Toyota Suspends Sales of Eight Models - NOT Prius

I'll bet you have missed me!

"said that it knows of only a handful of sudden-acceleration incidents in which its parts may have played a role."

Apparently the supplier isn't that perlexed as the article stated there are a "handful" of sudden acceleration problem with their parts.


CTS's own press release

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]newsrelease[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]CTS CORPORATION Elkhart, Indiana 46514 • (574) 523-3800 [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]January 27, 2010[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]FOR RELEASE: Immediately
[/FONT]

CTS Comments on Toyota’s January 21 Safety Voluntary Recall

Elkhart, IN…CTS Corporation (NYSE: CTS) today provided comments on Toyota’s recent accelerator pedal recall. As previously announced by Toyota, the January 21 voluntary recall results from what Toyota described as “a rare set of conditions which may cause the accelerator pedal to become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position.†Toyota said this condition “is rare and occurs gradually over a period of time.â€
As has been publically stated by Toyota, we have no knowledge of any accidents or injuries that have resulted from this rare potential condition. Based on information that Toyota has provided us, we are aware of fewer than a dozen instances where this condition has occurred, and in no instance did the accelerator actually become stuck in a partially depressed condition.
As Toyota stated, this recall is different from and unrelated to the “sudden, unintended acceleration issue†which was the subject of the November 2009 Toyota recall. In the November recall, the pedals in Toyota models dated back to model year 2002. CTS became a pedal supplier in 2005. Accordingly, our products are not implicated by the November 2009 recall. The products we supply to Toyota, including the pedals covered by the recent recall, have been manufactured to Toyota’s design specifications.
Toyota is a small, but important, customer of CTS, representing approximately 3% of our annual sales. CTS has been actively working with Toyota for awhile to develop a new pedal to meet tougher specifications from Toyota. The newly designed pedal is now tested and parts are beginning to ship to some Toyota factories.
CTS News Release

Their own press release indicates that they aren't all that perplexed with the problem.


Could you perhaps provide some definitive evidence that supports your claim, other than a short blurb in the WSJ? Since it appears that the claim of perplexed has been refuted by the article as well as CTS's own press release. In light of the fact Toyota, the NHTSA and others with intimate knowledge of the problem doesn't support that short press blurb.

Remember back in the late 1980's when McDonalds had this crazy nut job walk into it's restaurant on the California / Tijuana border and he started blazing away ... killing a bunch of people? McDonalds leveled the restaurant and built a memorial in honor of the victims. From a business point, you can't BUY great advertising like that ... much less realize a benefit from the tax write off of the property. Was that McDonald's motive? I doubt it. But I'm sure the CPA's & tax attorneys pointed out the 'benefit'. Was 'the bottom line' Toyota's motive when they stopped production? I think it was the same as McDonalds.

Ditto// I am amazed at how many people bought the floor mat stuff.

I heard on the radio an hour ago that GM is offering free financing to Toyota owners afraid their accelerator will stick if they buy a GM. Here is an article claiming it's free financing or $1000.00.

GM to pay 1,000 dollars to Toyota owners to switch brands

My only concern is, will this massive recall/halt on other Toyota models effect the sales, or more importantly the selling prices on the 2010 Prius? I'm in the market now for one but I'm wondering if dealerships will be using this as a tactic on Prius sales.

Malorn, I'm glad to see that you are still with us.

I'm not buying the spin. This smacks of the DA saying "Turn yourself in before you're arrested".

IMO Toyota is reaping the "benefit" of cheap parts. Toyota didn't step up to solve my problem of the stuck shifter. "Can not replicate the problem" sounds like the same F-U attitude GM is known for.

If this was happening in a prior generation SNL would have another episode of "Samurai Toyota Executive" starring John Belusi. Toyoda if you want to demonstrate your sincerity FIRE the people responsible. Poor design? Fire the designer. Who approved it? Fire two. If Denso is making a quality part then stop buying crap from the American company that outsourced production to Canada.

In ~1000 miles I've had two problems with the 2010 (neither resolved) and piss-poor service. I'll say it again, you're only as good as the last car you sold me. I've ripped Olds & GM here over my Intrigue. I've said in the office (language edited for posting) "I'm so mad at Toyota that I want to put my foot so far up their butt they taste shoe leather."

LaHood is a bit like Lutz. He's a cannon with a hair trigger. Soon after LaHood was appointed he came out with his own policy that the DOT supported a VMT tax.

LaHood Proposes Flawed Mileage Tax; Administration Spokesmen Shoot It Down

He had to be slapped down. Now he jumps into the spotlight with his 'Ah Ha....' and his own subordinate has to slap him down. Believe him at your own peril..

He doesn't need any evidence. He sees his 'toy' being taken away from him...'Toyota's disaster'...by it being a relatively simple fix rather than some horrendously complex situation that takes the Camry's and Corolla's off the market for months.

If the fix is effective and done simply and quietly then this whole brouhaha will recede into the misty past and his GM store will continue to have to fight against the 8 models again.

Yes it's childish.

