Toyota Fined $1.2 Billion

[Flyn]

Toyota has been fined $1.2 Bil for lying about the danger of their vehicles' unintended acceleration defect.

The U.S. Department of Justice has officially concluded its criminal investigation into Toyota Motor Company regarding the widespread incidents of unintended vehicle acceleration that caused panic for Toyota owners between 2009 and 2010. Those incidents produced one of the largest consumer recalls in the history of the automotive industry. Today, we can say for certain that Toyota intentionally concealed information and misled the public about the safety issues behind these recalls.

Our years-long criminal investigation examined the way the automaker disclosed complaints about problems of sudden acceleration associated with many of its most popular Toyota and Lexus models. Rather than promptly disclosing and correcting safety issues about which they were aware, Toyota made misleading public statements to consumers and gave inaccurate facts to Members of Congress. And they concealed from federal regulators the extent of problems that some consumers encountered with sticking gas pedals and unsecured or incompatible floor mats that could cause these unintended acceleration episodes. While Toyota conducted a limited recall of some vehicles with floor mat issues in September 2009, the company delayed a broader recall until early 2010 - despite internal tests warning of the dangers posed by other, unrecalled vehicle models. As Toyota admits in the Statement of Facts filed alongside the criminal information in this case, the company “made these misleading statements and undertook these actions of concealment as part of efforts to defend its brand.” In other words, Toyota confronted a public safety emergency as if it were a simple public relations problem. And they mounted this coverup despite widely-documented incidents, and even tragic accidents, like the one that took the lives of an off-duty California Highway Patrol Officer and members of his family. As part of the resolution of this case, Toyota will fully admit wrongdoing. It will pay a financial penalty of $1.2 billion. And going forward, the company will submit to rigorous review by an independent monitor that will examine and assess the manner in which Toyota reports safety issues to the public and its regulator.


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[DynaSlim]

Thats all?

 

[Jfrost]

Toyota's the fastest.

I'm glad they have to finally admit they were wrong and lied about it.

 

[VenomousDSG]

Love Eric Holder's comments about them.

"They should be ashamed" Coming from the guy who was responsible for Fast and Furious.

 

[Wrencher]

Not really a killer for Toyota who had a low profit margin last quarter for a measly $5.2 billion. Fine should have been a lot more.

 

[nytebyte]

Everyone likes to point fingers at GM for having so many recalls, but at least they jump on the problem and fix it right away, usually before people are killed, instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

You've got to wonder how many other problems these Toyotas have that get all hush-hushed as to not "tarnish" the brand. I bet a LOT.

Oh well.. $1.2 billions.. Brand tarnished..

 

[dun4791]

Everyone likes to point fingers at GM for having so many recalls, but at least they jump on the problem and fix it right away, usually before people are killed, instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

You've got to wonder how many other problems these Toyotas have that get all hush-hushed as to not "tarnish" the brand. I bet a LOT.

Oh well.. $1.2 billions.. Brand tarnished..

GM CEO admits recall tardy, won't pledge liability

 

[sickmint79]

what was the problem/fix?

 

[Ti28]

And that 1.2B does what?

That money should be split up to the people who owned the POS cars.

BTW we have Prius salesmen cars here at work, I've taken them all to emissions. (funny)

And tried the issues. Staying on the throttle as if it was stuck, each car I was able to shift in to neutral and or turn the car off.

 

[l0wb00st]

Where does this $1.2B go?

 

[Ti28]

To the goobberment

 

[l0wb00st]

To the goobberment

Oh, Good, I thought it was going somewhere where it would be spent irresponsibly.

 

[Ti28]

I know, right.....

 

[bikrboy128]

i still can't believe this is Toyota's issue. You climb in, drag your fat fucking foot across the floor mat and push it under the accelerator, and now its Toyotas fault that their floor mat wasn't welded to the floor?
I agree a car company should be responsible for their fuckup, but this is stupid. I'd be willing to bet some of these "uncontrollable acceleration" cases were intentional

 

[MIKES3]

Do you think that will put a dent in that company?

