TOYOTA OF NEW ORLEANS BLOG

Lawmaker Seeks Toyota Crash Data; Consumer Advocates Push Reform Bill

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:34:18 +0000

The senior Republican on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter to the chief federal auto safety regulator Wednesday questioning whether his agency is withholding information favorable to Toyota as Congress prepares to vote on a bill to dramatically increase oversight and penalties on automakers.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas sent the letter to David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seeking more information following last week’s Wall Street Journal report that NHTSA had found drivers had their foot on the wrong pedal in dozens of cases of alleged unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

“The committee recently passed, and the House of Representatives may soon consider, a sweeping $800 million reauthorization of NHTSA that includes provisions aimed at unintended acceleration,” Barton said in the letter. “It is important for us to know whether NHTSA has EDR (event data recorder) data showing that some incidents of reported sudden unintended acceleration were the result of pedal misapplication.”

Also Wednesday, a group of consumer advocates and individuals who say they are victims of unintended acceleration gathered on Capitol Hill with congressional backers of the bill to urge its passage, including Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich.

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Toyota Finds Most Sudden Acceleration Crashes Are Driver Error

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:26:20 +0000

July 13 (Bloomberg) — Toyota Motor Corp.’s investigations of accidents involving reports of unintended acceleration found “virtually all” were caused by drivers stepping on the wrong pedal, a company spokesman said.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is looking into causes of unintended acceleration in its cars and trucks and has recalled more than 8 million worldwide in the past year for defects such as pedals that stuck or snagged on floor mats. U.S. auto-safety regulators are also probing the causes and haven’t released their findings.

The Toyota City, Japan-based company has reviewed about 2,000 reports of unintended acceleration since March, including analyzing information from event-data recorders when the incidents involved crashes, said Mike Michels, a Toyota spokesman in Torrance, California.

“There are a variety of causes — pedal entrapment, sticky pedal, other foreign objects in the car” and “pedal misapplication,” Michels said today in a telephone interview. Asked how many crashes were linked to pushing the accelerator instead of the brake, he said, “Virtually all.”

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier today that the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s analysis of Toyota data recorders found cases in which throttles were open and brakes hadn’t been deployed.

NHTSA spokeswomen declined to comment on that report.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net

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Toyota 4Runner

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:46:05 +0000

Toyota Matrix

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:45:02 +0000

Toyota Camry

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:43:36 +0000

Toyota Tundra

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:41:21 +0000

SMART Team Wrenches Truth Out of Media Run-Away Car Report

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:19:27 +0000

Quick and collaborative action last week by Toyota’s SMART teams defused a potentially damaging media report of unintended acceleration in a Toyota vehicle near San Francisco. The initial, highly-speculative report of this event aired on KGO-TV, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco, on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

It can be viewed here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=7526764

In response, Field Technician Specialist Kuyen Yip went to Magnussen Toyota in Palo Alto, Calif., on Tuesday to inspect the car. He quickly discovered that an oil filter wrench had been left in the engine compartment by an aftermarket vendor who had recently serviced the vehicle – not a Toyota technician. The wrench became stuck in the throttle body of the 2002 Highlander with an older accelerator cable system, causing the throttle to open up.

Once the owners were informed, they offered to go back on camera publicly. The TMS Corporate Communications department arranged for a follow-up segment on KGO-TV, which aired on Wednesday night and featured Yip commending the customer for taking the proper action during the UA event. It also showed Yip removing the oil filter wrench from the throttle cable assembly.

To read the follow up story, please visit: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=7531303

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Toyota Racing: Superspeedway Success

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:22:23 +0000

Hey Toyota Racing Fans,

LOOKING BACK AT LOUDON: In last Sunday’s NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™ (NSCS) race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 2009 race winner Joey Logano (ninth) was the highest-finishing Camry driver at the one-mile New England oval. Logano started 11th in the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and earned his seventh top-10 finish in 17 starts this season.

RECORD BREAKER: Busch moved into a second-place tie on the all-time NASCAR® Nationwide Series™ (NNS) win list (36) with his victory last Saturday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Busch started fourth and led six times for 126 (of 200) laps and became the series’ all-time lap leader. The 25-year-old Las Vegas native has now led 8,117 laps in 186 career NNS races, surpassing the 8,023 laps led by Mark Martin. Logano (fourth) and Trevor Bayne (fifth) also recorded top-five finishes for Toyota. It marked a career-best finish for the 19-year-old Bayne.

