Toyota Recall

[geoffb]

I think Toyota have been a little slow off the mark here.They are just not used to having something as momentous happen to their cars.

It must be a real culture shock to the Japanese mindset to see how something like this can overnight destroy consumer confidence in what was a previously world leading brand.

This is what happens when you outsource component manufacture to companies not used to the Japanese way and working to a price set by accountants.

We all now have to understand that the Toyota we used to love because of its legendary build quality and reliability is gone forever.

It truly breaks my heart and by the way I think the world press has been loving stabbing Toyota in the back but it cannot be denied that they are just not as good as they used to be.

Sadly, I also agree with the words expressed above. I have had a number of Toyotas over the years and there was a time when I wouldn't hear a bad word said about the company. When it was time to change the car I'd be straight down to the dealer and simply look for the nearest Toyota model that met my needs. Not any more. My current Toyota, an E12 Corolla, will probably be the last Toyota for me. Since buying it I have experienced a real sea change in Toyota. From poor and even rude customer service, poor quality components and a quite shocking change in interior cabin quality (not in my E12 though which uses the old Toyota quality material interior-wise). Quality now seems to be on a par with most other makers so I plan to look elsewhere next time around. Oh and this view has nothing to do with the recall - though it does tend to reinforce the view that the old Toyota view of quality control has been sacrificed in recent times.

[Passedit]

Agree entirely, although most other makes now seem to have a much higher quality interiors rather than being equal. Felt a bit sorry for Mr T, after all they did not make the dodgy throttle pedal. However on watching an interview on BBC 1 this morning with the M.D. of Toyota U.K. my sympathy has evaporated.

[Rick D4D]

I think your being a little bit hypocritical here yes it is sad people died but people die because of blow outs but that does not make the tyre manufacturer recall all their tyres, the problem here is a part made by another company that Toyota use and has only effected less than 0.01% of the cars Toyota make, TBH you have more chance of winning the lottery than this happening to you. I myself are not worried about this happening to me and I am very happy that Toyota have done the responsible thing and recalled all the possible effected cars. I will also add that even a simple thing like the rear view mirror falling off whilst driving could cause a fatal accident and the truth is if the throttle was stuck if you pushed the clutch the drive train is disconnected and your engine can go up in smoke, this could be done in a split second so I dont see any reason to panic for how many or shall we say how few cars this has effected.

I will stick my original post here and I can not believe how many people are blowing this out of proportion, out of the dare I say billion cars that could be effected and be recalled I heard today the number of accidents caused by this was something like 14 (maybe a little more or less but the figure is close) and not one of them was in the UK. I don't see what the big problem is and will tell you that when I owned my 2001 Mercedes A Class Avantgarde TDI (21k new in 2001) the amount of poor design faults was astronomical and not 1 was recalled for example

1. steering column had play at 38k was changed for a new one by the dealer, this lasted 2k and had to be changed again. This was a very common fault.

2. steering rack had a small amount of play at 44k, MB agreed goodwill gesture of half price repair but this was still going to cost me £1500. I never had this done.

3. leaking injectors very common fault and I was plagued by this most of the time I had the car http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.98.htm. MB change the engine to cure this at the cost of £3500.

4. rear springs snapped at 50k, I was told this would happen around 50k on the owners club and yes they did bang on time. This is a very common fault.

5. rear radius arm bushes needed changing at 38k, they used to last longer on a METRO! This was a very common fault.

6. on the petrol versions the MAF often fails from as little as 1k - 100k this is very common fault and cost around £1200 to replace as MB built this into part of the ECU, a company did repair these for around £300 http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.38.htm.

7. on the front suspension legs the discs that hold the springs were known to snap causing the spring to drop and cause serious problems. http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.26.htm

There is more faults but I will tell you one thing is that Mercedes turn a blind eye to these and nothing is repaired unless you pay for it, I will say that when you buy the replacement parts they are normally on the 3rd or 4th design of this part so do last a little longer but they still fail at an alarming rate. Now people are calling Toyota over this recall and why? I can bet your car is fine and has never had this problem just like ours so why not give MR T some slack and let him repair your car as unlike other manufacturers they do want to repair things free of charge to you and IMO that is important. I will also add that we all make mistakes and now days cars are a very complex piece of machinery and along with all these complicated designs you will always get faults no matter who makes them and I will give Toyota some credit as there faults dont seem to be as bad as others for example try owning a French car for 4-5years and then tell us all about quality ;)

[PapaHett]

So the Auris has to go in? Good job it's due a service, and it's developed a creaking noise from the steering wheel; think it might just be the trim though.

