Toyota suspends sales...

[r carl]

Maybe you wont get a speeding ticket if your driving a toyota....

[SteveH]

Toyota Motor's (TM) once-solid image has taken some hits in recent months, but the company's decision to not only recall but halt production and sales of eight popular models will cause serious damage that won't easily be fixed. Toyota made the announcement on Jan. 26 after research into reports of unintended acceleration in certain models traced the problem to faulty accelerator mechanisms, which resulted last week in a recall of some 2.3 million cars in the U.S.

The lengthy list of vehicles involved include some of Toyota's best known models, such as its Camry and Corolla sedans, perennially some of the best-selling vehicles in the country. Toyota said it plans to halt production beginning Monday at five North American plants in Kentucky, Texas, Indiana and Canada.

Toyota's move is consistent with its manufacturing philosophy that allows workers to stop manufacturing if they find a defect during during assembly, says Art Wheaton, an analyst who follows auto-industry issues at Cornell University's ILR School.

Tens of Millions on Repairs Alone

The immediate economic impact on Toyota is likely to be huge, Wheaton says, "It's difficult for a company to say, we want to take eight of our best selling models and stop making them for a while, and tell all of our dealers not to sell them." Toyota is likely looking at a bill on the order of tens of millions of dollars to repair affected vehicles and other costs associated with the recall and work stoppage.

Wheaton believes the long-term implications of the recall won't be as dramatic. Still, he says, the company's reputation has been damaged on two fronts -- quality and safety, two issues that have been at the center of the Japanese make's appeal to consumers. But the recall also affects Toyota's integrity, since it has made numerous announcements regarding the issue, starting in September, when it then blamed a problem with unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles on poorly designed floor mats.

Toyota has taken numerous steps to solve the same basic problem, Wheaton says, and "that hurts their reputation."

Dealers Left in the Lurch

Further unknown is the impact sales and production stoppages will have on dealers. John McEleney, who owns a Clinton, Iowa, Toyota dealership, told The Associated Press the sales stoppage affects about 60% of the inventory on his lot. He expressed hope Toyota would find a fix soon, since his business pays interest on unsold inventory.

"Short term, it's going to be difficult," said McEleney, who is also chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group. "It will certainly set us back, but I think the impact will be very short-lived."

At its website, the NADA posted a message advising its members that the organization is seeking clarification on the situation for its dealers. In the meantime, dealers should check whether they have a specific type of business-interruption insurance that would provide reimbursement due to losses caused by an independent supplier.

The problem part was supplied by Elkhart, Ind.-based CTS, and manufactured at the company's plant in Ontario, according to a report Toyota made to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week.

The complete list of models involved include: the 2009-10 RAV4; the 2009-10 Corolla; the 2009-10 Matrix; the 2005-10 Avalon; certain 2007-10 Camry models; the 2010 Highlander; the 2007-10 Tundra; and the 2008-10 Sequoia.

Toyota is also wrestling with whether to recall 2 million additional vehicles sold in Europe "due to similar defects with the accelerators that we encountered in the U.S.," a Toyota spokeswoman said Monday. From Toyota's vantage, this debacle must seem like a being in the middle of an unavoidable crash and having to watch it unfold in slow motion.

[Al - K4GLU]

Well, I'm going to keep driving and let the chips fall where they may. Supposedly the vehicles mostly at risk are those with 35,000 or more miles and I've got a long way to go for that. But when you look at the list of vehicles being recalled - including the Camry - if this turns out to be a fix that takes longer a half hour or so at the dealer how long is it going to take to get all of them done?

[Silverwanabe]

Hope no more owner's and occupants are injured.

[2airishuman]

so not only is there a recall and sales STOP and production stop...

but ALL rental cars are being pulled in too?

so here's a question to ponder...

IF you own 1 of the included vehicles and show up tomorrow at an authorized dealer/service center for warranty work (or maintenance)...

