Toyota investigating Corolla steering claims - another possible recall

 Toyota investigating Corolla steering claims - another possible recall
2008 Toyota Corolla XLE steering wheel - 17.02.2010

Another day, another recall

Toyota may have found a problem with the steering system on the new Corolla.

While details are limited, Toyota's executive in charge of quality, Shinichi Sasaki, said drivers may experience a loss of control. The company hasn't identified the cause, but they believe it may be related to the braking system or tires. Sasaki stated he was unsure if a recall is necessary, but Toyota is considering it anyways.

As you may recall (no pun intended), Toyota has been besieged by quality problems. After several cases of unintended acceleration, the company blamed the floor mats and issued a recall. When that failed to stop the problem, Toyota recalled millions of vehicles to fix sticky accelerator pedals. More recently, the company confirmed there was a braking problem with the Prius and issued yet another recall.

The fiasco has caught the attention of the U.S. Congress, which is investing whether or not Toyota properly informed consumers and safety officials. Toyota's President, Akio Toyoda, recently stated he would not make an appearance at the investigation hearing unless he was summoned. According to Toyoda, "I trust that our officials in the U.S. will amply answer the questions. We are sending the best people to the hearing, and I hope to back up the efforts from headquarters." He added, "We are not covering up anything, and we are not running away from anything."

Source: detnews.com

Add a Comment

Comments (24)

