Posted on 12/30/2009 4:18:22 PM PST by Reaganez
Toyota has built a solid reputation for quality and reliability over the past several decades, but that streak hit the skids in 2009. Marking a first for the Japanese automaker, Toyota lead the industry in safety recalls during 2009.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Toyota’s 9 safety recalls involving 4,872,583 was tops in the industry this year. Toyota narrowly beat out Ford’s 4,521,993 recalled vehicles to take the title of most recalled automaker for the first time in company history.
Of those 4.87 million recalls, 4.3 million were a direct result of an unintended acceleration problem with some Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Toyota was forced to issue the recall after a fiery crash tragically claimed the lives of four family members.
On the whole, the industry saw a marked increase in the number of recalls. Last year saw just 8.6 million recalls whereas the industry combined for 15.2 million recalls in 2009.
The Detroit Three also saw an increase of recalls this year, although the story is a bit skewed. Ford’s second highest recall rate was due cruise control issue that plagued older vehicles, but absent of that, the Blue Oval would have set a company low for recalls.
Toyota also took home one other company first in 2009 – the company’s first operating loss.
Impossible! Them Toyotas run 150,000 miles with just tires and oil! /fanboy
Government Motors didn’t have any recalls, because they didn’t sell any cars
Look for Honda and Hyundai to chip away at Toyota's sales and market share.
GM only sold enough cars to have 20.2% market share through November in the US.
Tops in the industry.
I’d put my money on Hyundai. They’re still lean and hungry, where Honda is also somewhat arrogant. They seem to still understand the quality equation that was a big part of making Toyota and Honda household names here.
Hey Toyota!!! Sucks to be number one, huh?
Will ZERO bail them out?
I needed a new commuter car so I bought my first Hyundai in July, so far I like it! I also got free tires for life.
TOYOTA had the high recall numbers because of FLOOR MATS .... let me say that again ... FLOOR MATS ... you see Toyota generally has buttons/snaps on the floor to hold the mats in place... they had a few accidents because mats got bunched up under the brake or gas pedals ... because they had the "retention devices" and because those devices "failed" they had a recall ... if they didn't have snaps/hooks for the floormats then there wouldn't have been a recall.
This is like those quality surveys where Porsche comes in behind Mercury because Mercuries buyers are all 70 or older and couldn't spot an "initial defect" with both hands and a spotlight.
I have 136K on my Echo and that has pretty much been my experience however.
4.3M of the 4.9M recalls were for floor mats ... lets put it in perspective.
A little off topic here, but I’m thinking of getting the 4Runner. If any freeper has one, let me know how you like it.
Yeah,lets put it in perspective. Those floor mats that have killed more than 16 people. Sounds serious enough for a recall.
To be fair, my old Cherokee did 150 with just a radiator and crank sensor, both home repairs. Plus the usual brakes and other consumables.
There are some excellent buys used, Toyota will finance low rates.I would not buy any car new for an extra 10 K or so.
May have killed 4-6 more in Southlake TX a few days ago according to news reports. They are waiting for the data recorder to be analyzed.
Friend of mine has a Lexus (fancy Toyota), which has had, respectively, a transmission, window switch, door lock solenoid, struts, sway bar links, and probably some things I'm forgetting, all with less than 80,000 miles on it. I'm not convinced about Toyotas being better.
Thank you for your response — very helpful. Glad your wife likes it.
Ditto here;...my old Daimler Benz 300TD just croaked with 487,000 miles on it (timing chain gave up).
That old dog needed only routine maintenance (oil changes, tires, brakes, gas and such). Comfortable car, big, and felt like a tank. Boy, how I miss it!
That is the BS that Toyota is laying for now FLOOR MATS.
THROTTLE BODDIES WILL BE NEXT
THEY ARREADY ISSUED A RECALL FOR PRIUS BRAKES
YOU CAN STILL BE IN DENIAL ALL YOU WANT
TOYOTA QUALITY IS DROPPING
THEY JUST ANNOUNCED 30% COST CUTTING ACROSS THE BOARD FOR PARTS
MORE RECALLS COMING
BTW THEY CAN’T GET FLOOR MATS AND PEDALS RIGHT ?
KILLED DOZENS OF PEOPLE IN USA AND JAPAN?
GM AND FORD CAN DO FLOOR MATS, YES FLOOR MATS AND PEDALS CORRECTLY. WHY CAN’T TOYOTA?
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