??will they let U take the car home??
___________

this question is prompted by something that happened last year...

i was test driving a new truck and keeping it at home overnight for a 24 test drive...

during the drive home a RECALL was issued (for fuel tank bracing) on this vehicle...

the dealer contacted me to explain this, "no problem, i'll bring it back right now" was my reply...

"NO don't do that" the dealer/salesmgr said...

"we will send a tow truck and flat bed it back within the hour" he continued.
______________

so can/will toyota dealers in good faith and KNOWING what's happened to the fleet...

allow folks to take these cars HOME if they are in for service???

cheers
2air'

[newroswell]

That's a good question 2air. It sounds like Toyota did not have a choice in halting production and sales. Is the NHTSA about to temporarily ban the use of these vehicles next?

Toyota faced pressure from U.S. officials before announcing recall - washingtonpost.com

[bhayden]

Originally Posted by Denis4x4

"My Tundra was built in Indiana".

And the profits went to Japan instead of Detroit.

This should smoke out Crawford Gene!!

Well, yes... but profits are after the wages paid directly to the workers in Indiana. It doesn't include all the secondary jobs created by people delivering goods to the plant, building the plant, serving lunch to the plant workers.

Also, anyone in the US that bought stock in Toyota will see a portion of that come home to roost.

Portions of Boeing manufacture is going to Japan (where would airliner sales be if it weren't for Asia?). Doesn't it seem fair to have "Japanese" cars built in America.

[RoadKingMoe]

Toyota expands recall...

Toyota extends recall to Europe

[2airishuman]

cross pollination...

Ford Suspends Assembly of Transit Van in China Over CTS Pedal - BusinessWeek

<2000 vans so nipped quickly.

and a comment from the parts maker "manufactured to toyota's design specs" ...

CTS News Release

this company HQ is right in the heart of the rv parts neighborhood...

CTS Corporation - EC, Sensors & Actuators, EMS!

this mess is particularly confusing for toyota owners since it goes so FAR back and includes so many vehicles and models...

with "acceleration issues" being attributed to DIFFERENT problems depending on year and models.

and extending back as far as 2002?

what a mess

cheers
2air'

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

cross pollination...what a mess
cheers
2air'

I resemble that salacious remark.

[47WeeWind]

The floor mat explanation for the Toyota SADS (Sudden Accelerated Death Syndrome) is soooo last century and soooo mechanical it lacks crediblity. I don't buy it. Tell me, what do cold and calculating engineers know about their vehicle's wants and desires? Nothing! So, I offer two alternative theories of why Toyotas suddenly accelerate on their own:

1. Tow Mode Attention Deficet Disorder (TMADD). The problem is not in the fly-by-night wire fuel control system. Instead, it is in the MVECM (Motor Vehicle Emotional Control Module). Its a well known fact that motor vehicles are happiest when towing Airstream travel trailers. That task produces the highest level of vehicular phremones and leads to a singular state of towvana. The MVECM knows and remembers this, so it constantly seeks to reproduce the state of towvana. It occasionally gets so focused on attaining towvana that it forgets its primary duty to keep all other electrical modules in emotional balance and at keen electrical alert status.

The sudden gush-rush of positive electrons from the MVECM when it reaches towvana causes the other electronic modules to get very excited and overreact to inputs. It especially effects the speed control fly-by-night wire module, which fondly remembers the hard but honest work of towing an Airstream up a long hard grade. So, it over-revs the engine to duplicate that state. If Toyotas didn't enjoy towing Airstreams so much, SADS would not be a problem. Unfortunately, TMADD is an electro-genetic family wide-disorder that appears in MVECMs on Toyotas that have not even towed an Airstream! This, I believe, it the true cause of Toyota's problems.

