Toyota issues recall for Corollas

JoeBob wrote:

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/

Yet another example of the evil of power windows.  They're good for
only one thing:  making murders look like accidents, as
JoeSpareBedroom can attest when that big-pooping Yorkshire terrier
mysteriously had its windpipe crushed in a car window.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/

Sorry, Joe, but...

LOL

Natalie

http://www.wegrokspock.net  

On 2008-04-09 15:19:05 -0700, "Wickeddoll®"


http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/

Yet

Seriously.  Anyone wanting to rid the world of those mutations would be
far better served by a Ruger 10-22.

--
Lawbreakers are so feared by the cowards in this country that otherwise
intelligent people are reduced to infringing on my rights.

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:58:47 -0700, witfal wrote:


http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/

Um, bit hard to make that look like an 'accident'...

"I was just about to take a shot at that ground squirrel, when this
Yorkie jumped right up in front of the muzzle."

--
Lawbreakers are so feared by the cowards in this country that otherwise
intelligent people are reduced to infringing on my rights.

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:33:32 -0700, witfal wrote:


Within 500 feet of a dwelling?

Still won't fly...

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/

At least, unlike GMC, it's not a fatal defect...

Natalie

--


http://www.wegrokspock.net  

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/


RECALLS are not unsual for any vehicle company. This is minor at best, but
easily fixable.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/09/toyota_issues_recall_for_corollas/

Why is it when GM or Ford has to recall cars for minor problems, it is often
cited as an illustration of their incompetence, yet when Toyota has to
recall 660,000 vehicles for faulty windows, it is a "minor" problem.
According to press reports, "The agency [NHTSA] and the automakers together
had collected more than 500 complaints, including 36 claimed injuries and
one reported crash." Since the bolts that cause the problem are alleged to
loosen over time, it seems to me that prompt action is called for to prevent
more injuries.

I'll bet if you were one of the people who had the window shatter, you
wouldn't think it was a "minor" problem.

One thing I found illuminating was the difference in the frequency of
complaints. 203 complaints were attributed to Pontiac Vibes. Only 254 were
attributed to Corollas and Matrix's. There were only 120,00 Vibes in the
target recall group versus 540,000 Matrix's and Corollas. NHTSA also noted
that over 12,557 Pontiac Vibes had the window regulator and/or glass
repaired/replaced under warranty. They did not provide a number for the
Corolla and Matrix. warranty repairs.

For those that are interested, here is the summary text from the NHTSA web
site:

"THE PONTIAC VIBE VEHICLES ARE MANUFACTURED BY NEW UNITED MOTOR
MANUFACTURING, INC. (NUMMI) IN FREMONT, CALIFORNIA. NUMMI IS A JOINT VENTURE
BETWEEN GENERAL MOTORS AND TOYOTA. TOYOTA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR RESPONDING TO
THIS NHTSA INVESTIGATION. TOYOTA REPORTS THAT ITS EVALUATION IS INCOMPLETE
AT THIS TIME, HOWEVER; TOYOTA HAS IDENTIFIED TWO ISSUES THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE
TO SIDE WINDOW GLASS BREAKING. IN ITS JANUARY 11, 2008 LETTER TO ODI, TOYOTA
STATED THAT "A MAJORITY OF THE REPORTS INCLUDED IN THIS RESPONSE ARE MOST
LIKELY RELATED TO THE LOOSENING OF THE WINDOW REGULATOR BOLTS." THE SECOND
ISSUE IS, "LESS PREDOMINANTLY, INTERFERENCE OF THE SIDE WINDOW GLASS WITH
THE DOOR CHECK LINK...." ODI HAS RECEIVED 46 CONSUMER COMPLAINTS ALLEGING
THAT THE DRIVER AND/OR PASSENGER POWER FRONT WINDOW SHATTERED, AND/OR THE
WINDOW MAKES A POPPING/CLICKING NOISE DURING OPERATION. A LOOSENING OF THE
WINDOW REGULATOR BOLTS MAY PRODUCE A POPPING NOISE WHILE OPERATING THE
WINDOW. THE POWER WINDOW SYSTEM IN THE PONTIAC VIBE VEHICLES IS ALSO USED IN
THE TOYOTA COROLLA AND THE TOYOTA COROLLA MATRIX. TOYOTA IDENTIFIED 203
COMPLAINTS FOR MODEL YEAR (MY) 2003-2004 PONTIAC VIBE; AND, 254 COMPLAINTS
FOR MY 2003-2004 TOYOTA COROLLA AND TOYOTA COROLLA MATRIX ALLEGING THAT THE
SIDE FRONT POWER WINDOW SHATTERED AND/OR MADE A POPPING/CLICKING NOISE
DURING OPERATION. TOYOTA IS STILL MONITORING AND EVALUATING THIS ISSUE. ODI
OPENS THIS ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE."

