Tundra engine recall - interesting news

The fundamental problem wasn't the technical issue, but how Toyota dealt with it. They didn't get fined $1.2 billion for the defect itself, but for the series of unethical and illegal behavior when dealing with the problem.

First Toyota denied having reports of unintended acceleration. When it became obvious that there were numerous reports, they lied to NHTSA underreporting the number (falsifying the information) and hid data from investigators. Finally, when real numbers came out, Toyota blamed owners / drivers. Toyota dragged their feet for two years, lying and falsifying information to avoid a recall. While the technical issue might have been trivial, Toyota's behavior was a perfect example of corruption to avoid responsibility and "save face". The only reason Toyota eventually addressed the problem and made changes was because of Government intervention. Without Government and legal pressure, Toyota would ignore or continue denying the problem, and people would keep dying.

There is no doubt that Toyota has decent engineers and can make good cars. But there is also a plenty of evidence that they are a corrupt, unethical corporation that will do anything to avoid responsibility, save face and a few pennies. Toyota will lie with a straight face if they can avoid spending some money or acknowledging a mistake. Unlike companies like Subaru or Volvo, Toyota never cared about safety - it's all about maximizing sales and profits, even if it means compromising safety and selling unsafe vehicles.

 

Oil temp

 

This is oil temperature. Transmission temperature is the gauge to the right. Oil pressure is lower left corner of the pic.

 

Got it, thanks

 

You can’t fix a problem you can’t duplicate. It’s the same reason a mechanic can’t fix your car if he or she doesn’t see the problem themselves. Toyota hired NASA to try and help figure this issue out. Sounds to me like they wanted to fix it. But if the NHTSA, NASA or Toyota themselves can not duplicate the problem how can you expect them the fix it and not think it user error?

 

You can defend Toyota as much as you want, but the fact is that Toyota was fined $1.2 billion and paid another billion or so in compensation to victims. You don't get fined for "can't duplicate a problem". Toyota was fined because they took multiple actions to deliberately mislead the authorities and the public. They lied and falsified information. Here are the facts:

"Concealment of defects: In 2009, when media reports about potential defects emerged, Toyota published a misleading statement denying it was hiding any safety issues. Toyota was well aware of multiple reports, yet denied their existence.

Inaccurate recall timeline: When Toyota finally initiated recalls in early 2010 for sticky pedals, it provided the public, NHTSA, and Congress with an inaccurate timeline of events. The company claimed it had learned of the issue in the U.S. in October 2009 and acted promptly. In reality, internal documents showed Toyota's investigation had begun as early as August 2009, and the company had taken steps to hide the problem.

Minimizing the scope of problems: Toyota concealed one safety issue ("sticky pedals") and minimized the scope of another (floor mat entrapment). For example, the company stated that floor mat interference was the sole cause of problems, even though NHTSA corrected them and said it was only an interim measure. This eventually led to Toyota acknowledging that some cars had a sticky gas pedal (something that affected some Ford vehicles as well, as Ford was using gas pedals from the same supplier) and forced Toyota to implement the brake override software, something that was already a common practice among all major auto manufacturers, but wasn't implement by Toyota because Toyota wanted to avoid the cost of having to rewrite ECU software for millions of vehicles.

Withholding internal data: Congressional investigators found evidence that Toyota had a secret repository of information, known as the "Books of Knowledge," containing internal design and testing data. Toyota concealed this information and entered into confidential settlements in lawsuits rather than disclose the confidential material. This is a violation of the "discovery process" in any lawsuit."

Even if initially the cause of the problem wasn't clear, acknowledging the reports, sharing information with investigators, starting investigation promptly and implementing brake override were things that Toyota should have done immediately while looking for the cause of the problem.

 

I have nothing to argue your other statements about Toyotas unethical practices and I do believe they withholding important information when it comes to this engine issue. However when it comes to the unintended acceleration issue, I believe Toyota was made out to be the example simply because that is the same time Toyota passed GM as the worlds largest automaker. Our government didn’t like that….but that’s my opinion and clearly we don’t agree. Every company has “secret” documents of internal business.

 

I agree that politics played some role and the government wanted to set an example. But Toyota dug its own grave by committing multiple serious violations.
BTW, this is something deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. Saving face and protecting reputation are extremely important. While in Western culture a whistle-blower that exposes corporate wrongdoing is hailed as a hero, in Japan he/she is seen as a traitor who soils the company's good name. There are actually laws that protect reputation, even if the damaging information is true. There are numerous examples where Japanese whistle-blowers were jailed and/or had to pay compensation for exposing damaging yet truthful information. That's why whistle-blowers are almost non-existent in Japan, and employees believe that it's more important to preserver company's reputation than to expose wrongdoing.
In addition to a history of safety and other regulatory violations, Toyota has faced numerous scandals in Japan for how they treat their employees. Families have been awarded compensation due to workers dying on the production floor of exhaustion and overwork, as well as employees committing suicide due to constant bullying by the management.
Bottom line, if their is one automotive company that has demonstrated time and again that it can't be trusted, it's Toyota.
Regarding corporate confidential information, yes every company has some. However in case of a lawsuit, ALL this information must be made available to the lawyers of the other plaintiff. I worked in highly confidential research and that's one thing that the lawyers always told us - in case of a lawsuit nothing is secret anymore, and must be disclosed during "discovery". Withholding such information is a crime by itself.

 

My 2009 Tacoma Sport was the all time best value vehicle I have ever owned. It listed for $29k, I bought it for $25k, I drove it for 15 years with no costs other than normal maintenance and sold it for $15k. $10k for 15 years, almost like driving for free. The $15k sales price was probably just a little high due to the pandemic factor, which was just starting to ease. My 2023 Tundra has lost ~$20k in 2 1/2 years. LOL. But I still love it.