I have been following the sticking accelerator fiasco at Toyota for months (Read two previous blogs: Floor mat Safety – Check your car’s floor mats! and It’s Not Just the Floor Mats: Toyota Recalls 2.3 million Vehicles for Sticking Accelerator Pedal). Yesterday Toyota released a bombshell – they are suspending sales of some of their most popular models and shutting down production to pinpoint the problem. This means that for the last 6 months or so, they still don’t know exactly what is causing the accelerator to stick or don’t have great confidence that this can be fixed at the dealership level efficiently. (Or they were required to shut down production from the Federal Government – read this story from The Detroit News). Here is a quote from the latest press release: “This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized. We’re making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible.”
I am sure the dealerships are fuming about this…they can’t sell a large portion of Toyota’s most popular vehicles. And, what long term damage has this done. Sure they are now addressing the problem head on…but why did it take so long? Some potential Toyota customers will now question Toyota quality and may look at other manufacturers. Ford and Honda may benefit the greatest from the Toyota nightmare.
The following vehicles are effected:
2009-2010 RAV4
2009-2010 Corolla
2009-2010 Matrix
2005-2010 Avalon
Certain 2007-2010 Camry
2010 Highlander
2007-2010 Tundra
2008-2010 Sequoia
During the week of February 1st, Toyota plans on shutting down production lines at the following plants:
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Canada (Corolla, Matrix, and RAV4)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (Sequoia and Highlander)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky – Line 1 (Camry and Avalon)
Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (Camry)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas (Tundra)
Still have questions? Call Toyota customer service at 1-800-331-4331.
