Toyota Australia releases statement regarding recalled vehicles

By Karl Peskett | January 30th, 2010

*UPDATE* : All Toyota vehicles sold in Australia are NOT affected. Additionally all Lexus products sold in Australia are manufactured in Japan. As stated by Lexus US, Lexus vehicles are not subject to the recall at all. Australia Toyota & Lexus customers have nothing to worry about.

CarAdvice has recently reported on several recalls affecting vehicles manufactured by auto giant Toyota. As we have mentioned on several occasions, vehicles sold by Toyota Australia are not affected by these US-based recalls.

It must still be a public relations issue, though. Toyota Australia has gone one step further, today releasing a short but to-the-point statement, again distancing itself from overseas recalls. It reads as follows:

Accelerator pedals for Toyota vehicles sold in Australia, and those manufactured in Australia for export, are provided by a different supplier.

Toyota Australia wishes to advise that Toyota vehicles it sells in Australia are not affected by the recalls announced in the North American market.

http://www.caradvice.com.au/ Alborz Fallah

All Toyota vehicles sold in Australia are NOT affected. Additionally all Lexus products sold in Australia are manufactured in Japan. As stated by Lexus US, Lexus vehicles are not subject to the recall at all. Australia Toyota & Lexus customers have nothing to worry about.
The Other Brad

Perhaps by pedal they mean the pedal + associated components?

I agree, they could’ve been a little more explicit about it so as to minimize the possibility of lost sales.
http://caradvice.com.au auto

What about the Kluger that is made in Japan, will it be recalled ?

nick

Can you not read and understand TWO sentences? No Toyota vehicles sold in Australia are affected, Japanese or Australian made. The cars being recalled in America are all made there, not Japan.

Frenchie

Yeah, but Toyota dither on the recall for a number of weeks. Denying their was a problem, then saying it was the floor mats and then saying it only affects vehicle made in the US.
Maybe this was the problem with the TRD?

LSD

Mmmmmmmmmmm……….me thinks a Toyota cover up here. This isnt over yet. I think it will involve even more Toyota cars.
andrew cahill

Has anyone heard anymore about the American Transport departments investigation into the Prius brake loss problems?
andrew cahill

So this a Chinese made part in an American manufactured Japanes car?
e
Hw does this effect things like the VW Golf that we get from China?

Reckless1

We don’t get Golf from China. Where did you dream that one up?

Camry lover

Probably as we used to get the Polo sedan from The People’s Republic of China.

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?Ns=pCar_PriceSort_Decimal|1||pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&N=1216%201246%201247%201252%201282%204294963104&tab PogO

They would have been lucky to sell 10 of those Polo Classics, I could only see 3 used ones on Car Sales.

Dean

What are you talking about? From what we know, this is obviously a design problem from Toyota, nothing to do with the parts. Also, how can you be sure that the parts are made in China, not in Japan or USA?

Devil’s Advocate

…and no other car manufacturer blames a ‘parts maker’ on a component fault…

LOL. Antispam = Chevrolet

Devil’s Advocate

What happened to Corvette’s post? Now this post makes no sense!
Dlr1

except Ford blaming Firestone tyres for rolling and exploding Explorers.

Daniel D

To be fair Ford Australia don’t blame part suppliers, because they never admit to any fault in the first place.

Premature wear and failure of ball joints, with potentially life threatening consequences in the Ford Territory come to mind.

Of course occasionally the media do give them a hard time and they can’t use the “first we’ve heard of this” line, but Ford Australia seem to prefer to put the customer last and deny everything if possible. Keeps them profitable with the declining market share that they have and can’t seem to understand is related to what they do.

Andrew M

What do they do with the vehicles people are bringing back if they dont know what the real problem is or how to fix it yet??
Anthraxx66

I drive a Camry for work… I can see it now:

Officer: why were you speeding?
Me: I drive a Toyota and the accelerator got stuck

Mick

That would be great if it worked, and from what I have read its an intermittent problem so it would be very difficult to prove either way that it had or hadn’t stuck.

Reckless1

It does work in Victoria. A bloke did it in a Ford Exloder recently and got away with all sorts of law breaking.

nick

His cruise control was stuck at 80km/h which isn’t really breaking the 100km/h limit on the freeway.

