knowingly hiding a dangerous defect” are uncovered, each can draw a separate fine under US rules that require defects to be reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within five days.

According to the Toyota documents, the company received its first report that floor mats could entrap throttle pedals in February 2006 – more than three years before it issued a safety recall notice for the problem, Bloomberg reports in the US.

Just five months after the mat problem surfaced in a Prius, Toyota also discovered that the accelerator pedals could stick.

A timeline supplied to US authorities indicates Toyota did not act on the first sticky pedal report because the problem was not reproduced and no other similar reports were received.

“Toyota decided to monitor the situation in the field,” the company said.

Proposing the maximum $16.4 million fine allowable under American law, US transportation secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement: “We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations.

“Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from US officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families.

“For those reasons, we are seeking the maximum penalty possible under current laws.”

A conviction by US authorities would also further expose Toyota to potentially expensive litigation, with numerous lawsuits for so-called “unintended acceleration” being filed.

The documents supplied by Toyota reveal a battle within Toyota about whether to tell the public of fundamental flaws in the working of the throttle – problems that had not at the time been fully understood by Toyota’s engineers and for which there was no clear “fix”.

The company’s then American vice-president for public affairs Irv Miller, who has since retired, sent an e-mail in response to comments by a Japanese colleague, Katsuhiko Koganei, in Japan.

Mr Koganei had argued that Toyota “should not mention about the mechanical failures of the pedal”, because the fault’s cause had not yet been identified and a statement by the company would unsettle motorists. “We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet,” Mr Miller replied. “I hate to break this to you but WE HAVE a tendency for MECHANICAL failure in accelerator pedals of a certain manufacturer on certain models.”

While Toyota declined to comment on the Miller email, it reiterated that it had done “a poor job of communicating” recall issues.

“We have subsequently taken a number of important steps to improve our communications with regulators and customers on safety-related matters to ensure that this does not happen again,” it said in a statement.

“These include the appointment of a new chief quality officer for North America and a greater role for the region in making safety-related decisions.

“As part of our heightened commitment to quality assurance, we are fully committed to being more transparent.”

Toyota has recalled more than eight million cars globally after news of accelerator and brake problems surfaced last year.

In Australia, 2378 third-generation Prius models have been recalled to apply a software fix to a brakes issue, described as “inconsistent feel”.

In an unrelated setback in China, inspectors in Zhejiang province reportedly searched two Toyota spare-part storage facilities run by the company’s Chinese joint venture and found what they said were more than 1700 components that had not received the official certification for sale.

Such violations can be subject to fines or temporary restrictions.

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/11/r...ew-nhtsa-fine/

Report: Toyota pedal recall delay could spur new NHTSA fine

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) on Apr 11th 2010 at 10:35AM

Automotive News reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could hit Toyota with another fine on top of the $16.4 million levied last week. As for that most recent fine, turns out that it could have been as much as $13.8 billion, based on Toyota having to pay a fine on each of the 2.3 million cars recalled. A statute, however, limits the amount to the one imposed.

NHTSA isunhappy about the timelines it's putting together of events concerning Toyota's pedal defects. The agency is also miffed about the recent revelation that a Japanese Toyota executive sent a letter last October ordering that engineering changes to accelerator pedals not be carried out in America, even though they were being made in other countries. For the time being, though, Toyota hasn't yet confirmed whether it'll will contest the first fine, and it's clear what the possible second fine is meant to address. If all the involved parties would just get everything on the table, we might have a chance of wrapping this up in 2010.

[Source: Automotive News – sub req'd]

[vztrt]

Toyota quality focus

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2577040022F5DD

Australian quality engineers get louder voice as Toyota hits back on quality

13 April 2010

By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS

TOYOTA Australia has ramped up quality and customer satisfaction measures in the wake of Toyota Motor Corporation’s (TMC) highly published global safety recalls affecting 8.5 million vehicles worldwide.

Saying it had drawn a line in the sand on quality, the Australian division of the world’s biggest car-maker has pledged greater resources to its Melbourne-based customer quality engineering group to drive quality to the next level.

As well, it will be linked directly to a new Asia-Oceania regional quality taskforce designed to spearhead reforms to Toyota’s quality systems, including safety issues.

The regional committee is one of six around the globe, all reporting to Toyota’s newly created special committee for global quality headed by TMC president Akio Toyoda.

Toyota Australia senior executive of sales and marketing Dave Buttner said the new regional committee gave Australia more opportunity to be heard.

“Australia’s existing respected voice with Japan is being supplemented with the added strength of a regional voice,” he said.

“It will strengthen global communication and transparency; it will spearhead comprehensive improvements to the company’s operations; and it will promote quality improvement activities around the world.”

