Obviously it was going to happen, it was just a question of when. We predicted very soon and we were right. Just five days after Consumer Reports declared the Lexus GX as being unsafe and recommending not buying it, Toyota has officially made the call. The re-call that is.

Seriously though, 9,400 GX 460′s have been recalled and we’re shocked that Toyota even sold that many. This is a relief for current GX owners who will now have a brand new stability control system installed to ensure no over steer or rollovers.

Toyota is getting the first honours of the biggest civil fine ever to be issued to any automaker.

They will be fined $16.4 million for all the jazz going on with recalls, and that’s a steal of a deal for Toyota. Why? Because there is a cap on civil fines. $16.4 million is the absolute maximum civil fine allowed. The Detroit News is reporting that if that cap did not exist, Toyota would have been fined $6,000 per vehicle. That would have resulted in $13 billion in fines!

The kicker is, Toyota isn’t even accepting any responsibility for all the hoopla they’ve caused. The deal was that they pay the fine, but officially  they wouldn’t accept any responsibility of wrongdoing even though there have been reports that Toyota knew of sticking gas pedals since 2005. Toyota does admit that they could have done a better job in communicating relevant new information, however. Um, yeah probably.

All we have to say is we doubt that a $16.4 million fine is of much comfort to the families of those killed in faulty Toyotas, and saying you did nothing wrong is almost like slapping them in the face.

Toyota still isn’t off the hook as the U.S House of Representatives plan on holding another hearing on May 6th. With all everything surrounding the Lexus GX 460 and still lingering issues of faulty gas pedals, Toyota could still face more fines in the near future.

Alright let’s take an updated look at all the Toyotas (and Lexuses) that have been recalled by Toyota this year:

• Corolla
• Camry
• Matrix
• Avalon
• Highlander
• RAV4
• Tundra
• Sequoia
• Prius
• Tacoma
• Sienna
• Lexus HS 250

The only three Toyotas that have not been recalled are the Yaris, FJ Cruiser and 4Runner. The GX 460 has just received a “don’t buy” designation from Consumer Reports, so the 4Runner on which it is based could see a similar fate.

The Sienna, Tundra and Highlander have been recalled by Toyota Canada over the weekend. The timing is a bit suspect, no? Wait until the weekend when seemingly no one is paying attention.

Find out what they have been recalled for after the jump

270,000 1998-2010 Sienna minivans have been recalled for the carrier bay of the spare tire. Apparently it isn’t adequately protected against road salt and can be prone to rust as a result. No big deal right? Well that rust could eventually force the carrier loose which means the spare tire could come loose causing a crash or a road hazard for other vehicles.

The Tundra and Highlander (2007-2010 model year) have been recalled as well according to Toyota Canada. Apparently the floor mats in over 4700 affected models could have been improperly installed which means it could potentially interfere with the throttle.

We reported a few posts down that the slow selling Lexus GX 460 will be doing even more poorly in sales, as in no sales at all, due to an immediate stop sale from Toyota. This was because Consumer Reports found an extremely dangerous problem with the GX’s traction control system.

In aggressive or emergency driving situations, it seems the traction control doesn’t really kick in when it’s supposed to and as a result the GX suffers from tremendous over steer. In fact, due to this issue, if the GX over steered into a curb, or a gavel shoulder, it’s very likely that the GX would roll over. Consumer Reports gave the GX 460 a very rare “Don’t Buy” rating for this very reason.

Three days later, Toyota has admitted that there is a problem with the GX 460.

Lexus Spokesman Bill Kwong told the New York Times that “they duplicated Consumer Reports’ results on the GX 460 and they are currently evaluating potential remedies, but at this point there are no details of what the remedy is”.

Obviously a complete overhaul of the stability control is what the remedy is. Get to it Toyota, you’ve already endangered too many lives with your screw ups.

Still no official recall on the GX 460 from the recall-proned automaker, but expect that to happen soon.

Toyota can’t seem to keep out of the headlines. The number one automaker in the world is in some serious dog doo as they have experienced a stop sale of most of their lineup, millions of models recalled, lawsuits galore, investigations by American, Canadian and Japanese governments, and loss of accolades. The latter is biting at Toyota’s heals yet again.

Consumer reports has branded the Lexus GX 460 with a very unflattering “Don’t Buy” designation. The reason is due to the GX’s apparent inability to stay sure footed in aggressive or emergency driving situations.  The GX can be prone to rolling over a little too easily as the traction control doesn’t quite do an decent job.

Check out CR’s explanation in the video above.

Interestingly enough, the Toyota 4Runner on which the Lexus GX 460 is based, is not a part of the ‘Don’t Buy’ recommendation. A bit of good news for Toyota then? Nope. As a result of Consumer Reports, Toyota has issued at ‘stop sale’ on the GX, temporarily.