Reckless1

That’s what he claimed, but it was not proven.

I call a prank, which he got away with.

Karen

Rubbish…..Blame it on the Pedal maker…..Toyota has slipped in its quality over the last few years. And overpriced

What about the recall of 450,000 Toyota Yaris, Corolla’s last year Toyota. Own Up
Jack

even the pedals are different supplier, but they are the same design…may be got same problems……who knows……!!

john

I agree different maker same part made to same specs means same resolt.

Ignorance is not bliss

“Result” – go to school!

Jack

even the pedals have different supplier, but the design are the same…..then may have the same problems…..who knows…..!!!
HyundaiSmoke

Umm, the pedals were designed per-Toyota Specifications. That means Toyota had to go test the pedals themselves to make sure they were ok after they were produced. It was Toyota who dropped the ball.

Our Government gave them a “Cease and Desist” order to stop making and selling these cars the problem is that bad. This is by No means a Voluntary recall.

http://www.miamiherald.com/classifieds/cars/story/1448806.html

You guys down under better give them a “Cease and Desist” order too, and quickly.

Yes, its that bad.

andrew cahill

Which manufacturer set a new record for the most recalls in one year in the US in 2009?

T O Y O T A.

Maybe they were trying to do a Mitsubishi and hide it.

This is gonna cost a motza just in the costs of repairs, let alone the cost of
the quality reputation, on this rang of fridges.

Mad Max

Yes it will cost Toyota in reputation and sales but if it is proven to be a supplier issue, Toyota will pass the cost of the replacement parts and the cost of re-fitting them onto the supplier. It would be funny if it was Denso. They are a Toyota owned vendor!

HyundaiSmoke

I see all of the idiotic Toyota Fanboys Globally are trying to ignore the obvious.
HyundaiSmoke

Every last one of those products in that pic look horrible, and are designed for Baby Boomer Specifications. Toyota, at least in the US market has a similar average age of onwers comparable to Buick.

Younger people here buy, American, Korean, or German for the most part.
HyundaiSmoke

Look at how fresh KIAs lineup is compared to Toyota, look at how fresh and relevant to the times Hyundai’s lineup is becoming compared to Lexus, and unlike Lexus Hyundai will become a luxury company that actually believes in small cars.

The Oracle

Just what are you smoking? Hyundai a luxury brand?

They might be getting better, but I don’t think they will ever be thought of in the same light as Lexus, Merc, BMW etc. Maybe if they copied Toyota and launched a different luxury brand with unique (in the most part) vehicles.

Shak

Thats what people said about Lexus in its baby years. But look at the Genesis and the i range. If Hyundai can improve its quality even further, and convince people that it is moving up in the world, then i dont see why not they could compete with Lexus or Volvo or Skoda, just not MB, or BMW or Audi in the near future.

HyundaiSmoke

Exactly Shak. Everything Hyundai sells is good enough to redesign, and further Refine over the years.

Oracle playa, look you dont understand it yet. The new Fluidic Sculpture design along with the additional interior, and performance refinments shows that Hyundai is focused on a track of respect in the luxury community over the long run.

Hyundai is going back to its old strategy of providing a car with similar features, superior fuel economy, and affordability for so much less. That’s what Genesis means=Hyundai Reborn. Hyundais in many cases are now more expensive than Toyotas in the US, but Hyundais have tons more features and advanced equippment than those cars too. They cant position themselves as a value brand against them anymore, yet they still want to be a value brand.

Hyundai’s is forced to go upmarket, becuase it still wants to be a value brand, but it cant with Toyota ad Honda anymore, so better to have them as a value “cheap luxury” car.

1. That way they steal people out of base trim Lexuses and Upper trim Toyotas.

2. Hyundai can can be a predominant NEAR Luxury player, as Chrysler dies by the second. Most trade ins for Hyundai products in the US are Chryslers now. We can offer more, like $5K-$15K worth of equippment, sizing, etc….for the same price as Chryslers, and unlike Chrysler Hyundai has Superior Korean Build Quality to boot.

3. Hyundai can nuke Buick, as Hyundais products offer more power and fuel eocnomy than a comparable Buick product and offerthe same features in terms of appointments.