This may come back to bite them in the azz big time. Note that Toyota didn't offer any special incentives to GMer's last spring when GM was on the edge of death in BK court. I know that Toyota was very subdued and in favor of GM's survival.

Now this is simply kicking someone when they're down. This IMO will generate a lot of ill will.....and Toyota's marketing arm IS a lot better and stronger than GM's. If it gets down to gutter-fighting GM's gonna lose.

Last week Toyota chimed in praising the Volt. Now Toyota could go after the Volt with ninja ferocity and show all of the Volt's pimples, blemishes and deficiencies. There's a lot of them.

GM is making a huge mistake by doing that. It is all well and good to advertise your car as having better fuel eceonomy (the 4 specific models that do). But when you try and pull a shot like this, Toyota is going to have a field day. Toyota was supportive of them through bankruptcy. Toyota is supportive of them with their Volt. Toyota was supportive of them with the NUMMI plant. Toyota shouldn't be very supportive after this shot.

What has GM done about Escalade front wheels flying off the car for no apparent reason? This happened to a friend of mine recently in a parking lot and apparently has been happening a lot.

Toyota did the right thing IMO. They have owned up to the problem and taken initiative to show their customers they care. My other relative always buy GM and will never consider another make...in the face of poor quality...serious recalls...bankrupcy...Govt. Bailouts...they will always be loyal to the end.

Toyota owners are the same way and have over the years had far less to worry about. One tough year does not result in an automaker's downfall. If that were true there would be no Hyundai.

So, you're saying that since GM made low quality for decades that Toyota will get a little grace? I duno ... a lot of GM's junk was in earlier generations ... earlier decades. Their junk got by in prior decades because junk was more the standard back in the 1960's - 1970's & 80's. I think the U.S. is much less tolerant of low quality ... having had a taste of less defects per 1,000 units.

Defensive? Um, no ... let the chips fall where they may. As for if this "catastrophe" happening to Ford or GM ... it has over the years, as you know (I'm thinking ford pinto explosions ... I'm thinking Vegas that fell apart ... I'll spare readers by not making failures into an epistle) ... only Toyota didn't jump on GM with golf shoes. At least that shows a bit of class.

malorn, what happened ... you used to say the evil of U.S. citizens was that they wouldn't buy GM "U.S. made" products (even tho much is/was imported from canada, china, mexico, etc) ... and since we buy too many Asian made cars (even tho a decent chunk of 'em are manufactured here in the U.S.) ... the U.S. would sink into utter doom. The only thing that sank, was GM. The U.S. citizenry picked up the tab. Now you need a new spin. As we are ALL part owner of GM now, I'd rather GM (and ALL manufacturers, for that matter) worked on their own quality ... & quit with the, "but but ... look what THEY'RE doing" crying.

~1.1 million vehicles now added to the floor mat "recall"

Since my response to jenddbay above, Toyota has added more vehicles to the floor mat "recall", including the 09 Corolla. It's at the bottom of Toyota Vehicles : Toyota Recall January 2010: Voluntary Safety Gas Pedal Recall / Toyota

See above page for the rest of the text.

I am telling you right now there is more to this than the brake pedal and it is not like toyota just found out there was a massive problem...are you kidding me?

Toyota recall: Camry red flag raised in 2004 | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Wider brake fix is urged | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Who's crying about anything? toyota quality has been slipping in a major way for at least the last 5 years. Drive a camry today(when you can) and then drive a malibu or a taurus. No comparison. My wife had a Pontiac Vibe (2005)for a couple of months and that was the worst car we have ever owned. Bad ride quality, horrible in the snow, horribly uncomfortable seats.....

As for GM and the bailout, I am not proud of that but what choice was there? If the country let GM go down where would we all be now? Unemployment greater than 20%? Drive through Michigan or Northern Ohio, or Western PA, or parts of Illinios or Wisconsin and then tell me that 20% unemployment is manageable. I think this country is finally waking up to the fact that if we are to prosper and continue to lead the world we better make something.

I watched the GM broadcast yesterday and basically GM finally said F... toyota. About 30 years to late and of course there were many whining dealers who also have toyota stores. Do you think if toyota could have pounced on detroit over the last year they would not have. It would have been political suicide.

Toyota was supportive of Detroit? How? It was politically impossible to be aggressive.

As for the recall, my dealerships are fielding many calls with people looking for ways out of their toyotas. Would you let your wife and kids drive in one of the recalled cars? I am also telling you it is not the gas pedal.

Yes, I would. The fact is that the problem effects only a small fraction of the vehicles involved. If a driver is properly briefed on how to deal with the problem it's no biggie.

It's the same situation with terrorists: it's FEAR that is the real problem. There just plain aren't enough terrorists to make them a threat to our infrastructure. OK, so ~3000 people died as a direct result of 9/11. Well the U.S. population is now ~300,000,000 people. That makes it a 0.00001% chance of having been a fatality. It's more likely you'll be hit by lightning than killed in a terror attack (in the US).

The odds of having un-intended acceleration in one of the recalled vehicles are similarly (though not exactly the same of course) low. We're talking millions of vehicles vs less than 100 incidents. (I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong).