Recall Wednesday: Toyota recalling 539,500 vehicles

drew630 submitted on 04/09/2008 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 5:15 PM
from: money.cnn.com

[37] user comments | category: Misc News

Tags: Toyota, Corolla, Matrix

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Toyota

Corolla

Matrix

Recall Wednesday: Toyota recalling 539,500 vehicles

Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 539,500 Corolla and Matrix passenger cars in the United States because the bolts in the power window system can become loose and ultimately cause a window to shatter.

Toyota said Wednesday it had received reports of 143 cases in which the bolts at the bottom of the power window assembly became loose, caused the window to rattle or led to the window breaking.

Toyota spokesman Joe Tetherow said there had been one minor accident and 15 injuries reported. He said he did not know how many complaints Toyota had received of windows shattering.

The recall involves 2003-2004 model year Corolla and Matrix vehicles equipped with power windows. Vehicles with manual windows are not part of the recall.

The automaker said if the window bolts become loose, motorists may hear an abnormal noise from the driver or front passenger door while operating the power windows.

The recall affects only vehicles sold in the United States, Tetherow said.

Toyota will notify owners of the recall in late April. Dealers will replace the driver and front passenger door glass bolts at no charge to owners. Read Article

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w209w114 - 4/10/2008 9:41:49 AMView My AgentSpace

+5 Boost

Round em up Baby! In recent news, Toyota has also surpassed GMC in number of recalls.

Or so it seems.

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silver1 - 4/10/2008 10:21:59 AM

-8 Boost

Round em up Baby! In recent news and history news Toyota/Lexus has also surpass every other auto-maker as the longest lasting vehicles with the fewest problems.

Based on a ten year study on 2008 Consumer Reports Auto Issue page 21.

w209w114 - 4/10/2008 10:32:10 AMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

Based on a ten year study on 2008 Consumer Reports Auto Issue page 21

Stop living in the past. This is the present. And the truth is Toyota Quality is down. The number of recalls speak for themselves.

w209w114 - 4/10/2008 10:34:42 AMView My AgentSpace

+3 Boost

Plus their love affair with Consumer reports is over as everyone knows. I have seen far fewer problems and recalls emerge from GM recently, than Toyota.

drew630 - 4/10/2008 10:46:33 AM

+2 Boost

Well, GM will be recalling the Vibe because of this.

silver1 - 4/10/2008 12:41:05 PM

-1 Boost

"w209w114"

The past? Toyota has more recommened vehicles on the 2008 consumer reports list than anybody else, and this is the latest and greatest.

On consumer reports for "NEW MODELS," Toyota came in 5th, and Scion came in 3rd.

1. Honda
2. Acura
3. Scion
4. Subaru
5. Toyota

Consumer Reprts 2008 Auto Issue Page 22

J.D. Power Dependability Study

Toyota came in 6th with a score of 159, Honda beat them by 1 point. With Lexus tieing for Buick for the #1 spot

J.D. Power Initial Quality Study
Toyota came in 7th. Lexus came in 2nd.

Toyota is still well above average. And the Corolla World's best selling car, and Camry U.S. best selling car for many many years is thanks to their year after year above than the average vehicle in reliablity.

silver1 - 4/10/2008 12:43:28 PM

-1 Boost

"w209w114"

So if Toyota is down and since they are #1 for being the longest lasting vehicles with the fewest problems, then what is everybody else? Super Down?

VISO - 4/10/2008 2:39:32 PM

0 Boost

Ouch!

w209w114 - 4/10/2008 3:06:22 PMView My AgentSpace

+2 Boost

According to MSNBC in 2007...

Ford Motor Co. supplanted Toyota as leader of the pack in J.D. Power and Associates’ annual initial quality rankings released Wednesday, grabbing more individual awards than any other automaker for the first time since 1998, when it tied for the top spot.

Toyota Motor Corp., which grabbed the top spot in 11 segments last year, captured only four this year — the 4Runner, Sequoia, Tacoma and Lexus RX350/RX400h.

