After almost a year since regulators closed Toyota’s unintended acceleration investigation, independent auto-safety firm Safety Research and Strategies announced Tuesday that a lawsuit has been filed in federal court requesting for the government to release internal records of said investigation.

According to Safety Research and Strategies, there is reason to believe that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration withheld documents and videos that suggest unintended acceleration incidents were caused by electronics systems rather than floor mats or driver error.

Concerned that evidence of electrical defects in Toyota vehicles have been ignored or concealed, the lawsuit demands all transcripts, recordings, photographs, and videotapes generated from two federal investigators that went to visit the home of senior government official, Joseph H. McClelland, who has experienced unintended acceleration in his 2003 Toyota Prius hybrid.

According to a sworn statement from Mr. McClelland, investigators came to visit his home on May 17th, and documented evidence of sudden acceleration during an accompanied test drive. Mr. McClelland claimed the car over-accelerated in three distinct occasions as electronic displays began to blink wildly. The investigators videotaped the events and inspected floormats to determine the cause. After the drive, the two investigators even connected a computer to the car to read software codes.

Mr. McClelland said, “[The investigators] generally seemed excited. They said they hadn’t seen a vehicle display this type of behavior before, capturing the information in real time, and they said this could be an important vehicle for the sudden accelerations and it might help put some pieces together.”

Ultimately, NHTSA did not follow up with the investigation since the agency believes it’s possible the vehicle’s age and high mileage (280,000 miles) could have been the cause of any number of issues.

Upon learning about McClelland’s incident and inquiry, Safety Research and Strategies co-founder Sean Kane requested for the documents pertaining the McClelland investigation. However, photos and videos were denied and Sean Kane only received six pages of the 22 page case file.

In regards to the lawsuit, Sean Kane explained, “This is all about transparency. This is an agency that selectively releases data that fits its narrative that electronics are not at fault in sudden acceleration.”

NHTSA responded that the agency had already carefully reviewed more than 40,000 complaints each year. There are no plans to reopen the unintended acceleration investigation.

[Source: The New York Times]

For the third year in a row, Toyota‘s recall campaigns affected the most vehicles compared to any other automaker in 2011. With 13 campaigns launched in 2011, Toyota recalled over 3.5 million vehicles while GM issued the greatest number of recalls with 21.

General Motors’ affected vehicle total was only 455,901 despite the overwhelming number of recalls issued. Over half of those vehicles recalled were the newly-launched Chevrolet Cruze compact, a total of 231,319 over three different recalls.

Ford was in second place with 3.2 million vehicles affected over 10 recall campaigns. Honda had 11 recalls affecting 2 million vehicles putting them in third place. Comparatively speaking, Nissan was stellar with just 273,700 vehicles affected through seven recalls.

Toyota was fined $32.5 million for failing to issue recalls in a timely fashion by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has caused the Japanese automaker to issue recalls more readily.

[Source: Ward's Auto]

Toyota has officially announced a recall of certain 2006 and 2007 model year Highlander hybrid and Lexus RX 400h vehicles. The recall will affect 45,500 Highlander hybrids and 36,700 RX 400h’s. The issue stems from the Intelligent Power Module (IPM) located inside the hybrid system inverter that contains a control board with transistors.

Certain transistors on the control boards in the affected vehicles were inadequately soldered and could be damaged from heat caused by a large current flow during heavy driving.

If this were to occur, warning lights would come on and in most cases the vehicle would enter a fail-safe driving mode, resulting in reduced power and a shorter driving distance. In more serious cases, the power supply circuit fuse could blow when the transistor is damaged. The blown fuse would cause the hybrid system to stop and the vehicle would cost to a stop.

Owners with affected vehicles will be notified by first class main in mid-July 2011. An inspection will be made at a Toyota dealer, and if the vehicle is affected, the IPM will be replaced at no cost.

Toyota is conducting a voluntary recall for RAV4 and Highlander models in America, to replace the side curtain airbag sensor assembly.

On certain RAV4s built between 2007 and 2008 and Highlanders from 2008, there are two side curtain sensors that detect the side angle of a vehicle during a rollover. These sensors could fail and illuminate the airbag warning light, which would prevent the rollover detection system from activating. If both of these sensors fail, however, the side airbags could be fooled into thinking a rollover has actually happened, and deploy.

Only North American vehicles have this feature, and no other Toyota or Lexus cars around the world are affected. None of the 214,000 RAV4s or 94,000 Highlanders affected have actually deployed their airbags, but given Toyota’s recent history with recalls it’s fair to say that they are not taking any chances.

