Toyota shuts down production and halts sales

nooshinjohn

In the news... Toyota's U.S. operations grind to a halt.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sc-biz-0127-toyota--20100126,0,3712375.story


My question is what do you guys think of the move and do you think this will help improve the sales of GM/Ford/Chrysler?

woodhead 2

Can't hurt.

Knucklehead

Toyota has always been known for reliable vehicles but this dosent surprise me.

concealer404

I have a buddy that works at a VW dealership. He says that 7 Toyotas have already been traded in for newer VWs since this was announced.

Boy... are THEY ever in for a surprise.

Jstas

NHTSA told Toyota they had to stop selling vehicles which in turn forced them to shutdown production. They didn't stop voluntarily. If you're not allowed to sell them, why bother wasting time, money and resources building them?

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100127/AUTO01/1270400/1148/rss25

SolidSqual

I hope GM flapping tanks and Ford rides its way to glory.

concealer404

After further research, this is all pointing towards a manufacturing defect by CTS. The cars with pedals manufactured by Denso do NOT have these issues.

Interesting.

Jstas

Oh, by the way, if you have a Pontiac Vide, it's a Toyota Matrix with different body panels and also affected by the recall.

Ron-P

concealer404 wrote: »

I have a buddy that works at a VW dealership. He says that 7 Toyotas have already been traded in for newer VWs since this was announced.

Boy... are THEY ever in for a surprise.

Wow talk about a trade down, and over such a simple little thing that gets fixed for free.

Serendipity

I've always liked Ford and GM vehicles.

Danny Tse

I have a '09 Corolla S, which is on the list of affected vehicles, but hasn't experienced any issue with the gas pedal. I have no issues with Toyota as long as the problem is fixed.

Serendipity

My theory... they found something very wrong when they started to dig into the software/hardware of their DBW throttle system and they're doing this to prevent a huge lawsuit.

concealer404

Serendipity wrote: »

My theory... they found something very wrong when they started to dig into the software/hardware of their DBW throttle system and they're doing this to prevent a huge lawsuit.

Well, they're actually doing it by Government orders... So i think we're already past that point.

nooshinjohn

It's good for my dealership, but bad for us at the same time. I sell Subaru's here and it means we will be selling more of them:) The bad news is that the sales folks from the Toyota store are camping out here now. The worst news is that working 20 hours a day, six days a week, Subaru cannot build the damn things fast enough! 70% of the cars coming off the truck are already sold before they get here.:eek: The rest are gone before they get pdi'd...

Serendipity

concealer404 wrote: »

Well, they're actually doing it by Government orders... So i think we're already past that point.

Well, something must be really effed up with their drive by wire systems then.

I mean, for the government to order them to stop production? Must be serious!

concealer404

Serendipity wrote: »

Well, something must be really effed up with their drive by wire systems then.

I mean, for the government to order them to stop production? Must be serious!

It's actually the pedal assembly itself, as far as i've been able to tell amidst all the conflicting reports and media BS.

Denso-equipped cars are NOT affected, CTS-equipped cars are.

Serendipity

You know what I mean. DBW system as in all components, notice I said software/hardware

shawn474

Somehow, I don't think that this will put a huge dent into toyota's reputation or reliability. The economy has wreaked havoc on car sales, but honda and toyota still lead the pack. I don't think this will change that.

Jstas

Toyota's reputation overseas (i.e.: outside of the U.S. and Japan) isn't so overwhelming positive and the foreign papers in Europe and other parts of Asia are having a field day with this. I think it will hurt their reputation pretty badly. Especially since the engine sludging problems, pickup truck frames rotting and other smaller issues in the very recent past. Add to that the cover-ups that they were accused of and investigated for a few years ago and the situation isn't so rosy anymore.

Jstas

Toyota is taking the recall global.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/27/report-toyota-to-take-pedal-recall-global/


The Detroit Bureau story:

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010/01/toyota-preparing-to-take-pedal-recall-global/

Toyota Preparing to take Pedal Recall Global!

Troublesome pedal design is used throughout the world.

by Ken Zino on Jan.27, 2010

The Corolla has a worldwide problem?

Toyota Motor Corporation is in discussions with other governments or safety agencies about potential actions similar to the ones undertaken in the U.S. to correct defects in accelerator pedals, according to people close to the situation.

If a sales halt and plant shut downs occur in other regions, like the ones announced yesterday covering North America, it will make it harder for the world’s largest automaker to return to profitability.

It was not immediately clear if the modifications will affect only left-hand-drive models used in Europe, Africa and China, or include Asian right-hand-drive models. Toyota has thus far not revealed the root cause of the problem, and previous assertions that it was solely a floor mat issue in the U.S. have proved false.

There is a strong economic incentive at auto companies to try to limit the number of vehicles covered by a recall. In the Toyota pedal matter, expensive mechanical, computer and software fixes are required.

Either way, millions upon millions more cars, pickup trucks and SUVs potentially will require repairs, with unknown effects on Toyota’s new vehicle sales, owner loyalty and reputation.

Toyota is predicting a sales increase to 8.27 million units globally for this calendar year, up 6% from, 7.81 million in 2009, which represented a 13% decline from 2008.

