Toyota Recalls 2 Million More Cars for Pedal Issues

Toyota announced today that it would begin a new round of voluntary recalls covering nearly 2 million more vehicles for various issues surrounding pedal entrapment. The recall includes popular models like the Toyota Highlander and RAV4. This brings Toyota's total number of recalls since 2009 to nearly 15 million vehicles.

The move comes after a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA concluded there was no electronic malfunction leading to unintended acceleration. These recalls address either the same floormat interference issue of past recalls or two new modifications of floormats, carpet and connectors.
 
Three models — totaling 1.4 million vehicles — are being added to the November 2009 recall for pedal entrapment.

How Good Are Toyotathon's Deals?

After checking out multiple dealership regions, Toyotathon is a good opportunity overall if you’re looking for a 2011 model year vehicle or if you’re trying to lease.

The recently redesigned 2011 Highlander already has a $500 cash-back deal and an attractive lease rate of $319 per month. In fact, all of Toyota’s lease rates – the automaker has traditionally leaned harder on this option – are excellent.

All the lease deals ask for less than $2,000 due at signing, so you’d pay a lot less upfront compared with some competitors, especially for Toyota’s pickup, minivan and crossovers. In some regions, such as Southern California, there’s a “$0 Down Payment, $0 Security Deposit, $0 Due at Signing, $0 1st Month's Payment” regional deal for folks who lease.

If you’re financing, most models offer 0% to 2.9% for 60 months.

With nearly 60% of Toyota’s inventory now 2011 model years, most remaining 2010s have lost their incentives. The outgoing 2010 Corolla gets $1,000 to $1,250 cash back on it; remember that the model was refreshed for the 2011 model year. The redesigned 2011 Avalon and Sienna both have $1,000 cash-back deals, too.

Most of the deals below expire Jan. 3.

Toyota Announces October Incentives

Throughout the summer Toyota offered fairly generous incentives on its vehicles to compensate for its flagging sales, which were caused by a deluge of safety recalls.

For October Toyota’s incentives are fine-tuned to get rid of its remaining 2010-model-year inventory and other slow-moving vehicles. These incentives are good through Nov. 1, but it’s important to note that some regions and dealer groups have opted out of the incentive programs, changed the terms or shifted incentive money from one model to another that’s weak in their specific region.

For instance, the Los Angeles region has an incentive on some models of no down payment, no security deposit, no money due at signing and no first month’s payment deal. The Chicago area has a $1,000 cash-back offer for recent college grads when they buy or lease select Toyotas as well as special lease rates.

To find detailed incentives, go to buyatoyota.com for the current offers in your area.

Below you’ll find a list of incentives on current Toyota vehicles.

Top Roof-Strength Scores Elusive for Some SUVs

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently conducted end-of-the-year testing on the 2010 Nissan Xterra, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Toyota 4Runner and Nissan Pathfinder, all of which are part of the institute’s midsize SUV category. Although each SUV earned the best rating of Good in frontal and side-impact crash tests, none scored well enough in IIHS’s new roof-strength test to qualify for the institute’s Top Safety Pick award. 

In the roof-strength tests, the 4Runner, FJ Cruiser and Xterra earned an Acceptable rating, which means these SUVs can withstand 3.25 times the vehicle's weight before the roof caves in at least 5 inches. The Pathfinder received a Marginal rating, which means it can withstand about three times its own weight. Anything below 2.5 is rated Poor by IIHS. 

The institute uses the same testing method as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but its standard is more than two-and-half times as stringent as the government’s. To earn a Good rating in IIHS’s rollover test, a vehicle’s roof must be able to withstand the force of four times the vehicle’s weight. 

To earn the Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must receive the top rating of Good in front, side, rear and rollover crash tests. The vehicle also must have electronic stability control. 

Nearly 10,000 people die in rollovers each year, according to IIHS. A key component to preventing fatalities in rollovers is for your vehicle to maintain its roof’s integrity for as long as possible.

