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]

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]

Toyota today confirmed that it will extend the pick-up and drop-off of vehicles involved in the recent recalls to all its customers in the United States. Earlier in week, Toyota announced the program of extraordinary service for its customers in the New York region.

Services provided by Toyota include a pick up and return of the vehicle by a dealership employee, driving the customer to the dealership or his or her place of work, or (when necessary), providing alternative transportation including a loaner vehicle, rental car or even taxi reimbursement.

Toyota says the service will be covered entirely by the company, and will not have to be covered by dealers. It applies to all customers with a recalled vehicle in one of four recalls: sticking accelerator pedals, floor mat pedal entrapment, anti-lock brake system software updates, and Tacoma front drive shaft inspection.

Toyota advises that anyone with additional questions should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 or the Lexus Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-255-3987, or visit www.toyota.com/recall.

Official release after the jump:

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During questioning at the House Committee’s investigation into Toyota’s ongoing recall crisis, safety advocate group Safety Research & Strategies founder Sean Kane admitted that his group is hardly an unbiased participant. In fact, Kane admitted that a recent report outlining Toyota’s faults was funded by five different law firms, all of which are currently engaged in litigation with Toyota.

The report clearly states that Toyota has not completely identified the cause of unintended acceleration, had limited its investigation into the matter and then issued the floor mat recall as a least expensive action. It also claims that the issue of unintended acceleration cannot be solved by either replacing the floor mats or by replacing or fixing the mechanical pedal mechanism.

The credibility of the report may now be called into question, considering the source of the funding behind it.

In a prepared statement Toyota President Jim Lentz reiterated Toyota’s continued stand that the issue with its many recalled Toyota models is mechanical and not electronic. Lentz commented that Toyota hired Exponent, a top engineering and scientific consulting firm, to examine its electronic throttle system to see if there were any issues. Toyota gave Exponent an unlimited budget and no electronic problem was found.

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After ABC News aired a segment yesterday where an expert was able to recreate a case of unintended acceleration, Toyota has taken to the offensive and challenged the news outlet and its source. In a video segment (see below), David Gilbert, an automotive technology professor at Southern Illinois University, recreates the problem in a Toyota Avalon, by introducing a short circuit to the controls to show that in such a circumstance the ECU does not record a fault and does not go into a “limp-mode.” The “short circuit” that Mr. Gilbert has introduced is intended to replicate a similar situation caused by moisture or wear.

Toyota has said that it has already been in touch with Mr. Gilbert using a similar setup in a Toyota Tundra and that in that circumstance the introduction of a transistor to create the short circuit creates, “an abnormal connection between two otherwise independent signals coming from the accelerator pedal sensors.” In other words, Toyota is asserting some pretty basic science, that the introduction of a new variable pretty much negates the process.

In an effort to set the record straight, Toyota has said it would like to investigate Mr. Gilbert’s new method and the Avalon in question, inviting ABC News to come along.

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

See the ABC news video and Toyota’s response after the jump:

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As hearings into Toyota’s recall woes begin today in Washington, the automaker has announced that it will install a new brake override feature on an expanded range of vehicles. The feature, initially announced for the 2007-2010 Camry, 2005-2010 Avalon, and the 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350, 2006-2010 IS 350 and 2006-2010 IS 250 models, will also be installed on all 2005-10 Tacoma models, 2009-10 Venza models and 2008-10 Sequoia models.

The brake override feature will automatically reduce engine power when both the brake and accelerator pedal are pressed. While this is not a part of the recall, it will be performed when recall work is done. Toyota says that it is “an extra measure of confidence for Toyota owners.”

Toyota has also said this brake override feature will also be standard equipment on most new Toyota models in the future.

Additional info can be found at www.toyota.com/recall or by calling the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.

Find additional recall information at the AutoGuide Toyota Recall News Hub here.

Official release after the jump:

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According to a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Toyota may face yet another investigation, this time over steering-related issues with the 2009 and 2010 Corolla model. The NHTSA has recorded 83 power steering related complaints on the 2009-10 models, which use an electric power steering system. Toyota switched to electric power steering in  the Corolla for the ’09 model year, with ’09 model year Corollas first going on sale in February of 2008.

Complainants say the vehicle can veer to the left or right at over 40 mph. Over the 83 filed complaints, six accidents are associated with the alleged steering issue with 10 injuries reported.