2010-2020=Hyundai/KIA VS Ford VS VAG mark my words, as those are the only 2 respectable car makers that can compete with us. VAG will become #1 or it will be an absolute disaster, and it would b a shame if that happened. In 3-5 years you will start seeing Ford and Hyundai/KIA duke it out for #2. Hyundai will be #3 in global production in the next 10-14 months at the rate of current sales change. Its #4th now.

Thats on a sales standpoint, Im not even talking about the competiive standpoint yet, as that is a whole other conversation.

And besides, we have KIA to make our cheap and Cheerful cars for us anyway. 2 Economy car brands under the same roof? Now I call that a Toyota and GM mistake. Hyundai is too smart to buid a new luxury brand in a turbulent global economy. You guys down under might not see it, but if Australia was a US state it would be in the top 3 for Lowest unemployment.

Its expected to be a European style unemployment rate over the long run as well. 7%-9% or even higher chronic unemployment for most if not the entire decade. That’s why Hyundai is going upmarket. Its the perfect time to do it while the economy is screwed. Affordable upmarket cars in a time of piching pennies= the biggest boost ever for Hyundai.

HyundaiSmoke

Hyundai must deliver, every time, every Successive Geneeration of a model, showing continous refinment as well. As a Hyundai Owner for 10 years, Ive seen these guys go from 2 steps behind Toyota to 3 steps ahead.

So I believe these guys can do anything they set their minds to, and relatively quick; like upmarketing itself.
The Oracle

HS, old mate, I am still very dubious of Hyundai as a future luxury brand, near luxury or otherwise. Yes, I can understand that they are improving with every model, but Toyota needed Lexus to go up market, VW needed Audi, Honda and Acura, Nissan and Infinti and so on. They don’t always work though, look at Mazda and Eunos and Honda don’t use the Acura brand outside North America. And let’s not forget Ford’s PAG.
Many manufacturers have a variety of brands for different market perceptions, yet share many common parts. VAG are probably the best example.
However, I am intrigued by you statements that the three big players in the next 10 years will be Hyundai, Ford and VAG. I assume you mean that Ford will be #1, perhaps VAG #2 and then Hyundai/Kia? How do you see this playing out and more particularly what about the other major manufacturers. I am thinking of Toyota of course, they have a huge market share and a very loyal customer base. Then there are others such as GM, Renault/Nissan, Peugeot, Fiat (With Chrysler too?), Honda, Mercedes, BMW and the Chinese. I gather you don’t have much hope for the future of GM and Chrysler. If GM does eventually fail, then that will have a huge impact for the Australian market.

PS I think you are barking up the wrong tree with Proton. Malaysia has very high tariifs and taxes on imported cars to protect the local manufacturers. That is how they continue in business and I think Robin Graves is probably correct about the cronyism and corruption too. The current Proton range has a very poor reputation and even poorer sales. They were most successful about 10 years ago when they were selling older generation Mitsubishis and they were perceived as good value and well made. They seem to have gone backwards in the current range in almost every way except for the ride and handling courtesy of Lotus.
HyundaiSmoke

Oracle, like I explained. Toyota in the US has an average age of owners comparable to Buick. The Younger people like I said are buying American Korean and German.

If Toyota continues to be plagued by quality problems, and coninues to disgust younger buyers its in trouble. These guys are like GM 30 years ago, same problems. Older buyers, and quality problems. The Younger people then were buying Japanese and German.

GM is like Chyrsler 30 years ago, with their Small cars to look politically correct, and their CEO TV reassurace commercials. Chrysler is AMC 30 years ago, another irrelevant brand alomst shut down and put out of its misery. They will be gone in 2 years.

We’ll see about Proton, but they have to change or die, and quickly.

Hyundai can be a cheap Korean Benz, the have the range from small to huge. They can sell small and Midsized Near Luxury Cars and CUVs, and sell big time Luxury Sedans and SUVs. They can do this without creating a costly ($2 Billion US) Luxury brand that might not even be successful, and alienate current dealers by creating a dealer network.

