Toyota Suspends Sales

[Pilot-Matt]

Toyota Suspends Sales of 8 Models After Accelerator Pedals Keep Sticking


Toyota has suspended sales of eight of its most popular vehicle models while the motor company investigates sticking accelerator pedals, following reports by ABC News' Brian Ross that examined incidents of random acceleration, some of which resulted in fatalities.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010 announced that it is instructing Toyota dealers to temporarily suspend sales of eight models involved in the recall announced on Jan. 21.

Toyota dealers across the country have been instructed not to sell the
2009-2010 RAV4,
2009-2010 Corolla,
2009-2010 Matrix,
2005-2010 Avalon,
2010 Highlander,
2007-2010 Tundra,
2008-2010 Sequoia,
2007-2010 Camry models.

"This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized," said Group Vice President and Toyota Division General Manager Bob Carter in a statement today. "We're making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible."

The major announcement comes just days after Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles to correct the sudden unexplained acceleration in some of its models, after ABC News informed the company that the latest in a long series of investigative reports on the issue was about to air.

Safety expert Sean Kane told ABC News that since last fall, when Toyota said it had solved the acceleration problem with proposed changes to gas pedals and a recall of 4.2 million cars with suspect floor mats, more than 60 new cases of runaway Toyotas have been reported.

In the most tragic incident, on the day after Christmas, four people died in Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, when a 2008 Toyota sped off the road, through a fence and landed upside down in a pond. The car's floor mats were found in the trunk of the car, where owners had been advised to put them as part of the recall.

"There's one thing that didn't cause the accident," said Southlake police spokesman Lt. Ben Brown. Federal safety investigators have joined in the investigation, according to Lt. Brown.

Toyota executives had insisted in November that the recall of the floor mats in certain models and a proposed redesign of the accelerator pedal would fix the problem.

Reports of possible electronic problems or on-board computer glitches were strongly denied by the Toyota executives. "There is no evidence to support these theories," said Bob Daly, a Toyota executive.

But the continued reports of runaway Toyotas since the November recall have shaken the company's firm denials.

In another case, in New Jersey, a Toyota owner was able to make it to a local dealer with his car racing out of control, even though he says his foot was not on the gas pedal and the floor mats were not involved.

Kevin Haggerty, a salesman from Pittstown, New Jersey, said he had seen an ABCNews.com report about how to control a car experiencing unexpected acceleration -- by shifting into neutral.

With his brakes smoking, and the engine racing, Haggerty summoned a Toyota manager to witness what was happening with his car.

Haggerty says after consulting with Toyota, the local dealer replaced the gas pedal and throttle and their sensors.

"We now have that evidence right in front of Toyota, they're witnessing it and they can't walk away from it," said safety analyst Kane, who is with the private firm Safety Research & Strategies.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Runawa...ory?id=9669621
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[sblvro]

wow! I guess I'll keep my non-drive by wire 2003 honda pilot

[rocky]

I had an 87 Chevy Nova once...non drive by wire hell it even had a carb! Every so often the throttle would stick open at around 1500 rpm.....

Wonder how hard this is going to hurt Toyota. Anyone else recall Audi and the claims of unintended acceleration?

[krygny]

Without knowing everything about this and until all the facts are in, this appears to be a pretty gutsy call. Toyota will probably lose 10s of 1,000,000s of $ per day, as well as a residual effect afterward. The PR could cut either way.

I don't ever recall a recall like this. This is like grounding a fleet of aircraft. (If Toyota were the Obama Administration, this would be called unprecedented and historic (even though everything every President does is historic)). If you want to be cynical (and I usually am), you might assume they're doing this to avoid or minimize exposure to a greater liability (negligence, cover-up, etc.) but we don't know that yet.

