So wait, Toyota’s rust? Yes, that was a bit of sarcasm – but it still doesn’t help that Toyota recalls are a dime a dozen these days. Next up on the list is over 110,000 Tundra’s – which have been recalled for dangerous rust issues on the vehicle’s undercarriage. As of today, March 10th 2010, the recall number is expected to rise. Oh boy…here’s the release:

“Toyota Announces Safety Recall on 2000 through 2003 Tundra Frame Rear Cross Member

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. will launch a Safety Recall involving approximately 110,000 Tundra vehicles sold in the United States.

Certain 2000 through 2003 model year Tundra vehicles operated in cold climate areas with high road salt use, may exhibit excessive corrosion on the frame rear cross- member. In the worst case, the spare tire stowed under the truck bed may become separated from the rear cross member. Spare tire separation will create a road hazard for following vehicles and increase the likelihood of a crash.

Eventually, excessive corrosion of the rear cross-member may also affect the functionality of the rear brake line at the proportioning valve. If this occurs, it can lead to the loss of the rear brake circuits which will increase vehicle stopping distances and the risk of a crash.

In addition to the District of Columbia, the involved cold climate states with high road salt usage are: 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.

Beginning in December 2009 through early 2010, owners of the involved vehicles will receive a Safety Recall notification via first class mail asking them to take their vehicles to a Toyota dealer for an initial inspection of the rear cross member. During this inspection, the rear cross-member including the surrounding components such as, the brake line at the proportioning valve (which is mounted on the cross-member assembly) will also be inspected. Based upon the inspection, Toyota will do one of the following at no charge:

Tundra

If there is no significant corrosion of the rear cross-member assembly or the rear brake line at the proportioning valve, owners will be notified of that fact and requested to subsequently bring their vehicle back to the dealership so that a corrosion-resistant compound can be applied to the rear cross-member. Toyota will notify the owner when the corrosion-resistant compound is available.

If significant corrosion is detected such that the rear cross-member can no longer safely support the spare tire and replacement components are available, the cross- member assembly will be replaced. In the event replacement components are not available, a temporary solution, such as the removal of the spare tire and securing it to the truck bed, will be performed until parts are available.

In those relatively rare cases where the rear cross-member is significantly corroded and can no longer safely support the spare tire, but the rear cross-member cannot be replaced due to excessive frame corrosion at the mounting location (e.g., if the side rails are too damaged), Toyota will develop an appropriate remedy for those vehicles on a case-by- case basis.

This inspection will take approximately 20 minutes depending on dealer scheduling.

Until your vehicle is inspected, you may minimize the risk of the spare tire separating from the rear cross-member by removing it. If you choose to do so, please be sure not to be under the rear cross-member or spare tire carrier during the lowering process. In addition, if placing the spare tire in the truck bed or other area of the vehicle, it should be secured when driving.

Customers with questions are asked to call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1 800 331-4331.”

Pic via Jalopnik

To keep things fair, Ross and the ABC team went back to redo the Toyota test – at least part of it. He took a shot of the tachometer from a different test-drive – then edited that footage back into the original piece. Now don’t get me wrong – this blogger once owned an early 2000’s Avalon and believe me, it had more than one unexplained revving/acceleration issue. But with all the dismay surrounding our favorite Japanese auto maker they shouldn’t need any help from their own personal devil, Brian Ross.

The video above is an ABC News online official feed, which now seems to have completely edited out all of the Tach Shots. Gawker Media talked to ABC rep Jeffrey Schneider and when they asked why different tachometer shots were used: he paused for at least five seconds. Then he said, “I don’t know how that would happen. The tachometer was surging during each test we did, and the video is an accurate portrayal of what happened in the car to the tachometer.”

No one (ie: Gawker or Toyotapedia.org) are accusing Ross, ABC or anyone else of faking the test. But we’d love to see a redo where the actual proposed experiment was carried out fully on video. I mean, it’s not like this story is going away anytime soon…unfortunately for Toyota .

It was June 10, 2006 in Lino Lakes, Minnesota. Koua Fong Lee was driving his 1996 Toyota Camry when it unexpectedly sped up an interstate ramp, slamming into the back of an Oldsmobile and killing three people. Lee insisted he did everything he could to stop the car. “I know 100 percent in my heart that I took my foot off the gas and that I was stepping on the brakes as hard as possible,” Lee said Wednesday in an interview at the state prison Minn. “When the brakes were looked at and we were told that nothing was wrong with the brakes, I was shocked.”

Javis Trice Adams, 33, and his 10-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr., died at the scene. Adams’ 6-year-old niece, Devyn Bolton, was paralyzed from the neck down, and died shortly after Lee was convicted.

A jury of his peers didn’t believe him, and Lee was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Now the new revelation of Toyota safety problems has Lee, lawyers and the families of those killed during that fateful night rethinking the case. Relatives are also planning to sue Toyota. “The prosecutor who sent Lee to prison said he thinks the case merits another look,” according to MSNBC.

“The uncertainty could wind up helping Lee and others. Attorneys for both the 32-year-old St. Paul man as well as the victims’ families say they’re encouraged by the evidence that the problems went beyond models that originally were recalled…If Lee’s car was defective, “We don’t want an innocent man sitting in prison,” said Phil Carruthers, who prosecuted the case for Ramsey County.”