MOVING FORWARD — POINTS PUSH: As the NSCS heads to Daytona International Speedway for the 18th race of the season, Busch and Hamlin remain third and fourth, respectively, in the NSCS point standings. Busch is currently 161 points behind series points leader, and Hamlin sits 185 points out of first-place. Camry drivers Logano (16th), Martin Truex Jr. (18th) and Reutimann (19th) are looking to break into the top-12 with nine races remaining before the 10-race Chase for the championship begins in September.

SUPERSPEEDWAY SUCCESS: Camry drivers return to Daytona this weekend, where Busch won the 2008 summer NSCS race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. In February, Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) teammates Reutimann and Truex recorded top-10 finishes for Toyota at the Daytona 500. Reutimann recorded a fifth-place finish in his seventh start at the “World Center of Racing” while Truex earned a sixth-place finish in his first points race in the MWR No. 56 NAPA Camry.

TUNDRA TALLY: Tundra drivers will enjoy another weekend off before the NASCAR® Camping World Truck Series™ (NCWTS) returns to action at Iowa Speedway, July 11. Tundra driver Todd Bodine currently leads the series point standings and holds a 55-point lead over fellow Toyota driver Aric Almirola (second). Timothy Peters (third), Mike Skinner (fifth) and David Starr (eighth) are also representing Toyota in the top-10 in the point standings.

SPONSAFIER 2: The Toyota “Sponsafy Your Ride” contest is back. Sponsafier 2 launched on Sunday, June 20. There are already over 15,400 entries. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity. Visit www.sponsafier.com and design your race car today!

Check out the memorable highlights video featuring the Sponsafier 1 contest winner.

GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED: Toyota drivers Mike Skinner and Michael Waltrip will both drive Camrys this weekend in West Sussex, England, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Skinner will drive a Red Bull Camry for the second year in a row in the famous hill-climb event, while Waltrip will run a NAPA Camry around the 1.16-mile course.

Log-on to www.toyotaracing.com for up-to-date racing information.

What to Watch:

NASCAR® Nationwide Series™ at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, July 2 @ 8:00 PM (ET), ESPN

NASCAR® Sprint Cup Series™ at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, July 3 @ 7:30 PM (ET), TNT

Premier Collision Center in New Orleans, LA, Mixes Environmentally Friendly Processes With Traditional Customer Service Methods

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:18:53 +0000

Premier Collision Center in New Orleans, Louisiana opened in 2008 in the eastern New Orleans area to better serve customers after Hurricane Katrina. Beyond being the only shop in the area to use ONXY HD waterborne paints, Premier Collision Center also uses environmentally friendly products, sells damaged bumpers back to their suppliers, utilizes paint less dent repair processes and recycles old tires and bumper plastics in order to reduce their hazardous emissions and waste.

When asked why Premier made the decision to go with waterborne paints when they opened in 2008, collision center manager Raymond Ducote said, “Most car manufacturers are using it more and more now, so we saw the opportunity and jumped on it.”

Ducote also mentioned that he felt the color and clarity of waterborne paints were superior to solvent-based paints and worth the investment.

Premier Collision Center is a Toyota certified collision repair shop; they also works with 4 dealerships in the area: Premier Honda, Premier Kia of Kenner, Toyota of New Orleans and Premier Nissan of Metairie. With 12 employees working out of a 9500 square-foot shop, Premier Collision Center is able to see about 100 to 120 cars per month.

Ducote said the shop opened in 2008 in the eastern New Orleans area because that area had not been rebuilt back to its pre-hurricane condition yet and a body shop was desperately needed to service customers in that area. This location also enables them to service the New Orleans metro area as well as other surrounding communities.

Premier Collision Center also works with insurance company Direct Repair Programs (DRPs) to best service the customer’s needs. Premier is able to pull in about 1 million in total sales annually.

Since Premier Collision Center is a Toyota certified shop they are required to use all of the latest tools and techniques. Their state of the art facility uses state of the art equipment, including; the laser measuring system Portal, spot resistant welders and waterborne painting tools as well as a completely computerized paint matching system. They also provide online repair tracking for their customers so they can monitor their vehicle repairs in real time online.

For more information please visit Premier Collision Center’s website at www.premierautomotivecollision.com.

Toyota Foundation Grant Expands Program to Grow Environmental Leaders

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:55:27 +0000

The Nature Conservancy and the Toyota USA Foundation announced on Monday an expansion of Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future (LEAF) – a comprehensive environmental leadership program for teenagers and educators.

The Foundation’s gift of $800,000 will build on LEAF’s 16 years of success in New York City by doubling the number of students and high schools with environmental programs served. In 2010, the program will support 10 high schools in the New York metro area. The long-term goal is to expand LEAF into over 30 high school environmental programs in urban areas across the country, ultimately serving more than 20,000 students.

To read the press release, please visit
http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/the-nature-conservancy-expands-160660.aspx

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