[syadasti]

More hidden Toyota quality problems exposed...

Toyota Accused of Hiding Evidence
Former Lawyer at Automaker Charges Evidence in Rollover Cases Was Concealed, Destroyed

A former attorney for Toyota has accused the automaker of illegally withholding evidence in hundreds of rollover death and injury cases, in a "ruthless conspiracy" to keep evidence "of its vehicles' structural shortcomings from becoming known."

The explosive allegations are contained in a federal racketeering suit filed in Los Angeles by Dimitrios P. Biller, former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., who claims his complaints about the company's legal misconduct cost him his job.

Toyota, which is second to General Motors in car and truck sales in the U.S., called Biller's charges "inaccurate and misleading," in a statement issued late Friday to CBS News. "Toyota takes its legal obligations seriously and works to uphold the highest professional and ethical standards," the company said.

Company lawyers have not filed an answer to Biller's lawsuit, but have brought a motion to seal the complaint, claiming it is "rife with privileged and confidential information" that Biller, as a former Toyota lawyer, has no right to divulge.

A hearing on the motion has been set for September 14.

Biller, who did not return phone calls, worked for Toyota Motor Sales, based in Torrance, Calif., from 2003 to 2007. He was involved in defending rollover lawsuits that blamed injuries and deaths on instability and weak roofs of the company's SUVs and pickups. Along with Toyota Motor Sales and Japanese parent Toyota Motor Corp., his suit names five senior executives and lawyers of Motor Sales. The case was filed July 24 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, but has not been publicized until now.

Biller's 75-page complaint says that when he came to Toyota after nearly 15 years in private practice, he was "surprised and alarmed" to discover that the company was not producing e-mails and other electronically stored information to plaintiffs as he said was required. According to the lawsuit, Biller repeatedly complained to supervisors that the company was illegally withholding evidence.

The lawsuit further states that the resulting conflicts ultimately caused Biller to suffer a mental breakdown and led to his forced resignation in September 2007. He left with a $3.7 million severance agreement, court records show.

The complaint charges that in a pair of lawsuits in Colorado and Texas, Toyota failed to fully disclose electronic data (such as e-mails) in defiance of court orders to do so. It states that when Biller learned of the company's failure to produce design and test data from an engineering subsidiary, he attempted to collect and preserve the information.

Despite these efforts, the engineering unit "was allowed to destroy relevant information and documents that should have been produced in, approximately, over 300 rollover accidents involving roof crush issues," the lawsuit claims.

It further charges that Toyota regularly, and improperly, withheld records on design and testing of vehicle roofs. For example, it says that Toyota never produced a document showing that the company's internal standard for roof strength was tougher than the federal requirement. Toyota engineers and witnesses repeatedly testified that the internal standard did not exist, the lawsuit says, adding that there are vehicles on the road today that do not meet the standard.

Word of the case has electrified the plaintiffs' bar, where some lawyers involved in vehicle cases have long voiced suspicions about foreign automakers withholding evidence.

Stuart Ollanik of the Denver firm of Gilbert, Ollanik and Komyatte, which has settled dozens of Toyota rollover cases, said he was "blown away" by the allegations, and wondered aloud if his cases "were resolved based on honest information or not." Ollanik said he had no "independent information about whether the things alleged in Mr. Biller's lawsuit are true, but if they are they're extremely serious."

With grim memories of Toyota's May 2004 courtroom victory over his quadriplegic client in a Toyota 4Runner rollover case, San Jose lawyer James McManis said he, too, was riveted by the charges. In the 4Runner case, everything with Toyota "was a big fight - and I mean everything - but I never suspected they were behaving dishonestly or concealing or withholding evidence," McManis said. "So I'm very interested in knowing whether we got all the discovery we should have got."

Biller is no stranger to litigation, and even before the lawsuit his battles with Toyota were exceedingly bitter. After leaving Toyota in 2007, he set up a consulting firm to provide attorneys with continuing education on such subjects as trial preparation and discovery of electronic records. But Toyota claimed that information provided on the firm's Web site and in class sessions violated the confidentiality clause of his severance agreement. Toyota obtained a restraining order against Biller, court records show.

Biller's lawsuit also notes that he has a separate wrongful termination claim against the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, where he briefly worked from May to August 2008, as an assistant district attorney. Biller said he was fired over what he described as a dispute over sheriff's deputies failing to show up for hearings or failing to bring evidence.