Michels said the LS460, which for the first time was not the top-ranked in its segment, came in a close second to the Audi A8 and Mercedes Benz S-Class, which tied for first

Andrew Phillips of Nikko Citigroup stated "Toyota's resources have been stretched quite a bit by the big increases in volume." Shinsei Securities analyst Yasuhiro Matsumoto lays the blame for Toyota’s declining quality squarely on Katsuaki Watanabe’s shoulders. He claims the CEO’s constant focus on cost cutting has created devastating production glitches. The resulting quality issues have become so alarming that Watanabe recently admitted, "I take this seriously and see it as a crisis." It’s just as well; Goldman Sachs analyst Kunihiko Shiohara estimates that it may take Toyota four years or more to achieve "a fundamental turnaround in quality levels.”

I could look up info on my computer all day if I had enough time as you.

silver1 - 4/10/2008 3:57:58 PM

-1 Boost

"w209w114" Answer my Question!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If Toyota is down and since they are #1 for being the longest lasting vehicles with the fewest problems, then what is everybody else? Super Down?

w209w114 - 4/11/2008 3:07:59 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

"If Toyota is down and since they are #1 for being the longest lasting vehicles with the fewest problems, then what is everybody else? Super Down?"

I will lay it out for you. These quality tests are relative to the competition (Rolls-Royce isnt on the list and I suspect that they have better quality than Toyota (or am I wrong?). The competition is getting fierce while Toyota was getting weaker in the craftsmanship and reliability sector. Toyota's new models are way down in quality from years ago and its going to take them some time to fix this mess.

DO you really believe that a Toyota is a better quality car than a BMW or a Mercedes? By means and use of common sense you should be able to answer your own question.

silver1 - 4/11/2008 12:30:26 PM

-1 Boost

i guess you haven't look at consumer reports lately. I will repeat again, Toyota has more recommend cars on the list than anybody else, so how in the hell Mercedes & BMW has pass them in quality?

Porschinator - 4/16/2008 3:09:29 PM

+1 Boost

Drew...Vibe is same vehicle as Matrix. Both of which are made/engineered by Toyota. So technically not a GM recall. Toyota growing too fast?

EL34 - 4/10/2008 10:28:20 AM

+2 Boost

Wow, it's time for Hara-kiri for high ranking Toyota designers.

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adamsaf723 - 4/10/2008 10:41:33 AM

+1 Boost

Where are the flamers?
I'm surprised the German fanboys aren't all over this story.

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FactsRule - 4/10/2008 12:26:02 PM

0 Boost

I do find it fascinating that the toyo/lexus fan bois leap on BMW threads to trash them with stories such as these. I guess we german fan bois have more class than the toyo/lexus fans....

Gotta love it when you see all these recalls from toyo/lexus.. Sacrificing quality for production numbers.. How interesting..

Homer008 - 4/10/2008 2:22:44 PM

+2 Boost

obviously you are new to website lol.

0to60 - 4/10/2008 6:05:50 PM

+2 Boost

Naw FactsRule, yall just out number the lex fans. Both you German fanatics and the Lex fanatics on this site are idiots!

Agent009 - 4/10/2008 11:06:24 AMView My AgentSpace

0 Boost

Did anyone notice that the Pontiac Vibe which is the SAME car and has the SAME issue is missing from this notice?

Is Pontiac letting Toyota take the lumps? Or is it "let them take the headlines before we mention our recall"?

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w209w114 - 4/10/2008 11:14:23 AMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

I doubt Toyota would have let GM take a major role in the engineering of this car. The vibe is more of a toyota rebadge with different materials and styling but the mechanics are the same.

This is the same scenario as the kid that copies of the other kid's test paper hoping he was smarter and unfortunately got screwed.

drew630 - 4/10/2008 1:27:55 PM

+3 Boost

GM is also recalling the Vibe and the announcement came at the same time. Toyota is getting more of the attention simply because number of the vehicles being Toyota.