I wonder about my Dad's Corolla though.. it's 2006, but I think it's mid 2006.. It says Oct 2006< Corolla's are affected.. But then it says that Any pre-2005 Toyota isn't.. So what does that mean for those 2005-October 2006 Corollas?

I think it might be time for a change.

[geoffb]

Not sure why anyone has to cut Toyota some 'slack'. Comparisons with other manufacturers are completely irrelevant. Toyota is either serious about quality control in its vehicles or it isn't - more especially in relation to aspects of car design that have a direct impact on safety. Yes it gets 5 stars in NCAP (though I believe the new Urban Cruiser was a shock 3 star job) but that doesn't excuse sloppy production control and/or lack of thorough testing if that is what has happened here. Quality control used to be a byword for Toyota and was part of its culture. You don't have to look beyond the showroom now to see it has slipped considerably, and quite obviously, in materials used. The accountants have taken over the Mr T asylum I fear

Given the way Toyota has been producing less and less pleasant and much cheaper looking interiors over the last 3 years or so, the current issue was very likely to surface sooner or later in other areas of the car construction less visible to the buyer. And I might add I say this as a long term Toyota fan who would until fairly recently have defended the marque against all comers. We all have our opinions, and I respect everyone's right to voice theirs 100%, but sadly now this just happens to be mine :(

I would, however, be delighted to see Toyota pick itself up, dust itself down and start getting back to producing the quality look and feel vehicles it used to

[james-tspirit]

[quote name='Exmeg2' date='Feb 5 2010, 07:10 AM' post='968613'

Has anyone managed to get a reply from Toyota after using the enquiry format, below, which appears on their recall website ?

Please complete your details below and we will contact you by email. We will let you know at the earliest possible opportunity if your vehicle is affected.

Fields marked with * are required.

Title*

Forename*

Surname*

Email Address*

VIN / Registration Number*

After filling in the above form just recieved an email which contained a link to the Toyota website where I re entered my reg number and I was pleased to see that my car is not affected by the recall. I have a 2007 (56) Auris T Spirit 2.0d. Despite this I have lost faith in the brand which is a shame as the Auris had the potential to be a really good car instead of an average one.

Good luck

[Phil0600]

I think your being a little bit hypocritical here yes it is sad people died but people die because of blow outs but that does not make the tyre manufacturer recall all their tyres, the problem here is a part made by another company that Toyota use and has only effected less than 0.01% of the cars Toyota make, TBH you have more chance of winning the lottery than this happening to you. I myself are not worried about this happening to me and I am very happy that Toyota have done the responsible thing and recalled all the possible effected cars. I will also add that even a simple thing like the rear view mirror falling off whilst driving could cause a fatal accident and the truth is if the throttle was stuck if you pushed the clutch the drive train is disconnected and your engine can go up in smoke, this could be done in a split second so I dont see any reason to panic for how many or shall we say how few cars this has effected.

I will stick my original post here and I can not believe how many people are blowing this out of proportion, out of the dare I say billion cars that could be effected and be recalled I heard today the number of accidents caused by this was something like 14 (maybe a little more or less but the figure is close) and not one of them was in the UK. I don't see what the big problem is and will tell you that when I owned my 2001 Mercedes A Class Avantgarde TDI (21k new in 2001) the amount of poor design faults was astronomical and not 1 was recalled for example

1. steering column had play at 38k was changed for a new one by the dealer, this lasted 2k and had to be changed again. This was a very common fault.

2. steering rack had a small amount of play at 44k, MB agreed goodwill gesture of half price repair but this was still going to cost me £1500. I never had this done.