In its statement Friday, Toyota said it was "disappointed" that Biller has attempted "to avoid what we believe are his obligations as an attorney formerly employed by Toyota. In our view, Mr. Biller has repeatedly breached his ethical and professional obligations, both as an attorney and in his commitments to us, by violating attorney-client privilege."

In the lawsuit, however, lawyers for Biller described Toyota's effort to silence him as "illegal and against public policy in that it is intended to conceal information from plaintiffs and obstruct justice."

 

[IH8Rice]

what a dirtbag lawyer. $3.7mil wasnt good enough to keep your mouth shut?

 

[stoney]

for some reason... I actually believe the lawyer here.

 

[syadasti]

what a dirtbag lawyer.

Oh yeah, horrible that he blew the whistle on them. Toyota has a well established record of hiding issues to protect their brand.

I worked as a consultant for a dirtbag company that wanted me to establish an email policy on their exchange server that erased emails as soon as possible (based on other companies in that industry I worked in, what their lawyer wanted did not seem legal). Also one senior executive didn't like a performance report another (who was just as senior as him) wrote of one of their employees so he deleted it and then told us to tell him we had an IT issue that lost it. There were other stupid things too, but not nearly as bad as those incidents.

I had enough after all that and told them I'm leaving when my contract was up even though they said they wanted me full time post contract and said they wanted to increase my promised salary. They paid for me the full contract then and let me go a week and half early. About 15 minutes before the end of my last day the lawyer gets a brilliant idea (after I had already been there for 6.5 weeks) to get me to sign an NDA

 

[X3pilot]

Biller's lawsuit also notes that he has a separate wrongful termination claim against the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, where he briefly worked from May to August 2008, as an assistant district attorney. Biller said he was fired over what he described as a dispute over sheriff's deputies failing to show up for hearings or failing to bring evidence.

A lawyer that likes to sue people. Go figure.

 

[IH8Rice]

granted if this all proves to be true, it wont look good for Toyota (and im sure other auto companys do the same exact thing).

the lawyer signed a NDA, was paid very well, was also fired by LA County, but yet still decided to blow the whistle, almost 3 years after he was canned by Toyota

 

[ohio]

what a dirtbag lawyer. $3.7mil wasnt good enough to keep your mouth shut?

Or he actually has a conscience. Tough to say based on one article, but feel free to jump to the conclusion that a foreign automaker would never withhold evidence of negligence.

 

[Silver]

I for one am shocked that a corporation may not have been entirely forthcoming with the truth.

 

[manimal]

The lawsuit further states that the resulting conflicts ultimately caused Biller to suffer a mental breakdown and led to his forced resignation in September 2007.

 

[syadasti]

New update on true Toyota quality:

Toyota found to keep tight lid on potential safety problems

A Times investigation shows the world's largest automaker has delayed recalls and attempted to blame human error in cases where owners claimed vehicle defects.
By Ken Bensinger and Ralph Vartabedian
December 23, 2009

During a routine test on its Sienna minivan in April 2003, Toyota Motor Corp. engineers discovered that a plastic panel could come loose and cause the gas pedal to stick, potentially making the vehicle accelerate out of control.

The automaker redesigned the part and by that June every 2004 model year Sienna off the assembly line came with the new panel. Toyota did not notify tens of thousands of people who had already bought vans with the old panel, however.

It wasn't until U.S. safety officials opened an investigation last year that Toyota acknowledged in a letter to regulators that the part could come loose and "lead to unwanted or sudden acceleration."

In January, nearly six years after discovering the potential hazard, the automaker recalled 26,501 vans made with the old panel.

In a statement to The Times, Toyota said that there was no defect in the Sienna and that "a safety recall was not deemed necessary" when it discovered the problem in 2003. The company called the replacement part "an additional safety measure."

A peerless reputation for quality and safety has helped Toyota become the world's largest automaker. But even as its sales have soared, the company has delayed recalls, kept a tight lid on disclosure of potential problems and attempted to blame human error in cases where owners claimed vehicle defects.

The automaker's handling of safety issues has come under scrutiny in recent months because of incidents of sudden acceleration in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, which The Times has reported were involved in accidents causing 19 fatalities since 2001, more deaths from that problem than all other automakers combined.

After Toyota this fall announced its biggest recall to address the sudden-acceleration problem, it insisted publicly that no defect existed. That drew a rare public rebuke from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which chastised the automaker for making "inaccurate and misleading statements."

