A while back Toyota went through a lot of recalls for its unintended acceleration recalls and cases. Lexus did some too. Well, here comes Lexus again.

Federal safety investigators just announced that nearly 134,000 of the Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid vehicles are being recalled.

All of this hit the fan back in 2009 and 2010 when a state trooper in California died at the wheel of a runaway Lexus, killing several family members in the crash. Ultimately in the first recall 3.8 million Lexus and Toyota vehicles were recalled, with the blame on loose mats that can catch under the accelerator pedal. That was followed two months later by another recall involing millions more with sticking accelerator assembly dangers and/or fears.

Toyota, which builds the luxury Lexus models, thought it put all of this behind it. Well, here comes Lexus again, with 131,800 2010 model year RX 350 SUV's recalled and 22,500 of the hybrid RX 450h SUV's recalled.

Until you get your recall notice, we recommend you remove the floor mats completely and continue to drive carefully.

It seems like every day Toyota is recalling something else. Now it's the Tacoma Trucks.

Toyota announced will recall 8,000 Tacoma pickups due to possible cracks in a common drive shaft component Read more here: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100212/RETAIL05/100219948/-1#ixzz0fXhZAY5B

The recall involves the 2010 Toyota Tacoma. Although this same model is involved in the now-famous "aha! it's the floor mat" self-acceleration recall, the issue in this recall is new.

This recall comes only days after a new recall of over 7,300 of the 2010 Toyota Camry vehicles for risk of brake line failures.

If it isn't one recall, it's another. And then another. And then another.

Maybe it's time to go back to American quality?

If you've got a lemon Tacoma, a Toyota that's dangerous, or a Camry with failing brakes, maybe you need a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemons is what we do. Every day. Since 1978.

So, how do you stop a government investigator from investigating your company? Well, one way is to promise them a job or just plain hire them. Did Toyota do that to stall or stop federal investigators from looking too closely at their runaway acceleration car problems in the past? Toyota owners deserve an honest answer.

On Feb. 12th, Bloomberg.com reported that many of the regulators in the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") who stopped earlier investigations into Toyota problems by the federal agency in charge of recalls ended up being hired by Toyota after they left their government jobs.

Former regulators hired by Toyota Motor Corp. helped end at least four U.S. investigations of unintended acceleration by company vehicles in the last decade, warding off possible recalls, Bloomberg says court and government records show. While all automakers have employees who handle NHTSA issues, Toyota may be the only one of the major companies that also has hired the former safety investigation agency staffers.

Spokesmen for General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC and Honda Motor Co. all say their companies have no ex-NHTSA people who deal with the agency on defects.

The recent developments with this Toyota recall mess are astonishing and have to make you wonder just how cozy the recall investigators have been with Toyota. Is this the reason recalls didn't happen before now?

As an example, Bloomberg reports that "Christopher Tinto, vice president of regulatory affairs in Toyota’s Washington office, and Christopher Santucci, who works for Tinto, helped persuade the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to end probes including those of 2002-2003 Toyota Camrys and Solaras, court documents show. Both men joined Toyota directly from NHTSA, Tinto in 1994 and Santucci in 2003.

"NHTSA opened eight investigations of unintended acceleration of Toyota vehicles from 2003 to 2010, according to Safety Research & Strategies Inc., a Rehoboth, Massachusetts, group that gathers data from NHTSA and other sources..."

Foreign accountability is needed to keep Americans safe and it seems to be getting clearer that it has not been happening. Here, it looks like even the government watchdogs weren’t watching.

Read the Bloomberg article here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMBS8icm3pyY&pos=5

It all makes you wonder just how long has this been going on? Who knows.

One thing we know for sure though is that if you own one of these recalled Toyota's, it's time to be driving very carefully, if you drive it at all.

If you've got a lemon Toyota, you need a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemons is what we do. Every day. Since 1978.

Automotive News is reporting this morning that in August 2007 federal safety investigators at NHTSA, the people in charge of motor vehicle recalls, saw electromagnetic interference cause a Toyota-built engine to rev up on its own. But they decided to do nothing about it.

"Federal investigators had just bought a 2007 Lexus ES 350 and were running it through a battery of tests at the government's Vehicle Research and Test Center in East Liberty, Ohio, when they noticed something funny with the electronic throttle control.

"The vehicle was rigged with monitors to root out possible causes of unwanted acceleration. The engineers, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, were testing yaw rate, speed, acceleration, brake pressure, brake pad temperature, throttle-plate position, gas-pedal position and the brake booster vacuum, among other things.

"And when they introduced magnetic fields in proximity to electronic controls for the throttle body and accelerator pedal, the engine mysteriously started revving by itself." Read more here.

The article is from within the auto industry itself and recites a lot of detail that convincingly explains that floor mats and gas pedal shims may not be the real fix for the problem at all, even though Toyota still insists it has found the problem.

