After ABC News admitted a piece of footage from its Runaway Toyota story was staged and Toyota debunked the method by which the news outlet’s expert created the runaway car, the automaker has now sent a letter to ABC News asking for a formal apology and retraction. And while there’s no mention of a lawsuit, it’s certainly implied, with the words: “Toyota reserves the right to take any and every appropriate step to protect and defend the reputation of our company and its products from irresponsible and inaccurate claims.” Frankly we wouldn’t be surprised to see a lawsuit filed considering the undue fuel this poured on the Toyota recall fire.

To summarize the facts, ABC News ran a story by reporter Brian Ross, entitled, “Expert: Electronic Design Flaw Linked to Runaway Toyotas.” In the story Ross even got behind the wheel of a Toyota, when the expert, Professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University, created a condition whereby the car had an, “unintended acceleration.” The story aired the night before Proff. Gilbert appeared at a government hearing on the issue of recalled Toyota vehicles. Since, Toyota has not only drawn into question Proff. Gilbert’s motivation, as his work was funded by a so-called safety group that receives its funding from law firms (several of which are suing Toyota), but it has also debunked the method by which Proff. Gilbert created the unintended acceleration. In fact, Toyota showed that the “unintended acceleration,” was more of an “intentional manipulation” and that the circumstances by which Proff. Gilbert was able to achieve such a result are, “virtually impossible to occur in real-world conditions.” In addition, Toyota hired experts at Stanford University who were able to replicate Gilbert’s method in a Subaru, Honda, Ford and Chevy.

Toyota claims that ABC News “rushed out the report” to be broadcast the night before the congressional hearing while denying Toyota the ability to review the piece or respond. The letter clearly states that according to Toyota, Ross, “failed in his basic duty as a journalist” by not disclosing the source of Proff. Gilbert’s funding.

For its part, ABC News has responded to the Toyota letter, without apology or retraction, stating that it did in fact let Toyota know about the original “Expert: Electronic Design Flaw Linked to Runaway Toyotas” story before it ran, to which Toyota did not at the time comment on. In addition, ABC news says it was justified in reporting on Proff. Gilbert’s claims just as it was justified in reporting on Toyota’s response.

We have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ve heard on the ongoing tiff between Toyota and ABC News.

GALLERY: Toyota Retraction Letter to ABC News

GALLERY: ABC News Response

[Source: Gawker]

With all the news surrounding Toyota’s recent recalls and the widely reported story of a runaway Prius in California (now believed to be a hoax), Toyota has decided to issue an instructional video of what to do in case of an, “unintended acceleration.”

Toyota continues to insist that the problem is rare and the 2008 Prius model that starred in the high-speed adventure in California was only a part of a recall for floor mats.

Still, this is must-watch for Toyota Hybrid drivers.

Se more Toyota Recall News at the AutoGuide Toyota Recall News Hub

Subaru is reportedly looking to scrap plans for an AWD version of the Toyota FT-86 in favor of a rear-drive only model. This is sure to have the marketing department at Subaru up in arms with the accountants, as Subaru’s whole brand identity is based on the company’s Symmetrical AWD setup.

Japan’s Best Car is reporting that the cost of making the Toyobaru AWD has become prohibitive as so only a rear-drive model is now planned. So with Toyota already scheduled to bring a rear-drive FT-86 to market, the only difference between the two models is likely to be slightly different bodywork and interior design.

Based on a modified AWD Legacy platform we still find this news hard to believe and as much as we’d love a more entry-level Toyota model, a high-powered Subaru would be plenty of fun and most likely worth the added cost.

See more Toyota and Subaru FT-86 news at FT86Talk.com

[Source: Best Car via 7Tune]

Last week James Sikes made headlines when his 2008 Toyota Prius raced out of control of a California highway, with speeds approaching 100 mph. Sikes claimed this was a case of unintended acceleration, with repeated attempts to stop the car not working. A believable story considering Toyota’s long list of recent recalls, it now appears to be a hoax with Runaway Prius Guy quickly becoming the next Balloon Boy.

A story that was riddled with misinformation (several outlets erroneously reporting that a California Highway Patrol officer had to use his cruiser to slow the Prius), Jalopnik uncovered that Sikes is in debt to the tune of $700,000 – motivation to fake the incident in order to get a settlement or to take Toyota to court. Sikes has repeated that he has no interest in suing Toyota, but now his story has been completely called into question.

A federal investigation of the Prius, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, has shown that the condition of the car’s brakes does not support Sikes’ story, in particular his insistence that repeated and forceful use of the brake pedal did not slow the car. According to the Journal, the investigation, “didn’t find signs the brake had been applied at full force at high speeds over a sustained period of time.”

It’s not yet clear if the damage from this story can be repaired, but Toyota is on the march to repair its name, recently debunking the ABC News story and the work of professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University.

[Source: Reuters and Jalopnik]

The Orange County, California, District Attorney has announced plans to file a civil lawsuit against Toyota. The suit is over safety concerns with Toyota vehicles, and comes as Toyota has recalled over eight million vehicles worldwide due to several different safety issues. The suit aims to stop Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. from “continuing to endanger the public through the sale of defective vehicles and deceptive business practices.”

Toyota has issued a statement saying that it, “has not received the complaint and is not in a position to comment on pending litigation.”

Orange county District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will hold a press conference later today to announce the lawsuit.

See more Toyota Recall News Here.

[Source: WallStreetJournal]

ABC News has now admitted that a part of the video it used to illustrate the unintended acceleration of a Toyota model in a recent report was faked. The video, outlining a tactic used by professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University to cause an unintended acceleration in a Toyota product, was not an actual shot of the car’s tachometer during the sudden acceleration, but a clip of the tachometer sweeping across the screen while the car was in park. Sure, it makes for great TV, with the rpms rising suddenly, but it’s not accurate. As such, it has called into question the validity of the entire ABC News story, which could have far greater consequences.

