Skepticism over Toyota's fixes grows as probe widens to Prius

Thursday 04th February, 02:34 AM JST

TOKYO —

Toyota faced fresh doubts about braking problems in its prized Prius, with complaints swelling to about 180 in the U.S. and Japan, as the automaker sought to salvage its reputation amid massive global recalls over gas-pedal problems in eight other models.

In Washington, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood startled the public with a comment, which he later retracted, that Americans should park their recalled Toyotas unless driving to dealers for accelerator repairs.

The problems with the Prius hybrid are another blow to Toyota in the U.S. — its biggest market — and an embarrassment in the automaker’s loyal home turf of Japan, where the transport minister said a recall should be considered.

The popular gas-electric hybrid was not part of the most recent recall over sticking gas pedals in eight top-selling models, numbering about 4.5 million vehicles around the world.

A major Toyota dealership in Tokyo said the automaker had informed dealers that Prius brakes can sometimes fail to work for less than a second but it had not told owners.

Toyota has already done fixes for Prius cars sold since late January but has yet to give instructions to people who bought them earlier, said Hiroyuki Naito, a manager at the dealership. The latest model Prius hit showrooms last May.

“It is disappointing because the Prius was receiving such rave reviews,” he said.

Toyota, scheduled to report quarterly earnings later Thursday, said it will explain the Prius braking problems. Details were not immediately available on what Toyota had in the works for Prius cars sold in the U.S. and Europe.

The Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid, has been extremely popular in Japan because of government incentives that made hybrids tax-free. More than 170,000 the new remodeled Prius cars were sold in Japan and about 103,000 have been sold in the U.S. since May.

Japan’s transport ministry has ordered the company to investigate complaints of brake problems with the hybrid. LaHood has said the U.S. transportation department was also looking into brake problems.

“We are asking Toyota to look into the matter, including possibly making a recall on the Prius,” Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said.

Company officials had repeatedly said cars in Japan weren’t covered by its overseas recalls because they used Japanese supplier Denso, hinting the world’s biggest automaker was doing a better job maintaining quality control in Japan.

All the Prius cars being reported with possible braking problems were manufactured in Japan.

“The latest Prius troubles have really damaged Toyota’s brand. Uncertainty over the Prius troubles will only prompt more consumers to dump Toyota,” said Roichi Saito, auto analyst with Mizuho Investors Securities Co in Tokyo.

Prius owners were also worried.

Akira Suzuki, 25, who makes surf boards and teaches surfing, was excited about the high mileage his recently purchased Prius offers — but worried about its possible problems.

“I’m not sure how safe it is. I plan to drive very carefully,” said Suzuki, who lives in a Tokyo suburb.

Toyota said Thursday it was aware of 77 complaints in Japan about braking problems for the Prius — just a day after the Japanese government had confirmed 14 complaints. About 100 complaints over Prius brakes have been filed in the U.S.

At least one accident has been reported in Japan suspected of being linked to faulty braking. In that accident, in July 2009, a Prius crashed head on into another car, slightly injuring two people, according to the Japanese transport ministry.

Toyota shares tumbled on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, falling 5% by Thursday afternoon to 3,230 yen after plunging 5.7% the previous day. Since Jan 21, when the U.S. recalls were announced, the stock has lost about 22%.

In the U.S., harried dealers began receiving parts to repair defective gas pedals in millions of vehicles and said they’d be extending their hours deep into the night to try and catch up. Toyota said that would solve the problem — which it said was extremely rare — of cars unaccountably accelerating.

At a congressional hearing, LaHood said his advice to an owner of a recalled Toyota would be to “stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.” His comments prompted new questions and rattled Toyota stockholders, causing shares to plunge 6 percent overnight on Wall Street.

LaHood later told reporters, “What I said in there was obviously a misstatement. What I meant to say ... was if you own one of these cars or if you’re in doubt, take it to the dealer and they’re going to fix it.”

Adding to Toyota’s woes, LaHood said his department had received new complaints about electronics and would undertake a broad review, looking beyond Toyota vehicles, into whether automobile engines could be disrupted by electromagnetic interference caused by power lines or other sources.

Toyota has said it investigated for electronic problems and failed to find a single case pointing in that direction. Toyota declined comment on LaHood’s remarks.

But the damage was done for many drivers.

Meredyth Waterman, who bought a 2010 Toyota Corolla in December, said the alarming statements from Washington confused her and she planned to wait until her dealer told her to come get the fix to bring her car in for repairs.

“If it is largely believed to be a rare instance, why would he tell people to stop driving their cars?” asked Waterman, of Burrillville, RI. “It was an irresponsible thing to say.”

Toyota is set to face additional questioning from U.S. congressional and other government investigators. Toyota has shut down several new vehicle assembly lines and is rushing parts to dealers to fix problems with the accelerators, trying to preserve a reputation of building safe, durable vehicles.

Late last year, Toyota recalled about 5 million vehicles over problems with floor mats trapping gas pedals and on Jan 21, recalled some 2.3 million vehicles in the U.S. amid concerns that gas pedals could become stuck or be slow to return to the idle position.

The latest recall involves 2009-10 RAV4 crossovers, 2009-10 Corollas, 2009-10 Matrix hatchbacks, 2005-10 Avalons, 2007-10 Camrys, 2010 Highlander crossovers, 2007-10 Tundra pickups and 2008-10 Sequoia SUVs.

U.S. lawmakers who are now digging into the recalls said they would also look into the Prius. Rep Bart Stupak, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee, said his panel would request a briefing from Toyota officials about the hybrid.

Many consumer groups have questioned whether Toyota’s gas pedal fix will work and have asserted it could be connected to problems with the electronic throttle control systems.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Stephen Manning, Larry Margasak and Andrew Taylor in Washington, and Shino Yuasa in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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Latest 15 of 80 Total Comments Show All

guest at 01:43 AM JST - 5th February

Anyone else driving a Toyota in Japan?

Ive driven a Toyota for the past 5 years in Japan, and love it. Is not one of the death trap coverup ones though.
imacat at 01:46 AM JST - 5th February

@guest

Which Toyota r u driving? I've always quite fancied the Mark 2 (I think it's a Mark X now) but ended up with the Alphard... damn!
Branded at 01:48 AM JST - 5th February

"Ive driven a Toyota for the past 5 years in Japan"

Most everybody does- that's about all that's sold there. You outta see the look on my Japanese wife's face when we pull into an American shopping center- cars from all over the world sporting different brands. She has actually commented on this numerous times- "look a volkswagon, a chevrolet, a Kia, a "Beema" ! Stay safe quest !
Fadamor at 03:15 AM JST - 5th February

ROFL. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration deals with a lot more than just cars. They also deal with trucks, the roads, the bridges, and all the safety-related devices that go along with those items. They don't have to make things up to justify their presence. Your "NHTSA business model" fails epically for one main reason... Rulings by the NHTSA generate negligable support (if any at all) for the U.S. economy. If anything, they usually HURT the economy because of the hit that affected companies take in the stock market.

Toyota's problems were caused by Toyota - not some regulatory agency in a foreign country.
kp123 at 03:24 AM JST - 5th February

Wow..and just a few days ago I thought this problem was superficial pertaining to an oversized accelerator pedal and floor mat. If it is electronically connected, I'd be interested in the source of these electronic parts. I hope it wasn't China. U.S. automotive companies better be on the up and up checking their systems as well and not be complacent about these problems either.
sfjp330 at 03:28 AM JST - 5th February

Branded at 01:33 AM JST - 5th February. FYI, this information just came off the AP news wire an hour ago. Here are some of the highlights;

Everybody knows this this already about Toyota's brake problem. Here again, the samples you provided are speculation. Branded, don't you have any opinion on your own rather than copying th AP wire news and talking in circles?
Branded at 03:37 AM JST - 5th February

"Everybody knows this this already about Toyota's brake problem. Here again, the samples you provided are speculation."