[krygny]

Audio of 911 call by people who crashed.

http://www.sodahead.com/united-state...estion-628299/

I know this is tragic, and I don't want to apply Darwinism, but if you have the presence of mind to call 911, why wouldn't you first try[list=a][*]Stepping on the brake.[*]Putting the car in neutral.[*]Turning off the ignition.[/list=a]

[sblvro]

Originally posted by krygny
Audio of 911 call by people who crashed.

http://www.sodahead.com/united-state...estion-628299/

I know this is tragic, and I don't want to apply Darwinism, but if you have the presence of mind to call 911, why wouldn't you first try[list=a][*]Stepping on the brake.[*]Putting the car in neutral.[*]Turning off the ignition.[/list=a]

I think it was the brother in law in the backseat calling 911, while the police/driver/owner of the car was struggling to do everything to stop the car. I would guess the brakes were toast already, turned the key off(no can't be, because it has an on and off button and the key is in his pocket), if after putting the gear in neutral and the tip-tronic tranny is still driving the car then that would be scary.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...oq=mark+saylor

[rocky]

Originally posted by krygny
Audio of 911 call by people who crashed.

http://www.sodahead.com/united-state...estion-628299/

I know this is tragic, and I don't want to apply Darwinism, but if you have the presence of mind to call 911, why wouldn't you first try[list=a][*]Stepping on the brake.[*]Putting the car in neutral.[*]Turning off the ignition.[/list=a]

One of the reported fixes on its cars with push button starting is to reprogram the engine to go to idle when the brake is pressed. Not exactly rocket science...

Toyota didn't believe there was a problem until cars without floor mats started coming into dealerships with engines racing.

here is more on the situation

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB2000...onsub_page_one

[hondacuraplanet]

I thought I had heard on the radio yesterday that Toyota was pulling their manufacturing plants out of the US, but I can't find anything about that online.

Anyone else hear that, or am I mistaken?

[krygny]

Originally posted by hondacuraworld
I thought I had heard on the radio yesterday that Toyota was pulling their manufacturing plants out of the US, but I can't find anything about that online.

Anyone else hear that, or am I mistaken?

No, I didn't hear that but they are suspending production. On the local news here, people showed up yesterday at dealerships to take delivery, they were denied and the sales agreements nullified. This is a killer.

[jl_ss]

It's Toyota's turn for a major problem:

First, Toyota V6 engines start sludging resulting in people replacing their Toyotas with Hondas.

Then, Honda transmissions start failing resulting in people replacing their Hondas with Toyotas.

Now, Toyota's start accelerating wildly - Honda sales are going to pick up again.

[bigdadi]

Originally posted by jl_ss
It's Toyota's turn for a major problem:

First, Toyota V6 engines start sludging resulting in people replacing their Toyotas with Hondas.

Then, Honda transmissions start failing resulting in people replacing their Hondas with Toyotas.

Now, Toyota's start accelerating wildly - Honda sales are going to pick up again.

When you don't know Toyota or Honda, drive a Subaru to appreciate the Subaru ... I personally switched to Subie Outback Wagon and fell in love with it. Outback is Motortrend's 2010 SUV of the year.

[rocky]

Originally posted by hondacuraworld
I thought I had heard on the radio yesterday that Toyota was pulling their manufacturing plants out of the US, but I can't find anything about that online.

Anyone else hear that, or am I mistaken?

They shut down production, but no company would abandon the factories.

Except in Venezula where Chavez wants to replace Toyota with a Chinese company.

Here is a video that may be right on the money as to the cause ot Toyota's problems.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/29/v...tor/#continued

Anyone else being a little more aware of Camry;s etc? I found myself pulling over to let one go by. Friends with Rav 4s and absolutely BS about this.

Wont be long until the lawyers start filing their class action lawsuits-

[jl_ss]

Originally posted by bigdadi


When you don't know Toyota or Honda, drive a Subaru to appreciate the Subaru ... I personally switched to Subie Outback Wagon and fell in love with it. Outback is Motortrend's 2010 SUV of the year.

I owned a Subaru quite a few years ago. The cost of parts drove me elsewhere (pun intended). I don't know if that is still the case.

[krygny]

Originally posted by jl_ss
I owned a Subaru quite a few years ago. The cost of parts drove me elsewhere (pun intended). I don't know if that is still the case.

I had an '82 DL hatchback. A cheap little $#!+box but it was made well, very reliable, nicely designed and simple/easy to work on. Only FWD but great in the snow. However,[list=a][*]It was a slug. Couldn't get out of its own way. That's true for every Subaru I've ever driven (and I've rented a few within the past year).[*]Parts were beyond outrageous. I had to replace the ordinary breaker-point distributor in my '82 and the part alone was over $500 in 1989!! No after-market available. It was either that or throw the car away.[/list=a]

[rocky]

When shopping for my first car, I checked out the Subaru Justy. The only way my 6ft 3 frame would fit in the car is if the sunroof was open and I stuck my head outside.....