Toyota’s Management Problems Have Been On Display For Years
Jason Lancaster | Feb 08, 2010 | Comments 41
Toyota’s rash of recent recalls – the floor mat entrapment recall, the sticking pedal recall, and now the 2010 Prius brake recall – are all symptomatic of a much larger problem we’d like to call “big companyitis.” Big companyitis is caused by:
- Poor internal communication
- A culture that stifles individualism
- Employees and managers who aren’t held accountable
Obviously, big companyitis can be traced back to poor management. However, while the mass media focuses on items that happened in last 2 weeks, we’d like to point to some items that happened in the last 3 years to prove our point:
1. Tundra Bed Bounce – Toyota never once acknowledged that Tundra bed bounce was a problem, yet the number of complaints we see have fallen off dramatically since 2007. It’s our opinion that Toyota has updated and/or changed the design of the Tundra somehow to reduce this phenomenon, yet they’ve never acknowledged doing so. Why? Because acknowledging that newer Tundras don’t have the same bed bounce issues would be acknowledging the older models did, and that would mean that Toyota might have to help fix the older models. While some might claim this is nothing more than a company protecting it’s bottom line, we think it’s an example of a pattern.
2. Tundra Frame Rust – We became aware of this issue in late April 2009, when a Boston TV station reported that 2000 and 2001 Tundras had frame rust. We received more information in the following months (including some incredible Tundra frame rust pictures), but it wasn’t until NHTSA got involved that Toyota officially announced a Tundra frame rust recall. Yet in Toyota’s official letter to NHTSA, Toyota admits learning about this problem in late 2008 – 6 months prior to the Boston TV report, and a full year before NHTSA’s investigation began. How could Toyota sit on this problem for the better part of a year before coming up with a fix?
3. Toyota’s Floor Mat Recall – A tragic story of a Lexus speeding out of control prompted the L.A. Times (aka L.A. Slimes) to publicize the fact that Toyota vehicles had a higher incidence of unintended acceleration claims than other manufacturers. Of course, the L.A. Slimes wasn’t interested in finding out what really happened (they were more interested in manipulating data), but the impact of their stories put Toyota on the defensive, forcing Toyota to complete a somewhat mystifying “floor mat entrapment” recall that didn’t (and doesn’t) make a lot of sense…especially when Toyota follows up that recall with the “sticking pedal” recall. While it’s possible that Toyota found both floor mats and sticking pedals to be problems, the floor mat recall seems like a company going off half-cocked.
4. Toyota’s Near Week-long Silence During “Pedal Gate” – There’s simply no excuse for recalling vehicles and freezing production on the 26th of January, but not making any sort of meaningful public statement until February 1st. This is a classic example of bumbling, dis-jointed management.
Toyota is definitely suffering from big companyitis. The cure is a major over-hall of management, a new commitment to the values of Toyota’s kaizen, and a big apology to Toyota consumers everywhere. Hopefully, Toyota USA will be restructured, many senior and mid-level managers will be asked to leave, and Toyota will re-invest in making great products.
What do you think – is Toyota suffering from “big companyitis”, or are their problems a combination of media hype and bad luck?
Filed Under: Auto News
#1 – bed bounce — still happens on new 2010 tundra – no fix or change from 2007 to 2010. It is just because tundra owners are getting used to it.
#2 – frame rust — good point on why waiting so long. I fear our 2007-2010 tundras are going to be in the same situation 5 years from now. I just checked my new only 8 month old 2010 tundra (7K miles) and already showing rust spots on chrome bumpers and chromed lug nuts just like my 2007 tundra
#3 – floor mat recall — A joke since toyota went off half-cocked as you put it
#4 – pedal sticking issue — not a joke and shame on toyota for waiting so long to put a band aid shim to ease friction wearing parts that could start sticking. In my opinion, this is a band aid approach not going to remedy problem and what needs to be done is get the other company (denso?) to make gas pedals for all their gas pedals ASAP and re-tool. The entire gas pedal is faulty by design and simply putting a patch/band aid with a metal shim is a joke (my opinion only).
mk – I wonder if the pedal issue is a red herring…only having said that I’m told that once Toyota knew what to look for, they found a few vehicles with sticking pedals. The fix is workable, but it sucks that it’s a shim. In a perfect world it would be a new assembly.
