One week before a new U.S. president is sworn into office, a second major automotive scandal--the one involving Takata's fatally flawed airbags--is coming to an end. But while today's agreement may wind down the government's investigation of the Japanese supplier, the recall and repair of vehicles...Read More»
Earlier this month, we heard reports that Takata would soon expand the recall of its fatally flawed airbags by as many as 40 million devices. Without waiting for Takata to act, Honda quickly enlarged its recall by some 20 million. Now, Toyota has announced its own expanded recall plan, affecting...Read More»
This morning, Toyota issued a massive recall affecting 2,000,000 U.S. Toyota and Scion vehicles from the 2007 to 2011 model years. According to a statement from the automaker, a manufacturing problem with the power window master switch could in some cases cause a fire. The problem stems from a lack...Read More»
Like an evil blob of goo from a low-budget 1950s horror film, the long list of vehicles recalled to replace Takata's fatally flawed airbags keeps on growing, and there's no sign that it's slowing. A newly published update from Toyota brings the total number of Toyota and Lexus owners affected by...Read More»
The tale of Takata and its deadly airbags has all the hallmarks of an epic saga: chaos (among automakers, the public, and regulatory agencies), hubris, and a stubborn reluctance to admit defeat (the latter two among Takata's top brass). Also like an epic saga, it has also gone on for a long time --...Read More»
Yesterday, while many of you were gearing up for the big game, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was rolling out a massive series of recalls affecting more than two million Acura, Dodge, Honda, Jeep, Pontiac, and Toyota owners in the U.S. The problem? An electrical glitch can...Read More»
The number of vehicles affected by faulty Takata-brand airbags has just grown by 247,000, thanks to a new recall from Toyota. The recall affects five Toyota and Lexus models, and even one from Pontiac. Over the past few years, automakers around the globe have recalled more than 12 million vehicles...Read More»
Toyota's "Your Other You" ad campaign for the 2009 Matrix was supposed to capitalize on the "punking" trend popular at the time. But when a woman got unknowingly dragged into the mix, things went off the rails. Now she's seeking $10 million in damages from Toyota, the company's ad agency Saatchi...Read More»
If you’ve been longing for a Toyota Matrix, you may not want to put off buying one all that much longer. Toyota is set to introduce a new Corolla sometime next year, and the automaker hasn’t made up their mind if a new Corolla will bring with it a new Matrix. The Matrix utilizes the...Read More»
Thanks to the strong incentives offered over the past month, Toyota sales have recovered nicely despite multiple recalls and highly publicized federal investigations. But it looks like the automaker isn't going to ease off them quite yet. The original March Sales Event incentives, slated to expire...Read More»
Toyota (NYSE: TM) rolled out an all-new incentive program aimed at jump-starting sales that have slumped due to bruised consumer confidence from the ongoing accelerator-related recalls, the related hearings in Washington D.C., and several other issues and recalls. The automaker calls the new...Read More»
In the early days of the Toyota recall fiasco, car buyers seemed to ignore the bad news. But as Cleopatra once said, denial only goes so far, and Toyota's troubles are finally having a negative impact on sales. To its credit, though, Toyota isn't taking this lying down: the automaker has turned to...Read More»
In recent weeks Toyota has managed two major acceleration-related recalls covering much of its lineup; this week it announced a braking-related recall on its iconic Prius tech flagship; and now, looking ahead, Toyota might be facing a steering issue as well on one of its best-selling vehicles. The...Read More»
In a House Appropriations panel hearing this morning Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood stated that his own advice to owners of the 2.3 million Toyota vehicles recalled due to potentially sticky accelerator pedals would be to not drive them at all. Up until now, Toyota—and the official recall...Read More»
Toyota's recent recall for an issue that might lead to a sticky accelerator pedal covers about 2.3 million vehicles going all the way back to 2005. But is the owner of a 2005 Toyota Avalon with 150,000 miles more likely to experience this as, say, the owner of 2010 Toyota Corolla fresh out of the...Read More»
While Toyota has been accused of being extremely slow to respond in issuing a recall for its floor-mat-related, unintended-acceleration issue, the automaker has responded remarkably quickly with a solution to its other, unrelated recall—regarding sticking accelerator mechanisms. Toyota (NYSE: TM)...Read More»
The good times for Hyundai keep on rolling: J.D. Power and Associates has given top marks in its Vehicle Launch Index to the 2009 Hyundai Genesis. The Index "quantifies how well new vehicle models -- including new entries to the market and all new redesigned models -- perform during the first eight...Read More»
We at TheCarConnection.com are sad to see the Vibe go along with the rest of the Pontiac brand. It ranks as one of our top-rated hatchbacks; and the latest version, with good fuel economy and a roomy, versatile interior, just strikes the right balance between practicality and sportiness for a lot...Read More»
General Motors and Toyota have been cooperatively building cars for decades. The 1985 Chevrolet Nova was one of their first co-manufacturing efforts, and at the time, it was GM's best small car. (That's not saying much if you remember Chevette and the original J-Cars.)The Pontiac Vibe is another...Read More»