Toyota’s Asia-Oceania region – including Australia – will be represented on the global committee by three senior executives – head managing officer Mitsuhiro Sonoda from head office in Japan and two senior vice-presidents of Thailand-based Toyota Motor Asia-Pacific – one from manufacturing and one from sales and marketing.

As well as the regional quality committee, Toyota has established a new regional engineering quality improvement division based in Thailand, to collect market information, including from Australia, for dissemination through Toyota’s research and development divisions.

And Toyota Australia’s customer quality engineering group will be further developed to strengthen this gathering of information relating to any suspected quality problems in Australia.

Its aims include fast response times and improved communication with customers.

The newly-established quality committee will focus on ‘built-in quality’ – quality of the Toyota manufacturing process and parts – and ‘quick action’, which includes early detection, fast response and customer communication.

Also coming under the committee’s umbrella are recalls and other safety-related decisions, the strengthening of information gathering speed, accuracy and response, the timely and accurate disclosure of relevant information to the public, product safety and assurance and human resources issues.

As well, independent adjudicators will sit in on the regional committee’s meetings to ensure Toyota’s safety and quality objectives are always met.

Mr Buttner said another welcome development was TMC's decision to establish ‘customer first’ training centres, including one in the Asia-Oceania region.

"This will provide opportunities to participate in regionally focused development of our people and our skills," he said.

Mr Buttner said Toyota had already changed under the new committee regime, focussing the company’s efforts so as to never leave customers in doubt of its commitment to quality and safety.

“The actual change that I can already see is the absolute change to get this right,” he told GoAuto Media.

“Absolute attitude to ensure that the customer is absolutely centric in every decision Toyota makes relative to their product and declaration and timeliness of that activity – you can palpably sense that from the company.

“We’ve always had a very strong customer focus. It’s just that we’ve had this reinvigoration to make it better than it’s ever been, and make that the next most positive step forward.”

Mr Buttner said he believed Toyota Australia had been fortunate not to have been adversely affected by the global recall in terms of falling sales or brand image because of the speed it moved to rectify the ‘brake feel’ issue in the Prius after just two complaints.

“We’ve have a very, very good reputation in terms of our speed to customer issues; and in terms of our manufacturing quality it’s been amongst the best in the Toyota world,” he said.

“When we looked at the research at the peak of the public recall, there’s no denying that there had been some diminution of some aspects of consumer sentiment.

“But what we’ve found now, on the back of what we’ve tried to do to communicate with stakeholders speedily and accurately in not having a broad-brushed campaign by dealing with each individual customer with each issue, is that we are back to pre-recall status, and we are very confident that the brand has not been tarnished in every significant manner whatsoever.”

To underline the Toyota’s redoubled commitment to customer safety and confidence, as well as its ongoing investment in the Australian operations, the announcement was made at a new $25 million Toyota dealership in West Terrace, Adelaide.

The facilities include highly visible servicing and workshop facilities next to a showroom – a metaphor, one spokesman said, for the new transparency Toyota wants to convey.

[vztrt]

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/12/r...d-acceleratio/

Report: State Farm asks Toyota to pay for unintended acceleration insurance claims

by Chris Shunk (RSS feed) on Apr 12th 2010 at 5:26PM

Back in September of 2007, State Farm sent a letter to Toyota asking that the Japanese automaker pay for an insurance claim for a 2005 Camry that had reportedly wrecked as a result of unintended acceleration. According to a report in USA Today, State Farm wrote, "we are aware of several complaints to your company of sudden acceleration involving the Toyota Camry." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was copied on the note, and the government agency wrote back to State Farm stating that it had been looking into unintended acceleration claims since August of 2006, but the investigation had been closed.

State Farm wasn't reimbursed back in 2007, but in light of Toyota's recall of 7.7 million vehicles for acceleration-related issues, the insurance company is taking a second crack at getting cash from Toyota. The process of an insurance company receiving money from an automaker is called "subrogation" and USA Today says Toyota spokesman Brian Lyons told the national newspaper that the process is fairly common.

Common or not, State Farm can recoup up to $30 million from Toyota, and the insurance company says customers involved in unintended acceleration crashes in a Toyota could get their deductible cash back, which can range from $250 to $1,000 or more. However, customers shouldn't expect money any time soon. Case Closure mediation attorney Mark Bunim reportedly told said that the process could take some time to resolve as someone would need to check every Toyota claim and determine whether the accident involved sudden acceleration.

If Toyota doesn't pay for the insurance claims, the automaker could indirectly foot the bill with higher insurance premiums. Due to Toyota's otherwise strong quality and safety reputation, its vehicles are currently relatively inexpensive to insure. If Toyota pays State Farm for accidents involving unintended acceleration it's a near guarantee that other insurers will follow suit.

[Wally]

Just in:

Toyota asks dealers to temporarily halt sales of 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV after a Consumer Reports safety warning.

