By: Bill Zervakos
Phoenix March 2010
We were invited to attend a briefing where Bob Carter talked to members of the press and Toyota Dealers about how Toyota is handling the recalls. Mr. Carter was emphatic about the fact that Toyota is doing everything they can to abate concerns about the quality and safety of Toyota vehicles and that there is absolutely no danger from electronic controls taking over any Toyota vehicle. He expressed his confidence by telling us that his family has three Toyotas including a Corolla and a Prius his wife and daughter drive and if there was even a hit of unresolved issues, his family certainly wouldn’t be driving the cars.
He talked about the fact that there are two issues the company is addressing, one regarding floor mats and the other dealing with the accelerator problem that in rare instances cause the gas pedal to be slow to return. The floor mats, when properly hooked were and are no problem but if people used thicker mats or doubled up mats as some do in inclement weather situations, it could cause the gas pedal to hang up. Because of the potential problem, Toyota issued the recall and made adjustments to alleviate the problem.
The other issue has to do with the gas pedal being slow to return on some vehicles. They found thirteen vehicles out of some 2 million cars that had a “sticky” accelerator and because the company didn’t stock replacement pedals, Toyota shut production down for a week until they were able to get the new pedals. Of the 2 million cars recalled, dealers have made repairs on over 1 million since February averaging over 50,000 fixes a day.
As far as electronic problems causing sudden acceleration go, Mr. Carter pointed out that there are some 40 million Toyota vehicles worldwide and to date, not one electronic problem has ever been found in a Toyota vehicle. The tests showing that a car could be “tricked” into going into wide open throttle mode only proved that any car could be made to do that and every test run on Toyota vehicles has shown that the redundancies and safety systems have worked exactly as designed. That aside, Toyota is working to address any complaints about sudden acceleration because their concern has been and always will be taking care of their customers first.
All companies need to have their feet held to the fire and while it’s important for the public to be aware of problems from any manufacturer, it’s also important to look at the big picture. In the case of Toyota, they have a 50 year track record of building safe vehicles and taking care of their customers. It’s no different now as they continue to investigate potential problems and concerns about the quality of their vehicles.