Good article. From a non-Toyota owners perspective, I’ve seen this coming for a while, as the Toyota recalls and supposed “service campaigns” to fix known issues have steadily risen since the mid-90s. Don’t forget to include the Tacoma in the frame rust portion, as it was similarly impacted. Every make/model has their flaws, just think Toyota’s are becoming more common and much more severe as time goes on.
I completely agree that Toyota is suffering from
Oh and i think i may have found a real life situation of a “bed bounce” issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p973xbLxDvc
its at about 6:20. And its quick.
Very good points, Jason. Hopefully things Toyota management will learn from. But I really do wish the media would take a rest and find some other story to harp on now.
Jason-I totally agree. A company can get too big and greedy. When this happens the company gets focused on revenue verses customer satisfaction. I would like to believe this isn’t the case for Toyota. I own a ’07 Tundra that I consider the best half-ton on the market. The only issue I’ve had is the radio, which Toyota changed under warranty. I tow a 9,000 lb SUT throughout the summer. I’ve traveled all over the the country from mountains to desert and have never felt unsafe or under powered. With that being said, Toyota is still number one in my book when it comes to half-ton trucks. This will pass and Toyota stocks will recover.
TXTee – Thank You! Now that toyota is about to call out another recall, this time on the Gen III Prius, here comes more crap from the dumb-witted media.
Hey Jason did you miss this article? I’m sure they’re trying to keep it under wraps…
http://news.google.com/news/mo.....QHFzQCHmtM
Justin – Thanks. The increase in Toyota’s vehicle problems since the mid 90’s would correspond with an overall increase across the board, so I don’t think it’s fair to say this has been going on for 15 years. I would point to 2005 – Toyota’s profits hit $12 billion in one year, and that gave Toyota’s management far too much confidence.
Jr – No evidence that frame rust is going to be an issue on 2007+ Tundras. According to Toyota, the issue was limited to 2000-2004. Hopefully that’s true.
TXTee – I think the media is more focused now, but the old saying “If it bleeds it leads” is always true. I saw a first-person account of a Tundra accelerating out of control reported as “news” on CNN. Since when did reporters simply take people at their word? I think Toyota’s problem with the media is that the newspapers and TV can’t generate profits, so they’re becoming more and more sensational in an attempt to capture eyeballs.
Rich – Thanks. I don’t know that big is necessarily bad – Toyota has been a big company for a while now – I think the issues are largely related to growing so big so fast. I met a brand manager at Scion 5 years ago that was a P.O.S. He didn’t care about his job, and I wondered why Toyota would have hired him. The answer is that they needed *somebody*, so they took the best available. I guess what I’m saying is that Toyota can stay big and right the ship…hopefully quickly.
Bac – Didn’t miss that one – the Vibe is essentially a Corolla Matrix, so it would be included in the recall because it was built to Toyota specs as part of the GM-Toyota partnership NUMMI.
TXTee: Well the media hype may die down, but Toyota may never live down such issues. Sure they’ll rebuild their reputation, but not to the status they had previously. I’ll simply use Ford as an example, again. How long will consumers harp on the Firestone and CC switch recalls? They were big, some can say overblown. But they will always be remembered and talked about for such problems. Simply look at the people still talking about the Pinto recalls from the 70s.
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Jr: Dumb-witted media? Funny that people weren’t calling them such names when it involved domestic recalls of similar proportions. People also don’t refer to the media with such names when Toyota wins some award and it’s plastered all over the papers. People actually seem to praise the media in those instances. So you
Justin – Fair enough – I’ll continue to believe Toyota so long as what I’m seeing/hearing doesn’t disagree. Still, your point is well taken.
