Toyota Recall

[Phil0600]

A bit of perspective into the recall saga and squaring Toyota off against peers:

If you look at the past decade's data on auto recalls, the Japanese big 3 fare much better than their US counterparts, accounting for roughly 20% of recalls in the US as compared with the latter's 80%. Detroit has actually recalled more vehicles than it sold over the last ten years, Toyota (including the latest debacle) has now recalled 55%, Honda 7% and Nissan 108%. On the face of it, Honda is streaks the most reliable, but past experience suggests that the maximum impact on an assemblers market share is just 2%, and that has been in very extreme cases like the Ford/Firestone recall after 270 fatalities.

Stats to back up the points made above:

1) In the past 10 years (00-09), the US big 3 accounted for 80% of the 1,100 recalls vs. the Japaneese big 3 at 20%.

2) The frequency of recalls per vehicle is the lowest at Toyota. GM's risk of recall is 2.7x higher than Toyota. (Honda is next best after Toyota).

Name | No of recalls | No of affected vehicles | 00-09 US Sales | % of sold cars recalled

Toyota | 64 | 11.286m | 20.488m | 55%

Nissan | 116 | 9.582m | 8.883m | 108%

Honda | 118 | 9.078m | 13.461m | 67%

Ford | 242 | 44.899m | 41.472m | 106%

GMC | 307 | 44.084m | 29.213m | 151%

Chrysler Group | 232 | 29.705m | 23.585m | 126%

Complaints involving fatalities stand at 0.00036% of Toyota's total sales; but this is DOUBLE at Ford.

Credit to Toyota for stepping up to recall affected vehicles (despite some saying they have known about the problems for some time?). Honda following suit with it's own set of recalls.

Hi - I hadn't intended to make any further comment on this subject, but just thought that I'd thank you for taking the time and trouble to post these helpful statistics. As you say, it really puts matters into perspective!

Phil

[MarqsM]

If you are all so afraid just sit at home or ride a bike. The chances of getting killed are the same as for driving a "faulty toyota", if not higher.

How comforting !

It's not about being comforting, just simple common sense!

[Parts-King]

I thought I would put the recent Toyota recalls into perspective

Recall per manufaturer over the last two years INCLUDING The latest Toyota recalls

Manufacturer Number of Recalls in Past 2 Years (Jan 08 to Feb 10)

Mercedes Benz 40 Who expected that one then?

Citroen 33

Peugeot 27

Ford 16

Nissan 15

Fiat 12

BMW 9

Renault 9

Vauxhall 7

VW 6

Honda 5

Toyota (includes an Auris recall of just 8 vehicles and an Avensis recall of just 6 vehicles) 4

Audi 3

Kia 2

Hyundai 1

* Data from VOSA (Vehicle & Operator Services Agency)

The next time somebody mentions German quality and reliability perhaps you could say herr humm, Mercedes ssssshhh!!

Kingo

[scm]

I thought I would put the recent Toyota recalls into perspective

Recall per manufaturer over the last two years INCLUDING The latest Toyota recalls

Manufacturer Number of Recalls in Past 2 Years (Jan 08 to Feb 10)

...

VW 6

Honda 5

Toyota (includes an Auris recall of just 8 vehicles and an Avensis recall of just 6 vehicles) 4

Audi 3

Kia 2

Hyundai 1

* Data from VOSA (Vehicle & Operator Services Agency)

so the message is, next time go for Korean car :D or Mitsubishi

[Parts-King]

so the message is, next time go for Korean car :D or Mitsubishi

But they sold half the cars Toyota did

[Exmeg2]

So often in life good flows from bad and I believe that it will happen with the recall debacle. Two things immediately spring to mind. Firstly, Toyota has taken such a hammering, and there is probably more to come, that it is unlikely that the company will ever again be as arrogant, complacent and dismissive of customer concerns as it seems to have been in recent years. The net result should be an improvement in quality and service. Secondly, the staggeringly high level of publicity given to the recall must surely have alerted the motoring public to the fact that good as Toyota once was, and still is in many respects, other manufactures have caught up and now make cars that deserve just as serious attention. The increased competition will act as a further spur to Toyota to put its house in order and try to regain its former enviable position.

[Exmeg2]

There seems to be some differences in the way in which dealers are approaching the recall. Some are adding on 'goodies' e.g. vouchers, free petrol, discounted servicing, valeting etc. while others are not. Does anyone know if Toyota HQ has issued any guidance in this matter ?