Ad copy also touts Corolla as being “built for survival” – I guess that’s true if you’re INSIDE the vehicle. Anyone in its path better run for cover.

Via About Lawsuits: A new Toyota recall has been issued for approximately 8,000 Toyota Tacoma 4WD trucks from the 2010 model year, as they may have defective drive shafts that could cause drivers to lose control of the pick-up trucks. The vehicles will join millions of Toyota and Lexus vehicles recalled in recent months over issues like brake problems and uncontrolled acceleration, which have been linked to dozens of deaths.

The Toyota Tacoma recall was issued over a manufacturing problem that the auto maker indicates could have caused cracks in the front drive shaft of some of the vehilcles. The cracks could cause the driveshaft to separate and fall from the truck, leading to a loss of control and potential accidents that could cause serious injury or death.

Affected drivers are being asked to bring their vehicles into Toyota dealerships for inspection to ensure their drive shafts show no signs of fracture. Toyota officials say the inspections should take about 10 minutes. The 2010 Toyota Tacoma 4WD trucks affected by the recall were manufactured between December 2009 and early this month.

Last week, the Japanese auto maker announced a Toyota Prius recall and Lexus HS250h recall that affected approximately 437,000 hybrid vehicles sold this year, as a software glitch could cause drivers to experience brake failure.

In September 2009, a Lexus and Toyota floor mat recall was issued for 3.8 million vehicles that contained certain all-weather floor mats, which Toyota indicated could get stuck under the gas pedals, causing unintended acceleration. In January, Toyota issued another recall for 2.3 million Toyota vehicles due to a mechanical problem that was causing some gas pedals to stick.

At least 34 deaths have been associated with the Toyota sudden acceleration problem, according to the most recent data submitted to a database maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Thirteen of those deaths were reported to the government over the last three weeks.

The acceleration problem gained national attention following a fatal accident in California in August, where an off-duty state trooper and three family members were killed while driving a Lexus ES 350 on loan from a San Diego dealership. Minutes before the fatal Lexus crash, passengers called police and reported that the Lexus had accelerated to 120 m.p.h. Witnesses reported that the car’s tires were on fire, which was likely due to the driver slamming on the brakes before slamming into an SUV, falling off an embankment, rolling over multiple times and bursting into flames.

The Toyota accelerator pedal recalls have resulted in more than 60 Toyota lawsuits, including over a dozen wrongful death and personal injury claims.

According to a press release from Toyota, the world’s largest automaker says customers of these vehicles have experienced inconsistent braking “during slow and steady application of brakes on rough or slick road surfaces when the ABS is activated in an effort to maintain tire traction.” An update to the braking software is expected to improve “ABS response time, as well as the system’s overall sensitivity to tire slippage.”

“I apologise for causing trouble and worries for many customers over the quality and safety of Toyota,” said Toyota president Akio Toyoda in a news conference. “We sincerely acknowledge safety concerns from our customers. We have decided to recall as we regard safety for our customers as our foremost priority.”

Separately, Toyota recalled 7,300 2010 Toyota Camry models that could develop a hole in the front brake fluid line. I’m guessing now is a good time to buy stock, it’ll have to go back up eventually.

Engineers with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have given their approval to a Toyota plan to fix vehicles that may be subject to sudden, uncontrolled acceleration. The problem has been linked to 19 deaths and roughly 2,000 complaints, leading the world’s largest automaker to recall nearly 2.5 million vehicles while halting production on eight models.

* 2005-2010 Avalon
* some 2007-2010 Camrys
* 2009-2010 Corolla
* 2010 Highlander
* 2009-2010 Matrix
* 2009-2010 RAV4
* 2008-2010 Sequoia
* 2007-2010 Tundra

The Source: WorldCarFans

The vehicles in question are:

2009-2010 RAV4,
2009-2010 Corolla
2009-2010 Matrix
2005-2010 Avalon
Certain 2007-2010 Camry
2010 Highlander
2007-2010 Tundra
2008-2010 Sequoia

Worse than this, several assembly lines in charge of producing said autos will also take a pause, while this Toyota-Fire-Starter is looked into:

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Canada (Corolla, Matrix, and RAV4)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana (Sequoia and Highlander)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky – Line 1 (Camry and Avalon)
Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (Camry)
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas (Tundra)

Sources: Jalopnik | YouTube

But you may think FT-CH is a design departure for the Japanese auto maker, that’s because this hybrid car comes out of the Nice, France studio for Toyota.

One of several fancy eco-friendly cars coming your way from the world’s largest hybrid producer, this New Toyota is a small aquatic creature-looking vehicle that strays away from almost anything related to the brand – aside from “hybrid” logo and Toyota seal. FT-CH is still in early production phases, and no word on what the final model will look like, or how it will perform. Though, it being related to the Prius, FT-CH will most likely have a small battery-electric recharging engine based off brake-enhanced lithium-ion power cells.

According to Jalopnik: “The FT-CH is the first piece of Toyota’s “Prius family” marketing strategy, an approach that the Japanese firm claims its customers and dealers have been asking for. It is twenty-two inches shorter than a Prius and less than one inch narrower, and it’s intended to port Toyota’s hybrid philosophy into a fun small car. Production plans have not been announced, but given that Toyota plans to introduce a raft of new hybrids over the next few years, it’s probably safe to say that the FT-CH’s reception will be closely watched.”