Nice New Toyotas

You may be asking yourself this question lately especially in light of the news that several Toyota models have been recalled while a Lexus model failed an important Consumer Reports safety test. These are some of the worst days in the history of Toyota, challenging times for the world’s largest auto maker.

But should you avoid Toyota altogether? As editor for Auto Trends and The Auto Writer and as a columnist for a pair of regional print publications, your concern is something I hear of occasionally. Editors are always concerned about covering a potentially unsafe vehicle while some readers wonder if they should avoid Toyota completely.

It can be easy to make your decision based solely on what you’re hearing in the news. Some of what has come out about Toyota is valid, but opportunists have gotten in their bashes too. You need facts and an objective voice, something I will try to provide as someone who doesn’t have any “skin in this game.”

Fact #1 – Toyota is not as reliable as they once were. This apparently is true as the company grew so fast that they put aside some of the warning signs indicating certain problems were surfacing. Reports at this time are unclear, but we think Toyota may have known that their accelerator pedals were a problem as far back as 2006. While all manufacturers have to deal with quality issues at some level, how they handle problems is telling: are they coming clean or burying the truth?

Fact #2 – Toyota quality remains high overall. Yes, absolutely. Many consumer surveys and most automotive analysts agree that when it comes to the quality and value of Toyota vehicles, Toyota is at or near the top. Honda, Ford, Hyundai and Buick are among the brands which have fared well in recent years, while Toyota continues to score well across its Toyota, Lexus and Scion lines.

Fact #3 – Some of the criticism appears exaggerated. Unfortunately, this appears to be so. Much has happened over the past few months to cause worry for current owners and for those shopping for a new Toyota. Stories of a runaway Lexus flying off the road and killing all four occupants in California and news that a certain Toyota Prius had trouble stopping on the expressway is national news. The first story is valid, the second is doubtful. And, some members of the press are smelling blood and seem to be looking for a Pulitzer Prize. In any case, reading up on these stories can tell you much including whether claims are valid or are being trumped up.

Fact #4 – Customer sales remain strong, so Toyota will still be around. Toyota’s bad news is good news for buyers who aren’t worried that their accelerator pedal is going to get stuck, their SUV flip over or some other problem surface. To win back customers while assuring current, but nervous owners that they’re here for the long haul, the automaker is offering unprecedented discounts and financing to win your business. In March 2010 that translated to some of the strongest sales for Toyota as customers saw a bargain and decided to make their purchase.

My personal disappointment with Toyota parallels that of what some other people in this industry are experiencing: we long believed Toyota represented some of the best cars in the industry, even buying their products. But we’ve also discovered an insular culture, one that has greedily jumped to the top of the industry while stupidly ignoring problems, some quite serious.

Perhaps the one question to ask yourself is this one: Can I trust Toyota to provide me with a safe and reliable vehicle, one whose value has not been compromised by the latest recall or rumor? If you feel satisfied with your answer, then you’ll know what direction to take.

Matthew C. Keegan

For 2010, the Toyota Corolla adds electronic stability control to its list of standard safety features; it was previously optional.

All 2010 Corollas have front and side airbags, along with curtain side airbags designed to provide head protection for both front- and rear-seat passengers. Also standard are height-adjustable front shoulder harnesses, seat belt pretensioners, and a seat belt force-limiting system that reduces the chances of the belts themselves causing injury.

The Corolla’s accident-avoidance equipment includes daytime running lights and the electronic stability control system, which varies engine power and selectively applies the brakes to reduce the risk of skidding in tight turns. All Corollas have ABS, with a brake-assist system that fully applies the brakes in a panic stop.

Despite its safety equipment, some reviewers have sharply criticized the Corolla’s emergency handling, saying that its electric power steering is numb and imprecise. Some Corolla buyers have filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the steering, claiming that it can overreact to small corrections. The NHTSA has not yet announced any investigation of the steering complaints. Toyota has issued a recall on some 2009-2010 Corollas to correct a problem that can cause a loss of power brake assist in cold weather.

The NHTSA has awarded the Toyota Corolla a four-star rating (out of a possible five) for driver and passenger protection in front impacts. Side impact protection rated five stars for front-seat occupants and four stars for rear-seat passengers. Rollover protection rated four stars. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates the 2010 Corolla’s crash protection Good (its highest rating) in all areas except head/neck injury, where it received an Acceptable rating.

Ronnie writes extensively about Toyota Corolla Parts and other related topics

It happened again, just as Toyota is doing everything to do some damage-control in the US, it has now happen in Europe and Asia. For those of you who have no idea whats going on, the problem with the worlds biggest car manufacturer is the defective gas pedals that initiate out of control acceleration.