In the wake of Toyota's announcement of the massive recall, The Times examined some of the ways the automaker has dealt with safety problems in recent years and found that:

* The automaker knew of a dangerous steering defect in vehicles including the 4Runner sport utility vehicle for years before issuing a recall in Japan in 2004. But it told regulators no recall was necessary in the U.S., despite having received dozens of complaints from drivers. Toyota said a subsequent investigation led it to order a U.S. recall in 2005.

* Toyota has paid cash settlements to people who say their vehicles have raced out of control, sometimes causing serious accidents, according to consumers and their attorneys. Other motorists who complained of acceleration problems with their vehicles have received buybacks under lemon laws.

* Although the sudden acceleration issue erupted publicly only in recent months, it has been festering for nearly a decade. A computerized search of NHTSA records by The Times has found Toyota issued eight previous recalls related to unintended acceleration since 2000, more than any other automaker.

* A former Toyota lawyer who handled safety litigation has sued the automaker, accusing it of engaging in a "calculated conspiracy to prevent the disclosure of damaging evidence" as part of a scheme to "prevent evidence of its vehicles' structural shortcomings from becoming known" to plaintiffs lawyers, courts, NHTSA and the public.

As a result, plaintiffs attorneys are considering reopening dozens of product-liability suits against the automaker.

Toyota has called the allegations of the attorney, Dimitrios Biller, "both misleading and inaccurate" and noted that he is also suing another former employer. The company said it had "acted appropriately in product liability cases and in all reporting to federal safety regulators."

In a written statement to The Times, Toyota said that it strove to keep government officials and consumers informed about potential safety problems with its vehicles, which it says are tested to meet or exceed federal standards.

"Toyota has absolutely not minimized public awareness of any defect or issue with respect to its vehicles," the company said.

Currently, Toyota is a defendant in at least 10 lawsuits alleging unintended acceleration that caused five fatalities and four injuries. Two of those suits are seeking class-action status.

But few, if any, sudden-acceleration cases ever make it to trial, according to attorneys who handle such cases.

After a 2007 crash of a Camry that accelerated out of control for 20 miles before killing the driver of another car in San Jose, Toyota was sued by members of the victim's family. Their attorney, Louis Franecke, said the automaker "didn't want to go to trial," and paid them a seven-figure sum in exchange for dropping the case and signing a non-disclosure form.

In an interview, Guadalupe Gomez, the driver of the runaway Camry, said he also signed a confidentiality agreement and received a settlement from Toyota. He was initially arrested on suspicion of manslaughter for causing the crash, but charges were never filed.

By settling, Toyota has managed to keep potentially damaging information out of the public eye, said Raymond Paul Johnson, a Los Angeles attorney who said he had settled four sudden-acceleration cases with the automaker.

"It's just a matter of risk control for them," Johnson said.

Toyota said that although it does not comment on individual cases, it "has resolved and will continue to resolve matters with litigants through confidential settlement when it is in both parties' interests to do so."

The majority of unintended acceleration incidents don't end up in accidents. But even after minor incidents, some consumers have obtained deals under which their cars were repurchased on favorable terms.

Tim Marks, a small businessman in Camden, Ark., parked his daughter's 2006 Lexus IS 250 in front of the dealership last year and said his family would never drive it again after experiencing four sudden-acceleration events.

"They told my daughter she was texting while driving and wasn't paying attention," Marks recalled. "She is a 95-pound, little itty-bitty thing, but she was fixing to twist off on that man."

The vehicle was bought back and the title branded as a lemon, according to vehicle registration records. It was later registered in Florida, suggesting that the dealer resold it.

Much the same thing happened to Joan Marschall, a Visalia resident whose 2003 Camry accelerated on its own three times before she complained.

"I took it to the dealer and said I wouldn't drive it again," Marschall recalled. "I said I don't care if you tell me the computer says nothing happened. I know it did."

Marschall received a lemon buyback too. Registration records show the car was transferred to a new owner in Southern California.

Toyota said it had no policy to repurchase vehicles from customers complaining about sudden acceleration, though its dealers may act on their own to "preserve goodwill."

Some motorists who have confronted safety issues said the automaker has hidden information from them.

In January, Jeffrey Pepski, a financial consultant in suburban Minneapolis, took his 2007 Lexus ES 350 to the dealer after it accelerated out of control on a Twin Cities freeway, reaching 80 miles per hour.

