Toyota Is Being Served Again

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

So when you thought things at Toyota are getting back to normal, what with NHTSA backpedaling on their ghost in the machine busting attempts, here comes a biggie: A federal grand jury in New York served Toyota with a subpoena, seeking information relating to defects in its steering relay rods. Fancy lawyers call that a subpoena duces tecum, and charge more. The Washington Post reckons this might “potentially widen an investigation that began with reports of sudden unintended acceleration.”

This is the second subpoena from a federal grand jury this year that landed on Toyota’s desk. Of course, Toyota “and its subsidiary are sincerely cooperating with authorities on the probe,” Toyota said in a statement. What else should they say?

According to the Post, this is most likely in conjunction with the NHTSA’s announcement in May that it was investigating whether Toyota had delayed telling authorities of a defect in their steering relay rods. It smells like another $16m ….

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • John Horner John Horner on Jul 20, 2010

    Compared to the half billion dollar fine Goldman Sachs just agreed to for misleading customers, Toyota is getting off cheap.

  • Stingray Stingray on Jul 20, 2010

    I guess how many of those recalls we are going to see this year. Someone with free time and Google can find gems like this one for example Cracked FJ Cruiser bodies. I saw the problem in person here (after having seen it in the interwebz like 2 years ago).

  • Cammy Corrigan Cammy Corrigan on Jul 20, 2010

    I just find it amazing that when I reported a GM recall, everyone chose to fudge the issue by asking why TTAC was reporting on recalls. Yet, come a Toyota recall, we get everyone curiously sticking to the topic in hand with very little deviation.... http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/gm-to-recall-1-3-million-cobaltg5s/

    • See 5 previous
    • Steven02 Steven02 on Jul 20, 2010

      Honestly, my personal opinion was that the GM recall was only reported here because of the Toyota SUA incidents and debating which one was worse. Again, my personal opinion of why that one was reported. But, the question is, what makes a recall noteworthy? There have been recalls about cables not holding spare tires in place, but no mention of it here. I think it is interesting that the manufacture who is handling this recall seems to be releasing the recalls for this part separately by model, which keeps it from being a very large recall, going with a few smaller recalls. My question is, and remains to be, what makes a recall worthy of reporting? Don't forget, the heated washer fluid GM recall was also reported.

  • Ihatetrees Ihatetrees on Jul 20, 2010

    NHTSA paperwork glitches are not the same as design flaws. Toyota will dodge this bullet. Their buying demographic is more research based than others and their resale values kill the competition. Also, they've got more money than god to protect the Toyota brand. Which they do well. Remember, there never was a "Bill Heard" Toyota.

    • See 3 previous
    • Canuck129 Canuck129 on Jul 21, 2010

      Robert.Walter When has the latter ever not been manipulated.... by NHTSA or any car company?

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