I would like to give Toyota credit for moving fast on this problem. In the
past Toyota has been notorious for stonewalling defect investigations and
resisting making necessary recalls unless forced by NHTSA. In this case, it
appears they moved quickly. Of course one might wonder if this is because GM
was not willing to participate in delaying tactics.

Ed

You mean like when Ford decided to recall a slew of Firestone Tires that
came with its vehicles? After the 200 deaths?

How about when Ford recalled 3,600,000 (yes that is 3.6 million) vehicles
just last year, over cruise control?  2 years prior to that they recalled 6
million vehicles for similar problems to cruis control.. and thats just
cruis control in 3 years...

How about the Explorer class action law suits?

Trying to compare Ford's recalls to that of Toyotas amounts to nothing more
than American Pride!




Rather minute when you compare it to 200 deaths.

Toyota recalled the vehicles in order to fix them after it found out was
wrong. They did not sweep it under the rug for 2 years.


" it has been estimated that over 250 deaths and more than 3,000 serious
injuries resulted from these failures."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy






Ford had the power to make it known and refused to.... FACT!

You are an apologist for American companies because of American pride. FACT!

Boy that is really credible - NOT. There are multiple Wikipedia
warnings attached to this reference:

"This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or
discuss these issues on the talk page.
"It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve it by
citing reliable sources. Tagged since January 2007.
"Its neutrality is disputed. Tagged since August 2007.
"It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality
standards.Tagged since August 2007."

I love the line about Ford and Firestone covering up the "500" defect.
The Firestone 500 problems were from the 1970's and affected multiple
manufacturers. The defective Firestone tires installed on Explorers
and Rangers and Nissan Pick-ups were Wilderness AT and ATX tires, not
"500s."

Then there is the part about Ford engineers refusing to change the
Explorer's suspension design. More total BS. The vehicles that were
affected by the defective Firestone tires were 1995 to 1999 models.
These had a completely different front suspension than the 1990 models
that are cited in relationship to the refusal to change the suspension
design.

Then there is the BS about the "Firestone recommended pressure molded
in to the tires." This is an industry standard number. For a given
size and type of tire, this number is the same, no matter who builds
the tire. There are exceptions for extra load tires, that have
alternate maximums (but still an industry standard). In congressional
testimony, Firestone executives admitted that the tires should have
been safe if only inflated to 22 psi (when on a properly loaded
Explorer). Firestone made a point of trying to smear Ford by saying
that they recommended Ford specify an inflation pressure of 30 psi
instead of 26 psi. However, the 26 psi recommendation was in effect
for years and Firestone never complained - until they started
supplying sub-standard tires. Goodyear tires of the same size and type
installed on Explorers had the same pressure recommendation and had no
tread separation problems.

It is not even clear what the line you quoted is claiming. Read the
whole line (it is in a separate paragraph) - " Many rollovers cause
serious injury and even death; it has been estimated that over 250
deaths and more than 3,000 serious injuries resulted from these
failures." Which failures are they talking about? Specifically
Explorer rollovers, or rollovers in general? Or Explorer rollover
related to Firestone tires? And is this for one year or 10? Does it
apply to all Explorers, or only Explorers with Firestone tires? I have
seen it claimed that rollover crashes kill more than 10,000 people
each year. I think this is not true, but if it is true, it makes 200
deaths in Explorer rollovers spread over several years seem trivial.

I should be clear about one thing - I think 4 door Explorers from the
late to mid 90's (the ones involved in the tire recall) were
reasonably safe vehicles. They tended to have above average to average
insurance loss ratings. 2 Door Explorers from the same time period,
particularly the 2WD, 2 Door Explorers, had relatively poor injury
loss ratings. They were still better than 4Runners (including 4 door
4WD 4Runners) from the same time period, but I would never consider
them as being especially safe. They had poor injury loss rating for
two reason, the shorter wheelbase than the 4 door versions made them
less stable, and they tended to be purchased by younger less
experienced drivers.

You conveniently left out an important sentence from your reference
exonerating Ford to some extent - "A subsequent NHTSA investigation of
real world accident data showed that the SUVs in question were no more
likely to roll over than any other SUV." And in fact 4 door Explorers
from the mid to late 90's were far less likely to be involved in a
rollover accident than Toyota 4Runners.

A more credible article is at
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E3D91F3FF935A2575BC0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 :

I cherry picked a few quotes for you -

"Federal regulators said tonight that they had received more than 750
complaints about the failure of Firestone tires, involving 62
deaths." - This quote was from August of 2000, at the height of the
frenzy.