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2010|Toyota|FJ Cruiser

2010|Nissan|Pathfinder

2010|Nissan|Xterra

Federal Grand Jury Subpoenas Toyota Over Steering Defects

A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed Toyota over problems with some of its vehicles’ steering systems, the automaker said today. 

The subpoena, issued in late June, is intended to help the panel determine if criminal charges against Toyota are warranted. It asks the automaker to submit documents related to problems with a relay rod, or center link, which is an integral component to the steering assemblage on some solid front axle trucks. The issue was found on 1993-1998 Toyota T100 pickup trucks and on 1989-1995 Toyota 4Runner SUVs.

According to Toyota’s own recall notices from the time, if the wheels on those pickups or SUVs were fully turned while the vehicle was not moving, the relay rod could crack. Toyota issued a recall in 2005 for the above models, and dealers replaced the defective steering components. 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration linked the relay rod defect to at least 15 crashes, three deaths and seven injures. 

This is the second subpoena for Toyota in the past year. In February, Toyota was subpoenaed by the grand jury for documents related to unintended acceleration and for more information regarding the Prius’ braking system. 

Federal Jury Subpoenas Details on Toyota's Steering Relay Rod Defect (Washington Post) 

NHTSA Investigates 2005 Toyota Steering Recall

If you thought all of the federal government investigations into Toyota were over, guess again. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a fresh investigation into a 2005 recall of 977,000 Toyota 4Runner SUVs and T-100 pickup trucks. If you own one of these vehicles and have already had the recall work done there’s nothing to worry about. This investigation is about the amount of time it took Toyota to report the problem to the government.

NHTSA claims the company issued a recall of Japan-based trucks in 2004 and assured the U.S. agency that the same problem did not affect U.S. models.  It took another year before U.S. vehicles were recalled. NHTSA requires notice of a recall within five business days of the discovery of the safety defect.

Toyota faces new probe (Detroit News)

Toyota Testing More SUVs

In the wake of Consumer Reports’ recent “Don’t Buy” finding on the Lexus GX SUV, Toyota is now re-examining and retesting all of its SUVs. The company announced that it would conduct tests similar to the one that Consumer Reports did, which found a flaw in the time it took the GX’s stability control system to engage during hard cornering.

As we reported earlier, Toyota’s own tests are slightly different in terms of speed and angle. The company is not recalling or stopping the sale of any of its other SUVs at this point. Also, Consumer Reports and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have tested the company’s more mainstream offerings in the past, like the RAV4. We list all of the company’s SUVs and NHTSA rollover ratings below.

Toyota Conducting Safety Tests on All SUV Models (USA Today)

Cars.com Reviews the 2010 Toyota 4Runner

The truck-based SUV has quickly become a shrinking species in our increasingly mileage-conscious world, which makes Cars.com’s Joe Wiesenfelder think of the 2010 Toyota 4Runner as something of a ready-made throwback. Crossovers are king now, and that makes the 4Runner a tougher sell to all but the faithful. Check out Wiesenfelder’s full review to see how the 4Runner manages in this new kind of car market.

2010 Toyota 4Runner Review

Cars.com Podcast: 2010 Toyota 4Runner, 2010 Hyundai Tucson

We finally get more time with Toyota’s latest off-road-capable SUV, the redesigned 4Runner. Senior editors Joe Wiesenfelder and David Thomas discuss its pluses and minuses and just how big it is. The two also revisit the Hyundai Tucson, which was also redesigned for 2010.

You can download the podcast via iTunes here or listen in the player below.

Cars.com Podcast #42

2010 Toyota 4Runner Video

Cars.com recently headed to Dallas for the 2009 State Fair of Texas and used the opportunity to check out the 2010 Toyota 4Runner. Cars.com’s Patrick Olsen takes you through the 4Runner in this video, giving you a tour of everything from the flared headlights to its cool tailgating and camping options, including a button called “Party mode.” Yes, “Party mode.”

2010|Toyota|4Runner