Toyota Recalls 418,570 Vehicles

[Newbiewar]

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/...0718&ID=5873092

Toyota Recalls 418,570 Vehicles

July 18, 2006 11:53 AM ET

TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it was recalling 418,570 vehicles globally, including some Echo and Prius models sold in the U.S., over a faulty engine part.

The faulty part is the latest in a string of problems requiring recalls by Toyota, raising doubts over whether the automaker can maintain quality standards amid booming sales.

The recall affects 268,570 vehicles sold in Japan across 12 models manufactured in 2001, including Corollas, the compact cars Vitz and Platz and the hybrid Prius, the company said in a statement submitted to Japan's Transport Ministry.

The recall also affects about 150,000 cars sold overseas, mainly in the United States and Canada, Toyota spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said. These autos were also manufactured in 2001.

In the United States, 24,490 cars sold under the name Echo and Yaris, as well as 8,476 Prius vehicles are affected by the recall, she said.

The faulty part could lead to an oil leak within the engine and cause it to stop completely, the statement said. There have been no accidents due to the fault, according to Toyota.

The company will fix an additional 3,232 Toyota and Hino vans manufactured in 2004-2005 whose engines may have a faulty turbine blade, though the fault isn't serious enough to meet Japan's recall standards, the company said.

The recall comes after police investigated three Toyota officials on suspicion of professional negligence in allegedly shirking recalls for eight years and not fixing a defect that may have caused an accident.

Five people were injured in a crash in 2004 in southern Japan when steering failed in a 1993 Toyota Hilux Surf sport utility vehicle, causing it to swing out of control. Toyota had received five reports of problems with the steering by 1996, but no recall was made until 2004, the company said.

The investigation was another embarrassment for Toyota, whose once impeccable image has been tarnished by a number of recalls.

Earlier this month, the company recalled 367,500 Toyota and Lexus sport utility vehicles in the U.S. because a piece in the front console area could come loose and interfere with the gas pedal.

Toyota has been reporting booming sales in recent years and is growing so rapidly some analysts expect it to overtake struggling General Motors Corp. of the U.S. as the world's biggest automaker in coming years.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[Drew Dowdell]

uhm.... at this point, why don't they just recall all toyotas..... just in case.

[Newbiewar]

uhm.... at this point, why don't they just recall all toyotas..... just in case.

168263[/snapback]

that might not be enough, some vehicles might have multiple defects...

[Flybrian]

I think the bad engine part in the Echo is taking up 1.5l of space right under the hood.

This is just funny.

One thing. No claims about biased press can be made for this article at all.

The investigation was another embarrassment for Toyota, whose once impeccable image has been tarnished by a number of recalls.

Says it all.

[Paolino]

One thing. No claims about biased press can be made for this article at all.

Says it all.

168290[/snapback]

I saw that too, and I said, "Finally."

My friends who own a Prius and Corolla are starting to get ticked that I keep forwarding them bad Toyota news all the time lately... they, along with their family, swears up and down about them.

Hey, it wasn't me who bought a 2004 Prius right off the bat and a month later couldn't get into my car because the battery was dead and everything literally went dead (keyless entry malfunctioned too--no power to open doors or trunk). Car had to be towed out of their driveway by Toyota... I had to move my 13-year-old (at the time), Buick out of the way which effortlessly started up in order for them to car their shiny new spaceshuttle out of the driveway.

[Newbiewar]

Okay now i'm starting to see some press off of this one...

its getting front page treatment on MSN.com, and stock price has fallen 25% over the last 2 and a half months... including 2% today

and the PR department is ontop of things... less then 30 minutes after this recall... there is some optomisic reporting from Toyota about next generation hybrids and flexfuel vehicles...

[Paolino]

and the PR department is ontop of things... less then 30 minutes after this recall... there is some optomisic reporting from Toyota about next generation hybrids and flexfuel vehicles...

168316[/snapback]

Sure, they have to save face.

Question is, how many recalls does Toyota have to get before the general public starts thinking twice?

[Newbiewar]

Sure, they have to save face.

Question is, how many recalls does Toyota have to get before the general public starts thinking twice?

168317[/snapback]

well stock price is always a good indication of the publics perception... at least the upperclass... which is almost all of Toyotas customers are older upperclass babyboomers...

[Newbiewar]

well stock price is always a good indication of the publics perception... at least the upperclass... which is almost all of Toyotas customers are older upperclass babyboomers...

168321[/snapback]

but on that same token... Toyota's market capitalization is 10 times that of GM's...

[aaaantoine]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13916606/

My friend sent me this link, actually. Toyota's catching up on all the recalls they conveniently forgot to issue over the past 5+ years.

And yes, I'm projecting bias. If some nutjob can claim that "recalls are a time to shine for Toyota", then why can't the same be said for GM? Similar line of thinking with my response to this issue.

[camaro]

It's time for Toyota to start feeling its oats. Just like any other company growing rapidly, chinks the armor are appearing. It seems Toyota likes to move forward by producing $h! automobiles. Let's hope this momentum keeps up and puts a rather bitter taste in the mouths of all the mindless assholes who buy Toyotas.

Rather vicious but this has been a long time coming.

[76ChevyTrucker]

Another recall, eh? why doesn't this surprise me.

[DetroitNut90]

Man , Toyota's not having a good July.

[balthazar]

ANOTHER ONE?!?! This is friggin fantastic!

[regfootball]

just got home. is there ANOTHER toyota recall?

[Sixty8panther]

uhm.... at this point, why don't they just recall all toyotas..... just in case.

168263[/snapback]

I think for the sake of public safety all Toyotas should be

fed into a crusher like a corpse into a giant woodchipper.

[I hope GMRULES again]

Yeh hah! This is really helping me enjoy my 3 weeks of vacation.

[MyerShift]

Ahh, nothing like great news after a pissy day at work, what with making McD cash cows... sorry, customers, fatter than ever.

[sciguy_0504]

Toyota's month of hell continues...

[balthazar]

Weeks have already turned into a month.

Will a month turn into months?

Will months turn into a year?

[Newbiewar]

Weeks have already turned into a month.

Will a month turn into months?

Will months turn into a year?

168917[/snapback]

i hope so...

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I think the bad engine part in the Echo is taking up 1.5l of space right under the hood.

This is just funny.

One thing. No claims about biased press can be made for this article at all.

Says it all.

168290[/snapback]

There's only one problem with that...

The issue received NO major exposure at all.

[csaba1218]

I used to have a toyota, bought it brand new, let's just say i'll never buy one again.

However only people who are actually intrested in being informed and making good decisions when selecting a vehicle ( like the fine people of C&G (although some are opinionated biased jerks, including me)) will actually hear about these recalls, and let's face it as long as there are people dumb enough to buy an H3,people will continue to buy toyotas, they just dont know any better.

[FAPTurbo]

I used to have a toyota, bought it brand new, let's just say i'll never buy one again.

However only people who are actually intrested in being informed and making good decisions when selecting a vehicle ( like the fine people of C&G (although some are opinionated biased jerks, including me)) will actually hear about these recalls, and let's face it as long as there are people dumb enough to buy an H3,people will continue to buy toyotas, they just dont know any better.

169532[/snapback]

True, but it doesn't help that I haven't heard or read about this in any newscast or newspaper. Meanwhile, I hear about GM's "woes" and recalls when they are announced from time to time.

To find all this info on Toyota, you kind of have to look for it. People are either too busy, lazy or ill-informed in the first place to search it out.

[enzl]

Toyota's spate of recent recalls have been all over the news and the topic of a number of recent, mainstream press articles...

Of course its news worthy when the juggernaut gets dinged! Just as its newsworthy when the world's largest auto producer gas recalls (or Microsoft has issues or someone 'finds' a finger in their Wendy's Chili).

So what.

Let's root for GM to make worldclass vehicles (and, god forbid, disseminate some constructive criticism) rather than hope the 'contender' suffers a knockdown....

[CARBIZ]

I don't call Business Week MAINSTREAM press. And I also don't consider the BUSINESS section of the newspaper as mainstream, either.

When GM screws up, the papers put it on the FRONT PAGE. When Toyota has front wheels falling off its SUVs, it gets buried in the business section.

I may actualy pick up the next few CR mags to see how they spin this. There certainly was no "maintstream" media coverage of the horspower OOPSIE that Toyota and HOnda got away with.

Of course, Torontonians must be illiterate and stupid, because nobody I have asked has heard about the recalls.

[halfasmallblock]

This link can be found on the front page of Yahoo: http://www.yahoo.com/s/354076

"So much for Toyota's vaunted reputation for quality. On July 18, the Japanese auto giant announced a recall of 418,570 vehicles worldwide for faulty engine parts. This follows an even larger global recall of nearly one million cars and trucks at the end of May for faulty parts that could cause drivers to lose control of the steering wheel.

[Paolino]

So, I'm just going to add this here since I didn't want to start a whole new topic for something so small, but I'll be driving my friends home in my 15 year old Buick so their 1.5 year old Prius can have it's 2nd battery replaced since they got the car. Apparently it's dropping its charge too fast... not retaining any power.

The first time the battery was replaced, was less than 6 months after they got the car--they couldn't even open the doors or trunk because the entire car is keyless entry and go--the battery was completely dead... it had to be towed out of their driveway.

[cmattson]

I'm not at all surprised. Go visit a Prius-owner's forum like priuschat.com. Take a look at their technical pages. It's literally filled with dozens of issues. The technology in this car is far from mainstream. One could speculate that perhaps this is the reason why Toyota was so hesitant to ramp up production on the Prius.

Take a look at some of these message headings:

"Whole car vibrates like crazy when I roll down windows?, Anyone else had this problem?"

"MFD Failure!, Yet another case"

"Prius goes off the deep end... "

"MFD replaced TWICE!"