The report comes at a very bad time for Toyota where it had previously halt production from a few of its factories in North America. The recall has spread to Europe in view of the fact that the defective accelerator pedals were also used in Toyota’s European market.

Its bad enough that Toyota had suffered a blow in their sales because of the global financial crisis but this adverse turn of event will not only further jeopardize their profit but will also place a big scar on their reputation as a maker of top-notch quality cars with dependable attributes. The cost in fixes each month will also cost Toyota hundreds of millions of dollars and this controversy has given other car manufacturers an edge.

In the US, a number of disasters involving Toyota cars have previously happened which caused fatalities. One very troubling one came from a 911 call in the San Diego, California where 4 individuals in a Lexus crashed because of a stuck gas pedal.

It is reported that an estimated 1.8 million vehicles will be recalled in Europe, including the UK, bad news doesn’t stop there. The pending recall in China is also said to total over 75,000 mainly for Toyota RAV4s. All have the same issue of faulty gas pedals.

Can the faulty accelerator pedal be blamed completely to Toyota? Toyota may be receiving the brunt of this controversy but a notable detail is that Toyota gets their gas pedals from a third party supplier, CTS Elkhart. Even though CTS has already made attempts to replace the faulty gas pedals, the reputation of Toyota has already been dented, possibly irreparable.

Toyota has also cautioned drivers of floormats trapping accelerator pedals.

a number of~various~a few} complaints. One of which is in Southeast Asia where several Toyota Innova drivers are complaining about D4D fuel pumps where the MUV has a possible tendency to stop suddenly without the driver braking.

Toyota’s embarrassment doesn’t finish there, there are now reports of a new round in recall and this time its Toyota’s hybrid car the Prius, Toyota’s forefront for green technology. Gas pedals are not the issue with the Prius but its brake pedal instead. where many Toyota drivers in Japan and the US have encountered sporadic unresponsive braking.

The Toyota car models being recalled are 2009-10 Corolla, 2009-10 RAV4, 2009-10 Matrix, 2007-10 Camry, 2005-10 Avalon, 2007-10 Tundra, 2010 Highlander, and 2008-10 Sequoia. If you drive any of these models, you should inform your dealer and have them take care of the issue. Should you experience a glitch with your accelerator, you must step on the brake pedal with one strong stomp instead of little by little and pull-up the handbrake.

Stuart Pudge writes for Motor-Speak.com whose visitors can catch up on all the latest cool car gadgets and anything to do with cars and driving. Visit today

A simple but vital component of your car that needs to checked every time you get your Toyota serviced or tuned up, is the fuel filter. The Toyota fuel filter has a very important job: to make sure that the fuel that reaches your engine does not contain any particles that could clog the engine. The Toyota alternator is another important component that charges your Toyota’s battery when the car’s running.

If there’s anything wrong with these two components, the car will not run. Without the Toyota alternator the car battery will discharge after a little while and the car will refuse to start. Similarly, if the Toyota fuel filter gets clogged the fuel will not reach the engine, and the car will refuse to run.

Luckily, these two parts are very low maintenance and if you keep your car services on schedule, you will not face any trouble. The Toyota fuel filter is a spare that needs to be replaced regularly. In fact the service guy probably replaces it every time you get your car serviced. The Toyota alternator on the other hand will go on working for years without a problem.

Although the service center charges a pretty hefty fee for it, replacing the Toyota fuel filter is not a difficult job for those who’re have some inclination towards learning car maintenance and repairs. In fact you will even find how to videos on the Internet that will show you how to replace the fuel filter yourself. Once you’ve mastered this skill, you’ll never be stranded due to a clogged fuel filter, and you’ll always know when to get your Toyota fuel filter replaced.

Maintaining the alternator unfortunately, is not so trivial. You can get to it pretty easily and also check if it’s generating a current for the battery or not, but if there’s something wrong with, it will be very difficult to repair it. Toyota alternator is not very cheap either, so if your alternator stops working, you’ll need to shell out a lot of cash.

One thing you must remember is that the Toyota alternator does not stop working very often. If you battery light on your car console is on, that means the batteries are not getting charged, but the trouble usually is not with the alternator but with the alternator belt. The alternator belt is responsible to turn the small turbine that generates the current in the Toyota alternator. Sometimes it breaks due to wear-and-tear and the current stops flowing. In this case all you need is a new alternator belt.

Usually buying the spare parts, be it a Toyota fuel filter or a Toyota alternator from the repair center is pretty expensive as those guys will sell it to you at a marked up price. You’ll get a better deal with a replacement parts stockist. So consider looking for the part on the Internet and finding out its price before you get it replaced. Ask your service guy what will be cost of just replacing the part if you got it yourself. You might be able to save a lot of money.