After all, just days after the story ran, Professor Gilbert appeared before the House Committee’s investigation into Toyota’s ongoing recall crisis with his report. Toyota has since debunked Prof. Gilbert’s findings showing that his method of creating an unintended acceleration is unnatural and not likely to occur in real world circumstances. Toyota and a third-party engineering firm (funded by Toyota) also showed that using Prof. Gilbert’s method, they were able to produce unintended acceleration in many different vehicles from other automakers. Conversely, Prof. Gilbert’s research was paid for in part by safety advocate group Safety Research & Strategies, which in turn receives funding from law firms suing Toyota.

ABC News has since used a different shot and issued, not an apology, but a reason for the original footage, saying the cameraman could not get a good picture and so a different clip was used.

“This was a misjudgment made in the editing room,” said ABC News spokeswoman Emily Lenzner. “They should have left the shaky shot in. But I want to make clear that the two-second shot that was used did not change the outcome of the report in any way. It was not like ABC was trying to alter the footage. There was no staging. There was no dramatization. It was an editing mistake.”

This isn’t the first time the report’s validity has been called into question either, as automotive personality and host of Autoline Detroit, John McElroy, recently challenged the ABC News story, recalling the 1987 60 Minutes story over unintended acceleration in Audis that was later proved to be absurd as well as a 1993 Dateline NBC story over exploding Chevy pickups that was later retracted after a General Motors investigation proved it was rigged.

[Source: Associated Press]

A Prius driver claims his 2008 model Toyota accelerated uncontrollably at speeds of up to 90 mph on a San Diego freeway before California High Patrol officers helped him stop his runaway car. The driver, 61-year-old James Sikes, said the acceleration happened when he overtook another car on Interstate 8, after which the car accelerated uncontrollably for the next 20 minutes as he traveled over 30 miles.

“I pushed the gas pedal to pass a car and it did something kind of funny,” Sikes said at a press conference. “It jumped and it just stuck there. As it was going, I was trying the brakes … It wasn’t stopping.”

Sikes called 911 and a CHP officer caught up to the speeding Prius, instructing Sikes to use the brakes, put the car in neutral and then turn off the car once they had reached a lower speed. No one was injured in the incident.

The 2008 mode year Prius is currently part of Toyota’s Floormat Pedal Entrapment recall, which affects all 2004-09 Prius models. Sikes said he had received a recall notice, but when he contacted his local Toyota dealership, he was told the car was not on the recall list.

Toyota has dispatched a technical specialists to investigate the vehicle.

For more Toyota recall news visit the AutoGuide Toyota Recall News Hub here

[Source: Reuters]

With the European debut of the FT-86 Concept, Toyota is looking to keep the hype alive by releasing a new series of photos of the sporty two-door, while dropping a press release that talks more about what we hope the FT-86 will become.

Toyota says it has built the concept to embody the spirit of the Corolla AE-86, a tiny front-engine, rear drive sports coupe that is a legend among drifters, while also serving as a great platform for club racers and rally teams. The concept focuses on light weight to deliver what Toyota calls a “strong power to weight ratio,” while also focusing on handling. “It is an entirely driver-orientated car, engineered to capture the intrinsic joy of driving through precise, instantaneous responses to even the smallest throttle and steering inputs,” reads the latest press release.

Along with these hopeful proclamations, the new gallery of photos show the FT-86 Concept with a selection of Toyota’s past sports cars, including the AE-86, Celica and Supra. All we can hope is that the car is more like the former and less like the latter two.

GALLERY: Toyota FT-86

Official release after the jump:

With all of Toyota’s self-induced woes as of late, the biggest problem the company has faced in recent months might just be a report by ABC News in which an expert (Professor David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University) produced an unintended acceleration using a Toyota product. Initially Toyota responded with concerns about the demonstration and now the automaker (and an independent engineering firm it has hired) has examined the process in more detail and have utterly refuted it.

In a statement Toyota has said that, “The analysis of Professor’s Gilbert’s demonstration establishes that he has reengineered and rewired the signals from the accelerator pedal. This rewired circuit is highly unlikely to occur naturally and can only be contrived in a laboratory. There is no evidence to suggest that this highly unlikely scenario has ever occurred in the real world. As shown in the Exponent and Toyota evaluations, with such artificial modifications, similar results can be obtained in other vehicles.”

Toyota has sent the results of its finding to both Professor Gilbert and to the Congressional Committees assigned to look into the matter.

Official release after the jump:

Despite rumors that the Toyota FT-86 Concept would debut at the Geneva Auto Show in production form, it appears as though that isn’t the case. As the very first thing show-goers will see when they enter Hall 4 at Europe’s most prestigious motor show, its obvious the importance that Toyota places on this vehicle – a model that could help rebrand the Japanese automaker while giving it some much-needed positive PR.

The rumors of a redesign are also false, which is probably a good thing as the car probably couldn’t get much better looking.

The name FT-86 brings together Toyota’s past and future, with the “FT” coming from the FT-HS hybrid concept from a few years back, while the “86″ is donated from the AE-86, a small rear-drive, two-door Corolla-based sports car (called the Hachi-Roku), made famous by drifters.

Other than the design of the car (which is certainly impressive with plenty of Lexus LF-A inspired goodness), we still don’t know a lot about the FT-86 concept. What we do know is that it will be light weight, with “racecar-like handling” and be powered by a 2.0-liter boxer four-cylinder engine from Subaru.

With Toyota’s press conference set for tomorrow, we’ll be sure to listen carefully for when Toyota plans to bring this sporty model to market.

GALLERY: Toyota FT-86 Concept