Toyota agrees to $32 million in civil penalties • NHSTA •

NATIONAL - Toyota Motor Corp. has agreed to pay an additional $32.425 million in civil penalties as the result of two separate federal investigations into the automaker's handling of auto recalls..

Toyota will pay the maximum fines allowable under the law - $16.375 million in one case and $16.050 million in the other - in response to the Transportation Department's assertion that it failed to comply with the requirements of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act for reporting safety defects to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The second investigation resulted in a $16.050 million fine. In that case, NHTSA investigated whether Toyota properly notified the agency of a safety defect in several Toyota models that could result in the loss of steering control. In 2004, Toyota conducted a recall in Japan for Hilux trucks with steering relay rods prone to fatigue cracking and breaking, causing the vehicle to lose steering control. At that time, Toyota informed NHTSA that the safety defect was isolated to vehicles in Japan and that the company had not received similar field information within the United States. In 2005, however, Toyota informed NHTSA that the steering relay rod defect was present in several models sold in the U.S. and conducted a recall for nearly one million vehicles. Then, in May 2010, NHTSA was alerted to additional information, including complaints from U.S. consumers, that Toyota had not disclosed when Toyota initially notified NHTSA that a U.S. recall was unnecessary.

To read the entire story click link below:

http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2010/12/21/115829.htm

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ALLSTATE v. Toyota | SUBRO action | Sudden acceleration claims

NATIONAL - According to the Los Angeles Times (10/5, Bensinger, Vartabedian) reports, "Allstate Corp. has sued Toyota Motor Corp. over sudden-acceleration-related claims it has paid, alleging that the accidents were caused by vehicle defects. The suit, filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks $3 million in compensation for about 270 claims that the insurance giant has paid out since January 2007."

Allstate spokeswoman Christina Loznicka "said the suit was 'a last resort' taken after negotiations on the claims with Toyota, a practice called subrogation, failed out of court."

TOYOTA recalling about 400,000 high-end vehicles to fix steering faults | RISK OF CRASH

NATIONAL - According to The Washington Post (7/30, Cha) reports that Toyota announced yesterday the recall of "412,000 Avalons and Lexuses for steering problems, bringing the number of cars recalled around the world since October to nearly 9 million.

The 373,000 recalled Avalons, dating from between 2000 and 2004, have improperly cast steering lock bars that appear to have been a factor in three accidents reported to the company. This problem can cause what Toyota described as a 'minute' crack to develop on the surface. The crack, in turn, can break the bar and lock the steering wheel, increasing the risk of a crash."

A smaller number of Lexus models "have a different steering shaft problem and no injuries have been reported related to this issue, Toyota said."

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NYTimes blasts Toyota for failing to comply with NHTSA rules.

According to the The New York Times, "All automakers in the United States are required to report flaws in their vehicles to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration within five (5) business days of detection," but Toyota "has repeatedly failed to report potentially deadly problems.

The latest omission to be brought to light -- and not by the automaker -- regards problems with steering wheel relay rods, which transmit changes in direction from the steering gearbox to the wheels. ... Toyota has a lot to explain about why it delayed informing American regulators about the faulty rods - and why it told the N.H.T.S.A. it had received no complaints in the United States."

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TOYOTA STALL may cause ACCIDENT | Toyota Recalls 270,000 cars

NATIONAL - Toyota has announced a recall of some 270,000 calls across with "potentially faulty engines" that could stall in traffic. If the car stalls in traffic it could cause or be involved in an accident.

Therefore, the NHTSA "said Toyota had not formally notified it about a recall. Japan's top-selling daily Yomiuri said the company will inform the Japanese transport ministry of a recall on Monday but the paper cited no sources."

Toyota continues  "to scrambled to repair its reputation following the recall of 8.5 million vehicles around the globe because of problems with sticking accelerator pedals and gas pedals that can get trapped in floor mats."

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Toyota Recall Fixes Might Not End Sudden Acceleration Problems

NATIONAL - A Toyota executive told a congressional panel yesterday that fixing floor mats and sticking pedals on millions of recalled vehicles would “not totally” fix problems with dangerous unintended acceleration.

He said that the automaker still hasn’t ruled out electronics as a potential cause of sudden acceleration.

