Toyota Officially Recalls 430,000 Prius Hybrids – but Do More Problems Exist?

Admitting his company is not “infallable,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda today announced the recall of 430,000 Prius hybrids worldwide, saying it is time for the embattled automaker to “face up to the facts” and deal with its safety problems.

The recall involves not only the latest, 2010 Prius but also another dedicated hybrid, the new Lexus HS250h.  About 127,500 vehicles are being called back in the U.S., while another 53,000 are involved in Europe.  The vast bulk of the recall affects hybrids sold in Japan, where the Prius is not just the best-selling gasoline-electric model but the top seller among all vehicles sold in Toyota’s home market.

“I don’t see Toyota as an infallible company that never makes mistakes,” said a chastened President and CEO Akio Toyoda, during a Tokyo press conference today. “We will face up to the facts and correct the problem, putting customers’ safety and convenience first.”

But even as Toyota steps up with a recall for the third-generation Prius model, which it launched last spring – addressing a problem TheDetroitBureau.com first reported on December 24, 2009 – this magazine finds there could be further brake issues with Toyota’s most popular hybrid not covered by the new service action. Click Here for the complete story.

(Prius owners with complaints should report them to the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or http://www.safercar.gov, and Toyota at 800-331-433. Have your VIN number in front of you when you call. )

An investigative report uncovered a sizable number of complaints to federal regulators that involve Prius vehicles sold prior to the 2010 model-year.  It is yet unclear precisely how serious the potential issue is, or how extensive, but a number of owners tell TheDetroitBureau.com they experience the same sort of momentary brake loss Toyota now plans to correct on the 2010 hybrids.

Among them is Jess Wittenberg, who claims he has “several times noted a tendency to feel a brake ‘hiatus’ on bumpy ground,” with his 2005 Prius. “I refuse to believe this is just (the) 2010” model.

The recall of the latest Prius is designed to correct what the maker belatedly acknowledged as “over-aggressive” anti-lock brakes that can kick in when a driver tries to stop on bumpy or slick surfaces, leading to as much as a second of braking loss.  At just 30 mph, that’s enough for the vehicle to travel up to 44 feet, or three car lengths.

The Prius recall is particularly troubling for Toyota, not because of its size but because of the timing and the nature of the products it affects, which are among the most important in the automaker’s line-up from an image standpoint, cautions Joe Phillippi, of AutoTrends Consulting.

Since October, Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles for various issues collectively described as “unintended acceleration,” a problem in which the cars, trucks and crossovers may race out of control.  The earliest recall involved the possibility that loose floor mats could jam accelerator pedals.  But in January, Toyota announced a second recall acknowledging a problem with “sticky accelerators.  Millions of vehicles sold in the U.S. and abroad are subject to both repair programs.

Since late last week, Toyota dealers have been racing to install a small steel plate designed to prevent the sticking accelerator issue.  That’s critical because the automaker has ordered that eight of its most important models not be sold until they are repaired.  According to analysts, including those at Deutsche Bank, the order curbs Toyota’s U.S. sales volume by as much as 4,000 units a day.

Meanwhile, a temporary shutdown of five North American assembly plants ended yesterday as the automaker began using a replacement accelerator assembly instead of the original design involved in the sticking problem.

“Let me assure everyone that we will redouble our commitment to quality as the lifeline of our company,” said Toyota President Toyoda – the grandson of the automaker’s founder – during the Tuesday news conference.

The recall appears to involve “flashing” the electronic brake controllers on 2010 Prius and HS250h models with new code that will make the ABS systems less aggressive when the hybrids experience what might be considered a momentary loss of traction.

Repairs will begin tomorrow, in Japan, though it’s not clear when overloaded U.S. dealers will be able to address the Prius problem.

The new recall drew an unusual public rebuke from Japanese regulators, the AP reported, quoting Ryusuke Itazaki, chief of the recall department at the Transport Ministry, saying, “If the company had paid more attention to consumers’ viewpoint, it could have realized that there was a safety problem.”

Toyota officials may hear similar complaints – among others – during a hearing on Capitol Hill, today, the first called to address safety issues at a manufacturer long known for its “bullet-proof” products.

The recalls have already had an impact on the automaker’s owners, who are not only inconvenienced by the various service actions but who are seeing the trade-in value of their vehicles – residuals, in industry parlance – drop.  The data service, Kelly Blue Book, is reporting that pices are down as much as 3% in recent weeks and could face a further cut.

That’s a potentially nagging issue for the maker because one of the underlying factors that has helped Toyota steadly gain ground in a highly competitive car market is the strong value that its products have traditionally retained.

But the Prius issue is especially sticky because it involves what has become the maker’s “halo car,” a vehicle that lends a strong aura of credibility to the brand because of it advanced technology and save-the-enviroment features.

If that image is damaged, that could be a serious setback, warns Dave Sargent, head of automotive research at J.D. Power and Associates, though the research firm also believes that a quick response to the hybrid’s problems could help restore a sense that Toyota is looking out for its owners.

The question is whether Prius could be damaged by further safety revelations, much as has happened to other Toyota models. (Click Here for a report on various other issues involving Prius.)

There has been a long-running problem with the advanced HID headlights on Prius, which many owners complain have a tendency to fail unexpectedly.  And now, there could be questions raised if investigators begin looking into complaints that the braking issue involves hybrids not covered by today’s recall.

Tags: 2010 toyota prius, auto news, auto safety, car news, electric car news, paul a. eisenstein, paul eisenstein, prius brakes, prius recalls, prius safety, safety news, thedetroitbureau, toyota news, toyota recalls, toyota safety

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 7:29 am and is filed under Automobiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.