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You say “Why must we continue to try and say there is some conspiracy that our government is doing this to Toyota simply to benefit GM and/or Chrysler?” – if anyone is saying this recall is “simply” done to benefit GM/Chrysler, they are wrong. However, if you believe that this recall doesn’t have a political component (i.e. LaHood’s careless comments), I think you need to re-evaluate…
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Just because NHTSA is doing their job doesn’t mean that LaHood and the administration aren’t twisting the knife a little harder than normal. I’m not saying it IS happening, but it COULD be happening, and many thoughtful people seem to agree:
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org.....a-remarks/
http://www.washingtonexaminer......60857.html
http://www.reuters.com/article.....WC20100209
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Just like Toyota owners shouldn’t downplay Toyota’s responsibility for their problems, Toyota haters should recognize that things might not be as clear-cut as they seem.
So which way do people think Toyota is going?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/3531424.....urce=yahoo|headline|quote|text|&par=yahoo
This article (6 pages) is a little old, but may show the attitude and approach that Toyota executives took on such matters.
http://articles.latimes.com/20.....-2009dec23
A lot of great points are still showing up in posts. My problem is that the media isn’t really helping. How many reports do you hear that would actually help a consumer learn how to safely disable the vehicle versus the amounts that continue to barrage the manufacturers? It’s fine to report all the recalls, all the issues, and all the problems but to promote safety it makes more sense to educate people too. As someone said in another thread, other drivers are concerned as well that do not drive Toyotas because they’re afraid they could fall victim to an accident caused by one. And yes, this sounds rather conspiratorial but it doesn’t mean it’s to be ignored. Now State Farm is coming out saying they made reports to the NHTSA regarding many Toyota acceleration issues. I’d also like to know if they reported it for any other manufacturer and whether it was ignored too. As anything goes with government, it’s always slow and things tend to get pushed to the side until it blows up into a bigger issue. Yes, Toyota’s reputation and even resale value is depreciating due to the massive recalls. Let’s just wait it out and see what happens in the long run. I still have more confidence in a Toyota than many other brands on the market and these recalls haven’t curtailed my driving of my vehicles or made me doubt that I’d buy another Toyota. There are so many components to a vehicle that can go awry no matter who manufactures it much less the irresponsible driver texting beside you. Point being, Toyota is doing what’s appropriate given the circumstances. What more do people want? And that’s not a rhetorical question. What do people literally expect to happen? Regardless of manufacturer, what’s the best solution? Give me some answers around that and then it’s worth my time to get in a tizzy about this recall situation. Too many people focus on the problem itself but not solutions.
Ouch! Now KBB is cutting the recalled Toyota’s residual value.
http://detnews.com/article/201.....otas-again
State Farm Insurance warned back in 2007 of this trend, but of course weren’t taken seriously. At what point with all the data and warnings provided by various outlets will people simply accept that Toyota did not take appropriate action until it got extremely bad? Or is this the failings of the NHTSA not taking further action sooner than the last couple months? Maybe it’s a problem of the NHTSA and Toyota as a whole? And now by the comments made by LaHood, the NHTSA is trying to cover themselves from any responsibility? Who knows, but the evidence is mounting against Toyota.
http://www.reuters.com/article.....1H20100208
Great Post TXTee!
Justin – The L.A. Times is on my list for their coverage of these issues. Instead of being helpful or even truthful, they manipulated data and used violent images to slime Toyota.
Manipulated data: https://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2009/12/09/la-times-slander-toyota-continues/
Violent images and thin reporting: https://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2009/11/18/la-times-toyota-unintended-acceleration/
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Some people might see the L.A. Times as vindicated, but they’re still sawing on the idea that Toyota’s electronic throttle control system is broken. Until that allegation is proven, the best the L.A. Times can claim is that they don’t worry about the facts when they report.
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As for your point that Toyota is mis-managed, I wholeheartedly agree (see the post above).
