Toyota - The Aftermath

I took my recalled Toyota back to the garage to have the widget put into its accelerator thingy today. It was a pretty painless experience, taking 90 minutes, including a wash and vacuum. I spent the time wisely, sorting out the family shop in the supermarket nearby.

When I returned, they had also sorted out a problem with the gearbox which I had not even mentioned so I cannot complain about the service I received, even if the wash didnt include a dry and wax or the hoover of the back seats.

To be honest, I feel quite sorry for Toyota. In 2008/2009, there were 313 safety recalls, involving over 1,080,820 components but only ONE actually related to Toyota. Over the past five years, Citroen and Peugeot had 60 recalls, Renault = 48, Ford = 31, Volkswagen = 22 and Landrover = 18.

The huge publicity has arisen because of the death in the US of Mark Saylor, a California highway patrol officer who was killed along with three members of his family in a Toyota Lexus sedan.

In a statement to be delivered to Congress later today, Toyota President, Akio Toyoda, admitted that “perhaps the company just grew too quickly and safety priorities were left behind”. He gave an unreserved apology and took responsibility to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Reading through the transcripts of the meetings in Congress and the hundreds of comments on the version that I read, it was extraordinary to see people trying to avoid taking responsibility for what had happened and others fuelling the furore in order to make political capital or further the aims of other automotive providers who were hoping to fill the huge gap in the market caused by lack of confidence in Toyota as a result of the current publicity.

And yet, not long ago, other manufacturers were the target of such public venom because of other mechanical problems with tyres and gas tanks.

The problem is that when you have a specific type of brand with a huge plant in your State, naturally you’re going to want to promote it and take advantage of any failings of manufacturers in other States. I don’t know exactly how the American political system works but, as I understand it, lobbyists from other industries pay millions of dollars to ‘support’ Congress. I doubt that the automotive industry is any different.

This means that you cannot get impartial guidance on this matter. There have also been accusations that the NHTSA was too closely linked to the car manufacturer and did not do enough to ensure Toyota’s vehicles met safety standards.

Rhonda Smith from Tennessee was driving a Lexus made by Toyota when it sped up to 100mph while she was driving on a busy road and, despite using the brakes and trying all the gears, including reverse, it took many terrifying minutes before it finally came to a halt.

Mrs Smith said the company “chose to blatantly ignore” her concerns and told politicians that both Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had dismissed her belief that the vehicle’s electronics were to blame.

“Shame on you, Toyota, for being so greedy. And shame on you, NHTSA, for not doing your job,” a tearful Smith told a panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Toyota & Honda dropped the ball on handling the recalls. They should have came forward with a full disclosure instead of waiting for a huge media blitz and tons of public pressure. However, they are not alone, as more and more manufacturers are having to recall various models for problems with the brake and accelerator pedals… and hiding in the background whilst Toyota take all the flak.

Well, they would, wouldn’t they? Toyota have been top of the league for safety and reliability for so long. The cards are now all being reshuffled and a lot of people are going to take advantage.

Me, I have a voucher giving £20 off my next repair invoice… but whether that covers my first year service which falls due in a couple of months, I am not sure. I also have a voucher for a free day at a local spa.

Since the car seems to be running much more smoothly since they tinkered with the gearbox and put in the widget so I’m not going to complain too much. However, the whole affair leaves a nasty taste in the mouth and I really hope that all the marques in the automotive industry will learn from what happened here.

Originally posted 2010-02-24 22:48:08. Republished by Blog Post Promoter