[vztrt]

Toyota Prado not caught in US safety scare

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2577050009B1E1

Australian Prado not caught up in overseas safety issue, despite model similarities

14 April 2010

By TERRY MARTIN

TOYOTA Australia has advised that it will not be suspending sales of Australia’s biggest-selling SUV – the LandCruiser Prado – in response to a showroom freeze announced overnight in the US for the Prado-based Lexus GX460.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has halted sales of the Lexus GX – which is built in Japan at the same plant, and has the same underpinnings, as the Australian Prado – after an influential consumer magazine urged Americans not to purchase the vehicle, calling it a “safety risk” that could be involved in a rollover crash.

The magazine, Consumer Reports, handed down a “don’t buy” verdict after experiencing a problem during its emergency handling tests. It said that when pushed to its limits, the rear of the GX “slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to regain control”.

“We believe that in real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death,” the magazine said. “We are not aware, however, of any such reports.”

In response, Toyota has suspended sales of the GX460 pending a “vigorous” engineering evaluation.

“We are taking the situation with the GX460 very seriously and are determined to identify and correct the issue Consumer Reports identified,” said Lexus Group vice-president and general manager, Mark Templin. “At this time we have asked our dealers to temporarily suspend sales of the 2010 GX460.

“Lexus’ extensive vehicle testing provides a good indication of how our vehicles perform and we are confident that the GX meets our high safety standards. Our engineering teams are vigorously testing the GX using Consumer Reports’ specific parameters to identify how we can make the GX’s performance even better.”

Toyota Australia spokesman Mike Breen has told GoAuto that the issue was specific to the V8 engine – including its additional weight and its interaction with the vehicle stability control (VSC) system – in the GX460, which is not available in the Australian Prado.

“We obviously don’t sell that model here, so it doesn’t affect us,” Mr Breen said.

“From what I understand, the article went to great lengths to explain that the (Toyota) 4Runner that they sell in the United States with the V6 engine is based on the Prado platform as well and there are no issues with the V6 4Runner there, so there are no issues with the Prado here.

“The calibration of the VSC would be different for the V8 car, which would be different obviously to the Prado that we sell here. The VSCs are calibrated to the environment that they operate in, and the Australian environment is obviously quite different to the United States.

“We have had no enquiries or any concerns from customers about that issue, and that’s obviously how we pick it up – and we’ve sold quite a few thousand since we launched it.

“No customers have complained about the VSC coming in too late, or any concerns with the VSC’s operation as far as timing is concerned.”

Mr Breen said Toyota Australia would continue to monitor events in the US “as we always do” and would await specific advice from TMC.

“TMC has a fairly robust process with any of these sorts of things, as probably can be seen over the last few months, so we’ll get advice from TMC in due course,” he said.

The Prado was the biggest-selling SUV in Australia last month, with the new-generation 150-series model spurring on a 94.7 per cent increase – to 2087 sales – on March 2009. In the first three months of this year, Toyota has sold more than 4400 Prados in Australia.

As GoAuto has reported, Lexus Australia has shown interest in selling the GX460 here, but the model is still to be confirmed for left-hand drive.

While it has the same underpinnings as the 150-series Prado, the GX460 has a unique powertrain – a 225kW/446Nm 4.6-litre V8 petrol engine.

Launched last November, the 150 Prado is sold here with a 202kW/381Nm 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine and a 127kW/410Nm 3.0-litre turbo-diesel.

Consumer Reports magazine said all four of its automotive engineers experienced the handling problem with the GX in an exercise that evaluates lift-off oversteer. In the test, as the vehicle is driven through a turn, the driver quickly lifts his foot off the accelerator pedal to see how the vehicle reacts.

“We perform this evaluation on every vehicle we test, which includes the 95 SUVs in our current auto ratings,” the magazine said. “No other SUV in recent years slid out as far as the GX460, including the Toyota 4Runner, which shares the same platform as the GX.

“To confirm our results, we paid for the use of another GX460 from Lexus and experienced the same problem.

“In real-world driving, lift-off oversteer could occur when a driver enters a highway’s exit ramp or drives through a sweeping turn and encounters an unexpected obstacle or suddenly finds that the turn is too tight for the vehicle’s speed.

“A natural impulse is to quickly lift off the accelerator pedal. If that were to happen in the GX, the rear could slide around far enough that a wheel could strike a kerb or slide off the pavement.

“Either of those scenarios can cause a vehicle to roll over. And because the GX is a tall SUV with a high centre of gravity, our concern for rollover safety is heightened.

“Like almost all current SUVs, the GX has standard ESC. That system is designed to prevent a vehicle from sliding out in a turn and has generally worked very effectively in the vehicles we’ve tested. It does that by applying individual brakes and cutting engine power to help keep the vehicle on its intended path.

“But the GX’s system doesn’t intervene quickly enough to stop the slide, and the rear end swings around too far.

“As a result, we are urging consumers not to buy the GX460 until the problem has been fixed.”