Toyota sent an expert to examine the car Feb. 3 and download electronic data stored on the vehicle's computers. When Pepski asked for a copy of the data, he was refused.

"They said it was proprietary," Pepski recalled.

He filed a defect petition with NHTSA, and the dealer allowed Pepski to trade in the sedan for a sport utility vehicle. The Lexus ES was not branded a lemon and was resold in Minnesota, records show.

How Toyota handles requests like Pepski's has frustrated investigators and vehicle owners who want to get information contained on computers in their vehicles.

Nearly all new cars today contain an event data recorder, often called a black box, that can record several seconds of key information when accidents occur or in other circumstances.

According to Toyota, its black boxes can capture vehicle speed, engine speed, brake pedal application, accelerator pedal position and seat belt usage, among other things. That data, experts say, could be crucial to investigating causes of sudden acceleration.

Unlike manufacturers such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., Toyota's data recorders are extremely difficult for non-Toyota personnel to read, said W.R. "Rusty" Haight, a black-box expert who owns a San Diego collision investigation company.

Toyota says it has only one device in the U.S. that can read the data. An operating manual for the device, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times, indicates that it takes two passwords to operate.

On its website, Toyota says that it "will not honor EDR readout requests from private individuals or their attorneys," because its device is a prototype.

On some safety issues, Toyota has little choice but to go public.

Sudden acceleration didn't become a national issue for the automaker until this fall, when it announced its largest recall shortly after a 2009 Lexus ES accelerated out of control and crashed in San Diego County, killing an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer along with his wife, daughter and brother-in-law.

In a 5:30 a.m. conference call the day before Thanksgiving, Toyota detailed remedies to prevent acceleration problems it has blamed on gas pedals trapped by floor mats. Toyota will replace or modify pedals, replace floor mats, modify floor well padding and add new safety software to seven models, representing 4.26 million cars and trucks.

The campaign follows eight recalls in the U.S. over the last decade to fix problems that in the automaker's own words could cause sudden acceleration or faulty throttle system operation, Times research shows.

 

[syadasti]

Continued story follows...

Two years ago, a NHTSA investigation found that the gas pedal in Camry and Lexus ES sedans could be trapped by rubber all-weather floor mats -- the same problem being addressed in the current recall. Toyota responded by recalling 55,000 of the vehicles, but only enlarged a warning label on the underside of the mat and on its packaging.

In 2005, Toyota recalled 3,567 Lexus IS 250 sedans because the gas pedal had a propensity to stick on a floor pad. In 2006, it recalled 367,594 Highlander and Lexus RX SUVs after receiving complaints that an interior cover could interfere with the accelerator pedal, keeping it depressed.

All those followed a 2003 recall in Canada of 408 Celicas, also for floor mat interference with the accelerator pedal.

In the ongoing Sienna recall, Toyota is replacing a hard-plastic trim panel over the center console. In its statement to The Times, the automaker said that pedal entrapment could only be caused in the event of a missing attachment clip, which might not be replaced after service work.

Toyota said it issued the recall voluntarily after a single complaint to NHTSA prompted an investigation by the agency. "In response to Toyota's voluntary campaign, regulators closed the investigation," the company said.

NHTSA officials did not respond to a written question about the recall and the agency's oversight of the matter.

The Sienna incident wasn't the only time that Toyota issued a recall long after discovering a problem.In 1994, NHTSA slapped Toyota with a $250,000 fine, at the time the agency's second-largest, for providing misleading information about a fuel leak in Land Cruisers and waiting two years to undertake a recall to fix the problem. Toyota acknowledged that it failed to conduct a timely recall but denied withholding information from the agency.

A decade later, Toyota recalled about 330,000 vehicles in Japan after a 2004 crash there -- caused by a broken steering linkage -- seriously injured five people. The vehicle in the accident, a Hilux Surf, was sold in the U.S. as the 4Runner. Other truck models sold here, including the Toyota 4x4 and T100 pickups, also used the same linkage, a steering relay rod.

Despite that, the company told NHTSA in an October 2004 letter that it would not conduct a U.S. recall because it had not received information here indicating a problem with the part.

Documents entered in four lawsuits filed in Los Angeles this year, however, show that Toyota had received numerous consumer complaints dating from 2000 and had replaced dozens of the parts under warranty. The documents also show that Japanese police, in an investigation of the defect, said that Toyota employees had known about the problem since 1992 and should have initiated a recall immediately.

