Between you and me, Toyota really messed this one up.
The company long known for its meticulous quality and, by extension, its meticulous customer care drove completely off the rails in recent years, churning out ever larger production batches, ever faster, even as quality control declined inversely. That led to the recall of more than 8 million vehicles across a slew of Toyota brands. The company did this — and this is where the customer care part gets really murky — only after the failure of what appears to be a Machiavellian effort to silence its customers’ complaints.
But neither history nor customers will consider that to be Toyota’s greatest sin if it turns out that the fixes were just a smoke screen to hide the real problem. Toyota maintains that the defects that cause unintended acceleration are inherent in the mechanics of the gas pedal, which can get stuck, or in faulty floor mats that can tamp down said pedal. But outsiders have questioned whether the real problem might lie in the electronics that govern the vehicles’ acceleration and braking systems.
Now more than 60 Toyota drivers claim that their vehicles accelerated without cause after being recalled and purportedly fixed. Does that mean the root cause isn’t where Toyota says it is? Toyota and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration are investigating, but haven’t announced any conclusions.
Toyota said in a statement, somewhat contradictorily, “As NHTSA is now reviewing the results of our evaluations, it is inappropriate for Toyota to provide specific information about the company’s conclusions. However, the evaluations have found no evidence of a failure of the vehicle electronic throttle control system, the recent recall remedies, or the brake override feature.”
Some observers have suggested that the recent deluge of press coverage may have made some Toyota owners oversensitive to driving events that aren’t really issues. Others might wonder which class-action lawyer is behind the complaints. I think Toyota may have more on its hands than it thought it would.
Most consumers will allow a company the chance to make good, a golden opportunity that doesn’t last long. A company, after all, won’t win market share until it wins over customers. But a cover-up of a cover-up is worse than the original sin. For customers, it’s an unforgettable insult. Time and investigations may exonerate Toyota of the second offense, but, if not, it will be the company’s biggest blunder yet.
If you drive a Toyota and need some guidance, you can visit Toyota’s recall website.
Update: Numerous news reports indicate that Toyota will conduct a webcast on Monday, March 8, to rebuff claims that the electronics system could be at fault for its vehicles’ acceleration problems. As of Monday morning, Toyota’s recall website did not appear to have details on the webcast.
What do you think about Toyota’s treatment of its customers leading up to and in the wake of this event?
14 Comments
I’m mainly responding to Mr. Gurr’s comment of 03/08/10. He attempts to relate his ’61 Beatle (was it John, George, Paul or Ringo?) to what’s happened to present owners of Toyota’s & Lexus’s. It’s like comparing apples & oranges.
The engine was in the rear of his VW. It had, I believe, a cable & linkage system that ran from his pedal to the floor & back to the engine. It was prone for all sorts of problems, none of which has a bearing today.
I’ve been driving for 52 years, experiencing brake failures, blowouts, over-heating, etc.. Also, floor mats interfering with gas or brake! None of these situations prevented me from instantly dealing with the problem & avoiding a potential accident.
I’m an environmentalist & mechanical engineer, my career spanning over 45 years. Toyota’s initial repair to the pedal problem was a stainless steel square shim placed between the back of the pedal & the rest of the assembly. It’s hard for me to fathom how this was going to solve all their problems. Why was it left off to begin with? Next was the fly-by-wire problem. There’s an old adage in engineering-if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Fly by wire 1st appeared on $billion US fighters, the purpose of which was to use a computer to control the plane. They were so sophisticated, that pilot maneuvers used previously would cause them to go out of control. The pilot would have a conventionable “stick,” but the computer would make the minute changes to keep the plane on its course. I’m sure there is a fail-safe mode! I’d hate to eject & be given the bill on landing.
Let’s go back to the “KISS” principle-Keep It Simple Stupid! Put the shift lever & key back on the steering column. On FWD vehicles, the transaxle is under the engine in front-nothing’s under the console. Lexus ( & Porsche) have their start buttons on the dash; & you have to push & hold them for several seconds to kill the engine.
We’re getting more & more electronics to “help” us, i.e., traction control, back-up cameras, self-parking, gps & many others. They are eroding our own intuitive skills, plus the fact that down the road they will fail and present sizeable costs in repair. Keep in mind the “TitanicEffect,” where mother nature will always overcome the forces of science.
Finally, a couple of day’s ago, there was a run-away 2007 Prius on the Freeway near San Diego, that got national exposure. CHIP’s patrol cars assisted the driver in safely coming to a stop. They told him over their loudspeakers as they were chasing the car to put it in neutral & shut off the ignition. To crown this off, Toyota had no recall for this model!