Just to clarify, we are not suggesting that the above cash was caused by the Prius or that it had faulty brakes. It’s more of a symbol of how Toyota’s direction is looking at the moment. Case in point, investigations galore. (And yes, that is a Tesla roadster involved in the crash).

President of Toyota Akio Toyoda is currently in Washington to testify against allegations that Toyota knew of recent sticking gas pedal and faulty brake issues prior to the recall, yet chose not to act. He is also offering apologies to all Toyota customers, especially to those injured or even killed in Toyota’s that needed to be recalled. The NHTSA is investigating Toyota’s actions in the matter.

The Canadian government seems to be following suit as they plan to hold similar hearings commencing March 3, with the full support of the opposition parties.

Although the purpose of the hearing isn’t exactly to place blame on anyone (how Canadian of them), the government wants to know how this happened, how it went undetected and what can be done to prevent a similar situation in the future.

All we can say is if Toyota knew of these problems and chose not to act, then they are getting what’s coming to them. They should’ve taken a page from David Letterman and came right out with it -it would’ve blown over a lot sooner. If they honestly didn’t know a thing before hand, then that means there needs to be a serious overhaul in every single department in Toyota to ensure this does not happen again.

We sincerely hope that this is the last recall from Toyota that we will be reporting on for a while.

Here’s the tally of recalled ‘Yotas so far (all 2009-2010 models):

• Corolla
• Camry
• Matrix
• Highlander
• RAV4
• Avalon
• Tundra
• Sequoia
• Prius
• Lexus HS250h

And now comes word that the Tacoma will now get a recall. At least this recall has nothing to do with sticking gas pedals, faulty brakes or ridiculous floormat issues. The front propeller shaft has been deemed to be defective for 8,000 of 2010 Tacomas. Apparently a crack can form causing the drive shaft to come loose from the truck.

Obviously this would only affect all-wheel drive versions, so if you have a rare two wheel drive version, you’re good.

Yaris, Sienna, Venza, 4Runner and FJ Cruiser: You are the only ones now left standing. We don’t want to write a blog post about how you’ve been recalled too – so please – keep it together.

[pickuptrucks.com]

It’s starting to get to the point where there should just be a big ‘FAIL’ stamped on Toyota’s head office as these gas pedal/brake problems don’t seem to be dying down. In fact, they’re expanding.

Toyota’s Lexus division is now feeling the heat as the rookie model of their line up is now on watch for the same brake issues as the Prius. The HS250 and Prius are close cousins. Notice that they’re both hybrids? The regerative braking process used in hybrids likely has something to do with it, and is why people are complaining of unusual brake fade and temporary loss of braking.

UPDATE: Toyota is expected to announce a global recall for all 2010 Priuses in the very near future, no word on if the HS250 will be included in the recall as of yet. Toyota has officially announced a recall of 437,000 Pruises, and HS 250h’s for brake problems. Pre 2010 Priuses may be affected as well as similar problems are now being reported but there is no official recall from Toyota on previous generation Priuses just yet.

But no matter, these braking set backs may actually help Toyota sell more Priuses. Find out why after the jump.

Apparently there are people out there who are not fased by Toyota’s problems, it makes them seem more appealing.

According to Edmunds.com research, 7.1% of buyers had the Toyota Prius on their radar before the big revelation was made. After news broke of the Prius’ problems, that number actually rose to 8.7%. Huh?

Similarly, the numbers of those survyed who had ‘purchasing intent’  went from 10.1% to 11.2%.

It is speculated that those considering a promlematic Prius are hoping to get a good deal because of it. Apparently having a car that may or may not stop is worth saving a couple grand for 11.2% of the public.

Now, this actually makes sense to us. If you’re one of those people in the 11.2% range, then that two or three grand saved can easily go towards for your funeral when the brakes fail and you get what’s coming to you for knowingly purchasing a flawed vehicle.

It’s always smart to think ahead.

When it rains, it pours… that’s probably the understatement of the year for Toyota. Seriously, 2010 has so far treated the company like a used piece of toilet paper.

First, Toyota had to recall eight of its new models for sticking gas pedals/floor mat issues (most of which were volume sellers such as Corolla, Camry and RAV4), then it got slammed (and may now get fined) for not initiating the recall sooner, then Toyota’s rivals GM, Ford, Chrysler and Hyundai offered specific incentives to lure away disgruntled customers, then it got its ‘recommended’ status stripped from Consumer Reports as result of the recall, then this all became the subject of an investigation by the U.S government which then called the company “safety deaf”, then it became the subject of a class action law suit over the sticking pedals and now the Japanese Government has officially ordered an investigation into the brakes on the 3rd generation Toyota Prius.