"Vanity lights not working"

"Car dies because only a quarter tank of gas?"

"Brakes failure"

"EV mode disabled when too hot"

"Window Rattles & sticky windows"

That only from the first page of issues. There are a total of 63 pages of stuff like this. Not exactly world-class quality, IMO.

Edited August 1, 2006 by cmattson

[Paolino]

I'm not at all surprised.  Go visit a Prius-owner's forum like priuschat.com.  Take a look at their technical pages.  It's literally filled with dozens of issues.  The technology in this car is far from mainstream.  One could speculate that perhaps this is the reason why Toyota was so hesitant to ramp up production on the Prius.

174031[/snapback]

Funny thing is, my friend seemed hesitant to tell me what was wrong with the car. He changed the subject. He knows how much I protested him getting this car.

His wife on the other hand, well, she covered the baby's ears and started cursing it LOL

[76ChevyTrucker]

Now THAT is funny.

[Paolino]

I have to tell you, the door plastics and other plastics in the car are rock hard... if anyone wants to ever nitpick on plastics... go to the Prius. The interior, well, you can tell they cost-cut in SO many areas. The seat fabric is SO cheap. The plastics are low quality, the sound insulation, well, it's nonexistant.

[grandmarquis]

I'm not at all surprised.  Go visit a Prius-owner's forum like priuschat.com.  Take a look at their technical pages.  It's literally filled with dozens of issues.  The technology in this car is far from mainstream.  One could speculate that perhaps this is the reason why Toyota was so hesitant to ramp up production on the Prius.

Take a look at some of these message headings:

"Whole car vibrates like crazy when I roll down windows?, Anyone else had this problem?"

"MFD Failure!, Yet another case"

"Prius goes off the deep end... "

"MFD replaced TWICE!"

"Vanity lights not working"

"Car dies because only a quarter tank of gas?"

"Brakes failure"

"EV mode disabled when too hot"

"Window Rattles & sticky windows"

That only from the first page of issues.  There are a total of 63 pages of stuff like this.  Not exactly world-class quality, IMO.

174031[/snapback]

good god, if any gm or ford had all these issues people would be out for blood. seems to me that several of these issues could be very dangerous to one's life, and these toyo kool-aide drinkers keep bragging about how good these sh!tboxes are? talk about brainwashing. i doubt if any of these toyo loving fools can even spell "lemon", let alone know what one is.

[bowtie_dude]

Looks like our resident Toyota apologist has dropped off the face of the planet.

Toyoguy, where are you to assure us that these recalls mean nothing compared to how outstanding Toyotas are in other aspects and how well engineered they are? I need reassurance!

[Drew Dowdell]

Toyota's spate of recent recalls have been all over the news and the topic of a number of recent, mainstream press articles...

Of course its news worthy when the juggernaut gets dinged! Just as its newsworthy when the world's largest auto producer gas recalls (or Microsoft has issues or someone 'finds' a finger in their Wendy's Chili).

So what.

Let's root for GM to make worldclass vehicles (and, god forbid, disseminate some constructive criticism) rather than hope the 'contender' suffers a knockdown....

169560[/snapback]

Lets not forget that the issue isn't that Toyota is having issues..... but that the press generally ignores Toyota's issues while putting the Domestic's on the front page in bold print.

[76ChevyTrucker]

I'll be honest, I don't like when ANY vehicle has a recall, although there is a dark and evil side of me that likes when I see imports having recalls (espeically those nice little screwballs over at Toyota) so I can happily bash them whilst waving a large Chevy bowtie over their burning hulks.

[toyoguy]

Looks like our resident Toyota apologist has dropped off the face of the planet.

Toyoguy, where are you to assure us that these recalls mean nothing compared to how outstanding Toyotas are in other aspects and how well engineered they are?  I need reassurance!

174258[/snapback]

I heard he moved to Tibet.

Toyota is doing poorly.

$3.23 billion quarterly net income +39% (that's US monies)

Revenue up 14%

Over 25yrs of profit and counting

Toyota even outsold Ford this July :gasp:

total Toyota (w/CamCords)

214,867

total Ford #1

199,735

total Toyota (w/Lexus)

241,826

we (Ford) are the champions my friend

total Ford (w/Mercury, Lincoln, Jag/Volvo/LR)

241,339

Toyota stock is in a downward spiral $108.

keep waiting patiently. :AH-HA_wink:

I know I'm waiting to taste sweet victory!

It will be soon drink my enemies blood!

Edited August 6, 2006 by toyoguy

[ocnblu]

That last smiley in your above post, is that you at the moment you lose steering control?

[mustang84]

Sales and profits mean nothing when your vehicles are falling apart. Will the people that are having problems with their Toyotas now be so quick to purchase one on the next cycle? Toyota has the issue that many of its sales jumps have been in the last few years...new owners that hold no brand loyalty and probably bought one for the gas mileage and perception of quality. Burn them once, and they probably won't come back the next time around.