In September 2005, Toyota recalled nearly 1 million vehicles in the U.S. to replace the part, its second-largest campaign.


It came too late for Zackary Audulewicz of Ila, Ga., relatives said. The 20-year-old was driving his Toyota 4x4 to work in August 2003 when the pickup lost control. A witness said she heard a pop and saw a spark just before the pickup careened off the road, flipped into the air and rolled on its roof. Audulewicz was killed instantly.

"I feel like they knew about the problem long before the recall," said Don Audulewicz, Zackary's father and one of the plaintiffs in the suits. "I can't understand why whoever was making decisions at Toyota would do that."

Toyota declined to discuss the case, citing its policy not to comment on pending litigation. In a written statement, Toyota explained that its own investigation of the defective steering component part led it to broaden the recall to include the T100 truck.

On several occasions in the last decade, Toyota has been admonished by judges for failing to provide evidence. In 2000, for example, a Missouri state judge sanctioned it for failing to disclose results of five rear-impact tests of Corollas "despite numerous discovery requests." He ordered a new trial.

In 2007, California's Court of Appeal found that "Toyota had intentionally violated two orders compelling discovery" of stability test results in a case involving a Toyota-made forklift that tipped over and killed a worker. The court slapped Toyota with a $138,984.33 sanction and ordered a new trial. Toyota, which denied wrongdoing, ultimately settled the case.

E. Todd Tracy, a Texas attorney with 22 years of experience litigating against automakers, believes that Toyota's issues with legal discovery run far deeper than a few sanctions.

Over the last three months, he has moved to reopen 17 lawsuits against the automaker related to vehicle rollovers because he now believes Toyota routinely hid information in those cases.

His argument rests on four boxes of documents submitted by Biller, the former Toyota attorney. The contents have not yet been revealed, but Tracy believes they prove that Toyota hid crucial information about rollovers in those lawsuits.

"This is clearly information that Toyota does not want the public to see," Tracy said. "For years, they were the gold standard, but right now they have more problems than they know what to do with."

ken.bensinger@latimes.com

ralph.vartabedian@

latimes.com

Times staff writers Doug Smith and Thomas Suh Lauder contributed to this report.

 

[MikeD]

20 miles of unintentional acceleration? TURN THE CAR OFF, for the love of God!

 

[sanjuro]

btw, my sister's Toyota Sienna had a different problem: the engine power would cut out on the highway.

One time I took it out, the engine started sputtering when I was doing about 65mph. I knew it could happen and I was prepared for it, but I did think of a friend's wife whose engine also died and she crashed before she could get to the shoulder.

Anyway, I signal to get off, and there is a fvcking Asian woman in my blind spot and she won't get out of my damn way. Won't speed up or slow down.

I had to jerk the wheel to indicate to her to get out of my way or I am going to hit her. She finally got the clue and accerlated past me.

After about 3 visits, my sister went through the Lemon Law process and got her money back. She did buy another Sienna though.

She's not stupid and it is a nice minivan. I think I am going to inspect the gas pedal tomorrow just in case.

 

[splat]

20 miles of unintentional acceleration? TURN THE CAR OFF, for the love of God!

Accelerating for 20 Miles ? Must have been close to the sound barrier by that time !

 

[rockofullr]

Accelerating for 20 Miles ? Must have been close to the sound barrier by that time !

seriously!

There was no time to try to slip it into neutral?

P.S. Fu@K Toyota

 

[syadasti]

I had a gas pedal and mat stick in a Chrysler 300M I was dropping off for a repair about ten years ago (owner forgot to use the hooks to prevent it). I didn't know what was happening, jammed on the gas pedals a few times but no response. Tried to ride the brakes to stop but didn't slow much as the gas pedal was stuck. Wasn't sure if neutral at WOT would be bad for the tranny so I turned the engine off. It did not stop in time for the intersection but it was clear and I just barely made the turn (no power steering without power) without incident. I think the car had accelerated for about 1/8-1/6 of a mile in the incident on a small 35 mph back road near Bell Labs and the GSP.

Dealer didn't think much of the problem when I dropped off the car but it was very unexpected and frightening for sure. Safety minded European brands let the brake pedal over ride the gas pedal in case of situation such as this.

 

[BikeLuvR904]

interesting good post

 

[syadasti]

Toyota FTW in 2009!

