[Abhi_Automobile]

TOKYO: Toyota Motor will recall one of its top-of-the-line Lexus sedans worldwide because of an engine fault, a report said Thursday.

Well, with all due respect, should we really discuss this topic here? I mean, LEXUS isn't even sold in India. The recall, unlike the earlier 'big recall', isn't going to affect anybody's decision to buy a COROLLA ALTIS or FORTUNER. So, this seems like an 'good to have, but not relevant discussion'.

[shortbread]

Toyota recalling defective vehicles is old news now, on the positive side no fatalities reported due to this. I agree there is no reason to bring this topic up in the Indian car scene.

[sarmarishi]

This should be in the International car scene thread and not here!

[vikrantj]

Guys , hold on for a minute. I have already reported my post and requested the mods to move to International scene. So please be patient .

[n.devdath]

Relevant or not, but Toyota's quality for sure has taken a beating, internationally and I m sure there will be a trickle effect for the same in India as well.
Not good times for Toyota at all.

[Finject]

You are right, man. After the problems they have faced these past months, Toyota has got many things to worry about. The brand image is in tatters over the whole safety issue. People in India do read the news and even though Indian Corolla doesn't have such a problem, this might deter prospective buyers from buying an otherwise decent car.

[issigonis]

For your reference, The Economist late last year carried a lengthy article on the problems ailing Toyota, am attaching the same ( all trademarks acknowledged).

Agree that this thread should be in the International section as Lexus has minimal presence in our country at present.

Regards

[discoverwild]

Here is similar information from The Hindu.

The Hindu : Business / Companies : Toyota says 270,000 vehicles have faulty engines

[Amartya]

This has happened to almost every company that has grown too fast for its own good. Toyota, in it's quest to become the largest car maker in the world, compromised with its core values.

Serves them right, and I hope that they learn from their mistakes, especially the sticky pedal issue which they tried to brush under the carpet for a long time.

[aby]

Well I do agree that this belongs to International section, but there is a small point to look for.

Till now the problems in Toyota were all related to accelerators with vehicles suddenly accelerating and with Brakes.

This is the first time the problem is being reported from a Toyota Engine.

Agreed that Indian entity of TKIM is different and has different parts suppliers, but from what I know engines are still sourced from Japan as the Indian entity doesn't manufacture engines (Can someone confirm this?)

So maybe there is something for us to be wary of?

[anmol2k4]

Originally Posted by aby

Agreed that Indian entity of TKIM is different and has different parts suppliers, but from what I know engines are still sourced from Japan as the Indian entity doesn't manufacture engines (Can someone confirm this?)

They use the same software. According to Steve Wozniak(Co-Founder of Apple) the problem was due to software. He came to this conclusion after facing same issue in his prius.

For Toyota it is easier to blame it on some other issue as it is very hard to find/fix bugs in millions of lines of code. Again, even if they will find out the bug it will take even more time to test in real world conditions.


That explains why they haven't still fixed this decade old problem.

[vikrantj]

And today Honda and Nissan join the suite. Apparently these cars had issues in passenger side airbags.They are recalling close to 1 lakh cars. I mean this gets me thinking do these guys actually test the product before deploying them in cars.

More info on this link.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan to recall 100,000 vehicles-International Business-News-The Economic Times

And one more line in the news got me worried

"The recalls affect vehicles built in 2000-2001 including Toyota's popular Corolla, Honda's Fit and Nissan's Cube." . Now aren't these avaiable in India maybe under different names. Corolla as Corolla and Fit as Jazz. Will that affect the Indian customers too ?

Now in TOI today it said that "Congress govt is mulling over getting stricter rules which penalise the car maker in case of recalls or qualiy issues" I am waiting for that day.

[srishiva]

The defective part is the valve spring contaminated by foreign material which might result in breakage.

Models affected are V6 and V8 engines for IS 350, GS 350, GS 460, GS 450h, LS 460, LS 600hL. Good that no accidents have been reported for the problem.

[rkg]

Mods please merge the thread if the topic already exists

Toyota is recalling 412,000 passenger cars, mostly the Avalon model, in the US, and another 16,420 vehicles in Japan for steering problems, the automaker said Thursday.

The 373,000 Avalons being recalled in the US range from the 2000 model year through to 2004 and have improper casting of the steering lock bar — a component for the steering system — causing cracks to develop on the surface.

In some cases, the crack can cause the lock bar to break, potentially leading to a crash if the steering wheel locks, the world's No. 1 automaker by car sales said. No injuries have been reported from the accidents that may be caused by the defect, it said.

Recalled in Japan for a similar problem are 6,750 vehicles, called Pronard, built from February 2000 through January 2004, Toyota and the Japanese transport ministry said. There have been three reported problems linked to the defect but no accidents in Japan, the ministry said.
Toyota recalls 412,000 cars in US, 16,000 in Japan-Automobiles-Auto-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times

[vikrantj]

Honda Motor Co said on Monday it was recalling more than 428,000 vehicles in the United States and Canada because of a defect that could cause the cars to roll away if they are parked incorrectly.

The Honda recall covers Accord, Civic and Element models from the 2003 and 2004 model years in the United States. That recall includes 384,220 vehicles.

A parallel safety recall in Canada covers those models and some Acura 1.7ELs. There are about 44,000 vehicles under recall in Canada, most of them Accords and Civics.
Honda said that in some situations a part known as the ignition interlock lever could fail.

That device is intended to keep drivers from removing their key from the ignition when the vehicle has not been put in park. If the ignition switch fails, that could allow vehicles to roll away when parked incorrectly, causing accidents.

Honda said it would begin notifying consumers of the recall in September.

The safety recall started with an inquiry from US safety regulators in September 2008.

In early 2009, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) upgraded its inquiry of the potential defect for the 2002 model year Accord, Honda's best-selling vehicle.

At that time, Honda had received reports of 10 crashes related to the defect. NHTSA said consumers had reported 11 crashes to the safety agency for the same problem.

One woman said she had almost been run over by her car when it was parked in her driveway, accord to NHTSA records.

In early July, Honda and NHTSA representatives met to discuss the situation and on July 29 Honda determined that it had a safety defect with the ignition switch that demanded a recall, according to the records.

Honda had two other recalls for related problems in 2003 and again in 2005, NHTSA records show.

Honda to recall 428,000 vehicles in N America