NHTSA fielding complaints about 2009-10 Toyota Corolla steering

[b7g]

I do not remember reading this here yet... So...

WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp. faces yet another possible federal investigation, this time of the electric power steering in 2009 and 2010 Corollas.

An analysis by Automotive News found that the Corolla has been the subject of 83 power-steering complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since April 2008. Seventy-six of those reports note that the vehicle unexpectedly veers to the left or right at 40 miles an hour and up.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...#ixzz0f45qDwI6

The avalanche continues...

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[BeatLA]

Was just watching this on CNN. I get the impression that Toyota is going to tear all their cars apart to try to proactively address issues. And I get the feeling that beyond Toyota, all manufacturers are going to start doing the same before the get caught in the same firestorm that Toyota's in. Recall will be the headline for 2010 when it comes to cars.

The thing is, I'm sure Toyota's not the only brand that has problems like this, but when you're #1, you got a target on your back.

[rallymaniac]

Time to write another "Toyota Story" book
This one will be a bit more interesting than the "LEAN" one

[jigga]

The NHTSA should stop playing around, and just start fielding complaints about Toyota as a company in general.

This really is becoming a bit of a witch hunt now..

There are complaints about the Prius' regenerative braking... Meanwhile, the Ford Fusion hybrid has the exact same issue, yet you don't hear a peep about it on the news. This is just getting silly imo..

There is an investigation regarding the steering of the Cobalt also, but again, you hear nothing about that in the news...

Many brands issue recalls... It's a fact of life..For some reason, and I think this fixation on Toyota in particular it has something to do with Toyota's dominant position over others such as GM, Ford and Chrysler, as BeatLA eluded to.

[JC]

Originally Posted by jigga

There are complaints about the Prius' regenerative braking... Meanwhile, the Ford Fusion hybrid has the exact same issue, yet you don't hear a peep about it on the news. This is just getting silly imo..

From the articles I've read the Prius loses braking power and the Fusion power braking assist. Not really the same thing since one allows you to stop and the other doesn't.

[C-daleRidr]

Part of the issue currently is that Toyota's success can largely be chalked up to perceived quality. That's put a bigger target on them as a company. I mean, when was the last time anyone really blinked when a Focus ended up being recalled? For a while it seemed like a recall came with each quarterly Ford financial report.

[Derbagger]

Fusion loses braking feel, the Prius loses actual braking. a bit different.

[BigElm]

The air is really tight at the top.

[BigElm]

More fuel to the fire...

Toyota Recall May Mean More In China Than U.S.



TheGMSource - Consider this...the United States was not the worlds largest car market last year, China was and it continues to grow month over month. GM has seen its sales explode in China the past few years as the economy booms and thanks to Joint Ventures with automakers in the region.

You'd think in order for Toyota to sustain its worldwide growth it would look to rely on the Chinese market over the next few years. Maybe so, but for Toyota, recalls in China are anything but few and far between.

Consider that this is Toyotas fifth vehicle recall in China since January 2009. Thursday, Toyota announced it was recalling 75,500 vehicles in the market for the gas pedal acceleration issue that is part of 5.4 million vehicles worldwide. Compare that with previous recalls in the past year of 690,000-car recall in August to fix faulty window controls, and an earlier recall of 259,000 vehicles in April to fix braking systems.

Toyota's marketshare in China is a distant fourth with 7.8%. Compare that to number one Volkswagen which accounts for 16.5% of total share. GM just sold a record 1,826,424 units in 2009 which was good for a record 13.4% share.

Toyota has built quite the reputation for quality in the United States and it's safe to say that American buyers will forgive the automaker rather quickly. Some people still hate the idea of the GM/Chrysler buy-outs and simply won't buy an American car because of their feelings on the bailout as well as domestic quality issues in the 80's and early 90's.

Toyota doesn't have that luxury in China. The Chinese market is very new and buyers aren't used to the Toyota quality reputation it has built here in the U.S. To be frank, Toyota is on the same playing field as other automakers in the country and doesn't hold the "perception advantage" that it does over GM, Ford and Chrysler in North America.

The automaker has some serious damage control to do, and if it wants to remain the #1 automaker in the world it better get its Chinese operations up to speed pretty quickly.

thegmsource.com