Auto Trends

Toyota Hearing, originally uploaded by Yoidore

A lot of talk has been thrown around loosely behind Toyota’s 8.5 million vehicle recall, but one thing is for certain; there is definitely going to be a fairly significant aftermath. Toyota reported an 8.7 percent decline in sales last month, proving their worst fears were becoming nightmares. Two of the newest developments in the aftermath of the Toyota recall are an “unprecedented” incentive program to win back U.S. customer loyalty, and discussions between U.S. officials to create a Federal mandate enforcing brake override systems.

Toyota Deals are Booming (March-April 5^th)
Toyota may not be the fair haired child to U.S. consumers anymore, but Toyota is most certainly pulling all the stops to win back their support. Yesterday, Toyota Motor Company announced what would appear to be one of the most aggressive incentive packages in their history.

Starting this month of March through the 5^th of April, buyers can choose between either a zero interest loan for as long as five years (60 months), or a “low cost” lease. Both incentives also carry the addition of free maintenance for the period of two years. These incentives are set to range across the Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Prius, Yaris, Venza (wagon), RAV4, Highlander, and Tundra models.

The cost of these incentives could be astronautical when you consider that subsidizing a zero percent, 60 month loan, will cost Toyota over $4,600 per vehicle with current interest rates. While this may sound bad for Toyota, it can be good for the consumer if they are in the market for a Toyota. By most calculations, the incentives offer the possibility of purchasing a new Corolla, starting at just $179/month, or a Camry for $199/month.

Yes, that’s “unprecedented”!

Brake Override Mandates in Consideration
The other interesting aftermath to come out of Toyota’s situation, is a discussion by U.S. officials, looking at the possibility of mandating brake overrides on all new vehicles. This news comes as Toyota’s unattended acceleration problem has been looked at by State Farm Insurance, who has come to the conclusion, that most of these issues began after Toyota started using computer controlled “throttle by wire” systems. In this type of arrangement, it is the job of the computer to monitor the position of the pedal and adjust speed accordingly.

The mandate will allow the “human” driver to override the “computers” decision to continue accelerating if it senses the brake pedal has been applied. In other words, the brake system will have priority over the accelerator at all times. While this solution does not inhibit the possibility of a computer control unit, malfunctioning (which Toyota denies has ever happened), the driver would at least be able to disengage acceleration with the tap of a foot.

Rounding off Toyota’s over-the-knee swaddling, Senator Jay Rockefeller, dished out his own round of spankings to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for not finding the root cause of the acceleration issue sooner. “I think NHTSA investigators would rather focus on floor mats than microchips because they understand floor mats,” said Rockefeller, inferring to their underrated engineering staff.

“Unprecedented” indeed!

Source: Left Lane News & Business Week

NISSAN ARMADA 4×4, originally uploaded by Saleh AlRashaid

As suspected, the Toyota recall catastrophe has urged a couple voluntary recalls, beginning yesterday with GM and the sum of about 1.3 million passenger vehicles that could be susceptible to a power steering failure. Today, Nissan joins the ranks with a voluntary recall of around 500,000 (worldwide) vehicles, ranging across their line of SUV, truck, and minivans.

The recall focuses around two separate issues. The first is a brake pin which is said to have the tendency to become disengaged, resulting in a loss of braking power. The second is a faulty fuel gauge, which will more than likely effect only high mileage vehicles.

Obviously, the priority will go to the brake issue, effecting some 180,000 vehicles, but Nissan plans on overlapping the fixes in the cases where certain vehicles are effected by both problems (namely the Titan, Armada, and Infinity QX56). The list of effected vehicles for the brake recall are the 2009 – 2010 Nissan Titan, Armada, Quest, and Infinity QX56.

The fuel gauge issue, effecting mostly high mileage vehicles, is said to cause the gauge to read more gas than is really in the tank. The biggest danger here is running out of gas at an inopportune moment. This fix will take up the brunt of the recalls with around 420,000 effected vehicles. These vehicles include the 2005 through 2008 Titan, Armada, Infinity QX56, Frontier, Pathfinder, and Xterra.

With Toyota hanging by the noose, Nissan was quick to blame responsibility on the manufactured parts, rather than their own design. Owners will be receiving instructions soon on how the progression of the recall will follow.

Source: Left Lane News

nhtsa-opens-probe-on-chevy-cobalt-for-power-steering-failures_2, originally uploaded by specialclub18

Toyota has been taking the brunt of recall notices for the past few months, so they must be relieved to have another manufacturer take the headlines for a day. As Shinichi Saki (quality control chief) and Yoshimi Inaba (North American President) prepared to “take the stand”, GM was busy telling the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), their conclusion to its investigation on over 1,100 complaints, 14 accidents, and one injury.

Since 2008, Chevrolet Cobalt consumers have been complaining of a power steering failure leaving their vehicle difficult to maneuver (under 15 mph or so). GM has said that the failures generally occur after 20 to 30 thousand miles on the odometer, and the steering will usually function again after the vehicle has been shut down and restarted.

GM has announced that they will need to recall 1.3 million of their vehicles in North America to reach all defective steering pumps. The recall will include the 2007-2010 Pontiac G5 (US), 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt (US), 2005-2006 Pontiac G4 (Mexico), and 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuit (Canada). They will be beginning with older models (with the most miles on the odometer), and working their way forward to the newest, including vehicles currently on dealer lots.

After all the commotion with Toyota, GM was probably more than happy to post the voluntary recall on behalf of their consumers. “Recalling these vehicles is the right thing to do for our customers’ peace of mind,” said GM Vice President of Qulaity Control, Jamie Hresko.

While the issue is not necessarily dangerous, referring to a driver being still able to safely control the vehicle, it can still be a surprise to the driver (requiring greater effort), explaining the 14 accidents which have been reported so far.

We can probably expect manufacturers to be on their toes when it comes to announcing and fixing these types of recalls in the future. The NHTSA is currently on the war path, with Toyota’s slap on the wrist, quickly becoming an all out swaddling over their knee. GM will be announcing the extent of the recall plan to owners in the coming weeks.

Source: Auto News