3. leaking injectors very common fault and I was plagued by this most of the time I had the car http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.98.htm. MB change the engine to cure this at the cost of £3500.

4. rear springs snapped at 50k, I was told this would happen around 50k on the owners club and yes they did bang on time. This is a very common fault.

5. rear radius arm bushes needed changing at 38k, they used to last longer on a METRO! This was a very common fault.

6. on the petrol versions the MAF often fails from as little as 1k - 100k this is very common fault and cost around £1200 to replace as MB built this into part of the ECU, a company did repair these for around £300 http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.38.htm.

7. on the front suspension legs the discs that hold the springs were known to snap causing the spring to drop and cause serious problems. http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.26.htm

There is more faults but I will tell you one thing is that Mercedes turn a blind eye to these and nothing is repaired unless you pay for it, I will say that when you buy the replacement parts they are normally on the 3rd or 4th design of this part so do last a little longer but they still fail at an alarming rate. Now people are calling Toyota over this recall and why? I can bet your car is fine and has never had this problem just like ours so why not give MR T some slack and let him repair your car as unlike other manufacturers they do want to repair things free of charge to you and IMO that is important. I will also add that we all make mistakes and now days cars are a very complex piece of machinery and along with all these complicated designs you will always get faults no matter who makes them and I will give Toyota some credit as there faults dont seem to be as bad as others for example try owning a French car for 4-5years and then tell us all about quality ;)

Yet again, Rick, I feel compelled to endorse your wise words.

This whole thing has been whipped up out of all proportion as far as the British media is concerned - I even heard heard a presenter on "This Morning" last Friday implying that anyone with a Toyota will have difficulty part-exchanging it!

I have owned very many makes of cars over the past thirty years and, apart from my three Honda cars, I've found my Toyota Auris to be the best of the bunch - despite it having the much criticised MMT transmission (which took a while to get used to, but is now a really great drive!).

From a personal perspective I'm someone who believes in supporting the British car industry (and it's workers) and not talking it down! Whilst only the Auris & Avensis are (as far as I know) the only Toyota cars currently built in Britain, the generalised criticism of the Toyota brand in the media could have serious implications for British jobs!

I agree with you that Toyota (unlike many other global motor manufacturers) has been admirably pro-active in this current re-call. You do, however, have to wonder what other (?political) motivating factors may be at play here - particularly in the US!

In relation to the Auris (regardless of whether you drive a manual or MMT variant) you either dip the clutch/apply the brake pedal or knock the gear lever into neutral/apply the brake pedal in the highly unlikely event that you experience any problems!

[FROSTYBALLS]

[quote name='Exmeg2' date='Feb 5 2010, 07:10 AM' post='968613'

Has anyone managed to get a reply from Toyota after using the enquiry format, below, which appears on their recall website

After filling in the above form just recieved an email which contained a link to the Toyota website where I re entered my reg number and I was pleased to see that my car is not affected by the recall.

My Oct 2009 Auris TR 1.33 is one of the affected cars - when I re-entered my VIN the website stated the car was affected, asked for more details and asked me to select which Toyota Centre I wish to use. This was then sent back to Toyota.

At least Toyota seem to have their customers best interests at heart. VAG are having problems with Teves units in the ABS/ESP systems of VW's, Audis and Seats. They're not recalling yet the faults are with the braking systems

[T Sport 1978]

My car has been confirmed as one that is effected, so i t will be going into the nearest Toyota for the mod.

I am not at all worried as i have never had any of the symptoms.

I for one understands that this is a preventative action by Toyota.

I can think of one example of a very common BMW problem where it can result in a total engine wreck but BMW chose not to even acknowledge it as an official problem (swirl flaps on all BMW diesels built between 2001-2005), here is Toyota going 110% public and facing the music.

I know the sentiment is that Toyota is building cars at a cost nowadays, but as far as i am concerned they have never shyed away from any warranty issue with me personally and never kicked a fuss on who pays the bill when it comes to a problem. Whilst some of my mates have to fight tooth and nail with their dealers (Audi; Honda; Nissan) and they all wished that they had my ownership experience with Toyota. I for one (and i may stand alone) know that Toyota is still one of the good ones out there, it is just a real shame that they are now facing a massive PR disaster even though they are doing all the right things to resolve it.