Yet another recall has been announced by Toyota, this time regarding the Tire Pressure Monitoring System found on some of the automaker’s trucks and SUVs.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), approximately 22,000 examples of 2008-2011 FJ Cruisers, Land Cruisers, Tacomas, Sequoias and Tundras, failed to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard #138 (TPMS). Apparently the affected vehicles had tire pressure monitoring systems that weren’t  calibrated correctly and did not illuminate a low pressure signal at the required minimum tire pressure.

As with many of these recalls, NHTSA believes the problem could lead to drivers piloting their vehicles with under inflated tires, potential causing blowouts and resulting in accidents.

Toyota has instructed its dealers to re-initialize the TPMS system on the affected vehicles free of charge, though at the time of our post had yet to confirm a start date for the recall. Concerned owners of the affected vehicles can contact Toyota at 1-800 331 4331 or the NHTSA safety Hotline at 1-800 337 4236 for updates. Alternatively if you prefer doing things online, more info can be found by clicking on the link below.

Toyota has just announced a recall of 1.7 million vehicles globally, with roughly 245,000 Lexus models in the U.S. Affected vehicles include the 2006 through 2007 Lexus GS300/350, the 2006 through early 2009 Lexus IS250, and 2006 to 2008 Lexus IS350 vehicles.

The issue with the vehicles involves a fuel pressure sensor that may not have been tightened properly during assembly. As a result, it could loosen over time and cause a fuel leak.

Lexus will notify owners by mail, at which point they will be asked to bring their model into the dealer for an inspection. If no leak is detected, the fuel pressure sensor will be properly tightened. If a leak is detected the gasket between the two parts will be replaced and the sensor properly installed.

Owners with questions are encouraged to contact Lexus Customer Satisfaction at 1-800-25 LEXUS or 1-800-255-3987 or at www.lexus.com/recall.

An additional recall for 1.2 million models for faulty fuel pipes includes the RAV4, Noah and Voxy models in Japan and the Avensis in Europe.

Toyota has announced it will recall 650,000 Prius models to replace the water pump. Technically, this is not actually a recall as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) isn’t involved and it is not deemed to be a safety issue.

Toyota will, however, contact owners of affected cars (dating from the 2004 to 2007 model years) starting in December to replace the coolant pump free of charge.

According to Toyota, the design of the pump could cause air bubbles to built up inside, resulting in a loss of cooling and diminished power from the engine.

The majority of recalled cars (378,000 of them) are in the U.S.

[Source: Automotive News]

Just when Toyota‘s bad news seemed to have ceased, the Japanese automaker is announcing yet another recall – this time affecting 373,000 Avalon models in the United States. The vehicles included in the recall date from 2000-2004 and the issue involves the steering column, which could lock-up under cornering.

According to Toyota, a defect in the casting of the lock bar means that after repeated operation the lock pin could come loose and possibly line up with the corresponding lock hole. This could lead to a vehicle that either exhibits a locked steering wheel when parked, or possibly even during operation.

Toyota will replace a bracket on the steering column as a fix for the problem, with owners being notified by mail in late august.

Those with questions are asked to contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 or visit www.toyota.com/recall.

Official release after the jump:

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Already overrun with legal issues relating to its unintended acceleration issues, Toyota‘s problems are about to get worse as the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has just increased the number of deaths that may be related to the faulty pedal and floor mat recalls. A new NHTSA document now places the total number of deaths related to the problem at 89 – up significantly from the previous total of 57. 

NHTSA says it has recorded more than 6,200 complains of unintended acceleration in Toyota models.

In response to those issues Toyota recalled over 8 million vehicles and has been fined $16.4 million by the U.S. government for failing to report the issue and make the recall in a timely manner.

Toyota claims it has found the solution to the faulty accelerator issue and insists the problem is mechanical, not electronic. It also says the vast majority of the 6,200 complaints lack sufficient information to determine what the cause of the unintended acceleration was.

To date, Toyota has fixed almost half of the vehicles recalled under the two unintended acceleration recalls relating to both floor mat entrapment and faulty accelerator pedals.

[Source: Washington Post]

Toyota recalled a number of trucks in Japan for a defective steering column but chose to wait nearly a year before recalling them in North America, despite a series of complains in the United States regarding the issue. The revelation comes on the heels of a $16.4 million fine imposed by the U.S. government as punishment for Toyota delaying the recalls of millions of vehicles over accelerator pedals that stick open unintentionally.

The latest recall involves a defective steering column, and failure could lead to the driver being unable to steer the vehicle and turn its wheels. Toyota initially claimed that the recall was issued in Japan because driving conditions put more strain on the affected parts and denied that there was an issue in North America. However the Associated Press investigated the matter and found numerous complains to Toyota’s customer service, legal and warranty department. The National Highway Traffics Safety Association has linked the defect to 16 crashes, three deaths and seven injuries.

[Source: Automotive News]