There's a lot of news out there, but not all of it matters.
We try to boil down it to the most important bits and pieces -- the recalls, service bulletins, and lawsuits that can help you solve you car problems. Interested in getting these quick story bits as an email? Signup over at CarComplaints.com.
Toyota says the minivans may have the wrong front seat belt height adjuster assemblies mounted to the pillar in the center. This can cause the seat belt to fail to hold an occupant in a crash.
There's no word on when the recall will begin.
Toyota says it's possible a component inside the actuator could have been damaged during manufacturing and could cause a loss of vehicle stability control.
I sure wish they could have stopped this before leaving the factory. I mean, these cars are brand new! When will owners catch a brake? (sorry folks, bad puns are part of the deal)
Toyota says your local dealer will need to check the serial number of your brake actuator to see if it needs replacement. For a full list of affected vehicles, visit our site.
keep reading article "Faulty Brake Actuators Can Cause a Loss of Stability Control"**Yo
r vehicle might be involved in one of the largest and most dangerous recalls in automotive history. Toyota is expanding two previous recalls by bringing back an additional 330,000 Toyota and Lexus vehicles with Takata inflators. You've probably heard about Takata by now. They're the ones responsible for airbag inflators that are sometimes exploding with too much force, sending metal shrapnel flying throughout the cabin. They're also the ones that have been linked to a number of deaths and injuries.…
keep reading article "Toyota Expands Takata Recalls", Toyota's collision avoidance system is getting confused and randomly activating: The pre-collision system can interpret a steel joint or plate as an object in the road. The steel object will activate the collision avoidance system and identify the steel as a car driving in front of the Toyota or Lexus vehicle.
About 31,000 cars are at risk of a sudden slam of the brakes. This includes the 2013-2015 Avalon and Avalon Hybrid as well as the Lexus ES 350 and ES 300h. Toyota doesn't have a solution other than to deactivate the system for now. A more permanent solution will likely involve a software patch. I'm sure Toyota dropped off a case of Red Bull, locked the door, and limited bathroom breaks for it's software development team until this is figured out.
keep reading article "Toyota Cars Suddenly Stopping on Their Own"A new lawsuit says that the 2006-2008 model years have a nasty habit of chugging oil at the rate of 1-quart per 1,200 miles. That's just a tad bit off the 1-quart per 5,000 miles Toyota recommends for maintaining the engine's warranty. It's easy to see why you might be confused when the "CHECK ENGINE OIL" light comes on 3,800 miles early. It's also easy to see why you might be more confused when your Toyota dealer says its normal.
The lawsuit says Toyota dealers are being told to repair the engine, under warranty, if the consumer complains enough and their vehicle fails a test. However, consumers aren't being told the problem exists. So is it up to the owner to ask for repairs? Should Toyota be forced to repair all the defective engines? Is this just a ploy from the *United Auto Engine Oil Maker's Alliance?
*not a real agency ... we think
keep reading article "RAV4 Oil Consumption Lawsuit Filed in Illinois"And so, when Corolla owner Robert Ruginis petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate low-speed surging in the 2006-2010 Corolla, it seemed like a slam dunk, home run or <insert sports cliché here>. Go sports team! But instead NHTSA said no to the investigation. The agency said they analyzed data from an event recorder cited by Ruginis in his petition and came up with a completely different conclusion. Ruginis said his Corolla moved forward with the brake pedal pressed, NHTSA said it didn't. Ruginis said Corollas can move forward even with the brake pressed to the floor, NHTSA said they can't.
Instead, NHTSA placed the blame on Corolla drivers in most cases. They also said an investigation wasn't worth their time:…
keep reading article "NHTSA Says No to Unintended Acceleration Investigation"But you're not going to get anywhere near that if the darn thing keeps switching into neutral when it's not supposed to. Toyota has finally figured out what's going on and here's a breakdown of the recall details we have so far:…
keep reading article "RAV4 EV Keeps Switching into Neutral"The circuit board was probably messed up during assembly and can cause a sudden loss of power steering. If you're traveling at slow speeds and your power steering suddenly goes away, pulling over to the side of the road is going to feel like you're steering through a vat of caramel. That sounds delicious, by the way.…
keep reading article "Power Steering Circuit Recall"Mr. Reynante filed a lawsuit alleging Toyota deliberately misled consumers about the fuel efficiency of the 2004-2007 Prius. The lawsuit says the manufacturer ignored factors such as weather, air conditioning and other things that can hurt MPGs. Toyota says it followed the EPA guidelines.…
keep reading article "Court Battle Over Prius Gas Mileage Claims Continues"The problem doesn't have anything to do with how loud you crank the volume or how many times your local station plays that Taylor Swift song -- although let's be honest, it could use a break[1]. Instead, it all comes down to the subwoofer's exposed wires. When something in your trunk slides around it can knock the speaker's wires out of position. Once that happens, if they come in contact with the woofer's metal frame you could be singing come on baby, light my fire on your next commute.…
keep reading article "Avalon Subwoofer Fire Recall"The best way to find out what's wrong with a vehicle is from the people who drive them. Not only do owner complaints help us rank vehicles by reliability, but they're often used to spark class-action lawsuits and warranty extensions. Plus, they're a great way to vent.