Until federal safety investigators get finished going back over everything, including the things they missed years ago, Toyota owners can't be sure. They can only be careful.

If you've got a lemon Toyota, don't take a chance. Get a Burdge attorney and get rid of your lemon. It's what we do. Every day. Since 1978.

When it rains it pours. In Toyota's case, it just pours and pours and pours.


Bad enough all the grief over its gas pedal recall that it miraculously found out how to fix in only 7 days, bad enough the floor mat recall of millions of Toyota vehicles, and Lexus, is looking like another half-hearted attempt to sweep the problems under the rug (quite literally), but now even Toyota's green gem of the fleet, Prius, has come under fire.

AP News has reported that the Toyota Prius is now being repaired by dealers for brake issues that Toyota is claiming don't quite deserve a recall --- yet. But even Automotive News is saying that a recall on the green-badged eco vehicle will happen any day now.


It turns out that there's a computer software "glitch" in some Prius cars that affects the car's brakes. You hit the brakes and, for a moment (reportedly one full second), there are no brakes at all. Let's call that the "oh, crap" recall, folks, because that's the mild version of what the driver is undoubtedly thinking in that second of panic and fear when you don't know if the brakes are going to work at all.

Okay, so you bought a Toyota whose floor mat design can cause the car to accelerate beyond control, or was that a Toyota whose gas pedal design can allow it to stick with the throttel wide open (look out for that tree ahead), or you had one of those Toyotas that are talked about in the four boxes of secret evidence under seal at the Texas federal courthouse (where the former Toyota lawyer dropped them off and the criminal investigation is going on), or you wanted to "go green" so you bought one of the Prius cars and now you're waiting for the "oh, sh**" moment to strike.


It's enough to make you buy American again.


If you've got a lemon Toyota, don't put up with any runaround or any grief. Get a Burdge attorney. Getting rid of lemon Toyotas, and other lemons, is what we do. Every day. Since 1978.

Editor's Note: because of the dangerous and massive nature of the floor mat recall announced by Toyota yesterday, we are reprinting this article here to give it wide circulation.

Massive Toyota Floor Mat Recall and Lexus Floor Mat Recall

Toyota has recalled 3.8 million vehicles in what is the largest recall it has ever done. Apparently floor mats can get jammed at the gas pedal, causing the engine to accelerate uncontrollably, during which the engine can not be shut down.

Do you own one of these potential Toyota or potential Lexus lemons with a deadly defect or dangerous floor mat design?

2007 Camry
2008 Camry
2009 Camry
2010 Camry
2005 Avalon
2006 Avalon
2007 Avalon
2008 Avalon
2009 Avalon
2010 Avalon
2007 Tundra
2008 Tundra
2009 Tundra
2010 Tundra
2005 Tacoma
2006 Tacoma
2007 Tacoma
2008 Tacoma
2009 Tacoma
2010 Tacoma
2004 Prius
2005 Prius
2006 Prius
2007 Prius
2008 Prius
2009 Prius
2007 Lexus ES 350
2008 Lexus ES 350
2009 Lexus ES 350
2010 Lexus ES 350
2006 Lexus IS 250
2007 Lexus IS 250
2008 Lexus IS 250
2009 Lexus IS 250
2010 Lexus IS 250
2006 Lexus IS 350
2007 Lexus IS 350
2008 Lexus IS 350
2009 Lexus IS 350
2010 Lexis IS 350

The recall was prompted by years of runaway accelerator complaints and investigations that culminated in the August death of a highway patrolman and 4 passengers in a Lexus being driven by the officer. The passengers called 911 just minutes before their death in a violent 120 mph crash, saying that the accelerator had become stuck and the car would not shut off.

Officials suspect the driver side floor mat became lodged at the gas pedal with the accelerator in a wide open position.

Toyota admits to reports of the problem going back to its 2004 model year Prius. Federal safety officials say they received 102 reports of jammed accelerators in Toyota and Lexus models that resulted in at least 13 crashes and 17 injuries before the August crash that killed the off-duty California Highway Patrol officer.

Toyota reportedly has said that all driver side floor mats should be immediately removed from vehicles and nothing should be used, not even paper mats, until they come up with a solution.

We also maintain blogs covering vehicle recalls by vehicle type.

Car recalls are posted on this blog: http://carrecalls.blogspot.com/

Truck recalls can be found here: http://truckrecalls.blogspot.com/

Rv Recalls can be found here: http://rvrecalls.blogspot.com/

Motorcycle and Atv recalls are here: http://motorcycleatvrecalls.blogspot.com/

If you’ve got a lemon Toyota car or truck or a lemon Lexus car, or any other lemon vehicle, email us or call us at 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Helping consumers get rid of lemon cars is what we do. Every day.

Burdge Law Office
www.NewCarLemonLaw.com
Because life is too short to put up with a bad car.
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