Toyota Crash Warning Was Sent To Dealers In 2007

DETROIT (Reuters) - When Toyota Motor Corp concluded that seemingly harmless floormats posed a danger in all of its cars and trucks, the automaker sent a stark warning intended to prevent crashes.

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Comments

[Galen Wollenberg]

06:54 PM on 03/30/2010

i wished i know that before I found my Prius on the Toyota Recall List.....

http://www.RecalledToyota.info

[smokeystover39]

12:17 AM on 03/30/2010

Slightly off topic but still dealing with ZERO MOTORS (aka Toyota): so it's time for putting on the studded tires and I get a deal on a set of 215 60 15 tires with almost no wear. After extensive investigation I determine that they will fit on my 2005 ZERO (Toyota) Camry even though the manufacturer calls for 205 60 15's. The first indication that anything was wrong came when the GPS miles per hour matched up perfectly with the mile markers and the speedometer. We then noticed was that our miles per gallon dropped from a consistent 29 mpg (city-country driving) to a consistent 25 - 26 mpg.

More research revealed that the tire revolutions per mile on the 205's were more than the revolutions of the 215's. 874 (for the 205) versus 860 (for the 215). The speedometer in this vehicle is electrically driven and programmed at the factory.

Studded tire season is over; regular sized tires went back on the Camry. Mileage went back up to 29 mpg, BUT the GPS and road markers indicated that we are travelling at 3-4 miles per hour slower than the speedometer indicated.

Could it be in order to achieve high end mpg ZERO MOTORS intentionally mis-calibrated the speedometer? Given ZERO MOTORS continuing refusal to give Federal investigators the details and test equipment to read the on board computers I believe my serendipitous experiment revealed another sleight of hand by the Imperial High Command of Toyota in Tokyo.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

07:56 PM on 03/27/2010

Sort of reminiscient of the storyline in Fight Club, isn't it?

[melton244]

01:55 PM on 03/27/2010

So who do we believe NOW, the man with the run-away Prius or the Rep. Issa who accused him of lying?

[ladybug7]

09:32 AM on 03/26/2010

I have to ask - If they knew about the problem in 2007, Why are 2008 and 2009 cars still involved. They couldn't correct the defect before more people were hurt?? I wonder if the cars they made for Japan have the some problems.

[AZdesertdog]

10:56 AM on 03/26/2010

ladybug,

there is nothing wrong with the floor mats. they are not made of slippery Kryptonite; they are made of the same material ALL floor mats are made of, and to Toyota's specification.

Toyota has had a worldwide recall on floor mats, regardless of where the cars were made, even Japan. keep asking yourself, "floor mats"? also ask yourself about the December, 2009 crash of a Toyota Avalon in Southlake, Texas. it left a residential street at high speed, flipped over, and landed in a lake upside down, downing all four occupants. and those pesky mats?

in the trunk, as per Toyota's directive, until the replacement mats were available.

there is nothing wrong with the mats.

there is nothing wrong with the acclerator pedal assemblies. these were also made to Toyota's specification.

the problem is with the engine control units.

[KIVPossum]

03:06 AM on 03/28/2010

Long before 2007 any Toyota owner knew the mats were a problem. Every time I bought a Toyota I tossed the factory mats in the trash and got a set that would stay in place.

[Margo Arrowsmith]

07:00 AM on 03/26/2010

I am totally against the death penalty.

Now, I think that corporations that sell vehicles when they know for a fact there are problems that will cause deaths, I think that they (all the people who knew) should get the same 'life with no possibility of parole) sentences.

And now that the Supreme Court says that corps are people too, the Justices have paved the way for this to happen!

You can't be a person in one arena and not another.

[AZdesertdog]

11:34 PM on 03/25/2010

this is truly Toyota's stock-in-trade, the TSB. don't make a recall; just do a "technical service bulletin". this way, there are no pesky recalls, and it appears to publications like Consumer Reports, the "small timer's bible, that these cars will truly walk on water. see, no recalls; just hundreds of TSBs.

what is truly scary is the nature of the TSB. if you don't ever come back to the dealer, you will NEVER know there is an issue. you could have a serious issue, and never know. of course, those knuckle-dragging domestics much prefer to do a formal recall, to make sure EVERY car gets the fix.

and on the subject of floor mats. floor mats have been around as long as cars have, and now suddenly they are an issue, but only with Toyotas. perhaps if Toyota would come clean with the real issue (engine control units), they could skip all the bogus "fixes" like mats and accelerator pedals.

the Los Angeles Times is reporting the Toyota death toll has climbed past 100, and it is expected to push into the hundreds or higher.

[interlude]

04:33 AM on 03/26/2010

Japan finally getting revenge?

[CPAwADD]

10:51 PM on 03/25/2010

They sent the warning to the dealer whose foremost consideration is selling cars. The absolutely most conscientious car sales people will tell their customers before they drive off the lot, "hey be careful the car mats can be tricky!"

[blastocyst]

07:49 AM on 03/26/2010

If anything, the Dealers, the Dealer's Organizations are even more 'safety deaf' than the parent company. They seem to filter their view of Toyota's myriad recalls through rose-colored glasses while sporting ear-plugs.

[CPAwADD]

08:57 AM on 03/26/2010

Tis the nature of sales. It is hard to get someone to understand something if understanding it will cause them to loose money to paraphrase I believe Mark Twain.

[AZdesertdog]

10:21 AM on 03/26/2010

blastocyst,

don't use the "R" word (recall). keep smiling and say, "TSB, TSB".

for a TSB to be effective, it requires three things:

1) the owner to bring the car to the dealer for service; they won't contact you.

2) if the owner does come in, it would require the service advisor to tell the customer about the TSB.

3) the TSB can expire if the car is out of warranty.

always skew the results, never actually worry about the actual safety of your customers; that isn't as important as creating the illusion of infallability, and the approval of your bedmate, America's favorite "small timer's bible", Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports really rocked the boat last year when they said that any Toyota model would no longer automatically receive a "recommended" rating, after embarrassing problems began to happen to these "perfect" vehicles. CR issues a "recommended", and actual owners report a myriad of problems.

hmmm.

my question to anyone here: why on earth would any company AUTOMATICALLY receive a "recommended" rating for anything?

[Vernon Brown]

10:34 PM on 03/25/2010

I've been running Toyota since 1984, but haven't owned one from the 21st century, so I recuse myself on moral high grounds.

[ladybug7]

09:34 AM on 03/26/2010

I owned 2 Toyotas in the 80's and both had major service problems inside 3 years. Haven't looked at one since.