In North American, 2.3 million vehicles are — thus far — covered for sticking accelerator pedals in the latest recall that was announced on Monday by Toyota Motor Sales, a subsidiary of TMC. Included in the recall is the Corolla model, the best selling nameplate in the world.

It is also not clear, if there is a sizable population of vehicles outside of North America with a separate or perhaps related problem with runaway acceleration. In North America, 4.2 million vehicles are impacted by a a previous floor mat recall.

The beleaguered Japanese maker has asked owners of those vehicles to remove floor mats, which it says can inadvertently interfere with the throttle. Severely fatalities have occurred because of this safety related defect. In the U.S., dealers are preparing to begin repairs, which will include the replacement of the gas pedal and, on some models, the installation of a digital controller to prevent a driver from inadvertently activating both throttle and brake simultaneously.

More details to follow…

nooshinjohn

I wonder if GM has a saboteur in the ranks of Toyota;)

Jstas

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I wonder if GM has a saboteur in the ranks of Toyota;)

They would have been having to plan it since 2004-2005 and they were pretty busy churning out H2 after H2 at thee time and then going to the bank.

bigaudiofanatic

I am actually going to give Toyota props for handling this situation. Other company's would not go threw this extent. Exp. my father owns a BMW and there was a recall on the transmitter ring that talks to the chip inside his key. Not hearing anything from bmw nor the dealer he called them up and asked about the recall as his model was effected. They said his was not part of the recall and if it was he would be notified. Not more than a week later me and him took a trip down to dover "2.5 hour drive" When we came out of the dinner he went to start it up and the display showed STOLEN right across the screen. None the less we did get it to run and got home but I mean I would expect more from BMW. As I said props to Toyota.

bigaudiofanatic

shawn474 wrote: »

Somehow, I don't think that this will put a huge dent into toyota's reputation or reliability. The economy has wreaked havoc on car sales, but honda and toyota still lead the pack. I don't think this will change that.

I agree

Jstas

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

I am actually going to give Toyota props for handling this situation. Other company's would not go threw this extent. Exp. my father owns a BMW and there was a recall on the transmitter ring that talks to the chip inside his key. Not hearing anything from bmw nor the dealer he called them up and asked about the recall as his model was effected. They said his was not part of the recall and if it was he would be notified. Not more than a week later me and him took a trip down to dover "2.5 hour drive" When we came out of the dinner he went to start it up and the display showed STOLEN right across the screen. None the less we did get it to run and got home but I mean I would expect more from BMW. As I said props to Toyota.

Ummmm...read the articles posted. The feds told Toyota they should not be selling new cars affected by the recall and they should stop production until they find the fix. You can "give props" to Toyota for it but they are only doing it because Nanny Government told them to. Yesterday, you could go order a Toyota Camry and pay for it and it would be affected by the recall. It'd suck today because your delivery date would be indefinite.

dpowell

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

I agree

+1, can't see this affecting them long term.

PhantomOG

Serendipity wrote: »

I mean, for the government to order them to stop production? Must be serious!

Not when that same government owns a majority stake in one of its biggest competitor's. :rolleyes:

No, I'm not trying to belittle Toyota's problems, however, the US government should not be in the position it is in with GM.

bigaudiofanatic

Jstas wrote: »

Ummmm...read the articles posted. The feds told Toyota they should not be selling new cars affected by the recall and they should stop production until they find the fix. You can "give props" to Toyota for it but they are only doing it because Nanny Government told them to. Yesterday, you could go order a Toyota Camry and pay for it and it would be affected by the recall. It'd suck today because your delivery date would be indefinite.

At least they are working on it. Can someone tell me weather the Toyota's are drive by wire or direct link to the throttle body?

nooshinjohn

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

At least they are working on it. Can someone tell me weather the Toyota's are drive by wire or direct link to the throttle body?

I know the Camry's are drive by wire... I built almost 100k of them here in Lafayette.:eek: Their troubles were NOT my fault!:D

bigaudiofanatic

^ that could mean it is a much bigger problem than what even I though. Could be the drive motor freezing. That could get interesting.

Jstas

Two things:

Toyota Ready To Receive Replacements for Faulty Pedals
http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100127/OEM/100129887/1289#

TOKYO -– Toyota Motor Corp.'s North American assembly plants are preparing to receive redesigned replacements for the faulty accelerator pedal mechanisms that led the automaker to suspend sales of eight models....

...Some Toyota plants may have already received the replacement part, but others will have to wait until production of the new mechanism ramps up, a person familiar with the matter said.

The source didn't offer details of the timeline. Blueprints for the redesigned mechanism were finished earlier this week by engineers at Toyota r&d and the U.S. supplier, CTS Corp., the person said...

Toyota Sends Communication To Dealers With Pre-approved Answers to Common Questions:

http://www.autonews.com/article/20100127/BLOG05/100129880/1407

Toyota Motor Sales USA sent a notice to its dealers, suggesting a script of answers if customers call with questions about the accelerator-pedal problem. Here's one of the Q&As from that script.

Q. Have there been any accidents reported?

A. The number of accidents are still under investigation.

That's the truth, but it's not the whole truth. The accurate answer would be, "Yes."...

...But that's not what Toyota suggests its dealers say...