Toyota's 1st in safety recalls for 1st time
Automaker struggles as acceleration problem lingers

BY JUSTIN HYDE
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
Dec. 30, 2009

WASHINGTON -- In a first, Toyota led the U.S. auto industry in recalled vehicles this year, thanks to its largest safety-related problem since it began selling vehicles in the United States.

The Japanese automaker has struggled with the fallout from the recall of 4.3 million Toyota and Lexus models for unintended acceleration linked to fatal crashes.

Toyota told federal officials earlier this month it would start fixing the vehicles now, but some repairs would not be ready until March.

According to a Free Press analysis of federal data, automakers recalled 15.2 million vehicles in 2009, a sharp jump from 8.6 million in 2008.

Safety recalls have generally declined in recent years as automakers catch problems earlier, but the totals can fluctuate widely with one or two big problems.

All three Detroit automakers also saw their count of recalled vehicles rise in 2009, even as they caught problems earlier in production.

Nearly all of Ford's recalled models were tied to one longstanding problem with cruise control switches; absent it, the company would have hit a record low.
Recalls tied to variety of safety woes

From misplaced labels and faulty seat-belt reminder buzzers to engine fires and broken wheels, the 117 recalls from automakers in 2009 covered a vast range of safety-related problems.

Such problems are as close as the federal government comes to tracking the quality of cars and trucks, and in years past have mirrored the quality scores from outlets such as Consumer Reports.

While automakers have stepped up their monitoring to catch problems quickly, those that get through can affect millions of consumers because of the industry's practice of sharing parts across more models.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks only those recalls that could affect safety in some way.

Automakers typically call back vehicles for other types of problems, and contend those campaigns shouldn't be considered recalls.

That was the argument Toyota first advanced in September when it announced it was recalling 4.3 million vehicles to replace floor mats after uncontrolled acceleration problems were linked to about a dozen fatal crashes.

NHTSA quickly demanded Toyota issue a full recall, which the automaker did.

Acceleration isn't only problem

While Toyota's accelerator problem accounted for most of the nearly 4.9 million vehicles it recalled in 2009, the automaker issued eight other recalls for problems ranging from missing safety labels to corroded pickup frames that pushed it to its top spot.

"It's an unfortunate ranking, and certainly one Toyota doesn't wish to have," said Celeste Migliore, spokeswoman for Toyota. "The safety of our owners and the public remain our utmost concern, and Toyota has and will take appropriate measures to correct any defect it identifies."

Ford recalled 4.5 million older cars and trucks because of a problem with cruise control switches that can catch fire, a defect the automaker has struggled with for a decade that has affected 16 million vehicles.

Outside of that recall, Ford called back just 21,993 vehicles in 2009, a minuscule total for a major automaker.

"Part of Ford's rapid quality improvement has resulted from addressing issues sooner," said Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood. "The majority of vehicles we recalled in 2009 were older models, 10 years old on average with some more than 18 years old."

GM issues most recalls

General Motors recalled 2.3 million vehicles, the third-highest total, but had the most recalls issued among automakers with 17.

"We are catching most problems before they affect large numbers of customers," said GM spokesman Alan Adler. "The important thing is to eliminate these issues and improve reliability in the view of the people who purchase our vehicles."

Chrysler's total of 590,044 cars and trucks recalled was the lowest among the Detroit Three, but came over 16 events; outside of GM and Chrysler, no automaker had more than 10. Several of Chrysler's and GM's recalls covered just a few thousand vehicles.

While automakers pore over warranty data and customer complaints to catch safety problems early in production, none has proven perfect.

Of the 117 recalls, 21 were spurred by government regulators reviewing the same data automakers receive.

Five of the seven recalls issued by Hyundai were sparked by NHTSA probes, including three cases involving corrosion in so-called salt belt northern states severe enough to cause suspension problems.

Contact JUSTIN HYDE: 202-906-8204 or jhyde@freepress.com

 

[BurlyShirley]

First Apple, now Toyota?
What other manufacturers are you openly hostile toward?

Radio Flyer Wagons and YKK Zipper Co. have always pissed me off!

 

[syadasti]

First Apple, now Toyota?

What's a matter, you can't handle the truth?

This Toyota problem has been going on for over half a decade now. I linked to the original Wall Street Journal article from back in 2006 in my first post - http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2333519&postcount=11

Even back then the president of Toyota admitted there were serious concerns:

Still, Toyota has painstakingly built a reputation for superior quality over the past three decades, and the soaring number of recalls has been highly embarrassing for its management. At a news conference last month, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe offered an elaborate apology.

