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Toyota in 2011 topped the recall list among automakers for the third year in a row
This year Toyota, along with its Scion and Lexus sub-brands, had to recall 3.5 million vehicles, a tally that does not include the many vehicles for which Toyota also delivered technical service bulletins, which flag problems and defects that need fixing without rising to the level of recall.
Toyota again topped the list in a year when automakers as a whole got better, with total recalls declining from 17.2 million last year to 13 million this year, according to WardsAuto.
The Japanese automaker's two big problems were replacing and fixing swiveling floor mats that impaired the acceleration in a Lexus and a catchy throttle that netted unintended power boosts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hit Toyota with hefty fines because of its sluggish response to safety concerns.
By comparison, Ford recalled 3.2 million vehicles and Honda placed third in recalls with 2 million.
But the net effect of this negative distinction could be most damaging for Toyota. That's not to say the brand can't recover.
"It is surprising to many that Toyota leads automakers in recalls because the company has such a strong reputation for quality," says AOL Autos Editor-in-Chief David Kiley. "But it is that reputation and track record that has a lot of its customers willing to give Toyota plenty of chances to get things right."
Toyota's floormat and throttle problems were the biggest quality set-back in the company's history. But it seems to be getting things back on track. Consumer Reports recently recommended the new 2012 Camry, and though Lexus lost the title of top-selling luxury brand to Mercedes in 2011, the much-lauded redesign of the Lexus GS should help the brand gain some lost ground in the new year.
Wow another Toyota article, maybe someone should start making the Pinto or the Samurai again so we can has some real automotive yellow journalism.
Maybe it’s an inner long lost math nerd, but I see a lot of problems when news organizations throw lofty numbers out there. There’s almost this hope that the reader will have no critical thinking skills to question the article or it’s sources.
What years were recalled?
What are the total recall numbers derived from? (Is this worldwide or only United States)? I just can’t see Toyota covering their butt in one country.
What was the total production for each of those years affected by recalls?
What were the total sales by the manufacturer both worldwide and United States? (Not all Toyota cars and trucks have been subjected to a recall.)
What was the nature of the recalls? (Some recalls are for pretty benign stuff)
I’m not denying that Toyota may or may not have a problem, but there’s a lot of trash out there posing as news for the lowest common denominator.
I still wonder what the recall rate was per 100,000 cars produced in the last 10 years was for Toyota. There’s also the other end of the spectrum for example that still shows Toyota vehicles as being dependable i.e. JD Power.
When I look back at the big three’s decades of selling junk maybe the media should have beat them up a little more., but hey will still built a decent pickup for most of that time.
Cudos to Toyota for recalling some of its vehicles as long as it takes to make them safer, which in turn will save it tons of cash in the long run from lawsuits.
Don't you love seeing the big 3 fanboys drooling everytime something negative comes out about Toyota.
Especially when it's old news. Isn't it funny how we don't hear of "runaway Toyotas" anymore? There seemed to be a few month period where they were all over the news, and now they have vanished.
Don't you love seeing the big 3 fanboys drooling everytime something negative comes out about Toyota.
That's not nearly as funny as a republican spewing anti-socialist rhetoric while stepping out of his GM product that he or she bought during the cash for clunkers fiasco.
Cudos to Toyota for recalling some of its vehicles as long as it takes to make them safer, which in turn will save it tons of cash in the long run from lawsuits.
The big issue with Toyota this past go around (and an issue in general with the Japanese automakers) is their reluctance to issue a recall. NHTSA fined Toyota on this last issue, not because there was an issue, but because Toyota failed to acknowledge it and report it when they discovered it was a problem back in 2005 and 2006. They also got bagged for failing to issue recalls on vehicles in North America that they recalled in other countries that had the same issue.
In this case, there are no cudo's to Toyota, they were forced to acknowledge a problem they knew about for years and failed to address.
The electronic systems were vindicated, but that doesn't mean there was never a problem. As I said above, Toyota knew they had an issue with the accelerator pedal design and the floormat design for years before this gained a high enough profile following the death of the CA trooper and his family. They purposefully took steps to ignore the issue, which is why they got fined by NHTSA.
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I don't think it's bashing on Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford, BMW, whoever to acknowledge the fact that they all have issues and they all have recalls. In the industry the Japanese automakers have long been suspect of hiding issues and failing to initiate recalls. In fact, GM is probably one of the best when it comes to acknowledging issues and initiating recalls and TSB's for them.
So, since we all know they all have issues, whose better, the company that only acknowledges those issues when forced to or the company that steps up to the plate right away?
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There seemed to be a few month period where they were all over the news, and now they have vanished.