They are being smart about it too. Refine the Traditional products slowly while taking care of its premium customers, and learning what a premium company is about and spread it to the entire range. US Dealers refuse to help Hyundai out with building a separate Luxury channel as they told Hyundai move to Upmarket or else. They have a global brand already, a new Luxury Channel wont work in most of the world, but if you sowly move an existing brand upmarket people will get used to it and contnue to buy, and gain even more marketshare.
HyundaiSmoke

Traditional Luxury Brands are dropping like flies, and more are about to go away. Younger professionals want somthing fresh. They dont want to drive their daddy’s Lexus around. They’ll still want a BMW, Benz, or Audi, but they want something new Affordable and Asian, and I think over time Hyundai can deliver. Buick doesnt quite cut it, and like I said Chyrsler the traditional Affordable Luxury Marque is about dead.

In America Hyundai will fight VAG and Ford, while keeping younger people out of Lexuses, Infinitis, and Acuras And steal tradtional customers out of upper Trim Toyotas and Honda. Globally they will fight VAG and Ford too, but I think Renault, PSA will be a thron on our sides. Like we will annoy Benz and Audi with our new small products that are about on par with A Class and A1, and annoy BMW with our “Cheap Korean” big sedans.

Edmunds says the New Hyundai Tradtional products sit nicely between Toyota and Lexus. Lexus Equippment with upper trim Toyota pricing,and better relaibilty, safety and CAFE scores. Hyundai is trying to fight Toyota and Lexus at the same time, Honda and Acura at the same time, trying to fight PSA, MINI, VAG, Ford, while looking up to and aspiring to be: BMW, Benz and Audi.
HyundaiSmoke

Like an Aspirational Brand. “We will make this an aspirational brand, the cars everybody wants to drive”, Hyundai USA CEO John Krafick.
The Oracle

HS, that’s very interesting what you are saying. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out. I have no idea if you are right or wrong, but a I am sure the next 5 years will be very dramatic. I suspect you are probably right about GM and Chrysler.
So, what’s the story with you? Do you work for Hyundai or are you just infatuated with them? It is rare to see someone so passionate about a brand and apparently have a lot of information about them. I gather your in the USA, where abouts, if I may ask?

PS It’s nice to have a civil discourse and a bit of good natured banter. Sometimes people on this blog regard an alternative opinion as an insult to their masculinity and feel the need to be agressive and offensive.
HyundaiSmoke

Oracle, Ive been hooked to Hyundai since I got that Accent about 10 years ago.

The Accent is the secret to this company, it used to detract people from Hyundai in the past, but now its becoming the gateway car to reel people in to Hyundai for life. The Next gen model according to the Company:

” We think it’s tremendously important having great entry-level cars, affordable cars that can get new people into the Hyundai product line where we have traditionally had great loyalty. Once we get a customer into a Hyundai, they tend to stay with us. So we call it our gateway strategy, and yeah, you’re going to see a tremendous next Accent. You’re going to see continued excellence from Elantra, and both of those models are completely new in what we’re calling 24/7 Version 2.0. Coming soon, navigation, for example, coming to Elantra. Not available now, but you’re going to see more and more…high-end vehicle content moving into vehicles like Accent and Elantra.”

Im a Hyundai superfan, not a worker. Though, I kind of want to sell cars for them however. They listen to their customers as well.

The Genesis Equus cars and SUVs will be like a sub brand, like: AMG, Lexus-F, BMWs-M, etc…..

Im from Jersey, i live in the Midwest now.
The Oracle

HS, thanks for that. I have a much better understanding of where you’re coming from now. Your last statement about the sub brand put your previous remarks about luxury in a much better context for me.
HyundaiSmoke

So your i10, i20, Accent, i30/Elantra, i40/Sonata,i50/Azera will be like near luxury products, and the lowest trims on these will be economy cars.

Pretty much the tradtional Hyundai cars will be positioned to be on par with Chyrsler amd Buick but better becuase they will be more fuel efficient, cheaper, and more reliable. Both Chrysler and Buick have Chevy/Dodge like trims at its lowest priced models, so the lowest trim of the Hyundai Aspirational section (Lower than Genesis cars) will be like a warmed over KIA.

Once you get into the SE and Limited Trims, youre in near luxury country.

That way Hyundai can steal Toyota and Lexus sales, and retain many of its old customers as it moves upmarket as well.