"I take this seriously and see it as a crisis," Mr. Watanabe said. He then bowed deeply in front of the cameras, adding, "I want to apologize deeply for the troubles we have caused"

 

[syadasti]

Oh and Toyota quality is only going to get worse.

P.S. I own a Toyota product.

Toyota to cut auto parts costs by 30 percent: report
Dec 21, 2009 9:25pm EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) plans to cut auto parts procurement costs by around 30 percent over three years to help it regain profitability, media said on Tuesday.

Toyota has asked its suppliers to cut prices of some parts by 30-40 percent for cars that will hit the market by 2013, the Asahi daily said. The Nikkei business daily also said Toyota plans to switch to less expensive materials and parts.

Toyota spokesman Takanori Yokoi said the automaker had made "various suggestions including cost reductions" to suppliers on Monday, but he declined to disclose details.

Toyota, which has forecast its second straight annual operating loss, plans to overhaul its car designs to help cut costs, the two newspapers said.

Toyota's request for a 30 percent reduction in costs -- the biggest in 10 years -- comes as the automaker is trying to sharpen its price competitiveness in emerging markets, the Asahi said.

Growing concern over the yen's continued strength is also behind the move, the Asahi said.

Toyota's shares gained 1.6 percent to 3,780 yen while the broader Nikkei 225 index .N225 advanced 1 percent.

(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Joseph Radford)

 

[syadasti]

Toyota's high quality standards in business:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/28/did-nhtsa-know-of-toyota-woes-back-in-2004/

Did NHTSA know of Toyota woes back in 2004?
by Chris Shunk on Jan 28th 2010 at 2:31PM

From the "This story just keeps getting uglier" department comes a new bit of information concerning Toyota and its growing sticky pedal problem. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that Toyota and the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration were looking into the problem back in 2004, but an interesting twist led the investigation down a path that ultimately turned up nothing.

The Freep says that this early investigation was strictly limited to incidents of unintended acceleration lasting one second or less, which strikes us as odd considering prolonged periods unintended acceleration are a lot more dangerous than a blip of the throttle. And this is where the story gets a bit tricky. The Freep reports that a 2008 lawsuit stemming from an alleged unintended acceleration-related death of a woman driving a 2005 Camry says that the decision was made to limit the investigation right after a former NHTSA employee, Christopher Santucci, took a job with Toyota.

The lawsuit alleges that the new Toyota employee negotiated a deal with his former coworkers at NHTSA to limit the investigation of unintended acceleration claims to instances of one second or less. Santucci said in a deposition that the NHTSA investigation involved 2002 and 2003 Toyota Camry, Solaras and Lexus ES300 models. NHTSA had reportedly received 139 complaints in the 2004 investigation, but found no defects.

Now that Toyota has officially recalled millions of vehicles, the question remains whether these older models will eventually be recalled as well. The short answer is that we have no idea, but former NHTSA head Joan Claybrook feels that the government safety agency should have taken unintended acceleration claims more seriously in the past.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100128/BUSINESS01/1280466/1319/Camry-red-flag-raised-in-2004

 

[syadasti]

But wait, there's more! Maybe Toyota will top the Ford Exploder incident? Toyota now has bigger safety recalls than Ford now - what a way to lead

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/28/breaking-house-to-hold-hearing-on-toyota-recalls/

House to hold hearing on Toyota recalls

As it's wont to do, the U.S. House of Representatives has decided to investigate Toyota over its recent recalls involving possible unintended acceleration caused by both floor mats and defective accelerator pedal mechanisms. The House Energy and Commerce committee will hold a hearing on February 25 to "examine the persistent consumer complaints of sudden unintended acceleration in vehicles manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation," this according to committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif (above). Not only will Toyota be on the hot seat, but the committee will also investigate how well the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has handled the situation.

The Detroit News reports that Toyota officials already met with members of the committee on Wednesday. They were asked to provide the committee with information and documents and will be expected to answer questions at the hearing about when they first learned of cases involving unintended acceleration in their vehicles and what steps were taken to safeguard customers who might be at risk. They'll probably also be asked about the connection between NHTSA and Toyota through one Mr. Christopher Santucci, a former NHTSA employee who took a job with Toyota around the same time these issues were first being investigated.