There are no indications at this stage that the GX460 will be subject to a safety recall, although Consumer Reports has provided information to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The latest safety issue confronting Toyota comes as the Japanese manufacturer continues to deal with the fallout from global safety recalls affecting some 8.5 million vehicles.

No Lexus models were part of the big accelerator pedal recall, but the Toyota luxury division was involved in the separate recall to update software in the anti-lock braking system of certain hybrid models, including the HS250h sold in the US and the Toyota Prius sold in Australia.

Earlier this week, Toyota Australia said it was working to improve quality and customer service at its operations Down Under, with greater resources allocated to its Melbourne-based customer quality engineering group and representation on a new Asia-Oceania regional quality taskforce.

[vztrt]

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...0414-sbj4.html

New Toyota safety row
RICHARD BLACKBURN
April 14, 2010

Toyota has been embroiled in another safety scare in the US, with a respected magazine labelling one of its Lexus off-roaders a “safety risk”.

Toyota’s safety reputation has been dealt another body blow in the United States, with luxury arm Lexus forced to suspend sales of its GX 460 off-roader after a respected consumer advocate magazine labelled the vehicle a “safety risk”.

The off-roader, which is based on Australia’s top-selling Toyota Prado, “slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to gain control” in an emergency-handling test conducted by Consumer Reports magazine.

“We believe that in real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death. We are not aware, however, of any such reports,” the magazine says in a statement on its US website.

“As a result, we are urging consumers not to buy the GX 460 until the problem has been fixed,” the magazine says.

In a statement on its US website, Lexus says it is “taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined to identify and correct the issue Consumer Reports identified.

“Lexus’ extensive vehicle testing provides a good indication of how our vehicles perform and we are confident that the GX meets our high safety standards. Our engineering teams are vigorously testing the GX using Consumer Reports’ specific parameters to identify how we can make the GX’s performance even better,” the statement says.

“For any customer who has purchased a 2010 GX 460 and is concerned about driving their vehicle, we will provide a loaner car until a remedy is available,” he says.

The GX 460 has been on sale for about three months in the US, while the new Toyota Prado was launched in Australia last November. It was the best selling off-roader in Australia in the first three months of this year.

The handling problems highlighted by the Consumer Reports test mirror similar criticisms made by the motoring media about Toyota off-roaders in recent years. During Drive’s Car of the Year testing at the end of last year, judges found that the Toyota LandCruiser’s stability control system – which can detect a skid and bring a vehicle back under control - intervened too late.

‘‘You’re in way too deep before it kicks in, and then it seems to throw everything at you,’’ one judge said. ‘‘But before it does that, it lets you get way too far out of shape.’’

Several judges also said the driver still had to do a lot of work behind the LandCruiser’s steering wheel, even after the stability control system had fired.

Respected local enthusiast magazine Wheels also criticised Toyota’s Kluger crossover after the magazine’s editor rolled a vehicle during its Car of the Year testing in 2007.

Consumer Reports says all four engineers experienced the problem during an exercise that replicated what happened when a driver lifted off the accelerator pedal mid-corner – a phenomenon called “lift-off oversteer”.

“In real-world driving, lift-off oversteer could occur when a driver enters a highway’s exit ramp or drives through a sweeping turn and encounters an unexpected obstacle or suddenly finds that the turn is too tight for the vehicle’s speed. A natural impulse is to quickly lift off the accelerator pedal. If that were to happen in the GX, the rear could slide around far enough that a wheel could strike a curb or slide off the pavement.

“Either of those scenarios can cause a vehicle to roll over. And because the GX is a tall SUV with a high centre of gravity, our concern for rollover safety is heightened,” the magazine says.

Consumer Reports says the test has been performed on more than 95 offroaders, and none had slid out as far as the Lexus.

“The GX’s system doesn’t intervene quickly enough to stop the slide, and the rear end swings around too far,” the magazine says.

The latest controversy is a further blow to Toyota’s reputation, which is reeling over a recall involving more than 8 million vehicles with sticking accelerator pedals.

The “safety risk” designation is rare for Consumer Reports; the last time a vehicle was given the rating was in 2001.

Local Toyota spokesman Mike Breen says the calibration of the local Toyota Prado’s stability control system is “completely different” to the US Lexus.

“The Lexus has a V8 engine, which means it is 74kg heavier over the nose. That has an influence on the calibration of the stability control,” he says.

He says the company does not have any plans to review the calibration of stability control on its local 4WDs in light of the Consumer Reports finding.

“We base our investigations on customer inquiries. At the moment we are investigating two inquiries [from Prado customers] and they have both complained that the stability control cuts in too early, not too late,” he says.

[Bossxr8]

Remember how much Toyota bagged Wheels when they said the stability control in the Prado didn't work for crap. They said it was the drivers fault, not the cars. :