Toyota Recalls

Relatives of a family that plunged to their death in a runaway Lexus in August 2009 have filed a lawsuit that blames Toyota for the deaths. The deaths of California Highway Patrol officer Mark Saylor, his wife, daughter and brother-in-law led to the recall of millions of Toyotas over sudden acceleration and a sticking brake pedal. It was a chilling 911 call that alerted the emergency dispatcher to the family’s trouble.

At the time Toyota essentially blamed the victim indicating that CHP officer Saylor did not know how to stop the car. Then the automaker recalled millions of cars to replace floor mats saying that caused the accelerator to jam. The suit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court and seeks unspecified damages.

Meanwhile a movement is growing to install an automatic brake override system in all Toyotas, even though the company may not have an adequate handle on what is causing the sudden acceleration. According to this report, the Department of Transportation is considering a mandate in light of Toyota’s failure to act more aggressively when it first received customer complaints around 2002. Increasingly, the electronic throttle system that is in 40 million Toyota vehicles is being singled out as the faulty element of the cars although Toyota continues to deny that that is the culprit. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is lacking in the expertise to thoroughly investigate the electronics of the Toyota because it is underfunded and understaffed.The Los Angeles city attorney is considering criminal charges against Toyota for making false claims of safety to customers about Toyotas.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) now reports there may be as many as 34 deaths connected to problems with Toyota vehicles. Since January 27, the total has jumped by 13 deaths, often from sudden acceleration and braking problems. More than 8 million vehicles have been recalled and the automaker suspended the sale of eight different models in the U.S. for a short while. The death incidents date back to 2000, based on a consumeraffaris.com article. So far about 500,000 of the troublesome Toyotas have been “fixed” as the company calls it. Toyota has consistently said that it cannot find a problem with electronics that many believe to be the source for the runaway vehicles. That has allowed Toyota dealerships to resume selling some of the vehicles that had been named in a worldwide recall.

Last October, Toyota recalled millions of vehicles, blaming floor mats for pinning the accelerator to the floor. But when that explanation became nonsensical, Toyota was forced to concede the floor mats may not be the only problem. The automaker says it has been unable to replicate the sticky accelerator that causes cars to runaway out of control and may have contributed to the 34 deaths.

The company has lost about $8 billion so far. The latest recall is for the 8,000 four-wheel Toyota Tacoma trucks, that maybe defective in the front drive shafts. Remember that the 2010 Prius and certain Lexus vehicles are affected. The 2008-1010 Highlanders need to have their floor mats fixed along with the 2009-2010 Corollas, Venzas and Matrixes.

A January recall covers the following 2.3 million cars for a sticking accelerator pedal.

• 2007-10 Camrys,
• 2009-10 Corollas,
• 2009-10 RAV4s,
• 2009-10 Matrixes,
• 2005-10 Avalons,
• 2010 Highlanders,
• 2007-10 Tundras and
• 2008-10 Sequoias.

And the original recall from September is for 3.8 million vehicles that may have a floor mat problem. They include:

• 2007-2010 Camry,
• 2005-2010 Avalon,
• 2004-2009 Prius,
• 2005-2010 Tacoma,
• 2007-2010 Tundra,
• 2007-2010 ES 350,
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

If you or a loved one has experienced a problem with your Toyota, even those not listed in the recall, please contact an experienced Florida accident attorney to determine whether NHTSA has any reports of problems with your particular model.

There is more information is coming out about what Toyota knew about runaway and defective vehicles and when it knew it. State Farm Insurance says it alerted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concerning the Toyota problems in 2007. Because State Farm is a massive insurance company that covers about 42 million vehicles, which is about 18 percent of the U.S. market, it can see trends in vehicle issues. All it has to do is analyze data. In an autoblog article, State Farm says it alerted NHTSA about the unintended acceleration issue. State Farm says it began to see claims activities and that is when it went to NHTSA. A State Farm spokesman, Kip Diggs, told Reuters that the trend had to be sizeable to be noticed. Other insurance companies did not observe the trend. Progressive has told Reuters that it will now look back to see if there were any patterns of unintended acceleration early on.

All of this raises the question, where was NHTSA? Without a leader for a year, the agency is operating at about the budget it had in 2000 and has not been a priority for previous administrations. President Obama says he will fix that and plans on hiring more investigators and beefing up some programs. It is time for NHTSA to become a regulator and not just the Washington D.C. office of Detroit and Japanese automakers.