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KBB, Edmunds, and NADA have all hit Toyota resale in the last few weeks. What most people don’t realize is that pricing guides always fluctuate – what goes down tomorrow could come right back up in a few weeks once the hysteria has died down. In other words, I’d like to wait and see before saying that Toyota’s resale value is dropping. BTW Justin, did you see this article from a year ago? https://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2009/02/23/toyota-tundra-resale-value-drop/
That should get you and all the other haters really excited! 🙂
BTW – resale value has never been an issue for me. My vehicles last too long to worry about trading or selling. I drive them til the wheels fall off…or in this case, maybe the pedal? I’ll only get upset if my insurance rates are hiked when they are to be renewed a year from now.
I couldn’t agree more. They have been suffering from companyitis for 10+ years. They have the worst customer service. I had to take a catalytic converter issue all the way to WASHINGTON to get them to hear me “hallo!” Only then were they willing to take care of the catalytic converter.
I bought the Highlander the year it first came out and had to replace the transmission, the catalytic converter and various other smaller things that were all very pricey. Not once were they willing to accept any responsibility and these were big issues with the car being almost new. They can’t hide anymore and I am quite happy to see them fall. This will be a huge loss and that is good because the only language they understand is “$s”.
They need a complete make over, new management, new philosophy and this time an emphasis the “customer” . If you want us to drive your cars you have to sell an excellent product and provide excellence in customer care and service. Anything short of that and I believe they will not see the comeback they desire.
no offence to anybody but all theese problem are not nearly as bad as the ones ive seen on american cars, and as far as iv’e seen most of toyota’s problems have started apearing since they stared production hear in the united states. The sticking pedal is american made and the denso pedal is just being cut to minimize the chances of stiking to floor matts. Everybody wants toyota to keep their quality high but keep their prises competitive. I work at a toyota and chrysler dealer ship and seen “rapid responces” for chrysler that are much mor dangerous then a stiking pedal. nobody ever talked about chrysler lower ball joint recall on their libertys that d drop the fraim on the floor, or the fact that they forget to put in a clip on ther the brake pedal to keep the push rod in place. Now tell me whats more dangerous having a gas pedal that sticks and all u really need to do is put the car in neutral and hit the brake to stop, or driving through the mountains with a trailer in tow and finding u dont have brake?
Customer service goes hand in hand with the dealer and the manufacturer. If the vehicle is out of warranty then 9 times out of 10 every manufacturer bails out. Sometimes a dealer will step up and take one on the chin for a customer but that’s not likely to happen very often. Sorry to hear you got a lemon Monica. Most states do have lemon laws that could help. I’ve owned two Tundras and a Sienna, to this date I’ve never had any major problems. Without a doubt Toyota is struggling and I suppose if I had a bad experience I wouldn’t feel too sorry for them. At this point I think the sharks are circling, e.g. State Farm. I wonder if State Farm is positioning itself to recover any insurance cases that could be blamed on gas pedals????