Anyway, my 2 pennies.

[GregP]

I can think of one example of a very common BMW problem where it can result in a total engine wreck but BMW chose not to even acknowledge it as an official problem (swirl flaps on all BMW diesels built between 2001-2005), here is Toyota going 110% public and facing the music.

BMW had an issue with PAS pumps but decided not to recall as failed pump was no security concern according to them. I think the story was even on watchdog.

IMO the accelerator pedal is last thing on my mind in Auris. US government sunk millions of dollars in GM and now is trying to get some money back by pushing main competitor to stop sales. I don't remember them being so concerned about security when Ford air bags were braking peoples noses on car parks few years ago (now the same thing is happening but media are focused on Toyota). There was no single accident reported in Europe that could be caused by faulty accelerator in Toyota. Toyota, from the other hand, didn't keep quality control standards and now must pay high price for it as getting back customer trust is going to be difficult.

[Grippen]

I think you guys are miss understanding some of us. We are not saying Toyota sucks and the others are the best. Far from that. I know they others are even worse, they don't solve, don't give a ***** or charge you like hell on maintenance. The issue here is that Toyota was one thing and with the Auris it revealed to be another. Maybe was just the Auris and we won't see anything of the reported issues in other models. Eventually Toyota will learn with their mistakes of trying to do what the other Auto makers do. Cheap, cheap, cheap, with crap , crap, crap. As I told you before, just keep dreaming if you will find something better in other maker, maybe you will pay less that is true but in the end you will have other issues with time it is known that quality control in a Citroen for example isn't the same as in Toyota. So parts will run out or damage quickly in a Citroen. Still Toyota made the Auris (in some sections) with really cheap parts and ***** happens. My cup holders, 1 was replaced and the other has to be because it makes an awful noise when you open/close it and I don't use them that much I can even count the times.

[Rick D4D]

I think your being a little bit hypocritical here yes it is sad people died but people die because of blow outs but that does not make the tyre manufacturer recall all their tyres, the problem here is a part made by another company that Toyota use and has only effected less than 0.01% of the cars Toyota make, TBH you have more chance of winning the lottery than this happening to you. I myself are not worried about this happening to me and I am very happy that Toyota have done the responsible thing and recalled all the possible effected cars. I will also add that even a simple thing like the rear view mirror falling off whilst driving could cause a fatal accident and the truth is if the throttle was stuck if you pushed the clutch the drive train is disconnected and your engine can go up in smoke, this could be done in a split second so I dont see any reason to panic for how many or shall we say how few cars this has effected.

I will stick my original post here and I can not believe how many people are blowing this out of proportion, out of the dare I say billion cars that could be effected and be recalled I heard today the number of accidents caused by this was something like 14 (maybe a little more or less but the figure is close) and not one of them was in the UK. I don't see what the big problem is and will tell you that when I owned my 2001 Mercedes A Class Avantgarde TDI (21k new in 2001) the amount of poor design faults was astronomical and not 1 was recalled for example

1. steering column had play at 38k was changed for a new one by the dealer, this lasted 2k and had to be changed again. This was a very common fault.

2. steering rack had a small amount of play at 44k, MB agreed goodwill gesture of half price repair but this was still going to cost me £1500. I never had this done.

3. leaking injectors very common fault and I was plagued by this most of the time I had the car http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.98.htm. MB change the engine to cure this at the cost of £3500.

4. rear springs snapped at 50k, I was told this would happen around 50k on the owners club and yes they did bang on time. This is a very common fault.

5. rear radius arm bushes needed changing at 38k, they used to last longer on a METRO! This was a very common fault.

6. on the petrol versions the MAF often fails from as little as 1k - 100k this is very common fault and cost around £1200 to replace as MB built this into part of the ECU, a company did repair these for around £300 http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.38.htm.

7. on the front suspension legs the discs that hold the springs were known to snap causing the spring to drop and cause serious problems. http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.26.htm

There is more faults but I will tell you one thing is that Mercedes turn a blind eye to these and nothing is repaired unless you pay for it, I will say that when you buy the replacement parts they are normally on the 3rd or 4th design of this part so do last a little longer but they still fail at an alarming rate. Now people are calling Toyota over this recall and why? I can bet your car is fine and has never had this problem just like ours so why not give MR T some slack and let him repair your car as unlike other manufacturers they do want to repair things free of charge to you and IMO that is important. I will also add that we all make mistakes and now days cars are a very complex piece of machinery and along with all these complicated designs you will always get faults no matter who makes them and I will give Toyota some credit as there faults dont seem to be as bad as others for example try owning a French car for 4-5years and then tell us all about quality ;)

Yet again, Rick, I feel compelled to endorse your wise words.

This whole thing has been whipped up out of all proportion as far as the British media is concerned - I even heard heard a presenter on "This Morning" last Friday implying that anyone with a Toyota will have difficulty part-exchanging it!

I have owned very many makes of cars over the past thirty years and, apart from my three Honda cars, I've found my Toyota Auris to be the best of the bunch - despite it having the much criticised MMT transmission (which took a while to get used to, but is now a really great drive!).

From a personal perspective I'm someone who believes in supporting the British car industry (and it's workers) and not talking it down! Whilst only the Auris & Avensis are (as far as I know) the only Toyota cars currently built in Britain, the generalised criticism of the Toyota brand in the media could have serious implications for British jobs!

I agree with you that Toyota (unlike many other global motor manufacturers) has been admirably pro-active in this current re-call. You do, however, have to wonder what other (?political) motivating factors may be at play here - particularly in the US!

In relation to the Auris (regardless of whether you drive a manual or MMT variant) you either dip the clutch/apply the brake pedal or knock the gear lever into neutral/apply the brake pedal in the highly unlikely event that you experience any problems!

Well I got my letter from Toyota today confirming my car is on the list and that very shortly they will contact me about repairing this and that if I have had any of these problems to please contact them. I still dont see what the big fuss is about and I AM REALLY HAPPY THAT TOYOTA ARE DECENT ENOUGH TO REPAIR MISTAKES AT THEIR EX-PENCE AND NOT MINE, this has not effected my Toyota experience in the slightest and I would buy Toyota again or an Honda as I was happy with the CTR I used to own. It would be interesting to know if the company making these parts has gone bust with the threat of a big repair bill heading their way;)

Another point I would like to make if this problem is as bad as the press make out why then

1. Has no one seen a defective pedal?

2. no videos of all these sticking pedals?

my answer is there aren't any because there is just an handful of cars with this problem, but Toyota have made sure that EVERY possible car effected is having redesigned parts fitted.

[Parts-King]

Jim Lentz of Toyota America explains the recall fix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUGHibAWciM

Kingo

[dan_daniel]

check this out also:

[Phil0600]

check this out also:

Many thanks for that, Daniel - it fully demonstrates Toyota's commitment to re-assuring it's customers and keeping them fully informed of the actions they are taking. Could any other motor maufacturer have done more?

Regards

Phil

[Exmeg2]

Toyota's reputation for reliability is taking such a hammering that when the current crises are over I believe the company will have to make a big and substantive gesture in order to demonstrate that it has confidence in its own products. As a start it should consider giving all owners affected by the recalls and whose cars are still in warranty an extra year,s warranty. For other owners affected whose cars are out of warranty some form of discounted servicing might be appropriate.

[GregP]

Toyota's reputation for reliability is taking such a hammering that when the current crises are over I believe the company will have to make a big and substantive gesture in order to demonstrate that it has confidence in its own products. As a start it should consider giving all owners affected by the recalls and whose cars are still in warranty an extra year,s warranty. For other owners affected whose cars are out of warranty some form of discounted servicing might be appropriate.

Prius brake recall is not going to help their reputation neither. The media are doing their best to make it "first page news"

[OldSkoO1]

Yes the coverage is going to hurt them.

BMW / Mercedes could never be seen to recall a "premium" quality vehicle on this scale. It would be branding suicide. And that is all BMW is a sexed up brand.

Toyota always do the right thing and by being the nice guy in the playground people take advantage of that.

We know what Toyota are really saying and why they are recalling it. But Owners of other makes that could be prospective Toyota buyers in the future will just see the headlines without knowing the true facts and that will influence their purchasing decisions for years to come.

So by doing the right thing they have dented their reputation to some in the short term.

[Jarod]

Many car companies makes mistakes - toyota had a really bad luck with accelerator pedal. Relatively simple and universal thing -> it was in almost all cars

If it was radio, some switches, any other thing that has nothing to do with safety no car company would do anything about it.

I think it was really bad luck for toyota.

I also think that there are many things in EVERY car of EVERY car maker that can get wrong in time - something with brakes, abs, or engine oil burning in new diesels(rev goes up and engine blows) or something - but you just can't prove that it is a mistake in design. Probability of such things to happen are bigger than with this accelerator.

Sorry for my english

[Parts-King]

At last a sensible comment from a journo

AUTOCAR

Nice to see someone with a sense of proportion ;)

Kingo

[Rick D4D]

I think your being a little bit hypocritical here yes it is sad people died but people die because of blow outs but that does not make the tyre manufacturer recall all their tyres, the problem here is a part made by another company that Toyota use and has only effected less than 0.01% of the cars Toyota make, TBH you have more chance of winning the lottery than this happening to you. I myself are not worried about this happening to me and I am very happy that Toyota have done the responsible thing and recalled all the possible effected cars. I will also add that even a simple thing like the rear view mirror falling off whilst driving could cause a fatal accident and the truth is if the throttle was stuck if you pushed the clutch the drive train is disconnected and your engine can go up in smoke, this could be done in a split second so I dont see any reason to panic for how many or shall we say how few cars this has effected.

I will stick my original post here and I can not believe how many people are blowing this out of proportion, out of the dare I say billion cars that could be effected and be recalled I heard today the number of accidents caused by this was something like 14 (maybe a little more or less but the figure is close) and not one of them was in the UK. I don't see what the big problem is and will tell you that when I owned my 2001 Mercedes A Class Avantgarde TDI (21k new in 2001) the amount of poor design faults was astronomical and not 1 was recalled for example

1. steering column had play at 38k was changed for a new one by the dealer, this lasted 2k and had to be changed again. This was a very common fault.

2. steering rack had a small amount of play at 44k, MB agreed goodwill gesture of half price repair but this was still going to cost me £1500. I never had this done.

3. leaking injectors very common fault and I was plagued by this most of the time I had the car http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.98.htm. MB change the engine to cure this at the cost of £3500.

4. rear springs snapped at 50k, I was told this would happen around 50k on the owners club and yes they did bang on time. This is a very common fault.

5. rear radius arm bushes needed changing at 38k, they used to last longer on a METRO! This was a very common fault.

6. on the petrol versions the MAF often fails from as little as 1k - 100k this is very common fault and cost around £1200 to replace as MB built this into part of the ECU, a company did repair these for around £300 http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.38.htm.

7. on the front suspension legs the discs that hold the springs were known to snap causing the spring to drop and cause serious problems. http://www.aclassinfo.co.uk/mypage.26.htm

There is more faults but I will tell you one thing is that Mercedes turn a blind eye to these and nothing is repaired unless you pay for it, I will say that when you buy the replacement parts they are normally on the 3rd or 4th design of this part so do last a little longer but they still fail at an alarming rate. Now people are calling Toyota over this recall and why? I can bet your car is fine and has never had this problem just like ours so why not give MR T some slack and let him repair your car as unlike other manufacturers they do want to repair things free of charge to you and IMO that is important. I will also add that we all make mistakes and now days cars are a very complex piece of machinery and along with all these complicated designs you will always get faults no matter who makes them and I will give Toyota some credit as there faults dont seem to be as bad as others for example try owning a French car for 4-5years and then tell us all about quality ;)

Yet again, Rick, I feel compelled to endorse your wise words.

This whole thing has been whipped up out of all proportion as far as the British media is concerned - I even heard heard a presenter on "This Morning" last Friday implying that anyone with a Toyota will have difficulty part-exchanging it!