Subscribe to comments
 N20_Purge N20_Purge
Oh facepalm, things just aren't getting better for Toyota, are they?
February 17, 2010 7:07 pm
 eddie eddie
With all this new technology it is amazing how dependable cars are. It is too bad most states stopped yearly inspections as many older cars in arizona are poorly maintained and are dangerous on the road. It is also too bad that anyone can drive a car. When you are at a grocery store some of the handicaped people can barely walk and they can drive a car that needs some type of fast reflexes.
February 17, 2010 8:22 pm
 EDavis EDavis
So, you think that Toyotas are boring now? Imagine how exciting they'll all be in five years once Toyota's upcoming "recommitment to safety and reliability plan" has had time to thoroughly soak into its corporate culture and begun to bear [very bland tasting] fruit. The good news is that in the near future Toyota will be hooking us up with some seriously advanced floor mat securement technology. I'm talkin' space age type shit here, the envy of NASA.
February 17, 2010 8:32 pm
 bcuth bcuth
Toyota's in the future will be like driving kleenex boxes with wheels
February 17, 2010 8:47 pm
 Dolomight 74-86 Dolomight 74-86
Damn Toyota! This is the automotive equivalent of getting kicked in the balls. I hope they end up ok...
February 17, 2010 8:34 pm
 carcrazy1234 carcrazy1234
this is getting ridiculous... i sense a sabotage from other car companies lol i will NOT be surprised if that is the case hahhaha. after all these years, all these problems come NOW!? weird...
February 17, 2010 9:08 pm
 MTC MTC
WHOA, not another one...... I guess 10 million recall isn't enough, I do think Toyota is trying to achieve the world record for the most recall in the world
February 17, 2010 9:31 pm
 MTC MTC
The fun of Toyota seems to be a combination stuck throttle, brake failure and steering issues. guarantee a trip to the hospital within an hour
February 17, 2010 9:33 pm
 Han Solo Han Solo
Oh My God...this is starting to look real bad for Toyota. "Drivers may experience a loss of control" that is scary man. I know that the Corrolla is equipped with Electronic Power Steering (EPS), but I didn't think the Loss of Control would be so significant, usually it is just a small pause (almost negligible) between the time you turn the steering wheel and the time when the wheels are actually turned. Is this a different issue?
February 17, 2010 10:46 pm
 hata0101 hata0101
toyota kicked big-3 butts...then became no.1...then 2 of the big-3 bankrupted & failed... as U.S. biggest industry, it went down with the economy. now, call me crazy, but it's absolutely weird all of sudden these problems with toyota's cars?? it smell like media circus, paid under-table by big-3, to make it as "big" as possible. with the U.S. Govt help at the same time... so the big-3 can be benefit? come on, that's so unreal. toyota cars reliability & qualilty are not established in one decade... all these problems with their cars? i've got lots of family & friends driving toyota/ lexus & never had any problems... are all of them lucky? i don't think so...
February 17, 2010 11:23 pm
 EDavis EDavis
Perhaps you'd also like to speculate on how much money Toyota paid to the U.S. media for publicizing the Ford Explorer/Firestone scandal. Toyota is not getting special treatment in the U.S. over these scandals, it is in fact receiving equal treatment. Every time one of the Big 3 issues a major recall it gets reported on the national news, just as is happening now with Toyota.
February 18, 2010 1:40 am
 danteskov danteskov
Well.. the big 3 shouldn't be worrying about toyota when VW is climbing up and fast!... VW's products have the best quality in the industry in overall, in my personal opinion that is... =)
February 18, 2010 2:47 pm
 hata0101 hata0101
@EDavis: nah...i don't think so...look at how the media "magnified" & manipulated all the facts & data! it's NOT equal at all. PLUS, this time around is different: economy is really bad, U.S. biggest industry - the big-3 in trouble, the govt wanna find a way to "help" jump start their business, it's the best chance & best time. if you really look into the whole picture, it's understandable.
February 19, 2010 12:43 am
 gazer23 gazer23
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha keep going with those Recalls pretty soon every Toyota product will be recalled .I drive American and have over 400,000 miles on my one car and have never had a problem with it or a recall .Beat your woman and see if you eventualy end up with recalls . Nice job Toyota . GM and Ford are laughing now as they steal your customers away .maybe Toyota should stop lying to the public and just admit that their cars are not very well engineered or tested during their developement process .Have you ever noticed that nothing in Toyota's line up is as endearing and well loved as the Corvette is no mater how old you are ?
February 17, 2010 11:57 pm
 BrianWCF BrianWCF
You're making some pretty broad generalizations with no support. Not only are Toyota's very well engineered cars, but they have a huge fan base to rival any other. You're just not looking in the right places.
February 18, 2010 5:52 am
 awhk awhk
This really gives advantage to growing competitors like Hyundai, which I think they make more exciting cars than Toyota.
February 18, 2010 12:23 am
 songo82 songo82
sweet....in you face toyota!!!!
February 18, 2010 3:05 am
 surdzosurdzo surdzosurdzo
It will be more easier to recall it all... and start all over again just rebuild it :-D
February 18, 2010 5:17 am
 tbrodie tbrodie
To have sessions on this makes me wonder what Congress is trying to divert our attention from.
February 18, 2010 5:41 am
 eddie eddie
What is it with the cobalt and electric steering turning off causing crashes.
February 18, 2010 12:26 pm
 CDspeed CDspeed
Every car company has their little recalls now and then this just happens to be the worlds largest automaker who now also holds the title of worlds largest recall. And although I'm not a fan and I especially don't like their luxury poser brand Lexus I'm sure they'll get through this or I hope so for the sake of their employees.
February 18, 2010 12:37 pm
 Shark Shark
Sabotage?? No cover up?? Bullshit!!! They new about problems since at least 2002 and did nothing about them, instead hired 2 former employees from the NHTSA who were responsible for recalls, and then these 2 guys convinced the new guys in charge at the NHTSA not to recall the problem vehicles and close the files even though people were getting killed, and even the dealers were claiming there was no problems with their cars instead passing the buck and blaming the owners (is it just retards driving Toyota's??) since they are reporting the problems and being ignored like Steve Wozniak of Apple computers... All of their coverups are now coming back to bite them in the ass and they deserve every bit of it. Sooner or later your lies will catch up with you. They kept blaming the parts makers in the U.S., yet the same issues existed in other parts of the world including Japan. Just admit you screwed up Toyota because you have zero credibility now!!!
February 18, 2010 2:37 pm
 CndSalesPro CndSalesPro
Wow.... Shark maybe you should read this... Do you remember the Audi 5000? at all???? http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q1/toyota_ recall_scandal_media_circus_and_stupid_ drivers-editorial
February 19, 2010 3:33 pm
 corollaboyzz corollaboyzz
Here in the uk Toyota have had 4 safery recalls in 24 months... Mercedes have had 40! Why the big deal? have Toyota upset some one?
February 22, 2010 1:10 pm