Here's a link for GM:
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/09/recall-watch-toyota-gm-recalling-660-000-vehicles-for-window-d/

EL34 - 4/10/2008 11:19:04 AM

+3 Boost

Toyota should close it's doors and go out of business.

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VEGAM - 4/10/2008 11:34:45 AM

+2 Boost

I am new to this site. I wondering what is your basis for this comment!!

AdHominem - 4/10/2008 1:37:55 PM

+6 Boost

It's humor.

Homer008 - 4/10/2008 2:19:20 PM

0 Boost

EL34<--don't pay attention to him but if get bored just bash the crap out of him...I use him as a punching bag or should i say a dummy bag..dun't matter but he gets bashed alot..and he just keeps comin back LOL. I do believe he claimed once he was 40 year old virgin.

simmonsdp - 4/10/2008 4:59:29 PM

+1 Boost

yeah, and EL has his owne real estate business. His office is a small padded room where people wear white jackets and give him meds.....

1stgenaristoTT - 4/10/2008 12:28:22 PM

+1 Boost

the only reason toyotas has so many issues is because of their joint ventures with gm...duh

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carguy68 - 4/10/2008 1:10:02 PM

+4 Boost

toyotas new motto is build quantity not quality.

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JUGNU - 4/10/2008 1:46:13 PMView My AgentSpace

+1 Boost

surprise to see such things were not said in a recent 'VW recalls gasoline Passat' blog.

JUGNU

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cbro980 - 4/10/2008 6:36:50 PM

+1 Boost

That was an incredibly tasteless comment. Oh well, consider the source.

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toolatetorace - 4/10/2008 10:43:51 PM

+2 Boost

Not being a Toyota basher ,but their fix of the problems by just replacing the bolts looks like band aid fix . Having addressed this problem in varoius cars where the window came off the track , came up sideways , etc. , I have found out that you can fix the problems using the factory fix and then telling the person not to slam the door with the window rolled halfway up . Many cars today do not have the window supported in the channel deep enough . Now add this to a window anchor that is not durable enough , the problem can only be put off and not fixed by replacing the bolts A complete redo of the window anchoring program is probably in order but not practical at this time so a band aid will have to do .

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huu76 - 4/10/2008 11:17:55 PM

+1 Boost

So now we know what caused the problem with the shattering window the last time this was posted.

Is it standard practice now to post every Toyota problem twice now as though to make it appear there are twice as many recalls?

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bagwell - 4/11/2008 10:47:03 AM

-1 Boost

oh bullshit - at least Toyota takes care of the customer and does these VOLUNTARY RECALLS before being mandated!!!

does FORD/GM do that hell no!!

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enthusiastx11 - 4/11/2008 11:47:07 AM

+1 Boost

it's become readily apparent that toyota has seriously compromised is hallowed quality for growth.

corolla, matrix, tacoma, tundra....one recall after the next.

the primary REASON to buy a toyota product has always been superior quality. now that that's slipping, what's left? hondas are way better looking, better performing. same for nissan.

not a pretty future for japan's biggest car maker.

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r_driver04 - 4/14/2008 11:23:37 AM

0 Boost

Toyota is down in quality due to their growing pains. This too will subside or pass. The "little 3" are still worlds behind and their numbers show. Toyota is just now dealing with the issues that the domestics have been fighting and still are fighting for decades now.

We're talking about a window track in the Corolla/Vibe/Matrix...not a huge deal. What about the fuel rail issue in the GM trucks, Suburbans, Yukons and Tahoes that result in actual fires. C'mon people.

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Porschinator - 4/16/2008 3:11:25 PM

+1 Boost

Unfortuantely large auto companies will always have recalls. I am sure a few of you know what it takes to engineer a vehicle. So many variables to consider and part suppliers you have to rely on for good parts as well as the line workers putting them together. More autos you make the more chance of recalls will occur.

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