I have owned very many makes of cars over the past thirty years and, apart from my three Honda cars, I've found my Toyota Auris to be the best of the bunch - despite it having the much criticised MMT transmission (which took a while to get used to, but is now a really great drive!).

From a personal perspective I'm someone who believes in supporting the British car industry (and it's workers) and not talking it down! Whilst only the Auris & Avensis are (as far as I know) the only Toyota cars currently built in Britain, the generalised criticism of the Toyota brand in the media could have serious implications for British jobs!

I agree with you that Toyota (unlike many other global motor manufacturers) has been admirably pro-active in this current re-call. You do, however, have to wonder what other (?political) motivating factors may be at play here - particularly in the US!

In relation to the Auris (regardless of whether you drive a manual or MMT variant) you either dip the clutch/apply the brake pedal or knock the gear lever into neutral/apply the brake pedal in the highly unlikely event that you experience any problems!

Well I got my letter from Toyota today confirming my car is on the list and that very shortly they will contact me about repairing this and that if I have had any of these problems to please contact them. I still dont see what the big fuss is about and I AM REALLY HAPPY THAT TOYOTA ARE DECENT ENOUGH TO REPAIR MISTAKES AT THEIR EX-PENCE AND NOT MINE, this has not effected my Toyota experience in the slightest and I would buy Toyota again or an Honda as I was happy with the CTR I used to own. It would be interesting to know if the company making these parts has gone bust with the threat of a big repair bill heading their way;)

Another point I would like to make if this problem is as bad as the press make out why then

1. Has no one seen a defective pedal?

2. no videos of all these sticking pedals?

my answer is there aren't any because there is just an handful of cars with this problem, but Toyota have made sure that EVERY possible car effected is having redesigned parts fitted.

Well my car is being done in the morning along with a new carpet and drivers seat, cant say I was worried but I am well impressed by how quick Toyota have got these parts redesigned and out to the dealers ;)

[GregP]

The subject has been discussed on my local Radio station this morning. Some caller said that she is now afraid when there is Toyota car driving near by :) and then again "what to do if guide" as if there were 50 people dying each day because of Toyota accelerator pedal. I may stop listen to them.

[Exmeg2]

If anyone from Toyota HQ is reading this post may I respectfully suggest that you instruct your dealerships not to use the recall as an excuse to offer ridiculously low trade in prices.

[balli hi]

Here is an article i have gleaned from the Independent News Paper , which touches on Toyota's past record of quality and reliability , there's no question that Toyota's reputation has taken a massive hit and that it will take years to rebuild that once global reputation , wether they actually will remains to be seen , and i quite agree with most of whats written in the article below .

Sean O'Grady , The Independent: This time the jokes are on Toyota

Reliability is the main selling point – perhaps the only one – of its colossally dull cars

Jokes, usually in questionable taste, are what really do for car companies. Some are surprisingly durable. The lines that FIAT stands for "Fix It Again, Tony" or that Lotus means "Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious" can be carbon-dated to the 1970s.

As it happens, the expected global wave of Toyota gags doesn't seem to have materialised, yet, though a "Toyotathon of Death" has featured on America's Daily Show with John Stewart, where Stewart also excitedly screams at Detroit: "Hey boys, we're back in the game – thanks to our rival making death traps".

My own attempt at humour is based on a Toyota advertising slogan of a few years ago: "The car in front is no longer a Toyota – even if it doesn't want to be".

So there you go. Embarrassing, but not as bad as it might be. The reputational damage Toyota has suffered ought, for example, to be nothing like the scale of shame that Skoda and its drivers (like me, I have to confess) endured for decades.

The Skoda story – and accompanying jokes – must make Toyota's marketeers wince. A decade and a half ago the old Communist outfit churned out shoddy, and, on a wet corner, dangerously handling cars, probably far more life-threatening than anything Toyota may have perpetrated.

Then Skoda was bought by Volkswagen and was transformed into a maker of cheap, reliable and durable Polo, Golf and Passat clones, and the boss of VW sister brand Audi wondered aloud why anyone would bother buying one of his cars when you could get something remarkably similar for half the price.

