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- Fresh Trouble For Toyota, Runaway Prius Raise New Fears
Fresh Trouble For Toyota, Runaway Prius Raise New Fears
- By Rob May
- Published 12 April 2010
- Automotive
- Unrated
Things just do not seem to be working Toyota’s way. After a concerted effort by Akio Toyoda and his top management to win over the detractors and their subsequent apology to the US Congress, it appeared for a while that Toyota may have finally found its foothold amidst the ongoing crisis. However, as things stand today, it appears that the situation has taken a turn for the worse.
Toyota’s share just fell 1.4% in Tokyo in the middle of new concerns over safety of its cars. And there is a fresh case of a Prius 2008 model losing control and over speeding up to 94 mph in San Diego. For the record, the Toyota Prius model is on the list of recalls, but for an altogether different reason. While Toyota has issued a recall notice for the sudden acceleration that is caused due to the gas pedal getting trapped in the floor mat, the latest case of the runaway Prius has caused anguish across the world.
To give you a backdrop of the case, one of the San Diego residents made a frantic 911 call after his Prius went out of control. His car sped up to 94 mph before one of the California Highway Patrol men guided him to stop the car. The car did stop, and was eventually impounded by the Highway team and sent to a Toyota dealer for a review. Toyota, on its part, sent its engineers to try and isolate the problem and the Highway Department also sent its inspectors to try and find the cause of the problem. The driver in question, Mr. James Sikes, was emphatic in confirming that the gas pedal was not trapped under the floor mat, thus raising fears of safety of other Prius owners. From what looked like a potential case of floor mat issue, the things took a turn for the worse because the cause of sudden acceleration is not clear.
Subsequent to this incident, there was another reported case of unintended acceleration of the 2005 Prius. This incident happened in Westchester and the Prius in question ended up slamming the stone wall. Fortunately, nobody was injured. But, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, has taken possession of the car and are investigating the incident.
The owner of the car has gone on record stating that the said car had been already serviced for the floor mat issue, and the cause of sudden acceleration is unclear. On it part, Toyota has sought permission to evaluate the damaged car.
These new cases are enough to throw a spanner in the wheels of Toyota, especially when it is looking to salvage sales and limit the impact of earlier recalls. The new incidents have shaken the trust of Toyota owners and there is so much confusion in the minds of people that nothing seems to be working for Toyota. Expectedly, Toyota has already been receiving flak for earlier recalls, and there is an under-lying feeling that all is still not well with Toyota cars.
For now, the NHTSA is investigating both incidents and the final word on this has yet to be written. The story of Toyota’s woes continues unabated.
Toyota’s share just fell 1.4% in Tokyo in the middle of new concerns over safety of its cars. And there is a fresh case of a Prius 2008 model losing control and over speeding up to 94 mph in San Diego. For the record, the Toyota Prius model is on the list of recalls, but for an altogether different reason. While Toyota has issued a recall notice for the sudden acceleration that is caused due to the gas pedal getting trapped in the floor mat, the latest case of the runaway Prius has caused anguish across the world.
To give you a backdrop of the case, one of the San Diego residents made a frantic 911 call after his Prius went out of control. His car sped up to 94 mph before one of the California Highway Patrol men guided him to stop the car. The car did stop, and was eventually impounded by the Highway team and sent to a Toyota dealer for a review. Toyota, on its part, sent its engineers to try and isolate the problem and the Highway Department also sent its inspectors to try and find the cause of the problem. The driver in question, Mr. James Sikes, was emphatic in confirming that the gas pedal was not trapped under the floor mat, thus raising fears of safety of other Prius owners. From what looked like a potential case of floor mat issue, the things took a turn for the worse because the cause of sudden acceleration is not clear.
Subsequent to this incident, there was another reported case of unintended acceleration of the 2005 Prius. This incident happened in Westchester and the Prius in question ended up slamming the stone wall. Fortunately, nobody was injured. But, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, has taken possession of the car and are investigating the incident.
The owner of the car has gone on record stating that the said car had been already serviced for the floor mat issue, and the cause of sudden acceleration is unclear. On it part, Toyota has sought permission to evaluate the damaged car.
These new cases are enough to throw a spanner in the wheels of Toyota, especially when it is looking to salvage sales and limit the impact of earlier recalls. The new incidents have shaken the trust of Toyota owners and there is so much confusion in the minds of people that nothing seems to be working for Toyota. Expectedly, Toyota has already been receiving flak for earlier recalls, and there is an under-lying feeling that all is still not well with Toyota cars.
For now, the NHTSA is investigating both incidents and the final word on this has yet to be written. The story of Toyota’s woes continues unabated.
Rob May
Rob May is an avid automotive writer. He suggests using the fleet fuel cards to control fuel costs of businesses. A fleet card is the most suitable way to control and administer fuel costs.
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