Toyota Sudden Acceleration Recall Lawsuit

Toyota has most recalled vehicles in 2009

-Examiner

01/05/2009 - For the first time in Toyota’s proud history, the company has led all others in the United States for recalls. According to the Detroit Free Press, safety recalls were up across the board for the auto industry in 2009. 8.6 million vehicles were recalled in 2008, but in 2009 15.2 million were recalled.

Toyota’s sudden lead in safety recalls has been in thanks to 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus models recalled a short while ago for sudden, uncontrollable acceleration. Toyota blamed the problem on faulty floor mats, which apparently were causing accelerators to stick. Toyota has plans to install brake override systems in the defective models, a move that has been criticized by auto experts as dangerous.

Beside the accelerator issue, Toyota issued eight additional recalls for 2009. Those recalls were for items such as corroded truck frames of the popular Toyota Tundra. Some critics say Toyota’s aggressive expansions in the auto industry have been at the sacrifice of the company’s once sparkling reliability image.

Toyota was not the only automaker with recall problems. Ford came in second on the recall list, with 4.5 million total. Almost all of the recalled Ford vehicles were for a cruise control switch issue that has plagued Ford for some time. Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood explained to the Detroit Free Press what the cause for their high volume of recalls was. “The majority of vehicles we recalled in 2009 were older models, 10 years old on average with some more than 18 years old."

General Motors came in third for the number of vehicles recalled, but had the highest number of recalls at 17.