Toyota acknowledged design problems with the brakes in its prized Prius, adding to the catalog of woes for the Japanese automaker as it reels from massive gas-pedal recalls in the U.S.They'll recover, but it will take time. People still want the hybrids and Toyota's history of quality autos will not be forgotten. People who have been panicked by the accelerator problems are not thinking all that logically. Very few cars have had problems. When you compare those few to the millions that have worked fine it's hard to condemn an entire brand.
Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it found design problems with the antilock brake system and corrected them for Prius models sold since late January, including those being shipped overseas.
But the company said it was still investigating how to inform customers who had bought them earlier. Nothing was decided on that front for Prius gas-electric hybrids sold outside Japan, according to Toyota.
Complaints about braking problems in the Prius — the world's top-selling hybrid — have been reported in the U.S. and Japan, combining to some 180, and come amid a global recall of nearly 4.5 million vehicles for faulty gas pedals.
"We are investigating whether there are defects in the Prius," Toyota executive Hiroyuki Yokoyama told reporters at the automaker's Tokyo headquarters.
Paul Nolasco, a company spokesman, said the time lag for brakes kicking in felt by drivers stem from the two systems in a gas-electric hybrid — the gas-engine and the electric motor.
When the car moves on a bumpy or slippery surface, a driver can feel a pause in the braking when the vehicle switches between the traditional hydraulic brakes and the electronically operated braking system, he said.
The brakes start to work if the driver keeps pushing the pedal, but the driver may momentarily feel they aren't working, he said. Fixing that included a software programming change, he said.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Toyota's Problems Continue
I kind of hate to see this. Toyota makes a very good car (based on my own experience putting 130,000 miles on a Camry with few if any problems). However, they're suffering a brand crisis right now that almost rivals Tiger Woods':
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While I am normally not a conspiracy theorist, I have to wonder if this much hoopla would be sounded if these same issues were happening to GM. Wasn't it our current administration that stated "Let no good crisis go to waste"
The problem facing Toyota is not the defects themselves, but that the company made a marketing issue of quality. That the problems were known by Toyota with no public acknowledgment speaks more to an issue of hierarchy in the company than the magnitude of the problem. If the problem is that of management more than technology, the brand will be tarnished for some time to come.
In fact, Japanese quality control has been the benchmark used by US firms to improve their products. I sat through seemingly endless meetings on the subject. Data mining offers enormous benefit, however, it must be supported and encouraged all the way to top management.
I'm completely with Robert... Toyota is supposedly the most reliable car maker... i don't care about the less than a second non-responding brake in Prius, but the fact that they come up admitting it and saying they knew about it and did nothing... that is not expected.
Apparently this is just a problem in the last year or two and on a sporadic basis. I have a 2002 Prius with 90,000 miles. It has NEVER been in a shop for repairs. Thinking back on several Big 3 cars I have owned and comparing their service records, Toyota builds a high quality car during a time of not so good American Union Quality.
I certainly hope they can correct the braking problem quickly. Hearing this news makes me kind of scared to drive my Prius.
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