The Other Brad

I originally looked at the Cerato. Looks nice on paper. Had a look at the ANCAP rating of it and turns it only had 4 stars. Scored pretty poorly in the offset crash test. The i30 on the other hand scored higher. Pity since I thought the Kia looked better.

HyundaiSmoke

Think about this, the Sonata YF provides Lexus IS 250 performance with 9 MPG better fuel economny. The Lex is a 6 Cyl, the Sonata is a 4 banger.
HyundaiSmoke

Good, Hyundai/KIA will be the new Toy Lex, and Proton can move up to being the new KIA. I still think Proton needs to expand their marketshare. I hear they make relatively good products, and maybe its time for them to enter the US market. As American and Korean brands become more expensive. The market for cheap cars will be empty, and the Indians are kind of here, but Chinese arent coming here for a While. Unlike the Koreans, the Indians arent going to be cheap in price, though super cheap in quality.

Our government is doing everything possible to keep them out in terms of safety, and emissions.

Robin Graves

Proton have lots of quality issues. Just ask a Malaysian what they think of Proton.

HyundaiSmoke

They said that about Hyundai 10 years ago, and when you look back at Reliability records in retrospect, none of that reputation was deserved at all. As Hyundai products for the last 10 years have been more reliable than Honda or Toyota.

Maybe Proton made it to the point to where they make good cars now, and we dont know yet, due to there not being enough history behind it? They have been making cars for a while, now. Its time for them to show us they can make good ones.

The Oracle

If you think Proton make good cars, you should read some of the reviews on this web site. They absolutely bag them and Car Advice is usually not the most critical of reviewers.

HyundaiSmoke

That’s why I said “Relatively” my friend.
HyundaiSmoke

Call me crazy or whatever, but I actually wish Proton Brought in products to the US through its Lotus Distributorships. I want to try one, and see howitslike, and regardless of how I feel after driing it I will write them a friendly but critical, if need be; letter to them so they can improve.

I love observing Global car Diversity, and maybe a Malaysian flavor over the long term can spice things up.
HyundaiSmoke

Proton is another “Deserve to grow” company.
SteveH

Let me see if I am reading this right Hyundai, you have never seen a Proton in the flesh, much less driven one and you are saying that they make a good product. What exactly are you basing this on?
HyundaiSmoke

Jumbuck, I like that name it has real character that Proton can develop the actual profuct through hard work.

That Savvy too will grow up to be another: Golf, Fabia, Meganne, Clio/Versa/Tida i20, Corolla, Accent, Civic, Elantra, Fit, C’eed, Soul, A-Class, MINI= That small car that finally arrived, and when it finally arrives the name Savvy will be true as those who would buy one maybe in 2015-2020 will be very Savvy about their small car choice, becuase they bought one.
HyundaiSmoke

Steve, Im basing it on development Cycle. In terms of Development, its about time Proton stats making good cars. Hyundai, Honda, Toyota at this stage of their development started to makesome good running cars man!!!!

Remember in Order:

Asian Nations:

1. Japan-already gone throgh many automotive development cycles into atrophy

2. Korea-been through its most critical cycles and come out the other side as the winner ushering a new golden age of Superior Korean product

3. Malaysia-beginning to enter the same last criitical stages of development Hyundai went through 10 years ago with next gen models, watch

4. Taiwan-cars that are sellable in western markets but not by much.

5. China=not good enough for the West just yet but in 5 years they will.

6. India= Lucky its in the position its in, a great development stage..
SteveH

Hyundai, I am sure we all agree that it is about time Proton start making good cars, but I haven’t seen anything good from them in Australia. Just because a car maker has been around for a certain amount of time, does not mean that it will be making good cars.
Robin Graves

Exactly, manufacturing good cars doesnt just come about because of location or time, it has to be earned thru hard work. Personally I’m surprised Proton haven’t gone broke already. They must have some pretty good backing from the Malaysian government. The economic climate seems to be dictating mergers and consolidation, so a one-off stand alone small maker like Proton seems to be in a precarious situation. Malaysia is considered a fairly corrupt country so my bet is neptisim thru government officials is keeping it propped up.

Shak

i just came from malaysia and they are very disappointed in their local car makers. Perodua they dont mind but they really dont like proton.