I watched the interview with Brian Williams and Ray Lahood. Ray defended his position but where I feel it became a vendetta when he had the chance to say That the NHTSA will force all manufacutrer’s to make sure their vehicles are safe. That would have shown he wasn’t bias at all and was intrested in safety on all vehicles in the USA. But whe know Ray is vengeful and prooved it. Apparently someone really made him mad at Toyota and he’s acting like a junkyard dog and won’t let go. Recalls are all safety issues no matter where they come from. With the recall on the mats Toyota now has made the top ten list at #4 all time recalls on the list since they have been keeping records since the 70’s. Honda made #10 and VW made #7. GM made the most in the top 10 with Ford being #1. We all think about the SUV and Firestone debacle, but that never made the top 10. But Ford’s recall of the cruise control made #5 and #6 since they did that twice. GM was #2 and #3. It was intresting reading. I have to find the article again so I can post the shortcut. BTW I did my recall of the gas pedal. Last night I watched a Toyota Master Tech go through the whole procedure explainging what he was doing as he went. It was very informational. Today I got mine done and No they didn’t flash the computer. Didn’t zeroized my numbers/avgs. The pedal felt like it had less resistance than before. It seemed easier to depress and came back quite well. I tried the brake at the same time giving it gas to check and see if they did the computer upgrade and NO it took off with no hassle. It didn’t drop in RPM’s. I floored it and let up. I ran throught the gears and let up. I tried everything I could and I really didn’t notice anything. I didn’t get a recall notice yet but I emailed my dealership about the recall. They stated they had the part in and what day & time I wanted done. So far not enough people are going in an getting this done. Simply put is all you have to fear is fear itself. I have 78,350 miles on mine and haven’t had the issue and I went and had mine done. Took 45 minutes. I didn’t wait for it and I picked it up after I was done. What they also did was a complete inspection of the truck. All fluids, brakes, tires, and battery. I know Anonymous won’t like to hear this but hey it will annoy him. When they checked the brakes it had on the rear 20-50% pad left with 78,000 miles. I’ll probably get 100k out of the original pads. My front pads were over 50%. So annoymous that means less cost for maintenance. I had 601 cold cranking amps also on my almost 3 year old battery. It isn’t the recalls or TSB’s that worry me. It’s customer service that does. In fact I told the team of advisers in front of other Toyota customers how much I enjoy driving this truck. So Monica did you even try another dealership? I do all my maintenance at the dealership. This is why they go to bat for me because they know I can go to Jiffy Lube etc for service but I stay there. They have covered things for me under warranty when the part wasn’t. I had the same issues with Chevy and Ford and that’s what pushed me here. To show you what recalls and TSB’s I had and all vehicle’s mention I bought brand new.
Okay here you go in what new vehicles I had with both TSB’s and Recalls
Recalls TSB’s In Shop Yrs Owned
1992 GMC Sonoma 3 Recalls 4 TSB’s. 7x 5 years
1997 Ford Thunderbird 2 Recalls 106 TSB’s 26x 6 years
1998 Chevy Silverado 2 Recalls 17 TSB’s 3x 5 years
2003 Ford F-150 2 Recalls 82 TSB’s 18x 3 years
2003 Ford Crown Vic 7 Recalls 111 TSB’s 22x 4 years
2007 Toyota Prius 1 Recall 8 TSB’s 0x Still Have
2007 Toyota Tundra 4 Recalls 1 TSB 4x Still Have
So you see that anything made by man will break at sometime. No I’m far from being shell shock. It boils down to customer service…….. As for the Thunderbird and Crown Vic those were the cars my wife drove. Until I felt that the car would leave her stranded was when we traded it in.
I forgot my 06 Silverado which had 10 TSB’s and 10 Recalls had it in the shop 22x and I had it for 18 months. Ridiculous for the Chevy.
Some disturbing news regarding Toyota and the NHTSA. Another potential black-eye for the two.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_14393068
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Though limited in the number of vehicles recalled (8K), this simply adds to the growing list of recalls and concerns over Toyota products. At least it looks like Toyota is now taking recalls seriously and jumping on them quickly.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_14393066
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This could help Toyota, but as the article states, it could also hurt Toyota depending on the executives attitude and approach.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_14393067
Jason: Per this article, it looks like Toyota and the NHTSA manipulated figures and their focus to benefit Toyota during the investigation into this unintended acceleration. So as much as people want to call the media names (aka LA Slimes), we must now turn that same name calling and scrutiny towards Toyota and the NHTSA. Why did the NHTSA and Toyota limit the investigation into occurrences that lasted less than one second? How about we criticize Toyota as much as people here want to criticize the NHTSA (mostly LaHood) and the media?
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“In one example of the Toyota aides’ role, Santucci testified in a Michigan lawsuit that the company and NHTSA discussed limiting an examination of unintended-acceleration complaints to incidents lasting less than a second.”
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http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_14393068
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Also in the above article and quote below, doesn’t this sound more like a conspiracy than the GM/Chrysler is owned by the government conspiracy? To me it sounds like having connections in high places.
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“Christopher Tinto, vice president of regulatory affairs in Toyota’s Washington office, and Christopher Santucci, who works for Tinto, helped persuade the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to end probes that included those of 2002-03 Toyota Camrys and Solaras, court documents show. Both men joined Toyota directly from NHTSA, Tinto in 1994 and Santucci in 2003.”
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“Former regulators hired by Toyota Motor Corp. helped end at least four U.S. investigations of unintended acceleration by company vehicles in the past decade, warding off possible recalls, court and government records show.”
Jason: What’s up with my posts still being under moderation for nearly 2 days now. I know it was the weekend and all. They have some good links to good info that has been uncovered. Such as former NHTSA workers now employeed by Toyota, that got several recalls and investigations into unintended acceleration thrown out or narrowing the scope to only those occurences of 1 second or less. Kind a manipulating the figures as you state the media is doing.
Mickey, WHO CARES!!! Once I had a turd that won’t flush and we don’t care!!! Justin LMAO!! Conspiracy theory, get over it they made a bad product. Stop trying to blame others!! Maybe you and Mickey need to hang out and swap stories, save us the head ache!! Justin, I’m sorry. You are right the Goverment is behind it, they got Stuart Little and send him in with the Smurfs to sabotage the Toyota vehicle line. See but the aliens at area 51 where jealous and called the men in black to get in on it. So after some string pulling Obama gave Lahood the green light to the Fabulous 5 and called it Operation Clogged Toilet (get turd -TRD- stuck in the toilet)
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Now in all reality Toyota made a bad product and the public is seeing that everyone has issues and one is not any better than the other! Its a fact! Sorry for busting your bubble!!
Oh Mickey, I forget about that beloved resale value. Isn’t a Yugo worth more now? LMAO
Anonymous: When did I ever say it was a conspiracy theory that the Government was behind this entire ordeal? Think you need to re-read my posts, or heck I’m sure Jason or Mickey will point out I’ve stated this is hogwash (whether they agree/disagree with my point of view). Last I checked, I was calling out all those people trying to use this as a lame far-fetched excuse. I’ve been pointing out that this is simply a defect in production that is far reaching. It’s a recall, just the same as any other manufacturer has gone through. Many want to downplay the problem, or pass the blame on to others. Fact is, it’s already in the Top 5 of recalls All-Time, based on the number of vehicles impacted. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the recall numbers grow.
The fact that its the media fudging number, ex NHTSA employees working for Toyota now. Basicly the way I see it its like a conspiracy theory. You seem like everyone is out to get you (Toyota and who knows maybe even your self) and its all their fault. Who cares? It happened! Oh the goverment had somthing to do with Lahood statement since they own GM, believe what ever you want! Its funny everyone blames the media but if the public, to include this site, would stop making a big deal of it, it would proably go away with time. But NO so blame others! You win, your right, what ever you say. You are gonna bring in Mickey and Jason. I can’t deal with that. Mickey will talk about how his wagon in 1812 had the wheel fall off and all the TSB and recalls leading into the headliner falling over and over, then jason you never know what the flavor of the day. It flip flops, Goverment is awsome when they say Toyota is good, Lahood is a idiot when he says somthing else. Its like a Hipocriocity, must live in Cali.
Justin – Good links. Sorry I didn’t approve the comments sooner. If it wasn’t for all the spammers, I would just let comments with links through…but I can’t.
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Justin, Anon, and others: I think people are putting words in my mouth. I’ve never been critical of NHTSA – I’ve been critical of LaHood, who is a politician in charge of the department of transportation, of which NHTSA is a tiny part. I’ve never alleged a conspiracy – I’ve dismissed the possibility quite strongly in fact – yet somehow people seem to think I’ve adopted some sort of anti-government, anti-NHTSA mentality.
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Too often, people are in such a hurry to disagree with a headline that they don’t take the time to read the actual article. While it is true I could do a better job of communicating my thoughts and ideas, please read what is written very carefully before assuming you know what I think.
Anonymous Said in February 15th, 2010 @11:52 am The fact that its the media fudging number, ex NHTSA employees working for Toyota now. Basicly the way I see it its like a conspiracy theory. You seem like everyone is out to get you (Toyota and who knows maybe even your self) and its all their fault. Who cares? It happened! Oh the goverment had somthing to do with Lahood statement since they own GM, believe what ever you want! Its funny everyone blames the media but if the public, to include this site, would stop making a big deal of it, it would proably go away with time. But NO so blame others! You win, your right, what ever you say. You are gonna bring in Mickey and Jason. I can’t deal with that.
You can’t deal with that…..Who cares……. Your own words and now why are you here? Usually the heat is too much you get out of the kitchen…Smell something burning there anonymous your cue….. If you don’t like what’s put out then get out. Simply put. If you like the Yugo go for it….. You may find one from the movies that has a gold bar in it……
This document (last link) can’t help Toyota. Kind of bragging about not having to recall vehicles. Make sure to watch or review the Toyota and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on C-Span on Tuesday & Wednesday.
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http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/2.....2010022208
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http://www.detroitnews.com/art.....;07-recall
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/201.....ota_recall
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http://download.gannett.edgesu.....toyota.pdf
Dang, the stories keep coming.
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“Last year, a study by Randy Whitfield, a Maryland researcher, showed that the portion of complaints filed with federal regulators against Toyotas involving “speed control” as much as tripled after the company installed electronic throttles.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....05381.html
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“In a letter to the company, the Michigan Democrat said a review of consumer complaints produced by Toyota shows that company personnel identified sticking pedals or floor mats as the cause of only 16 percent of the unintended acceleration reports.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....02639.html
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“In 2006, Toyota sent dealers a technical service bulletin warning of the transmission problem, but the automaker has never notified owners.”
http://content.usatoday.com/co.....failures/1
To be unbiased, here is a recall on the 2010 Mustang. Just not getting much press though.
http://www.theonion.com/conten.....10_mustang
Another one. The behind the scenes demeanor at Toyota gets worse by the day. That is if all these items being reported are true. Guess we’ll find out after all these documents are reviewed. “The committee has received 75,000 documents from Toyota, including 20,000 in Japanese.”
http://freep.com/article/20100.....-for-years
Justin – I meant to have a post ready that addressed these issues this morning, but it didn’t happen. I’ll hit it tomorrow, but the long and short of this is that Toyota’s management team sucks. Badly. They put profits ahead of safety, and they deserve to lose their jobs.
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Having said that, the constant claims that Toyota’s electronics are somehow flawed are just posturing. There’s simply no proof of an electronic problem (more on that tomorrow too). Thanks for keeping us up to date and posting the Stang recall link! 🙂
No problem Jason, figure you’ll get to it as time allows. And at least right now, the Toyo management team doesn’t look so hot, or their jobs of being too safe right now.
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And I understand the point that they have never found evidence that the electronics are causing the problem. Then again, the electronics haven’t been thoroughly tested by experts in the field and totally ruled out either. These unintended acceleration reports tripling the year after they installed electronic throttles and the consumer complaints showing only 16% of the unintended acceleration were due to sticking pedals/floormats, leads a lot to be desired. Why did they triple the year after these systems were installed? What accounts for the other 82% of unintended acceleration complaints? I’m sure a lot of the 82% is being reported as driver error, but can’t make up all 82% in my eyes.
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Look forward to reading your follow-up article.
Justin wasn’t you that stated Ford had their pedals too close for their unintended acceleration? Wouldn’t that play the same all over the reason why after they installed the new electronic pedals? Also I never once was notified by mail for a TSB. You would be notified when you brought the vehicle into the dealership if you had issues with that particular TSB. I would think that 2006 comment was bogus. Not that I’m a Toyota owner but when I had my 97 Thunderbird taught me that. When I learned of NHTSA and how to look everything up was when I could go to the dealership and show them. They would claim the 5th and didn’t know anything about it. They went as far as how did I get my info. So now I know to look up NHTSA on a monthly basis to see what’s going on.