Toyota's Epic Fail

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker in sales, was forced to begin a recall that would affect 8.5 million Toyota vehicles around the world. The recall involves an issue with floor mats and gas pedals sticking. Many Toyota customers had been complaining that their Toyota vehicles had been accelerating unexpectedly, an issue that has already proved to be extremely dangerous. On August 28, 2009, four members of the Saylor family were driving a loaner Lexus ES350 while Mr. Saylor’s car was being serviced at the dealership. The loaner vehicle’s acceleration pedal became stuck, which caused the Lexus to speed up to about 100mph when it slammed into the back of another vehicle, causing the Lexus to go out of control off of the highway, went airborne, and rolled several times before catching on fire, killing all four family members inside the vehicle.


After consistently avoiding the press, President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, finally agreed to do a press conference on Capitol Hill. Mr. Toyoda was questioned as to why it took so long for Toyota to begin recalling all vehicles affected by this malfunction. In essence, Mr. Toyoda stated that the vehicular malfunctions can be attributed to structural issues and “misuse” of the vehicles (not defects in the electronic throttle system), admitted failure on the company’s part to respond quickly, and promised that Toyota is now setting up a “global commission to address complaints more quickly and efforts to increase transparency on safety issues” (CNNmoney.com).

Even after avoiding the press for so long, many people in the general public, including myself, are dissatisfied with Mr. Toyoda’s response to this situation. I drive a Toyota vehicle, and knowing that the company’s President avoided the press for such a long time, only to NOT be able to provide any reasonable answers about the company’s recent shortcomings makes me extremely nervous and skeptical about the company I invested in.

Also, Toyota’s executives were scrutinized for a company memo in 2009 which clearly stated that the company was saving $100 million in limiting their recalls. That couldn’t have come out at a better time. Customer safety comes first, huh? Thanks Toyota!

At the press conference, Mr. Toyoda expressed his condolences for the Saylor family again. However, when asked if Toyota will take financial responsibility for anybody injured as a result of the recall, the president of Toyota's North America division, Yoshimi Inaba, hesitated in responding that such decisions will be left to Toyota’s legal teams. Are you kidding me? These guys knew they were walking into the lion’s den when they agreed to do this press conference in the first place, so they should have expected that question. They could have at least agreed to “try their best” in accommodating for any future issues that may arise as a result of the recall. I understand that such decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis because of the need for research to have evidence that the crash was a result of the malfunction being recalled, but give me a break! The point of a press conference is to give the organization being represented positive press, and it seems as though these guys were simply counting money the entire plane ride over to the U.S., rather than practicing how they were going to respond in the conference.

Potential danger to Toyota customers aside, what effects will this have on Toyota’s auto making competitors? Could this give the struggling American car companies, such as Ford and GM, the edge they need in order to gain some market share? I may be hypocritical when I say this, but I sure hope so. I want American car companies to succeed because, although some of them do outsource certain parts of their vehicles to other countries, the United States could use a boost in American car sales to help propel our country out of the economic rut. I bought into Toyota a long time ago because of its reputation for having high quality vehicles that you could basically drive into the ground for 100,000 miles without ever needing an oil change (this is an exaggeration, but you get the idea). Now, however, I may need to rethink what car I choose to drive next when my car does eventually die. What do you think?

One last thing – If you drive a vehicle and your gas pedal sticks, so you are unable to stop the acceleration, you can do one of two things to increase your chances of survival. One (and this is my recommendation, especially if you have a vehicle with a start button instead of a key), turn your car off! You will lose power steering and breaks, but your vehicle will stop feeding gas to the engine completely and you will be able to turn your emergency lights on and hopefully steer your car to safety. Two, put your car in neutral. This has the same basic effects as option one, but your car will still rev the heck out of the engine because it is still on, which can freak the people out around you by making your car sound extremely loud and possibly do more damage.