Since September 2009, Toyota has recalled millions of vehicles worldwide for issues involving unintended acceleration. Currently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has now received more than 2,000 complaints of sudden, unintended acceleration with Toyota and Lexus vehicles involving over 30 deaths and causing hundreds of accidents.

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Toyota was aware of throttle problems last year.

NATIONAL - According to USA Today (1/25, Healey) reports, "Toyota says it knew there were problems with accelerator-pedal assemblies from supplier CTS late last year, but not enough to warrant a recall.

The automaker says it hurriedly announced last Thursday a planned recall of 2.3 million Toyotas, back to 2005 models, because the defect trend had picked up." Toyota "says it has no direct reports of injuries or deaths," but an ABC report has linked "the problem to four deaths."

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Toyota issues new recall for 2.3M vehicles to fix gas pedals

NATIONAL - ABC World News (1/21, lead story, 3:10, Sawyer) reported, "Breaking news this evening. Toyota is recalling 2.3 million cars and trucks tonight, trying to tackle the frightening problem of cars suddenly speeding out of control." The CBS Evening News (1/21, story 8, 0:20, Couric) noted that "late last year Toyota recalled more than four million vehicles because the accelerator pedal can get stuck in the floor mats. Well, today another huge recall. More than two million Toyotas covering eight model years from 2005 to 2010. The accelerator can get stuck in those vehicles as well, even without a floor mat."

The most recent recall, according to NBC Nightly News (1/21, story 6, 0:20, Williams), "is in addition to 4.3 million Toyotas recently recalled for a floor mat problem that could cause the accelerator to stick." The New York Times (1/22, B8, Bunkley) points out, "The first recall was to fix a design flaw that could cause the gas pedal to become trapped under the floor mat." But Toyota "continued to be dogged by reports of unintended acceleration and stuck pedals even in cases where the floor mats had been removed, a stopgap measure recommended" by the company. The Times says the recall affects some year models of the Avalon, Camry, Tundra, Sequoia, RAV4, Corolla, Matrix, Highlander, and "the Pontiac Vibe, a mechanical twin to the Matrix." Not affected are "Lexus or Scion models" or the Prius.

 

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Toyota Announces Fix for Accelerator Pedal Entrapment Problem

NATIONAL - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today announced that Toyota has identified a vehicle-based remedy to fix a sudden acceleration safety issue involving floor mats trapping accelerator pedals in various Toyota and Lexus models. Toyota announced the recall of these vehicles in early October and said it would soon develop a vehicle-based remedy to reduce the risk of a crash due to accelerator pedal entrapment.

The models involved in the recall are: 2007 to 2010 MY Camry, 2005 to 2010 MY Avalon, 2004 to 2009 MY Prius, 2005-2010 MY Tacoma, 2007-2010 MY Tundra, 2007-2010 MY ES 350, 2006-2010 MY IS 250, and 2006 to 2010 MY IS 350.

NHTSA said Toyota plans to reconfigure the accelerator pedal, and in some cases the shape of the floor surface under the pedal, to address the risk of pedal entrapment due to floor mat interference, particularly with regard to inappropriate or improperly attached floor mats. At the same time, Toyota will develop replacement pedals for these vehicles, which will become available for some models in April 2010. Toyota will provide owners with the new pedal, when it becomes available, even if the vehicle has already received the modified pedal under the recall.

In addition, vehicles with any genuine Toyota or Lexus accessory all-weather floor mats will be provided with newly-designed replacement driver- and front-passenger side all-weather mats.

SOURCE: http://www.safercar.gov/

TOYOTA - Floor mats or electronic technology caused unintended acceleartion?

NATIONAL - Toyota is discussing additional fixes for sudden-acceleration problem.  According to The Detroit Free Press (11/18, Gardner) reports, "Federal regulators and Toyota Motor Corp. are discussing whether the automaker needs to fix gas pedals or floor pans in millions of recalled vehicles instead of blaming floor mats, which the automaker had maintained was the source of unintended acceleration cases.

The talks are the result of new evidence from safety tests and allegations in some lawsuits, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has received more than 400 complaints about acceleration problems that include several fatalities." Toyota "continues to deny that electronic technology was a factor in any reported case of unintended acceleration."

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