Toyota Recalls Camry, Venza, Tacoma models
Issues during assembly could cause airbag failure, shift lever and warning light malfuntions.
Yesterday, Toyota announced a voluntary safety recall covering certain Camry, Venza and Tacoma models. Toyota, ever wary of public perception these days, acted before being nudged by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.The recall covers about 70,500 Camrys from model year 2009, 116,000 Venzas built between 2009 and 2011, and 495,000 Tacomas built between 2005 and 2009 -- all North American-built. That's about 681,500 vehicles in total. The recall is to address issues arising from silicone grease accidentally penetrating the contact-type stop lamp switch during assembly, which Toyota says may lead to a host of problems. In the Camry and Venza, "warning lamps on the instrument panel may be illuminated, the vehicle may not start, or the shift lever may not shift from the 'park' position" and the stop lamps may stop working altogether, according to Toyota's release. As for the Tacoma, due to "characteristics unique to the Tacoma chassis" additional issues could lead to airbags failing to deploy.
Toyota says it is unaware of any injuries or accidents related to any of the problems. The manufacturer is scouting replacement parts -- the fix should take 30 minutes -- and affected owners will receive notification in the mail.
[Source: Toyota.]
All those millions of recalls don't come cheap.
That probably explains why the ratings agencies lowered the credit rating on Toyota's debt. All these recalls have definitely had a huge negative effect on Toyota's financials. Makes me wonder if they have enough money to reinvest in the company to fix all of their problems. Probably a brand you should stay away from for awhile until they get things straightened out.
That 20 million vehicles recalled is the equivalent of every single vehicle they've sold here over the last 12.5 years!! I wonder how it feels to have to RECALL MORE THAN A DECADES WORTH OF PRODUCTION?
The Beltway, that's a pretty astonishing fact. It's a wonder Toyota isn't in deeper financial trouble than it is. All those millions of recalls don't come cheap.
The rest of Toyota recalls were minor tech issues that have caused no injuries at all.
I don't call broken drive shafts, rotting frames, fuel leaks, defective steering columns, faulty airbags minor technical issues. My wife's Venza has had to be towed to the dealer twice. She's afraid to drive it now because she doesn't want to be stranded again.
If you were to erase the unintended acceleration farce, that was proven by NASA to be operator error, that firmly puts Ford and GM right back on top for recent deaths from recalls. SIX TIMES MORE DEATHS THAN TOYOTA'S......SIX TMIES! YIKES!
The rest of Toyota recalls were minor tech issues that have caused no injuries at all. NOW, look at GM with the wheels falling off, steering wheels coming off while driving, brake pads missing from the factory, tires rubbing through brake lines and causing loss of brakes. THOSE are lethal mistakes.
AND Ford, GM and Chrysler still have more recalls in the past and today. MANY MORE.
Anyhow, believe what you will but myself, JD Powers, Car and Driver, KBB, Consumer Reports all still know that both Europe and Japan still build better cars than the US.
Toyota's vehicles have also killed more people over the past 5 years than any other manufacturer. They put profits and company image ahead of their customer's lives.
Oh what a nauseating feeling...TOYOTA!
All time leader in recalls: GM (six times the # of recalls as Toyota)
Leader in recalls since September 2011: GM w/ 10! Then Ford w/ 6, Then Chrysler w/ 4, Then Toyota w/ 3. This info came right from the NHTSA's website TODAY so is indeed fact.
Also, both GM and Ford have killed about 6,000 people with recall related issues as apposed to less than a thousand for Toyota. This statistic is also directly from the NHTSA, the same safety institute that rates Toyota as one of the best in the industry in safe automobiles.
Beltway, sorry you had a bad experience but the facts show the opposite of your claims.
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