[david dey]

There seems to be some differences in the way in which dealers are approaching the recall. Some are adding on 'goodies' e.g. vouchers, free petrol, discounted servicing, valeting etc. while others are not. Does anyone know if Toyota HQ has issued any guidance in this matter ?

Had mine done last Tuesday.

They had it 1.5 hours and they did the ECU update, it came back valeted but it was as clean as a cats bum before they got it, no mention of fuel or goodies.

D.D.

[moonstone mart]

There seems to be some differences in the way in which dealers are approaching the recall. Some are adding on 'goodies' e.g. vouchers, free petrol, discounted servicing, valeting etc. while others are not. Does anyone know if Toyota HQ has issued any guidance in this matter ?

Had mine done last Tuesday.

They had it 1.5 hours and they did the ECU update, it came back valeted but it was as clean as a cats bum before they got it, no mention of fuel or goodies.

D.D.

Toyota should be sending out £20 marks and spencer vouchers approx 2 weeks after the recall has been carried out.

Mart.

[kinaero]

Hi newbie here, it didn't bother me one little bit about this particular recall, I've just placed an order for a new Auris 1.4 d4d.

Can't wait!

[uk_driver]

Had my recall modification done at the weekend. I'm just hoping now that this solves the problem - it was really scary when the car moved off by itself, and so far, this problem has not occurred since I had the modification done. Fingers crossed!

[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 ;)

Well our recall was done on the very first day of the recalls for this problem so we did not get our vouchers like most others, today the vouchers have arrived and all I can say this is very good as I dont know of any other manufacturer who repairs a recall at their cost and also gives you money / vouchers for inconvenience. Years ago when I had a Vauxhall recalled we did not even get a courtesy car.

[scm]

Well our recall was done on the very first day of the recalls for this problem so we did not get our vouchers like most others, today the vouchers have arrived and all I can say this is very good as I dont know of any other manufacturer who repairs a recall at their cost and also gives you money / vouchers for inconvenience. Years ago when I had a Vauxhall recalled we did not even get a courtesy car.

I didn't get vouchers, money, fuel or any other compensation from Toyota neither. I picked the car in the same state as I left it.

[Speed_Chaser]

This is interesting:

"Oslo - A Norwegian motorist deliberately drove into a highway barrier after the accelerator of his Toyota Prius jammed at high speed, a newspaper reported Friday. The driver sustained slight injuries and was taken to hospital for X-rays following Thursday's incident - the latest case of sticking accelerator pedals affecting the Japanese carmaker.

The car, which was equipped with automatic transmission, reached a top speed of 176 kilometres per hour, the driver's son, who was in the car at the time, told the Verdens Gang tabloid.

Unable to stop the vehicle, the 49-year-old driver decided to deliberately drive into a highway barrier near the southern town of Kristiansand at a speed of some 100 kmh, the son said.

Police confirmed they had received a mobile telephone call from the driver alerting them to the runaway vehicle.

Toyota Norway said experts were likely to fly to Norway to investigate the car, the report said.

The Japanese carmaker has been forced to recall millions of vehicles worldwide for safety checks after accelerator problems"

[Rick D4D]

Well our recall was done on the very first day of the recalls for this problem so we did not get our vouchers like most others, today the vouchers have arrived and all I can say this is very good as I dont know of any other manufacturer who repairs a recall at their cost and also gives you money / vouchers for inconvenience. Years ago when I had a Vauxhall recalled we did not even get a courtesy car.

I didn't get vouchers, money, fuel or any other compensation from Toyota neither. I picked the car in the same state as I left it.

We got these through the post so yours should be on the way ;)

[Paul Mack]

Well our recall was done on the very first day of the recalls for this problem so we did not get our vouchers like most others, today the vouchers have arrived and all I can say this is very good as I dont know of any other manufacturer who repairs a recall at their cost and also gives you money / vouchers for inconvenience. Years ago when I had a Vauxhall recalled we did not even get a courtesy car.

I didn't get vouchers, money, fuel or any other compensation from Toyota neither. I picked the car in the same state as I left it.

We got these through the post so yours should be on the way ;)

Hi guys, just back from hols, logged on to see what's what and oh boy, same old thread, same old story, same old tit for tats!!

For goodness sake, let Mr T do his job YOU guys are driving his cars for heavens sake, Rick is spot on, read and digest his wise words and lets discuss something else.

Oh, before I sign off, I have received my £20 M&S vouchers, the car is still going as well as it ever did.