I am not certain on the timing but is it possible that some of the recalls of the Toyota are due to sabotage by workers that do not like the layoffs and job cuts ? It has been awhile since I owned a Toyota but I did like the Car. Sincerely, Sherrill Marshall
I know this company well and it is clear to me that they have been a terrible victim of sensationalist media, and the unbelieveable tendency of many of us to be judgemental before any facts are available, and before the entire story is both spoken and truly listened to. These days many can hear, but few know how to listen. I honestly believe knowing them like a do that they did try to duplicate the complaints and all they could truly find in their investigations was the potential for some slow response on the pedal, and potential for pedals being caught on the floor mats. They also understood the American Tort system, and knew that in most cases any claims were truly suspect. Were there cases of temporary acceleration issues? Maybe. So what. I, like others have driven for 41 years and have had many cars in the past before electronics that have had frozen accelerator pedals. Back in the day this happened all the time if the linkages were not maintained, especially in northern climates. The first car this happened with me on was a 1961 VW Beatle. I quickly learned how to deal with this. It was never more than a 2 second situation for me. What has now happened to Toyota is extemely dangerous for the other makers future market share. In the short term, yes some will benefit and are, but within 3 to 5 years Toyota will have vehicles that blow everyone away on safety beyond belief. That is pretty much a given. I kinow this company and know what they are capable of. The politics of the Government have awakened a sleeping tiger. What they will bring out in product in this near future time frame will change the safety game completely. They have a history of being capable of doing this kind of thing. When this happens we all will win, but some of our Domestic makers will again be placed in a noncompetitive situation.
First appropriate question: Did acceleration incidents occur during wet weather and with ‘auto-speed control’ engaged??? Buddy
Regarding the publicity aspects of this issue, typically it is the cover-up that causes all the grief. In the beginning, it looked to me that Toyota was stepping out in front of this issue and addressing something that might better be ignored. I’m not so sure, any more, as more documents come to light.
There is a large (and far-ranging) discussion of this issue going on in one of the LinkedIn groups to which I belong, one in which many of the members are automotive or aerospace engineers. Although there is far from any agreement over what the root cause of this issue may be (or even if there is a software/systems issue), a number of contributers have expressed concern over “by wire” systems (whether throttle, brake or steering) and particularly the interactions between these systems.
The bottom line, at this point, seems to be that most of us want some simple, intuitive method of overriding these systems. That, apparently, is universally lacking at this time.
There aren’t many facts reported above. Revenge for Pearl Harbour?
I have a recalled vehicle, a Rav4. I experienced an acceleration problem and it was not fun. It did not lead to an accident, but it was scary to have the car do something by itself.
I agree that Toyota is being responsive, but it took a long time. I still don’t see a method for me to log these issues on their website.
My biggest fear is that they are not fixing the right problem. It did feel like an electronic problem and when I press my brakes all the way, the car should stop accelerating and it does not. Even if not the root-cause, it sure would be a good safety measure in the programming.
Thanks for the close read, Howard. Since I could not find information on Toyota’s site to confirm the webcast, I used “rebuff” because it seemed clear Toyota would reject the assertions, but unclear what evidence, if any, it might present. I did a little more digging and found the release below, which indicates that they do indeed plan to rebut the claims. Thanks for your comment.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10696943/1/toyota-satellite-and-webcast-advisory.html
I have a 2009 Toyota Camry hybrid, and have not had any issues. I don’t think Toyota is handling this issue as well as they could have, at the media / press level. My dealership has been great. Consider this: many of the Quality Assurance systems around the world are derived from the Toyota Production System model. Do we need to re-consider how we all have structured our Quality systems? Six Sigma, 5S, Lean Manufacturing, etc. don’t mean anything if the culture of a company is only focused on profits. I hope this is not the case for Toyota, and it’s very difficult to decipher the network media’s coverage on this issue. Audi has unintended acceleration issues back in the late 80′s, and they did a very poor job of handling the problem. I owned an Audi back then, and never had any problems; nor would I have a problem buying a new one.
Mistakes happen. I think the consumers know that, and they are mature enough to accept that. However, they would like to see ownership of the mistake and a correction course. This is a mature way to move forward.
I think that Toyota has not had enough falls to learn how to present themselves after a failure.
The question is – Will Toyota quickly get help on how to approach this problem and present it to the public in right way.
Best,
Jeff
In the “Update” notification of the webcast, it is stated that Toyota will REBUFF the claims that the electronics are the cause of the problem. Shouldn’t that be
REBUT the claims? Or is Toyota, in fact, going to oppose them rather than refute them?
CYA seems to be the operative word.
I have one of the recalled vehicles, a 2006 Avalon. I have had the “fix” applied. I have not experienced any accelerator concerns before or after the “fix”. My Toyota dealership was friendly, efficient, and very professional in their approach to the recall. So far, I will consider purchasing another Toyota.
If you think electronic throttle control is scary just wait until the problems start happening with electronic steering.