It's also fair to point out that this isn't the first time a recall has gained the attention of Capitol Hill. The recall involving Firestone tires on Ford Explorers in 2000 sparked Congressional hearings, for instance.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100128/AUTO01/1280489/1361/House-to-hold-hearing-on-Toyota-recalls--safety-issues

 

[IH8Rice]

with nearly almost half of their model lineup being halted for sales, im not too keen on buying my Tacoma right now. i know they werent effected, but i cant rightfully buy a car from a company that stopped sales on half of their lineup because of some chinese company's fvck up

i told the dealer that calls nearly every day that i wont buy their product

 

[Silver]

with nearly almost half of their model lineup being halted for sales, im not too keen on buying my Tacoma right now. i know they werent effected, but i cant rightfully buy a car from a company that stopped sales on half of their lineup because of some chinese company's fvck up

i told the dealer that calls nearly every day that i wont buy their product

Don't blame China.

CTS is US based and has a plant in Canada...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jGfk5wVCEkFgj3nU6TR3rgya6e_Q

 

[IH8Rice]

Don't blame China.

CTS is US based and has a plant in Canada...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jGfk5wVCEkFgj3nU6TR3rgya6e_Q

hmm dont know where i got China from then. im sure they are to blame for something else

still not going to buy one of their products though

 

[Westy]

20 miles of unintentional acceleration? TURN THE CAR OFF, for the love of God!

Had a Ford T-bird that had a freaky cruise control system and a throttle that would stick when it was really cold. Thing would occasionally go WFO below 10 degrees. Even as a dumb ass 18 year old the first time it happened it took me less that a second after realizing what was happening to simply turn the key off. It happened at least 20 times. I never even thought it to be enough of a problem to try to get it fixed. Don't think I ever went over 5mph than I was planning on going. This is just Darwin's invisible hand.

 

[ohio]

Even as a dumb ass 18 year old the first time it happened

****, as an 18-year-old it's a great excuse to drive the way you really want to.

 

[Pesqueeb]

But wait, there's more! Maybe Toyota will top the Ford Exploder incident? Toyota now has bigger safety recalls than Ford now - what a way to lead

I would still buy anything made by toyota way before a bought a ford product. I grew up with fords and we have fords at work. They are all in my experience, regardless of year or model, universally sh!t.

 

[dan-o]

The pedals were made to Toyota spec.
A well manufactured turd is still a turd.

 

[IH8Rice]

The pedals were made to Toyota spec.
A well manufactured turd is still a turd.

Firestone had this same issue with the tires for the Exploders. they were made to Ford's awesome spec

 

[eaterofdog]

Will someone please do the fight club reference already?

 

[syadasti]

Firestone had this same issue with the tires for the Exploders. they were made to Ford's awesome spec

Yeah Ford didn't want to spend the money for properly designing the Exploder's suspension so they decided to cheap out and push the tires as the solution with under inflation.

 

[IH8Rice]

Yeah Ford didn't want to spend the money for properly designing the Exploder's suspension so they decided to cheap out and push the tires as the solution with under inflation.

it was the suspension that made the tires fail?

 

[syadasti]

it was the suspension that made the tires fail?

Yup - Ford wanted to save a buck and use the cheap half-assed shortcut:

With a longer passenger compartment, the Explorer added 600 pounds, which was not considered to require revision of the suspension or tires to carry the bigger load. It used the same tires as the Ford Ranger with a relatively low rating for high temperatures. Lowering tire pressure recommendations softened the ride further and improved emergency stability through increased traction, but increased the chances of overheating tires. A 1995 redesign with a new suspension slightly raised the Explorer's center of gravity, but it was called inconsequential by a Ford spokesman. Memos by Ford engineers suggested lowering the engine height, but it would have increased cost of the new design.

 

[IH8Rice]

i just told the dealer that kept calling im not buying their products b/c of this. he said he had no idea of it. riiiight.

 

[IH8Rice]

hey, lets send the new pedals to the factory instead of taking care of the 4.3mil customers first. oh wait, we did that already


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100129/ap_on_bi_ge/toyota_recall

 

[stevew]

Had a Ford T-bird

4 cylinder turbo coupe?

 

[dan-o]

4 cylinder turbo coupe?

My mom had one of those. Amazingly small passenger compartment given the size of the car.

 

[IH8Rice]

pretty straightforward video on what the problem is:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/29/video-in-depth-look-at-toyotas-sticky-accelerator/