And finally, Mr T is offering double discounts, 0% finance and 3 years free servicing on new, demo used cars from 11th- 14th March.

Some may be cynical, I for one am popping into RMB Darlo for a sniff around, Rock on Mr T.

Best wishes

Paul

[uk_driver]

I received £20 M&S vouchers today because of the 'inconvenience' of the recall. This whole issue simply gets worse and worse! My local Toyota garage involves a 30 mile round trip, I spent approximately 2 and a half hours of my time taking my car to the dealer - waiting - and then travelling home again, and the only compensation Toyota sees fit to provide is £20!! This is a real insult.

And I haven't even mentioned the number of times that my heart was in my mouth every time the accelerator pedal got stuck...!

I am quite disgusted with Toyota.

[Rick D4D]

I received £20 M&S vouchers today because of the 'inconvenience' of the recall. This whole issue simply gets worse and worse! My local Toyota garage involves a 30 mile round trip, I spent approximately 2 and a half hours of my time taking my car to the dealer - waiting - and then travelling home again, and the only compensation Toyota sees fit to provide is £20!! This is a real insult.

And I haven't even mentioned the number of times that my heart was in my mouth every time the accelerator pedal got stuck...!

I am quite disgusted with Toyota.

May I suggest you buy a French car, they wont inconvenience you as they will try to avoid recalling it as much as possible and if they do you will get nothing ;)

hate to say it but MR T cant please everyone

[Bob O.]

Couple of weeks ago I combined the gas-pedal recall with the 15.000 km service and got a little box (with the word "sorry" on it) of chocolates. Minor gesture, but thoughtful.

[uk_driver]

Couple of weeks ago I combined the gas-pedal recall with the 15.000 km service and got a little box (with the word "sorry" on it) of chocolates. Minor gesture, but thoughtful.

Sorry to hear that. That's even worse than my £20 of vouchers. Toyota really have some learning to do over this debacle - let's hope they do!

[Speed_Chaser]

Guys, are you serious? Just got to know that my car needs a pedal fix too, and I am happy that Toyota will fix it. For me the most important thing is that my car is fine and works. That's what I'll be grateful for, not because of chockolate or petrol I'll get...

Best regards, Alex

[FROSTYBALLS]

Most manufacturers don't offer any compensation at all for recalls. A colleague had a recall re the fan wiring done on his Focus last year - the dealer didn't do the job properly, made the car undrivable for more than a few yards, and had to loan him a courtesy car for a day. Only by the foreman back-tracking on the work done with the technician, did they find out the technician had plugged the wiring loom into the wrong part of a multiple socket). Just an apology from the dealer and nothing from Ford.

When I had a recall done on my Mazda 323, the work (approx 3 hours labour) was done but no compensation from the dealer or Mazda.

I think Toyota stands out - the majority of their dealers provide something (mine will give me £ 25 off a second set of car mats I want), and Toyota are giving the £ 20 M&S vouchers.

Renault firmly refused to recall the Clio 2 when BBC Watchdog highlighted probelms with bonnet catches (which when they failed let the bonnet fly up, and hit the windscreen,causing smashed windscreens and accidents). The French attitude seems to be totally the reverse of Toyota's.

[Bob O.]

Guys, are you serious? Just got to know that my car needs a pedal fix too, and I am happy that Toyota will fix it. For me the most important thing is that my car is fine and works. That's what I'll be grateful for, not because of chockolate or petrol I'll get...

Best regards, Alex

Completely on board with you, just thought the gesture of a little box (with sorry on it) of chocolate was thoughtful and it put a smile on my face. Toyota Netherlands really deserves some credit for the way they're handling this major recall.

[uk_driver]

I was simply saying that due to the seriousness of this problem, a £20 voucher (or especially a box of chocolates!), demonstrated that Toyota has seriously underestimated the possible consequences of such a fault. We are not talking about a recall to fix a dodgy door seal here, or electric windows that might not work!! The sticking accelerator problem is serious, and could have had fatal consequences - fortunately for me it only tended to happen when I was in slow moving traffic, and as long as I left enough room between me and the vehicle in front, I managed to avert small prangs. But what about those poor people where it happened at high speed? The very thought is really scary. I believe that Toyota should have taken the issue far more seriously, and compensated owners far more realistically, reflecting the true seriousness of the fault.

[david dey]

fortunately for me it only tended to happen when I was in slow moving traffic, and as long as I left enough room between me and the vehicle in front, I managed to avert small prangs.

How many times did this happen and if more than once why wait for a recall to get it fixed.

DD