Recall probes add new blows to Toyota

Inquiries could tarnish image, analysts say

Christine Tierney / The Detroit News





After recalling 1 million vehicles worldwide in July, Toyota Motor Corp. faces the bruising prospect of more recalls in the United States.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has upgraded an investigation into reports of excessive wear of a front suspension part in 2003 and 2004 Toyota Tundra pickups.

The agency said Monday that it had opened a separate probe into 2004 and 2005 Toyota Sienna minivans after receiving reports of four injuries that occurred when the liftgates shut unexpectedly.

The investigations deal a fresh blow to Toyota, which was rebuked last month by the Japanese government because of the growing number of recalls. They are up sharply in the past year and a half, threatening to undermine Toyota's reputation as the industry benchmark for quality.

In 2005, its U.S. recalls doubled after the Japanese automaker recalled 775,000 light trucks, including Tacoma pickups and Sequoia sport-utility vehicles, due to potentially loose ball joints in the suspension. If the ball joints separate, the driver can lose control of the vehicle.

The U.S. safety agency's upgraded probe focuses on the same component in as many as 219,522 Tundras that were not covered by last year's recall.

"We are cooperating fully with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," said Ming-Jou Chen, a spokeswoman for Toyota Motor Sales USA.

The agency's safety review is a three-stage process, starting with a preliminary evaluation, as in the case of the Sienna liftgates. Three-fourths of those reviews are concluded without further action.

The others are upgraded to a second phase, called an engineering analysis. Seven in 10 of those upgraded probes lead to recalls.

"This tarnishes their reputation a little bit," said Eric Merkle, forecasting director at IRN Inc., a consulting firm in Grand Rapids.

"Toyota is viewed as the pinnacle of quality. That isn't something they established in the last year or two. They did that over 30 or 40 years, and it doesn't go away overnight," Merkle said.

Riding on a reputation for top quality and reliability, Toyota has increased sales rapidly. Last month, it overtook Ford Motor Co. in the monthly U.S. sales rankings for the first time. On a global basis, it seems on course to overtake GM within a few years.

But analysts question whether Toyota's rapid expansion has undercut vehicle quality.

In July, Japan's Transport Ministry told Toyota to review its recall procedures following a criminal investigation into the response of three Toyota managers to reports of defects. They are alleged to have known about a steering problem in Toyota Hilux SUVs years before a 2004 accident that may have been caused by that defect.

Toyota says the managers acted appropriately. But it will increase inspections and add engineers to check problems that might cause accidents. It plans to store information about problems for 20 years, up from 10 currently. And in cases where it deems a recall unnecessary, Toyota will monitor the vehicles more closely.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report. You can reach Christine Tierney at (313) 222-1463 or ctierney@detnews.com.

Man, this reminds me of one of my co-workers. A few years ago she bought one of the first new Jeep Libertys. She was driving down to Florida when a ball joint broke and she flipped it a few times. She has some back injuries but is ok now. Anyway, Jeep refused to give here a new Jeep because they felt they were not to blame. Her insurance company had to buy her a new one, and THEN DROPPED HER.

Now, JEEP is recalling all of them for that same problem....

So wouldnt the "American way" be to sue the arse out of them? Surely she would win something like that wouldnt she?

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She would have to win something like that, she really should be compensated in some way.