HyundaiSmoke

Perodua makes Toyotas. The’re not a stand alone company that does their own R&D yet. Thats not a real car company.

I respect Proton becuase they are trying to be a good company, and learn on their own. Like Hyundai used to be.

Robin Graves

Hyundai have earned their respect. Proton have yet to do so. When and if they do build a quality product I will respect them. Daewoo is another example, they have had plenty of time to ‘come right’ but they keep pumping out trash and the reputation follows them.
HyundaiSmoke

Robin, dont be so quick to dismiss Daewoo. I have been doing some spying on them and they have some nice product For Chevy/Holden, Buick/Opel Coming. That Chevy Aveo/Buick Viva Holden/Opel Subcompact is going to be very nice, and be a game changer for this company.
HyundaiSmoke

As Hyundai goes upmarket, Daewoo is going to have to compete with Hyundai in Korea.

That will mean better cars for everybody Hyundai/KIA, Chevy/Daweoo/Holden/Buick/Opel. They arent going to be as good as the new small Hyundais on the pipeline but they will be pretty damm competitive, and if they sell them for a little cheaper they can be a small nuissance to Hyundai/KIA and VAG.
HyundaiSmoke

However, the 3 companies to watch from 2010-2020 are Hyundai/KIA, VAG, and Ford. The others will be minor players compared to these 3 on the global stage.
HyundaiSmoke

I think Ford and Hyundai are going to try to go for the VW image of superior interior quality, affordable near luxury, but with a better reliability. affordability, and fuel efficiency reputation than VW.

Ford is talking about axing both Lincoln and Mercury, and having Ford be a somewhat upmarket brand. Like Euro Ford, but on a Global scale. This is one of the scenarios.

The other is to make Mercury Upmarket small Fords, and to make Lincoln Upmarket big Fords, like they tried to do in the 80s.
noj

Someones blowing smoke up Hyundai`s backside. I guess you could call that Hyundai Smoke. LOL

Jonathan

You are so right. The cars are riddled with fault which may/may not cost a bomb to fix.

HyundaiSmoke

The Indians are bringing 1970s and 1980s product over here with 2010 prices. A recipe for absolute failure. Nobody is going to buy an unknown vehicle of substantially less quality for the same price as the big boys. Come on now!!!

Hung Low

What! Like the Suzuki ALTO?

AWD

The Ford Explorer involved in that cruise control drama was eight years old !!!!! A car of that age could have been through anything…..accident, fire, no serviceing……etc etc…… so to blame Ford isnt really fair unless a design fault was found, which it wasnt. But this Toyota recall\fault is a design fault which would have been through all the usual testing so it is a huge stuff up on Toyotas part. This will do their undeserved reputation of quality and reliability a good bit of damage…….and deservedly so.

Devil’s Advocate

…and some of those Toyotas are over 5 years old, not all design faults are immediately apparent you know. Toyota aren’t the only ones to find that out…

It is still poorly handled stuff up though.

Holden forever

The pedals would be different from Australia because we are right hand drive and USA is left hand drive

Shak

and the fact that we make our own Camry’s and the parts are supplied by a diffrent supplier
Ignorance is not bliss

You get a -1 for that name alone.

I despise Camrys

Oh how I love to see the world largest white goods maker squirm……..
So ironic that the car most likely never to have the accelerator touch the floor (camry)ends up with a jamming accelerator.

About time this pedeller of bland soullessness was brought down to earth.

While I’m bashing them, has any one else noticed the lack of publicity (compared to all the GM bashing) that toyotas 3 billion USD loan got?

andrew cahill

Have you also noticed that a couple of websites in OZ that are blatently biased towards Toyota havent even made mention any all this?

I despise camrys

Andrew, could you post those sites please? I’d like to see ‘em
My Cars Called T-Rex

Cash for comments.

Ignorance is not bliss

White goods Toyota’s are great – they make other cars look exotic!

