Winter Park used car news: Toyota studies what other factors to blame for recall situation

It seems once again the media jumped to conclusions, trashing Toyota during the recalls of Prius earlier this year when the results of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation are showing that drivers were at fault, a recent Wall Street Journal article states. Your Winter Park new car dealership is encouraged by this report.

Toyota 2010 Prius models were recalled due to suspected electronic problems with the antilock brake system. The company did extensive testing and has maintained that they have found no problems with the electronic system and could not duplicate the problems.

Now it seems the investigation has discovered that driver error was to blame in at least some cases. Drivers had claimed that their Toyota and Lexus vehicles “surged” out of control, but apparently some of them were accidentally pushing on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, the Wall Street Journal report asserts. Hmm. . .I guess that would be why there was no indication of a malfunction in the car’s computer and why Toyota and other testers couldn’t duplicate the problem.

No report has been released yet from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and they would not comment on the issue, the WSJ reported. But what the WSJ has reported is in line with Toyota’s claim that they have not found any computer control problems linked to the electronic throttles in their vehicles and no cause for sudden and unintentional acceleration. Winter Park used car customers can be sure that Toyota is keeping its promise of customer satisfaction.

The Japanese automaker has been plagued by a rash of recalls this year – most related to the Prius and the so-far-unproven acceleration issue, but also including models like 2003 Sequoia and the Lexus GX460 SUV. These issues were related to stability control and the Prius also had a recall with the antilock braking system.

Customers of Winter Park new car dealerships should be aware that even though the government has not released a report and supposedly has not concluded its investigation about the sudden acceleration issues, the WSJ report does support what Toyota’s internal investigation uncovered – no electronic problems. Whether the government report will officially agree when it is released could have a huge bearing on the many lawsuits filed against Toyota following the recalls.

But Toyota keeps moving forward while waiting for an official report and customers of any Winter Park used car don’t seem to be bothered by the recalls, as Toyota sales have been record-breaking this summer and many Prius fans are looking forward to results of the Plug-in Prius test drives and seeing that model come on the market in 2012.

Tags: situation, TOYOTA, Park, Winter, Studies, Factors