The Toyota saga continues....

[Jason]

Exactly. That's what I've been saying for years; that Toyota has its problems just like every other automaker, and when they get widespread enough, they fix them, just like every other automaker.

What has been annoying is how people were worshiping Toyota as the perfect automaker who could do nothing wrong. You knew that couldn't last for long before someone got disapointed. Every company, including Toyota, makes mistakes from time to time.



I think you may have a valid concern here. That's the last thing our economy needs right now.

Much of that worship stems from Toyota's lack of recalls for decades. Toyota, IIRC, did not have a recall until recently. There were TSB's which are extremely common in the automotive world but until the last 6 years or so they never had an actual recall.

I hate to point out that the problems started when they moved production here AND made a heavy focus on North American suppliers.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35278742/ns/business-autos

Doesn't sound like all that new of a problem, more like it was ignored.

 

[Jason]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35278742/ns/business-autos

Doesn't sound like all that new of a problem, more like it was ignored.

By the government. What's next? Stars on our flag?

 

[adsm08]

Much of that worship stems from Toyota's lack of recalls for decades. Toyota, IIRC, did not have a recall until recently. There were TSB's which are extremely common in the automotive world but until the last 6 years or so they never had an actual recall.

No, Toyota had recalls. They had plenty of them. The did what are called "Silent Recalls". That is where they find the problem, acknowledge it, and notify the dealers, but not the owners, media, or general public, and just sit back and wait for the car to show up at a dealership.

Until recently this was perfectly legal in the US, although most manufacturers chose to notify the public, at least in the case of safety recalls. I think there were one or two performance recalls (like the explorer seat latches and springs) that some chose to not make public.

The problem for Toyota was that silent recalls are not legal in Japan. And the Japanese gov't found out they were doing it in America. And then Toyota got in a lot of trouble at home. So now they are actually announcing recalls instead of covering them up.

Because of how many Toyota got caught covering up the US government changed the rules so that now safety recalls must be made public too.

 

[adsm08]

They'll fix them all, and life moves on. Just like Ford's cruise control burning houses down. It happens.

That one was fun. Most of the affected vehicles never even caught fire. They just drove the dealer employees batty trying to figure out which version of the recall applied, which revision of it needed to be claimed for the labor op, and which parts it needed. Oh, and the ever fun question..."Is this the one with the switch on the master cylinder, or the one on the frame?" and "Oh no, I hope the brake line doesn't break while I break that thing loose."

I have made so much money on that recall. And I HATE it!!1!1

 

[LearjetMinako]

On another note. Some people are willing to do stupid things to take advantage of these recalls. Like smashing their car into a fence or tree and claiming the gas pedal was stuck. And then turn around to sue Toyota for the damages.

 

[naford]

+1

It's like anything else they've had recalls before and they'll have recalls in the future. What bothers me is 2 things. The first is that they blamed it on floor mats and then it was something else. The other is that the supplier in Japan didn't have this problem it was the US cars that used a US supplier. Talk about throwing your supplier under the bus.

Don't worry about them moving factories out of the country. The US is their largest market. They have cash for clunkers in Japan and when they tried to restrict to only Japan cars the US protested and they didn't even put up a fight.

 

[Ozwynn]

the floor mats where a separate issue.

 

[Chance]

The techs will be getting paid an hour for the brake problem fix. It takes less than 30 minutes. I think they will make enough cash.

Of course they will, I was disagreeing with the fact that they will make good money off of it. They will make less than they normally will. Will they survive? Of course.

 

[Jason]

No, Toyota had recalls. They had plenty of them. The did what are called "Silent Recalls". That is where they find the problem, acknowledge it, and notify the dealers, but not the owners, media, or general public, and just sit back and wait for the car to show up at a dealership.

Until recently this was perfectly legal in the US, although most manufacturers chose to notify the public, at least in the case of safety recalls. I think there were one or two performance recalls (like the explorer seat latches and springs) that some chose to not make public.

The problem for Toyota was that silent recalls are not legal in Japan. And the Japanese gov't found out they were doing it in America. And then Toyota got in a lot of trouble at home. So now they are actually announcing recalls instead of covering them up.

Because of how many Toyota got caught covering up the US government changed the rules so that now safety recalls must be made public too.

You just described a TSB. Like I said, those are common among all manufacturers. Remember I worked for the offenders for years. (Toyota, Ford, GM, Nissan)

 

[Jason]

That one was fun. Most of the affected vehicles never even caught fire. They just drove the dealer employees batty trying to figure out which version of the recall applied, which revision of it needed to be claimed for the labor op, and which parts it needed. Oh, and the ever fun question..."Is this the one with the switch on the master cylinder, or the one on the frame?" and "Oh no, I hope the brake line doesn't break while I break that thing loose."

I have made so much money on that recall. And I HATE it!!1!1

I remember the 4 boxes of harnesses we had in stock. Then it turns out the one harness could be used for all of them.

 

[Jason]

+1

It's like anything else they've had recalls before and they'll have recalls in the future. What bothers me is 2 things. The first is that they blamed it on floor mats and then it was something else. The other is that the supplier in Japan didn't have this problem it was the US cars that used a US supplier. Talk about throwing your supplier under the bus.

Don't worry about them moving factories out of the country. The US is their largest market. They have cash for clunkers in Japan and when they tried to restrict to only Japan cars the US protested and they didn't even put up a fight.

The floor mat issue was a separate issue and the fix took care of it. The problem there was the rubber winter mats being put in on top of the carpeted mats and people not being smart enough to realize they would move. This new recall is an actual interface problem.

 

[naford]

A new twist EXCLUSIVE: Former Toyota Lawyer Tells ABC News Automaker Hides Safety Problems.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/exclusive-toyota-lawyer-tells-abc-news-automaker-hides/story?id=9751262

 

[Great_Big_Abyss]

A new twist EXCLUSIVE: Former Toyota Lawyer Tells ABC News Automaker Hides Safety Problems.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/exclusive-toyota-lawyer-tells-abc-news-automaker-hides/story?id=9751262

I'm sorry. I don't exactly consider ABC to be a credible news source. They're just as bad as FOX when it comes to sensationalism.

Show me an article in the New York Times and then I'll believe what I read.

 

[adsm08]

You just described a TSB. Like I said, those are common among all manufacturers. Remember I worked for the offenders for years. (Toyota, Ford, GM, Nissan)

TSB is more of a "Here is a common problem, see if this works to fix a complaint."

A silent recall is: Here is a major, common problem, fix it when you see this car!!

They are similar, but the differences are there.