HyundaiSmoke

US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was on Bloomberg TV’s “Political Capital” tonight, and he said “Toyota was in outright Violation of the law, and that’s why I made the order for them to stop selling.”
Hung Low

Looks like the new line of chiefs at Toyota are not as good as covering up the reliability woes as the previous!
When will there be exposure over the oil sludging dramas that have affected a huge amount of Toyota and Lexus vehicles?
No matter how many mass recalls with Toyota and Lexus, they will still somehow fare well in the JD surveys. That speaks volumes about the credentials of these surveys in the first place!
Shak

ours come from Thailand so i think were safe for now, but then again at least other manufacturers are being responsible and recalling their cars now and not allowing it to snowball into a massive problem ala Toyota.

matt

apparently all jazz/fit’s made everywhere inc thailand are guna be recalled, i just had it up but lost the article… grr

AWD

Dir1…….they blamed Firestone because the tyres WERE DEFECTIVE, but Firestone tried to cover up their poor manufacturing……like Toyota are doing.

spellbound

Caused by change in max speed limits in some states .

Ford fitted tyres only rated to max speed limit about 65mph , some states raised speed limits up to 80mph and ford did not upgrade , usual penny pinching by US auto manufactures , also not the best tyre in the world.

The Oracle

I don’t think the speed rating of the tyre was the problem. I have never heard of a car manufacturer fitting tyres that were speed rated below the maximum speed of the vehicle. that wuld leave them open to all sorts of liability. In fact many cars are governed to a max speed well below the rating of the tyres. E.g. Many Fords are governed to 180km/h, but have H or V rated tyres for 210 or 240km/h.
I can’t find any reference to speed, but there are several mentions of the pressure recommended by Ford at 26psi, vs Firestone’s max of 35psi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,128198,00.html
http://www.e-businessethics.com/firestone.htm

The most interesting thing is that the rollovers were caused by driver error after the tyre delaminated. See this test from Car and Driver http://www.caranddriver.com/features/01q1/why_are_ford_explorers_crashing_-column

The most common opinion seems to be that the tyres were poorly made and delaminated. Ford probably contributed by recommending a low pressure of 26psi to try and improve the Explorers ride and handling and then the drivers contributed to the rollover by braking heavily and swerving.

Dave

I was just about to buy a Yaris, not sure I want to just now. I might wait till the recall is over just to be sure it doesn’t happen here later on.
john

I see on sbs news last night that it is costing toyota 1 billion dollars a month for this huge stuffup of theres.

Shak

to be exact by their figures its 0.5 billion per week so that would be 2 billion permonth, but i dont think they should last that long seeing as Toyota are SSOOOO good at fixing problems and making the most reliable cars (LOL)

Reality

Anti-spam word = Toyota

The moral of this story is the bigger you are the harder you fall so any manufacturer who wants to claim the holy grail of biggest and/or best should be aware of the pitfalls.
Luxury009

We were thinking of getting a Lexus RX, and have just found out that these are all made in the US for all markets. Umm, probably not a good idea? I know they’re not part of the recall but….

Golfschwein

Very wise. Who’d have an ugly car with a sticking accelerator?

Luxury009

We’re getting a ‘long distance car’ to complement our convertible. The alternative is the E class coupe. We were going to test drive both to determine which has the better ride comfort and quietness. An immediate pro of the coupe that comes to mind now is the lack of rear seat space which would discourage the relos from using us as chauffeurs or tagging along on road trips. Now I might just get the coupe and be done with it, i mean i can handle recalls but not if life threatening defects are the cause!

I despise camrys

Thanks Andrew, I have emailed ‘em asking why the silence
john

I just saw on good morning america that they could have a fix and new parts by thursday. I wonder if it is a big srtong spring.
stuzz

free cruise control! hehe
michael

Such quality cars…
Lukaas

Its a rank 1 issue, which is related to safety of the driver/passenger and other road users.

If it is a supplier fault, which is common, then they are liable to pay for the damages…. if its design related… which is hard to believe, then many many more vehicles in the past are affected.

Why?

If you work in the automotive engineering industry, you’d Know that Toyota rarely rarely “change” any underbody, chassis, engine bay etc components. By sticking to old and proven design (same for all manufacturers really) you avoid this kind of trouble.

Thats why “unique” and low production vehicles are generally expensive, because their unique parts (non-SAE standards), under the body and such, went through 100,000s of hours under evaluation and other simulation tests… which costs a ton.

Toyota avoid such evaluations by sticking to common parts underneath the body, parts that are 15-20 years old in design.

