Toyota Plans To Recall 300,000 Priuses

[CENTER]Toyota Plans To Recall 300,000 Priuses
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TOKYO - Toyota plans to recall about 300,000 Prius hybrids worldwide over a brake problem and will notify the U.S. and Japanese governments Tuesday, a news report said, as a top executive will testify before U.S. lawmakers over recall woes that have tarnished its reputation for quality and safety.

The recall of the gas-electric Prius will cover the latest version of the cars that went on sale since May, Kyodo News agency reported late Monday.

Kyodo, which did not identify its sources for the information, said the automaker will notify authorities in Japan and the U.S. of its plan, which will cover about 270,000 of the hybrids sold in the two countries - 170,000 in Japan and 100,000 in the U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman Ririko Takeuchi said no decision on a Prius recall has been made. Kenji Sugai, an official in Japan's Transport Ministry section in charge of recalls, said it had not been informed of any such plan by Toyota.

The automaker is still weighing its options on how to handle the Prius repairs in the U.S., but it intends to begin fixing them soon, according to a person briefed on the matter who asked not to be identified because the remedy hasn't been made public.

Toyota has said among its options are a service campaign in which owners would be notified to bring their cars in for repairs, or a full-fledged safety recall. Toyota is communicating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on how to handle the fix.

A service campaign wouldn't have the stigma of a safety recall, but NHTSA regulators may press for the recall.

The Kyodo report follows others in Japanese media recently that the world's largest automaker has decided to announce a recall early this week as a way of regaining consumer trust damaged by its recall woes. Toyota has already recalled more than 7 million other cars for repairs in the U.S. and other countries over a sticky accelerator and floor mats that can get caught in the gas pedal.

The company has consistently only said it will soon announce plans to deal with the braking problem in the Prius.

At least 100 drivers of Prius cars in the U.S. have complained to the government that their antilock brakes seemed to fail momentarily while driving on bumpy roads. The Japanese government has also received dozens of complaints. Toyota plans to fix a software glitch to correct the problem. The government says the problem is suspected in four crashes that caused two minor injuries.

Toyota says the brakes will work if the driver keeps pushing the pedal.

The Prius is the world's top-selling gas-electric hybrid and its fuel efficiency has drawn intense interest amid concerns about global warming and dependence on fossil fuels.

Toyota has sold more than 300,000 of the vehicles in about 60 countries since May, according to the company.

Kyodo reported recalls in other countries will follow those in Japan and the U.S.

The company says it has already fixed vehicles that went on sale since last month.

Toyota sales expert Yoshimi Inaba will appear before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday along with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Administrator David Strickland. The name of the hearing: \\\"Toyota Gas Pedals: Is the Public at Risk?\\\"

Inaba was hand-picked from semiretirement by Toyota President Akio Toyoda last year to head the North American operations and help steer Toyota through the company's biggest earnings slump in its 72-year history as global auto sales dived.

General Motors Co. said Monday it will start shipping parts to dealers this week to fix about 99,000 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibes equipped with the same sticky gas pedal systems as Toyota's. The Vibe is essentially the same car as a Toyota Matrix, built by a joint venture between the two automakers. The Vibe also is covered by the floor mat recall, and GM is urging customers to take out removable mats and put them in the trunk until a fix is ready.

Hahah nice pic. Damn Toyota is paying a huge price right now.

Just about 6 months ago Toyota was one of a few dealders here in the states that could actually sell their cars. In fact consumer reports said in an article that if Toyota ever built a truck equal to Ford 550 or a Chevy Duramax that they would put them out of business.....

Well things certainly have changed. Not only does Toyota have to fix every car, not just Prius' either. Theres a recall on about 1.9 million other cars. They have to hire part time employees and most service departments are open 24 hours now. Thats pretty crazy.

And now their showrooms are dead. I would not at all be surprised if this was the end of the line for a company that has dominated over the past 15 years. Something as big and serious as this will really prove to be deadly.

It is amazing that things have gone from bad to worse for Toyota...not too long ago, they were on top of the world...literally, as the biggest auto producer...I don't think they will retain that title after this.

Recalls aren't really all that unusual. The whole Toyota thing is making waves because it took them so long to do the recall.

They got the Tiger Woods curse.

I hope they fix the turn signals on them all, too, because it doesn't seem as though they work in Priuses around here.... or wait, nevermind, no one knows how to use those around here. lol

EPIC FAIL TOYOTA

American automakers need to just start over completely. Until they drastically improve their vehicles, making them safer, more fuel-efficient, and more technologically advanced, don't even bother putting anything on the market. I wouldn't even waste my time looking into buying a U.S. vehicle. My friend and I went to a local dealer and each bought a brand new Honda Civic last year. Now that's a car.

Originally Posted by Juice

American automakers need to just start over completely. Until they drastically improve their vehicles, making them safer, more fuel-efficient, and more technologically advanced, don't even bother putting anything on the market. I wouldn't even waste my time looking into buying a U.S. vehicle. My friend and I went to a local dealer and each bought a brand new Honda Civic last year. Now that's a car.

I don't know if your being extremely ignorant or just made an honest mistake but Toyota is not an American made car.... And Honda is not either.
Statistically over the past 15 years Hondas and Toyota have out sold any American made car 3-1..... In terms of 4 door sedans and Mid size SUVs.... I would never ever ever ever ever buy an american made sedan or Suv.... Truck yes.

I know, they're Japanese cars, but I was just throwing that out there lol.

Originally Posted by Conrad

I don't know if your being extremely ignorant

lol

Originally Posted by Juice

I know, they're Japanese cars, but I was just throwing that out there lol.

Throwing what out there....

Just becuase they are sold here and there are factories and service departments in America doesn't make them an American made car.... Japanese cars are a much better product than any other type of car... Putting it all together that is. Financially in terms of price of the note and maintenance as well as the quality and life of the car.
If i had money to blow i would be driving around in a European car. But even those cars are extremely pricing to maintain. Parts alone would make me go broke.

I know they're not American made vehicles lol. I only threw that out there because this thread is generally about cars and I just wanted to get that off my chest. I have a disdain for American automobiles and so I wanted to say why they're failing just like it seems Toyota is about to fail.

Originally Posted by Juice

I know they're not American made vehicles lol. I only threw that out there because this thread is generally about cars and I just wanted to get that off my chest. I have a disdain for American automobiles and so I wanted to say why they're failing just like it seems Toyota is about to fail.

Im sorry i fail to see the connection between how Fords, Chevys and Dodges are shitty cars and whats going on with Toyotas.... I really don't get at all what your saying... If you forgot that they weren't American cars than thats fine.... This recall isn't just happening here in the USA.... Its happening anywhere these cars are sold. So i really don't see any connection between you saying American cars suck and Toyotas now suck....
:iono:

I don't know man, why are you on my ass about it? :) I wasn't trying to make some ingenious connection. I just stated something that was slightly unrelated to the topic. All I was really trying to do was show my disdain for American vehicles. I've known for years that Toyota and Honda are Japanese cars.

Originally Posted by Juice

I don't know man, why are you on my ass about it? :) I wasn't trying to make some ingenious connection. I just stated something that was slightly unrelated to the topic. All I was really trying to do was show my disdain for American vehicles. I've known for years that Toyota and Honda are Japanese cars.

Well i was just trying to understand where you were going with that statement. I really thought that it just slipped your mind... Its quite alright though.