While it tries to get a handle on the source of the problem that is sending its customers speeding in unintended accelerations and having trouble braking, Toyota plans to stop production at two U.S. plants.
No workers will be suspended, largely a cultural consideration of Japan, but the plants to shut temporarily are located in Kentucky and Texas. CNN Money reports that Toyota plans to adjust its production levels it says. That follows the rapid production of popular models that are increasingly being recalled because of braking problems and acceleration. Consider this largely a business decision as Toyota does not want its dealers to be stuck with a large inventory of unsold vehicles.

The Camry is made in the Kentucky plant and the Texas plant makes the Tundra pickup trucks. That plant will be modified to make the Tacoma trucks.

Still unresolved is the reason for the recall of more than 8.1 million vehicles. Toyota has apologized and promises to fix the problem, but the question remains- does Toyota really believe that redesigning the pedal and fixing floor mats is the only problem, if the problem at all? Increasingly, the electronics of the Toyota commandeered by the computer system are being looked at as a possible cause.

Consumer Complaints
Meanwhile, the number of consumer complaints has shot up to into the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which believes a total of 34 fatalities may be due to defective automobiles, namely Toyotas. That has sales eroding 16 percent in January when compared to a year earlier. Expect to see an aggressive Toyota ad campaign thanking customers for their loyalty and offering unprecedented incentives to lure customers back.

The appearance of the company’s president and chief operating officer in front of two House committees next week and a Senate committee in March.

If you have been injured in a Toyota or experienced any unexplained acceleration or braking problems, do not drive the vehicle and get it into the dealership for a “fix” if is recalled. That may be the only way to preserve your rights if the car has a problem. An experienced Florida accident attorney can help you through the difficult process of litigation, especially when the company is denying that it may have a defective product

Three major car rental companies are feeling the heat from the Toyota recalls over sudden acceleration, based on a Huffington Post report. The Pontiac Vibe, which is made by General Motors in connection with Toyota, will also be removed from service by Enterprise Holdings, Alamo Rent-A- Car, Enterprise Rent- A- Car and National Car Rentals. Avis will be removing about 20,000 Toyotas from its fleet and Hertz says it will stop renting vehicles involved in the recall at least temporarily. Enterprise is also pulling about 4% of its fleet that are Toyota vehicles. The Vibe is in the mix because it is made in a joint venture with Toyota.

Defective Product
All of these moves come as the public is left uncertain as to what to do with the Toyotas they drive every day. Toyota Motor Company has announced it is suspending sales and will stop making eight models. The company promises it has a repair for the sticking gas pedals that can cause a Toyota to become a runaway vehicle.

Not everyone agrees that a retrofit to the pedal will be the solution to the problem and many engineers say the problem is one of electronics.

If ultimately it is determined that Toyota made a defective product and failed to fix the problem when it was first noticed at least five years ago, the company could face more than the $1 billion in lost car sales.
At least 19 people have lost their lives due to defective Toyotas and now that police agencies know what to look for, it is likely we will be seeing the true numbers of deaths due to defective automobiles. If you suspect that your Toyota caused the death of a loved one, you would be wise to contact an experienced Florida accident attorney to handle the investigation to make sure your rights are preserved and the responsible party is held accountable.

Toyota Motor has issued its second large recall in two months, according to a NY Times article. This time the recall is to address the problem with accelerator pedals that can get stuck and cause the vehicle to speed out of control. Toyota says it does not yet have a solution, but instructs drivers who have a sudden acceleration problem to press the brake with “firm and steady” pressure.

That did not help the family of Mark Saylor. The California patrolman and his family plunged down a cliff when the Lexus they were riding in would not stop. The brake pedal had clearly been pushed firmly into the floor of the vehicle.

This recall covers 2.3 million cars and trucks from model years 2005 through 2010 and includes the Avalon, Camry, Tundra, Sequoia, RAV4, Corolla Matrix and Highlander. It does not include the Prius hybrid, which was in the November recall. In November, the company recalled 4.2 million vehicles, the largest in Toyota’s history. Some 1.7 million are included in both recalls, including the Camry.

Toyota has blamed the floor mat and a tendency to trap the gas pedal as a cause of unintended acceleration. But Toyota has also been criticized for failing to deal with report of stuck pedals when the floor mats had been removed from a vehicle as happened in a December 26th crash near Dallas of an Avalon that sped into a pond and killed four people. The floor mats were found in the Avalon’s trunk.