I personally doubt it

 

[Gone_2022]

Do you think that will put a dent in that company?

I personally doubt it

A dent in the company? No. It will be passed off over time to future consumers. So things like this only hurt people they never help. The public does not understand that though when they are crying for blood over claims.

 

[MIKES3]

A dent in the company? No. It will be passed off over time to future consumers. So things like this only hurt people they never help. The public does not understand that though when they are crying for blood over claims.

Just with Toyota though. Hopefully? I'll buy Fords and Chevy's all day long. I purchased my first foreign car a couple of years ago. I always purchase American until I met my wife. She begged me for a Hyundai Sonata. Needless to say I lost that battle and she got what she wanted as always

 

[Gone_2022]

Just with Toyota though. Hopefully? I'll buy Fords and Chevy's all day long. I purchased my first foreign car a couple of years ago. I always purchase American until I met my wife. She begged me for a Hyundai Sonata. Needless to say I lost that battle and she got what she wanted as always

Yes but everything has a trickle down effect. GM gets a big claim, Toyota gets a claim... so on and so forth. Suddenly you will see labor rates rising at all dealers along with part prices increasing at a high percent rate. People do not notice it, but it happens.

The public thinks oh they got what they deserve. What they do not realize is they screwed themselves.

 

[MIKES3]

Yes but everything has a trickle down effect. GM gets a big claim, Toyota gets a claim... so on and so forth. Suddenly you will see labor rates rising at all dealers along with part prices increasing at a high percent rate. People do not notice it, but it happens.

The public thinks oh they got what they deserve. What they do not realize is they screwed themselves.

Makes a lot of sense. That's some scary shit

 

[Gone_2022]

Yea lol. I will do a claim for a GM dealer and they will tell me oh our labor rate is now 110 an hour when last month it was 100 dollars

 

[Ti28]

That's why shit costs so much today, because everyone is so fucking sue happy.

 

[MIKES3]

Deak: Do you have any idea what we are gonna do to you, if we find one itty, bitty scratch on 'em?
Shep Ramsey: Let me guess. You're gonna pound my face. Break every bone in my body. Then you're gonna drag me across a gravel road and feed my remains to a warthog. Is that about right?
Deak: What are you nuts? This is the '90s. We're gonna sue you.

 

[radioguy6]

I don't see how the floor mat/gas pedal issue is all Toyota's fault. There has to be some owner responsibility there. A responsible driver is going to be like, hmmm maybe that scrunched up floor mat wedged next to the gas pedal isn't such a good idea, eh? If I drove on tires with sparking steel belts and rolled it into a pond, is that the manufacturer's fault?

The solution to the floor mat 'problem' is a no brainer to us folks, but to the average Toyota driver? Not trying to be a dick but the average Toyota owner wants an appliance, where they can mindlessly turn the key and go, not have to worry about something inconvenient like where the floor mat is. To expect them to quickly end the acceleration by shifting into neutral or shutting off the engine? The lack of common sense there is not Toyota's fault. Hopefully the new Toyota floor mats come with attached warning labels.

 

[Gone_2022]

It was more than just a floor mat issue. The reason that vehicles have more than one Throttle position sensor now or APPS sensor now is because of this. Making it redundant. That if one sensor is not reading correctly, the vehicle sets a check engine light and goes into a limp mode automatically.

 

[Rebel]

And that 1.2B does what?

That money should be split up to the people who owned the POS cars.

BTW we have Prius salesmen cars here at work, I've taken them all to emissions. (funny)

And tried the issues. Staying on the throttle as if it was stuck, each car I was able to shift in to neutral and or turn the car off.

The difference though was you that planned/ and expected it, probably on a straight? Whereas of the Toyota drivers were probably barely paying attention in the first place and could have been in any situation. (Turning, mid lane change, etc.) Some people also just freeze up since high speed maneuvers aren't things they practice everyday.

Although it'd probably take me a couple seconds for reaction time as I'd hit the brakes first. Then shift into neutral or I'd just avoid it all together by not having a prius.