More bad news for Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), with the company announcing that it was recalling around 600,000 Sienna minivans sold in the United States.
The latest in a string of safety concerns involves potentially rusted spare tire cables that could break, allowing the minivan's spare tire to bust loose and tumble into the road.
There have not been any reported accidents involving the rusting cables, but it is definitely something that should be fixed as soon as possible. The minivans in question were sold in the U.S. between 1998 and 2010 in 20 cold-weather states and the District of Columbia.
This has not been a great week for Toyota, which was already facing a great deal of public scrutiny over its handling of the sudden acceleration problems that lead to an 8 million vehicle recall.
On top of the acceleration recall that the company has been dealing with, Consumer Reports announced this week that it was issuing a Don't Buy rating on one of the company's newest vehicles, the Lexus GX 460 SVU, citing rollover concerns that were discovered during safety tests. The SUV has only been on the market for the past three months, and following the report Toyota suspended sales, and ultimately suspended production on the Lexus GX 460 until a fix can be found for the safety problems.
Here is a complete listing of the states covered by the most recent recall -- if you live or bought a Sienna minivan in one of the states on this list you should definitely get in touch with your local Toyota dealer and find out if your minivan is part of the recall: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-17-2010 @ 10:21AM
bracr said...
There's a bunch of us Sienna owners who are still PO'd because Toyota refused to honor their much heralded "customer satisfaction" reputation by denying claims for oil sludging that ruined engines. My van had 89,000 miles last summer and I had records of oil changes but Toyota still charged $4,800 for a rebuild.....not even a courtesy discount.
What comes around goes around.....
4-17-2010 @ 11:00AM
561sg said...
bracr-Wow! Toyota covered these for 8 years unlimited mileage on Siennas through the 2002 model. How much fairer could that be? I had the same engine in my 2003 Highlander and change my oil and had absolutely no problems. You should question your service center who charged you for changing your oil .
4-17-2010 @ 12:19PM
defina123 said...
Toyota, Toyota, Toyota is all you used to hear from the biased magazine Consumer Reports. Now that they finally opened their eyes they realized they are losing customers (maybe from death). Consumer Reports top rated the Lexus LS460 even though it posted the poorest speed in CR's own accident avoidance test. Safety is job 999 @ Consumer Reports. To add further insult to the average American's intelligence, they rated the Toyota Corolla Very Good even though they flagged the steering as "light & vague". Owners are scared to drive the their Corolla's on the highways. Consumer Reports management could use a few adjustments from Alan Mulally (Fords CEO)
4-18-2010 @ 9:15AM
russ said...
lieing toyota sucks!!!!