Hardly "speculation", the words are from the mouths of Toyota's executives. The revelations are stunning to say the least. I mean, they knew about the design flaws last year during the "cash for clunkers" program- yet decided to keep it a secret, then make the repairs- all while failing to address the thousands of defective cars sold and currently on the streets of America and Japan ! This could be the death nail- ummm, my opinion of course.
sfjp330 at 03:46 AM JST - 5th February

Branded at 03:37 AM JST - 5th February

Read clearly, do you understand English? This is still under "investigation" which means speculation and not factual yet. "Japan's transport minister urged Toyota to consider a recall of the Prius and said he is ordering an investigation into the brake problem -Toyota executive Hiroyuki Yokoyama said the company hasn't yet decided if a recall is necessary. -The U.S. Transportation Department said Thursday it has opened an investigation into brake problems in the 2010 model year Prius.
sfjp330 at 05:50 AM JST - 5th February

There is a irresponsible behavior from Transportation Secretary LaHood when he told a congressional panel Wednesday morning Toyota customers should not drive the cars until they get gas pedals fixed. Later in the day, he retracted that stance from his earlier comments. Why would he suddenly retract this statement when he knew full well what he said. This was intentional statement to damage Toyota and the damage was already done. This is a top govenment official making this irresponsible comment to create choas in the public. Some of the Camry owners, was frightened after seeing the alert flash across the screen this on news media that urged Toyota owners not to drive their vehicles.
Branded at 06:18 AM JST - 5th February

Sfjp330- This is absolutely correct-

"Japan's transport minister urged Toyota to consider a recall of the Prius and said he is ordering an investigation into the brake problem"

Too bad you decided to gloss over this first though- which is not "speculation" but fact !

"Toyota acknowledged that it has begun fixing problems with the brakes in its prized Prius"

Now, to emphasize my point,

"The revelations are stunning to say the least. I mean, they knew about the design flaws last year during the "cash for clunkers" program- yet decided to keep it a secret, then make the repairs- all while failing to address the thousands of defective cars sold and currently on the streets of America and Japan" !

"Transportation Secretary LaHood told a congressional panel Wednesday morning Toyota customers should not drive the cars until they get gas pedals fixed."

Seems pretty obvious to me- especially if you are driving one of the clunkers that's been recalled. Why wait for an accident? Seems to me Lahood just did Toyota a huge favor !
sfjp330 at 07:25 AM JST - 5th February

Branded: This is absolutely correct-

What is correct? You are misinformed again. Transporation Secretary LaHood "RETRACTED" his statement immediately that afternoon (same day) and this means he takes back the statement. Also means he made a mistake if you are retracting a statement without admission. Read between the lines.
Branded at 02:24 PM JST - 5th February

sfjp330- "You are misinformed again."

Huh ?

"Transporation Secretary LaHood "RETRACTED" his statement immediately that afternoon (same day) and this means he takes back the statement. Also means he made a mistake if you are retracting a statement without admission."

Yo dude- My comments are directed at Toyota management and their poor decision to sell defective cars in the US and Japan for months on end taking full advantage of the "cash for clunkers" program in the process. Highly unethical !

"Toyota acknowledged that it has begun fixing problems with the brakes in its prized Prius"

As for Lahoods comments- I don't care what he retracted. In my opinion he did Toyota a huge favor ! No misinformation here- I simply disagree with those who feel his statements were taken out of context. This falls in the cup 1/2 empty or full realm. There are those who see only the negative- I see the positive !
Junnama at 02:33 PM JST - 5th February

“If it is largely believed to be a rare instance, why would he tell people to stop driving their cars?” asked Waterman, of Burrillville, RI. “It was an irresponsible thing to say.”

Hello Meridyth!!! Cars weigh alot, tons, you know. If it stops braking it could kill someone. Take it in to be fixed. Stop being irresponsible!!!
featherhead at 04:20 PM JST - 5th February

Any company attempting to introduce vehicles which use less or no gas are going to have to be extremely careful forthings exactly like this as there millions of dollars, PR, and everything else going into attempting to reduce or get rid of anything which may ween us (in the U.S) off of oil. Has been this way for 50+ years when there were already electric cars on the road. For a good, but unsurprising and predictable, look at such antics, see the film 'Who Killed the Electric Car'. The moral rational folks who desire to replace the always profitable oil with cheap, clean, etc...are going to have to fight tooth and nail. One needs look no further than a recent president to see just who and what sorts of folks drink, bathe, and profit from oil 24/7.
Branded at 02:42 AM JST - 6th February

For those of you that missed it- probably because Toyota execs have refused to offer the info voluntarily- the total number of Prius cars sold, those with the defective brakes not yet recalled or secretely repaired, is well over 270,000 ! This is pure comedy folks, no really- David Letterman's monolugue was completely dominated by the dangers of driving a Toyota lastnight- I look for his "top ten" list to just be dedicated to Toyota in the next few days. What a farce this has become.