In Japan, there have been dozens of complaints of temporary brake loss at low speeds or in slick road conditions. This is obviously another safety issue that the biggest car company in the world now has to deal with. No word on if only Priuses in Japan are affected by these alleged issues. UPDATE: The U.S government is now launching an investigation for the same issues after receiving over 100 complaints about the Prius’ brakes.

Not driving a car that may or may not have a sticking gas pedal probably goes without saying, but does hearing it from a U.S government rep help create a sense of panic, or is it just the government covering its rear end?

The Transport Secretary (who also goes by Ray Lahood) says it’s best to take it to your local Toyota dealer straight away where they will immidiately remedy the sticking gas pedal/floormat issue.

But Lahood also had more to say about Toyota which shouldn’t bode well for its already shattered image.

UPDATE: LaHood retracts what he said against Toyota, hit the jump.

Lahood went on to blast Toyota by calling the company “a little safety deaf” and was angry that the NHTSA had to “remind Toyota management of their legal obligations”.

You may have heard that Toyota “voluntarily” made the recall, but in reality, since so much of public safety was at risk, they were forced into it. LaHood’s comments would seem to confirm that.

UPDATE: LaHood has now retracted his original statement where he told Toyota owners to stop driving their cars if they are affected by the recall and to just get them to the dealership. This caused a sense of panic, and now Lahood is saying that he “obviously misspoke”.

646,000 Fits recalled world wide? Could be worse.

Arguably one of the best in the segment, the Fit is getting recalled due to a defective master switch.

“Only” 140,000 of those Fits are located in North America, (35,000 in Canada) the rest are distributed throughout South America, Europe, Japan, and South Africa

With the defective switch, the affected Fits could catch fire due to water seeping in through the power window mechanism.

To say the automotive business is a tough business is quite an understatement. No one knows this better than GM.

Things got so bad that they had to run to the government, with promises of change,to ask for money or else the entire company would go bankrupt. And both American and Canadian governments gave the A-OK to the loan, despite lots of public outrage at the mere notion of a bailout.

But now that GM is semi-back on its feet, and paying back those loans, it seems that they have all but forgotten what it’s like to be down on your luck as they are aiming at taking advantage of Toyota’s misfortune.

GM is offering Toyota owners some incentives if they jump ship. From now until the end of February, if you take in your Toyota and buy a Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet or GMC vehicle you can choose from three different incentives.

Find out what they are after the jump

The incentives are:

• Lease Customers: Waiver of three payments up to $1,000
• Financing Customers: Zero percent financing for 60 months
• Cash Buyers: $1,000 purchase bonus

Enough to sway Toyota buyers into a GM? Only time will tell.

Photo Credit to: Edmunds Twitpic

By now, you’ve likely heard about saga surrounding Toyota’s recall woes. The latest on the recall is that Toyota has expanded it to certain vehicles in Europe. There are no reports as to how many vehicles are affected in Europe or even if they are the same models affected in North America.

An easy way to tell if your Toyota is one of the models affected is to check on the gas pedal to see who made it. If it says Denso, then you can sleep easier at night. If it says CTS – we’ve got some bad news for you. Your model needs to be recalled.

Being known as among the best brands for reliability and safety, Toyota has generally topped many quality surveys. Obviously this new recall is causing second thoughts in potential buyers, owners and even loyal owners.

Consumer Reports tends to agree that doubting Toyota’s quality at this point is reasonable and as a result, it has suspended its coveted ‘Recommended’ status against all recalled Toyotas.  No doubt, their credibility (which is quite high among buyers) would be at stake if they keep their ‘recommended’ status on said Toyotas, but count this as another significant blow to the Japanese automaker.

How the mighty have fallen.

Eight of Toyota’s new models will be suspended for sale due to an impending problem with sticking gas pedals.

The voluntary recall takes effect immediately and also includes a few older model years as well.

“Helping ensure the safety of our customers and restoring confidence in Toyota are very important to our company,” said General Manager Bob Carter, playing damage control. “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.”

Check out the list of vehicles affected by the recall after the jump…

The following vehicles will temporarily no longer be for sale:

• 2010 Toyota Highlander (has been a slow seller)
• 2009-2010 Toyota Corolla (Ouch… Toyota’s best seller across the world)
• 2009-2010 Toyota Matrix
• 2009-2010 Toyota Rav4
• 2007-2010 Toyota Camry (Another blow… the stable for Toyota’s quality reputation)
• 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon
  
• 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra
  
• 2008-2010 Toyota Sequoia (Was never a big seller anyway)