Recall Thursday: Toyota Recalls 95,700 Vehicles For Brake Issues

On certain 2009 and 2010 model year Toyota Corolla, Corolla Matrix, and 2008 and 2009 Scion xD vehicles all equipped with 1.8 liter engines, Toyota has determined that if the vehicle is operated in extremely low ambient temperatures, there is a possibility that condensed moisture from the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) port may seep into the brake system vacuum port and freeze. Should this condition continue, ice may slowly accumulate at the brake system vacuum port and in the extreme case, ultimately plug the vacuum port. As a result of the accumulation of ice, power assist to the brakes would gradually decrease and lead to lengthened vehicle stopping distances.

Since this condition only manifests in extremely low ambient temperatures, vehicle owners from 19 affected states will begin receiving a Safety Recall Notification via first class mail in early September, 2009. Those states are: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Toyota dealers will install a newly designed intake air connector which relocates the brake system vacuum port. The repair will take approximately one hour, depending on the dealers work schedule, at no charge to the vehicle owner.

No other Lexus, Toyota, or Scion vehicles are involved.

Customers with questions or concerns should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 or the Scion Customer Experience at 1-866-70SCION(707-2466).

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Joe_Limon - 8/27/2009 9:17:55 AM

+5 Boost

It's a slippery slope to the bottom eh?

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 9:57:59 AM

+3 Boost

I remembered the big 3 would have the title of most recalls. Times have changed for sure. How long will it be before Toyota will get this issue under control so that it won't hurt the company in the long term? Despite the nay sayers here, I don't want Toyota to suffer for this reason. I'm happy to know that new leadership is steering the company in a new direction and is regrouping to get things together. I'm looking forward to more sportier, sharper looking products in the future. I just felt the products out now is pumped for no other reason but reliability, but truth is, most vehicles are reliable anyway today, so Toyota will need to "bring it" to make it in the near future. Hyundai has its sites right on the number one spot.

LexSucks - 8/27/2009 10:06:24 AM

+2 Boost

Bollucks!

Everyone knows that Toyota is a perfect car company and are incapable of making mistakes

theoptimisticpessimist - 8/27/2009 11:42:42 AM

+2 Boost

I boosted you, almost no one seems to be able to look at your user name and get the sarcasm.

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 10:17:57 AM

+1 Boost

Bollucks! WTH? Is that the same as Fillerbuster or Shannigans? How about Tomfoolery...

LexSucks - 8/27/2009 2:10:37 PM

+1 Boost

"Bollucks! WTH? Is that the same as Fillerbuster or Shannigans? How about Tomfoolery..."

- Bollucks is a word commonly used in England. But i guess you didn't know that. You ever see the movie "V"?.

Watch some BBC america and you will hear the word used often.

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 4:43:50 PM

+2 Boost

No didn't catch that movie, but I will check out the remake soon. Thanks.

LexSucks - 8/27/2009 6:21:32 PM

+3 Boost

Ahh man! That was a good movie. You got to see it.

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 7:12:29 PM

+3 Boost

I might be reaching but if you like Battlestar Galactica, you will dig the spin-off Caperica. Way off the subject sure, but good stuff!

EL34 - 8/27/2009 10:54:12 AM

0 Boost

Oh what a tangled web Toyota weaved, When first they practised to deceive!

:-(

_43LE - 8/27/2009 12:20:01 PM

0 Boost

It's funny how that is the exact opposite of reality. This is a voluntary recall on Toyota's part. What your phrase does apply to is Chrysler suing Daimler for fraud and not honoring contracts. If anyone's being deceiving it's Daimler, but you won't mention that here because it's a non-Asian company.

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 7:16:20 PM

+1 Boost

Most recalls are voluntary and when Toyota was put out for not recalling some defect, it made them look tight lipped. Toyota is no different than any other car maker in that aspect. What, they are more noble because of the voluntary recall. Believe you me, it the cost to allow the defect is less than the fix, it will go on. That is business in the automotive world if most didn't know.

carguy68 - 8/27/2009 11:06:20 AM

+3 Boost

With out the reputation that toyota thinks they have of being reliable they are nothing. With all these recalls there becoming nothing.

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 7:17:24 PM

0 Boost

I wouldn't go that far.

Anthony - 8/27/2009 12:10:12 PM

+1 Boost

Toyota still has the highest ratio of cars with long-term reliability. Every automaker runs into snags. Notice how pretty much everyone here has turned it into an opportunity to wish the complete downfall of the company from this one recall. If I RECALL, Ford and GM survived for years with tons of recalls, and their products were nowhere near as good as Toyota's.

inspirion7 - 8/27/2009 12:38:58 PM

+3 Boost

Notice how pretty much everyone here has turned it into an opportunity to wish the complete downfall of the company from this one recall — Anthony
We don't need to go over the number of recalls, but the point is, once you get a bad rap, its hard to recover.

Blumberg, Jan. 09

On Jan. 19, Toyota recalled a half-million pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles in the U.S. to correct a possible flaw in the suspension that might make the vehicles hard to steer.

The recall was similar to another by Toyota in 2005 covering the same defect in about 800,000 Tundra pickups and Sequoia SUVS.
Anthony you are either naive or ill informed or just prefer to pretend that Toyota in this month alone has had over 1 million recalls not to mention recalls of the last 2 years or so. There is a problem.

Toyota is in danger of losing its halo. On a comparative basis, its one-time wide lead over GM and other rivals in terms of perceived quality is shrinking, a gap that only a few years ago made buying a Toyota one of the no- brainers in automotive retailing.

On a scale of one to 10, consumers intending to buy a car rate Toyota ``a high 8'' in a CNW survey, Spinella said, down from 9.2 in 2003. GM brands, have been rising, with Cadillac at nine, he said. The reasons for the turnaround, he said: word of mouth, press reports of recalls, and personal comparisons.

kpaxx - 8/28/2009 3:41:12 PM

+3 Boost

Seem like toyota doesn't do proper cold weather testing with their cars. Automotive engineers that are familiar with extreme cold weather would be more cognizant of this phenomena.