Yesterday Toyota announced a worldwide recall of the 437,000 hybrid models, including the 2010 Prius hybrid after the NHTSA opened an investigation into electric braking problems with the car and the Lexus HS250h.

Toyota also has two other recalls out for over 8 million vehicles, one for “floor mat entrapment” and another for faulty brake pedals. Both of these recalls also include the 2009-10 Corolla.

The NHTSA is considering an investigation into the complains which could result in further analysis of the car by Toyota and (if deemed necessary) a recall. Currently the NHTSA is investigating 40 possible defects, three of which are for Toyotas.

See more Toyota recall news here: AutoGuide Toyota Recall News Hub

[Source: Automotive News]

Late last night Toyota held a press conference in Japan where company CEO and Akio Toyoda, grandson of the automaker’s founder, apologized for the recent recalls and safety concerns over Toyota products.

“The recalls are affecting several models in several regions and have caused anxiety among customers who are wondering if their cars are OK,” said Toyoda. “For that we are very sorry.”

Previous to this Toyota has been criticized for its lack of openness and minimal communication, as rumors and news reports swirled and owners of Toyota vehicles became increasingly confused. Toyoda did give a public apology once already but it was during a trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and wasn’t covered widely.

Toyoda reassured consumers that Toyota cars are safe and announced a new taskforce that would look into consumer complaints and work to make Toyota products safe. Akio Toyoda said he would personally oversee the new taskforce, which has six main goals: first, to improve the quality inspection process; second, to enhance customer research over safety issues; third, to establish an “Automotive Center of Excellence”; fourth, to work with outside experts on quality control; fifth, to increase communications and sixth, to improve regional autonomy of its divisons and productd.

What Toyoda did not do during the press conference is announce a recall for the popular new 2010 Prius model, which Japan’s Nikkei News has reported is coming.

For complete Toyota recall information visit the AutoGuide Toyota Recall News Hub

[Source: CBC, The Guardian]

Toyota has now expanded its internal investigation over braking issues to cover all hybrid models says a report by the Wall Street Journal. Toyota has already admitted that there was a braking problem with its 2010 Prius model, and according to Japan’s Nikkei News, Toyota is preparing to issue a recall for 270,000 Prius models from the 2010 model year.

Toyota has admitted it knew of a problem that caused a brief loss of braking during the transition from the car’s regenerative braking to its traditional friction braking. Toyota refers to this as “slight unresponsiveness” and says it usually lasts less than a second. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as well as Japanese authorities have registered over 100 complaints about the car’s brake system, where owners say they experienced a brief loss of braking capability when traveling over bumpy or icy roads. Toyota has said the issue has been solved on all models produced since late January but no recall has been ordered for models built before that time.

The 2010 Prius model was not covered under the previous recall of 2.3 million vehicles for sticking accelerators or “unintended acceleration.” Those recalled vehicles use a brake assembly by Indiana-based CTS Corp, while the 2010 Prius and other hybrid Toyota products use a brake system developed by Denso.

Additional Toyota hybrid models that will now come under investigation include the Highlander hybrid and Camry hybrid. It is not year clear if the investigation will also cover Lexus hybrid models.

With the Prius recall reportedly coming, can recalls for all Toyota hybrids be far behind?

See more Toyota recall news here: Toyota Recall News Hub

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

According to Japan’s Nikkei News, Toyota will recall 270,000 of its 2010 Prius models due to an issue with the car’s braking system. Unrelated to past Toyota recalls, the Prius uses a unique combination of traditional mechanical braking and sophisticated regenerative braking, which is used to recharge the car’s hybrid battery.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as well as Japanese authorities have registered over 100 complaints about the car’s brake system, where owners say they experienced a brief loss of braking capability when traveling over bumpy or icy roads. Toyota has admitted it knew of a problem that caused a brief loss of braking during the transition from the car’s regenerative braking to its traditional friction braking. Toyota refers to this as “slight unresponsiveness” and says it usually lasts less than a second.

Toyota has said the issue has been solved on all models produced since late January but no recall has been ordered for models built before that time.

Toyota spokesman Tom Hanson has said he has no information regarding the recall of the Prius model. Earlier today the Japanese automaker released a statement saying that it, “is aware that NHTSA has opened a Preliminary Evaluation centered on owner complaints of a braking issue with the 2010 model year Prius. Toyota will cooperate fully with NHTSA’s investigation.”

[Source: MSNBC]