This is a question for the many, many folks out there who own a Toyota. Does the recall bother you much? Millions of cars have been recalled all over the world, and the allegations of secrecy and mismanagement are flying.
Are you afraid to drive your car? Are you afraid the resale value of your vehicle is going down? Would be be less inclined to buy another Toyota next time?
Mines a 1999 so it’s mostly irrelevant. I wouldn’t get a brand new one now but I’m in no situation to do so at the moment. Right now I’d probably be more inclined to a Honda but Toyota is still above American and Korean brands in my list.
2009 Prius. I’m not really worried. If it runs away on me, I’ll shift it into neutral and brake to a stop, and even the odds of that happening are vanishingly small. After a year, it seems solidly built and reliable like Toyotas always have been, and I get 47 mpg overall. I’ll drive it into the ground too, so I don’t care about the resale value.
2010 Prius. Love it completely. Don’t care about the recall. Not afraid of brake failure, in fact, it has already happened a few times. (not failure, but momentary “give” that quickly resolves if you maintain pressure.)
2009 Rav 4. No concerns whatsoever. The possibility of having a problem is remotely small, and if a problem manifest, I know how to shift into neutral or turn off the engine worst-case.
I will have the recall repairs done at my convenience.
Mine is also a 99, so the recalls aren’t an issue. But I do feel like having a Toyota isn’t so “special” anymore. It was nice owning a car made by a company that had an excellent reputation for safety and reliability. Now, well, it might as well be a Chevy. (Nothing against Chevys.)
" In its second recall in one day, Toyota announced Tuesday that it plans to recall just over 7,300 2010 Camrys for a brake defect. The problem, if not fixed, could result in leaking brake fluid, and make it more difficult for a driver to stop the car.
Nearly half a million of the hybrid cars have been pulled off the road.
Earlier Tuesday, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda announced the company had recalled 437,000 Prius and Lexus vehicles, the latest in a series of recalls that affect nine million cars worldwide. "
It just gets worse.
2005 Prius. My car has not been recalled, however, I think it will be. It suffers from the same braking issue as the 2010 Prius: occassionally, when I brake AND the car hits a bump in the road, the brake releases momentarily. It’s really not a big deal.
In general, I think all of this is a huge overreaction. The problems are exceedingly rare. My suspicion is that the American car companies are somehow driving the witchhunt because they lost so much marketshare to Toyota.
So, in the end, I still love my car and I’d buy another Toyota today if a new car was in my plans.
2005 Prius. Had a brake problem last year. Bad sensor in the pedal. Got it fixed.
Love the car. Would buy another.
Did it do the same thing that the 2010s are doing?
I have a 2009 Corolla and am very happy with it. My local dealership is jumping right on the recall repairs and I will be taken care of Saturday morning. It’s a good car.
I agree with Red Stilettos about the witch hunt but I think things will return to normal soon enough. As a matter of fact, I considered buying some Toyota stock but when I looked it was still $72 a share, which was too rich for my blood.
LMAO!!!
2007 Matrix, not in the recall. The main reason I went with this car was that it maintains its value for a long time so the possibility of that going downhill bothers me a little, however I keep my vehicles forever and have no plans to trade it in after a few years so it’s not really that important. I’ve had no other issues with the car so I am not worried about any other problems showing up with my model/year.
I think this whole mess could be good for Toyota and they’ll come back. I would probably consider buying another Toyota in the future.
Have a 2003 Camry. Best car I ever owned. Even if it were in the recall, I’d be a Toyota user forever. Shit happens. Less shit with Toyota than Detroit. At least, in the old days. Detroit has cleaned up their act. They make good stuff these days. But,…
My mother in law drives a Camry. I don’t remember exactly what year it is, but I know it was included in the recall. Anyway, she’s afraid to drive it. I mean, nothing has happened with it, and just a week before the recall, she was on and on about how she loves it, but now… Well, she takes my father in law’s car when she can. I don’t know why she doesn’t just take it in to the dealer and have it checked out… That’s what I suggested last time we spoke. Maybe she has. :shrug: Guess that’s what MILs are good for.
No. When I stepped on the brake, stopping power was down. Also, the brakes would ‘pulse’ as if I was pumping them. I took it to the shop, and they said (after conferring with Toyota down in Torrance) that it was either the ($2,500) main computer, or else it was a ($250) sensor on the brake pedal. The problem was that the malfunction was causing only one brake to be applied when I stepped on the pedal, and that a different (random) brake was chosen each time. They chose to replace the sensor, which solved the problem.
This stuff makes me nuts. Why would: A) a car have a computer that was so expensive, and B) link it to braking which is something so basic and simple.
Brakes should be a purely mechanical device consisting of 2 hydraulic systems for safety and whatever anti-lock system can be added on top of that. Anti-lock brakes are a great item to have but it should be designed to fail to default manual mode.
I don’t really care about cars; I tend to get beaters that don’t surprise me when they finally crap out.
That being said, I am driving around my sweetie’s 95 Toyota Camry, and I really like the handling and the feel and the room <I’m short, so I can put the front seat almost flat and stretch out completely for naps; it’s awesome!>
THAT being said…one of the first things I did was take out the driver’s side rug, which was stock from the factory and hadn’t been touched in 14 years.
I took it out cause it kept moving around and interfering with the gas pedal. 
I have a 97 Camry and a 2007 Camry.
I say feh to the recall. If the car hasn’t had an issue up until today, it is not going to happen tomorrow. This isn’t like when the tires were exploding or SUVs were turning over. Seems purely precautionary to me. They can fix the gas pedal and give me a new floormat the next time I have it in for regular service.
Computers are a fact of life. I see my Prius as less a ‘car with a computer’ as a ‘computer you can ride inside of’. They’re a big part of why modern cars are more efficient. Hybrids need a computer-controlled braking system for regenerative braking.
But yeah, I told the dealer that the system should have been designed with a fail-safe mode, such that if anything electronic malfunctioned the brakes would still operate ‘normally’ with a mechanical connection. The way they work in the Prius is that when the pedal is pushed a little, it uses regenerative braking. When it’s pushed farther, it engages the calipers to the disc. Nothing wrong with that. But if I were designing the system, I’d make sure that any electronic fault would result in going to the ‘100% hydraulic/mechanical mode’ and all brakes would be applied.