Quote:
I see no problem with this; Automobiles are highly technical machines and I don't begrudge any manufacturer (foreign or domestic) for quickly following up on situations/problems that only arise when hundreds of thousands of them are on the road. There are only so many scenarios you can test for in development, especially with consumers demand model revamps every four years.
Where I would fault a manufacturer is when there are hundreds/thousands of reported incidents and they still shirk their recall responsibilities. Eleven reported incidents? I consider such a timely reponse by Toyota to be acceptable. However, I'm sure some here will enjoy a shadenfreude moment...
Shadenfreude it is .
Defect Summary
Make: TOYOTA
Model: TUNDRA
Year: 2004
NHTSA Action Number: EA06014
Summary:
ON
MAY 16 , 2005 , TOYOTA SUBMITTED A DEFECT INFORMATION REPORT TO NHTSA'S OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) REGARDING A DEFECT CONDITION THAT COULD RESULT IN LOWER BALL JOINT SEPARATION IN CERTAIN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2001 THROUGH 2004 TOYOTA TUNDRA, SEQUOIA, TACOMA AND 4RUNNER VEHICLES (RECALL 05V-225, ODI INVESTIGATION EA04-024). TOYOTA'S RECALL INCLUDED APPROXIMATELY 775,000 VEHICLES BUILT DURING A PERIOD IN WHICH THE ASSEMBLY PROCESS COULD HAVE PRODUCED SCRATCHES ON THE BALL SURFACE, WHICH COULD RESULT IN ACCELERATED WEAR OF THE JOINTS. THE LOWER BALL JOINTS WERE REPLACED IN THE RECALLED VEHICLES. ODI OPENED RQ06-005 BASED ON FOUR CONSUMER REPORTS OF ALLEGED BALL JOINT FAILURE IN TUNDRA VEHICLES THAT WERE NOT INCLUDED IN RECALL 05V-225. THE COMPLAINTS ALLEGED INCIDENTS OF FRONT SUSPENSION LOWER BALL JOINT SEPARATION WHILE DRIVING, RESULTING IN SUSPENSION COLLAPSE AND LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. DURING RQ06-005 ODI IDENTIFIED 112 (50.7 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) UNIQUE LOWER BALL JOINT SEPARATION INCIDENTS. THESE INCIDENTS INCLUDE CONSUMER COMPLAINTS, FIELD REPORTS AND WARRANTY CLAIMS FOR THE MY 2004-2005 TUNDRA VEHICLES. ALL OF THE REPORTED INCIDENTS WERE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF RECALL 05V-225, AND THERE IS SOME DUPLICATION BETWEEN COMPLAINTS AND WARRANTY. ALSO, FURTHER EXAMINATION SHOWED THAT THE AVERAGE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 53,234 MILES AND THAT OF THE 112 INCIDENTS, 65 (66.3 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) WERE ON FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES, WHICH MAKE UP APPROXIMATELY 44% OF THE MY 2004-2005 POPULATION (220,826 VEHICLES). THE REMAINING 56% ARE TWO-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES WHICH EXPERIENCED A TOTAL OF 47 (38.2 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) BALL JOINT SEPARATIONS. THIS INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS.
Defect Summary
Make: TOYOTA
Model: TUNDRA
Year: 2004
NHTSA Action Number: RQ06005
Summary:
THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATIONS (ODI) OPENED RQ06-005 BASED ON FOUR CONSUMER REPORTS OF ALLEGED BALL JOINT FAILURE. THE COMPLAINTS ALLEGE THAT A FRONT SUSPENSION BALL JOINT SEPARATED WHILE DRIVING, WHICH CAUSED THE SUSPENSION TO COLLAPSE AND RESULTED IN A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. ALL OF THESE COMPLAINTS INVOLVED THE FAILURE OF A LOWER TENSION-TYPE BALL JOINT. DURING THE INVESTIGATION THERE WERE
39 (36.7 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) COMPLAINTS AND
74 (69.6 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) WARRANTY CLAIMS FOR THE 2004 MODEL YEAR (MY) TOYOTA TUNDRA. FURTHER ANALYSIS SHOWED THAT THE AVERAGE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS
54,025 MILES , AND THAT OF THE
109 UNIQUE BALL JOINT SEPARATION INCIDENTS ,
64 (
133 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) WERE ON FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES, WHICH MAKE UP APPROXIMATELY 45% OF THE 2004 MY POPULATION (106,346 VEHICLES). THE REMAINING 55% ARE TWO-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES WHICH EXPERIENCED A TOTAL OF 45 (77 PER 100,000 VEHICLES) BALL JOINT SEPARATIONS. ALSO,
THROUGHOUT THE INVESTIGATION THERE SURFACED
ADDITIONAL FAILURES WHICH HAVE PROMPTED ODI TO UPGRADE THIS INVESTIGATION TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS AND WIDEN THE SCOPE OF THE AFFECTED POPULATION TO INCLUDE 2004-2005 MY. THIS RECALL QUERY HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA06-014) TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE TO ASSESS THE SAFETY-RELATED CONSEQUENCES, AND TO DETERMINE THE SCOPE OF THE AFFECTED POPULATION.
Construct a timeline from the above information .
Make sure you understand just how bad these failure times , rates , and consequences really are .
Make sure you understand what could have , and should have been avoided .
Feel proud now about toyota , and your post ?
"NO PROBLEM " ? " TIMELY " ?? " QUICKLY " ??? You feel that way now ? How would you feel if it was one of your people that had been injured ?
Boy , one things for sure , makes you want to run right over and grab a new Tundra doesn't it . Or would you feel better if you had one of the effected vehicles ?