If it is indeed a NEW designed part, then the department who are responsible are pretty much gonna be grilled….
HyundaiSmoke

Speaking about Proton, I hear all next gen-Protons will be speced to pass US Safety and Emissions tests. Hummm, it seems somebody has US entry plans.
HyundaiSmoke

Proton will be forced to have a better warranty in this market (at least 100K Mi/160K KM), but if they sell them for $7, 9, 8, $10,000 US like the way they down under they can get off to a good start,and may be what Proton needs. Americans trust Malasyian Saws, tractors, and power tools. Why not cars?
Isabelle

We have a 2008 Rav4 and in the 2 years we’ve had it, we did have a freak pedal incident once… While it made my partner freak out, we didn’t think so much of it at the time… But we remember the event very well as it almost caused an accident(we were in a parking) and it just felt the pedal had acted very wrong, not coming back up. It never occured since then

So I agree with others that it smells cover up
rentakeyboard

Looks like there will be a recall on prius nw.

japanese transport reporting complaints.

Where do our Prius imports come from? Japan?

Toyota Oz might have to issue a recall yet.
lazza

LOL. There was never any issue here in Aust. In the US, they’re trying to prop up their local car manufacturers after their greedy exec’s walked away with billions of tax payer funded bail out money – so much so that the government now has a stake in their local car manufacturing companies. Someone needs to payback the money, and what better way than to alter the perception of buyers by attacking the biggest and most succssefull car manufacturer on the planet? I’d rather buy 5 Toyota’s than the door handle of any american made car… haha… Only in america…
ric

bring back the THROTTLE CABLE DUH !!!!!!!!
sergio ssotelo

I have a toyota rav cruiser 2006 just out of warranty ,i last mth i decided to check a small nock on the stearing wheel i was under the impresion that this was maybe ball joint playingup or warn,but when i took it to my servise toyota dealer at yeppoon ,i explain to the mechanic and he said to me that this vehicle were build with a faulty stearing shaft,but becouse my vehicle was out of warranty that it will cost near a 1k to replase the shaft ,my point is if toyota new about this right from when the vehicle was build why whait till a customer complaind about this to fix the problem I wonder how many more people with rav 4 2006 model know about this and have them been inform by the service department about the problem,were can i put a complain about this should i inform the media or were can i get some help becouse this does not sound safe
anttal63

Sergio that is incredible that you are the last post here with this problem and i am looking for somewhere to mention this. The same thing has happened to me this week at Essendon Toyota. Same car, same model. My car is fresh out of warranty, in December 2009. I have only 46,000km on the clock. I only drive to work and home and have never been off road with it. It seems ridiculous that such a thing would go wrong at this point. Toyota knew about it, that is even more ridiculous. I have ownwd Toyotas all my life but if something is not done about this quick smart i will reconsider my options for sure. Am due for an update.
http://www.facebook.com Mal

I too have been battling Toyota. My Toyota Kluger has had two cases where the accelerator has stuck. In one of these cases I was very lucky to not have a major accident on a freeway. Toyota’s response has been nothing short of pathetic.

How long will it take for them to realise there IS A PROBLEM IN AUSTRALIA. It took many deaths in the US before they recognised that there was an issue. They are now admitting issues in Europe and even China. Why are they so sure problems don’t happen in Australia!

I just received a letter today from Toyota again saying nothing is wrong and it is like it is my fault! All I ask is they make a serious attempt to come clean and fix the car (or buy the car back off me).

If you are considering buying a Toyota – please DON’T BUY a Toyota until they fix this problem. It is not worth the risk to your family and friends who ride in your car.
Martin

Hi Guys, sorry I’m new at this, I have only started researching this today, basicaly after an incident with a Toyota Corrola, I hired an Avis Corolla drove out of the airport, accelerated so as to get infront of a vehicle in the right hand lane (I wanted to turn right at the traffic lights up ahead) I took my foot off the pedal but the car kept accelerating, I braked but it kept driving forward, I braked harder and harder and managed to stop across the line into the intersection, I eased off of the brake and the car moved forward again, so I put the handbrake on and engaged neutral, it then seemed to stop, so I did a “U” turn and took it back and got another car, surely this is not the only Corolla in Australia to have done this is it?