2. Disgustingly Low Quality Electo-Viral Infection (DLQEVI). This second theory is much weaker but nevertheless is offered here for the benefit of Crawford Gene, who must still be in a state of utter shock by the company's recall of the world's most reliable vehicles. This theory posits the real cause of SADS is a electro-viral infection of Toyotas from towing very low quality recreational vehicles. Under this theory, the well-known inferior quality of RV electrical components and control modules infect and overtake the vastly superior electrical components of Toyotas. Infection occurs via the tow vehicle-to-trailer electrical cable, through which the electro-virus travels to infect the Toyota. The sheer pureness of Toyota's electrical component superiority is so great that these components cannot even comprehend the low quality level of RV components. This incomprehension makes them unprepared for and simply defenseless against the extremely low grade electrons emitted from RVs that Toyotas ECM and other modules occasionally malfunction by simply going crazy with overwhelming disgust. But that's only the internally transmitted electro-virus.

The other half of this electro-viral disease occurs when the extremely low quality RV fit and finish viruses slime their way from trailer to tow vehicle along the exterior of the tow vehicle electrical cable. Even strong bleach cannot kill them! Once on the Toyota, they attack all vehicular attributes and, over time, degrade the once-legendary Toyota quality down to the disgusting level of RVs. This has only become noticeable over the past few years as the number of Toyota recalls and fit and finish issues increase.

Toyota personnel are working furiously on a wireless control system for RV brakes and lights, which they hope will eliminate the slimeway. But they are worried the toxic RV low quality viruses will soon become virtual and could soon transmit themselves though thin air. Oh, the Horror!

[2airishuman]

urine drug testing is now a requirement for posting to this thread...

but before it starts,

cross pollinate some of whatever 'wind is drinking or smoking into my cup...

cheers
2air'

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

....cross pollinate...cheers
2air'

I've had just about enough of this sexual harrassment.

[Airslide]

I just got off the phone with my Service Director buddy that runs the Toyota dealer next door. He says this has been a nightmare! All of his employees have been instructed on what to say.. and thats not much.
He verified that all the pedal assy's produced in the US are suspect. He moved all the affected new cars to the back lot. Toyota will not have stock on this item until mid Feb and in no way will be able to handle the volume thats headed thier way.
People are dropping their cars off in the lot and demanding a loaner vehicle of a different make from Enterprise rental and the phones have not stopped ringing..

I feel bad for him. This type of event could happen to any of us in the auto industry.

Vin

[doorgunner]

It's a big SCAM !!
they got money problems like everyone else so they bug a few cars, cause a scare like the hini flu thing. then shut down production with no buyout from feds.They save a few bucks but don't go belly up, probably aren't using gold in the air bag systems either.

then there's the darwin thing.

[Aage]

Originally Posted by 5T5

Here in Canada we just turn off the ignition.
Kim

Dunno aboot that: most modern cars lose braking and the steering can lock when you do that.

Try it at REAL low speed first, eh?

[Aage]

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

so here's a question to ponder...

IF you own 1 of the included vehicles and show up tomorrow at an authorized dealer/service center for warranty work (or maintenance)...

??will they let U take the car home??
___________

Au contraire, I would imagine that the REAL question is going 2 B HOW do you get even close to the Toy-O-Ta dealer's lot when there is a lineup of Corollas and Camrys that winds around the black and goes ten milez doon th' road!?

Aye, laddie, poot that in yer exhaust and smoke it!

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Aage

Dunno aboot that: most modern cars lose braking and the steering can lock when you do that.

Try it at REAL low speed first, eh?

Hi, if your vehicle has a hydro-boost system you are in real trouble. But most cars have vacuum brake boosters and should be good for one to three pumps after shutting off the engine. As for the steering wheel locking, you will need to put the transmission into park first.

[Airslide]

In most cases the key needs to be removed before the column will lock..

Vin

[NevadaGeo]

Who wants to make a quick million bucks? Seems like all the motorized equipment used on construction sites have a engine "kill" switch real handy to the driver. Somebody come up with one that will kill the engine but not lock the steering and keep the brakes working, I'd get one of those on whatever I be driving.
I'm so behind the times, you mean there are cars without "off" switches out there on the roads with me? It's real easy to lock up the steering if you turn the key off in panic. Gotta practice that one. Probably should practice stopping with out the engine running too.