"Even with the deaths attributed to Firestone tires, Explorers have a
22 percent lower death rate in rollovers than competitors' midsize
sport utilities and a 24 percent lower death rate in crashes over all,
said Ernie Grush, Ford's manager of safety data analysis." - Hmm, so
why was Ford targeted? Why are you picking on Ford, when Toyota
4Runners had a far higher rollover death rate?  Are you showing
"Toyota Pride?" Seems misplaced in this case.

Regards,

Ed White








FACT -Ford recalled millions of tires despite the fact that Firestone
was responsible for. Firestone refused to initiate a recll, even
though it was their responsibility to do so.


Apparently you are willing to ignore recent Toyota mistakes will
dredging up a decade old Firestone mistake (and trying to pin it on
Ford).

Ed

Is this a reliable source

TOKYO, Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will recall
471,000 vehicles in 13 models, including nine passenger car models, to
fix fuel pumps and other mechanisms free of charge.

DETROIT (Reuters)- Toyota is recalling 34,343 MY 2006 Lexus GS and IS
vehicles. High stress areas may have been created in two specific fuel
pipes located in the engine compartment. Combined with other factors
such as the presence of corrosive agents in fuel, a crack may form over
time leading to fuel leakage from the fuel line(s). Fuel leakage in the
presence of an ignition source could result in a fire. Dealers will
replace the two involved fuel lines with newly designed lines free of
charge. The recall is expected to begin during December 2007.

WASHINGTON - Toyota Motor Corp. said today it is recalling 15,600
four-by-four versions of the 2007 Tundra pickup truck in the United
States because of problems with a propeller shaft connected to the rear
axle. The automaker said a joint in the rear propeller shaft may have
been improperly heat-treated, leading to an inadequate amount of
hardness. A section of the rear propeller shaft could separate at the
joint and immobilize the truck and force it to coast to a stop, the
company said.


New Delhi, Jan 20 - Japanese auto major Toyota has decided to recall
about 20,000 units of its best-selling multi-utility vehicle Innova in
India. The vehicles, manufactured between April and October 2007, have
been recalled to repair a faulty part that could lead to oil leakage.
The number of recalled vehicles is about 15% of nearly 1.3 lakh Innovas
on-road in India.
We found that there was a small problem in the rear axle of about 20
vehicles that came to us for servicing. So we are running a special
service campaign for the units made between April and October last year.
We have asked people to come and get their vehicles checked and get them
repaired, if its required, Toyota Kirloskar Motors deputy managing
director KK Swamy told FE.
The problem, detected in about 20,000 Innovas, is in the differential
carrier mounting nuts, which becomes loose, and, on long usage, could
lead to oil leakage. The company said it was experiencing this problem
only in India and not anywhere else in the world, which could happen due
to road conditions in the country.



http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E3D91F3FF935A2575BC0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 :

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:20:57 -0400, Ed White wrote:


My '95 Tercel had a recall for a screw that could come loose on the
antenna, causing the antenna to lose grounding and static on AM.

What was the latest GM recall?

120,000 Pntiac Vibes...oh wait, Toyota built those (or at least NUMI did,
and it was a Toyota design).

Ed

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:20:57 -0400, Ed White wrote:


Oh, yeah...this one:

Fires Cause Recall of GM Sedans

By TOM KRISHER – Mar 14, 2008

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Corp. says it is recalling more than
207,000 Buick Regal and Pontiac Grand Prix sedans because they can develop
oil leaks that can cause fires.

The engine affected was the supercharged 3.8L V6. This GM problem was
alleged to have caused 267 fires and six injuries. It was also claimed that
17 structure fires were related to this problem. The Corolla/Matrix/Vibe
problem is alleged to have casued 500 incidents and 36 injuries. As far as I
can tell, the Toyota defect did not cause any buildings to burn down, but I
am sure some sharp lawyers is trying to figure out how a broken window could
cause a house to burn down (particualrly if the owner is behind in making
the mortgage payments).

You should compare how GM handled this rceall compared to how Toyota handle
the truck ball joint recall. GM was very proactive. They notified NHTSA of
the concern and issued a recall even before the NHTSA investigation was
complete. NHTSA had to force Toyota to recall the defective ball joints,
despite Toyota's acknowledgement that at least 6 people had been killed as a
result of ball joint failures (and the final number was more like 27).

I wouldn't say Toyota is building vehicles more likely to be recalled than
GM, but I don't think the opposite claim can be made either. Toyota has
taken their turn as the recall leader, just like Ford and GM and Chrysler.

Ed

Only vehicles assembled in the U.S. are affected by the recall, which
implies that the problem is unique to either the parts, fasteners, or
assembly technique used in North America.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

Precisely why I wont buy a toyo unless it has a J vin..