And yet the cruel Skoda jibes echo down the years, long after the cars became unrecognisably better – proof that the reputation of a motor company that can be lost in days takes many, many years to rebuild. There are still many consumers in Britain who would agree that the main difference between a Skoda and venereal disease is that venereal disease is easier to get rid off.

Just like a reputation for poor quality, in fact, which hits car companies harder than most, as Skoda knows. It took many years for the jokes about British Leyland and then Rover to finish off our indigenous industry, but they got there in the end, even when the cars were basically perfectly good Hondas. (Two Ronnies sample, circa 1976: "It has been announced that British Leyland workers will no longer clock in every morning — they'll sign the visitors' book instead").

Fortunately, there are many textbook examples of what to do and what not to do. Though now largely forgotten, in the 1980s both Volvo and Audi had problems with "unintended acceleration" in their cars. Audi spent a lot of time and money denying the problem existed – the classic blunder – only to eventually own up and pay up. In Audi's case, their mismanagement of a technical issue virtually banished them from the American market, though they are back now.

Toyota's PR men, on the other hand, can be seen on telly all over the world brandishing bits of metal – the miraculous "fix" that can make Toyota owners relax again. Like the marketing experts who told Perrier just to pour the lot down the drain and come clean when someone found traces of benzene in their mineral water in 1990, the Toyota managers appear to recognise that you need to act quickly, dramatically and ruthlessly to limit the damage. Hence all that waving of accelerator pedals and apologies.

On the other hand, Toyota's brand is not strong enough to be able to simply drive through these problems. Toyota must envy Mercedes-Benz, for example, left virtually unscathed by the scandal of their E-Class cars self-combusting. Land-Rover seems to have plenty of people who think it the best 4x4xfar, even though it usually languishes around the bottom of the reliability and customer satisfaction surveys. Sony still sell lap tops, even though they too showed a distressing tendency to catch fire. And so on.

The truth seems to be that sometime in the last decade Toyota became classically over extended and lost its way in its quest to overtake GM and become the world's biggest car maker. It did become number one last year – but at the cost of an inevitable loss of quality as it expanded production outside its Japanese homeland, and lost its previously assured grip on quality and reliability as factories proliferated from Thailand to Derbyshire. And that reliability, I'm afraid, is the main selling point – possibly the only selling point – for Toyota's range of colossally dull motor cars. Can you say what an Auris looks like? Even Akio Toyoda, current boss and grandson of the founder, has admitted that his cars need to be more exciting, publicly praising the VW Scirocco. Not the Toyota Way we knew.

Apart from a couple of wacky Lexus models, only the "green" Prius could be called interesting. Even with that little marvel there is the nagging concern that the whole hybrid thing, in which Toyota has sunk vast amounts of capital, could be a massive technological dead end, as conventional small diesel engines and pure electric cars can offer better environmental performance.

At least in an MG or Alfa Romeo you'll have had some fun before you wait for the AA to arrive; in a Toyota there is no compensating advantage because there is no other reason for buying the car than the claim that it will never let you down. The other uncomfortable fact is that Toyota's competitors – even the likes of Ford and GM – have almost caught up on reliability.

The chances are that Toyota will get through its current travails and not become the new Skoda. The quality should be recoverable, and impressively so. Toyota's silent and cosseting Lexus limo has a plausible claim to be the best car in the world – and I doubt it will go wrong.

However, the company's reputation was already stalling before this current crisis – last year it posted its first loss since 1950 – and it will probably never be what it once was. The outspoken Mr Toyoda warned some months ago that "we are grasping for salvation." That's no joke. s.o'grady@independent.co.uk

[Parts-King]

I read that report a few days ago......the man is a bafoon

Will the press drag up the self combusting Renaults again? NO

Will the press lampoon Honda for announcing 400,000 cars to be re-called in the USA today for airbag problems? NO

What they will do is knock the company who has one of the best recall rates in the industry, not for the product itself but for producing in the bafoons own words "colossally dull cars"

In the words of somebody I can't remember, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story"

Kingo