Another Toyota Recall: 270,000 Lexus and Crown Vehicles To Be Repaired Because Of Faulty Engine Valves
Recalled autos include Lexus models LS600hL, LS600h, LS460, IS350, GS460, GS450h, and GS350 and Crown models. Officials say that a foreign substance that was introduced during the valve spring manufacturing process caused the defect.
Some 200 complaints naming this defect have been submitted to Toyota. No related car accidents have been reported. Toyota says it will replace the faulty valve springs.
Toyota also just recently recalled 17,000 Lexus luxury hybrids after tests demonstrated that fuel can spill out during a rear-end car crash. A National Traffic Highway Safety Administration contractor conducted the test. Toyota’s own testing did not reveal any spillage, but the automaker says it is recalling the vehicle while it tries to replicate the government’s test findings.
In just 9 months, the automaker has had to recall over 8.5 million autos because of different safety concerns. Plaintiffs have filed over 200 auto products liability lawsuits seeking damages for personal injuries and wrongful deaths.
Physical injuries and deaths are not the only catastrophic damages that may have been sustained by the victims of Toyota’s auto defects. For example, Koua Fong Lee was convicted in 2007 of criminal vehicular homicide in the rear-end Minnesota car crash that killed three people. He was sentenced to an 8-year prison sentence.
The 32-year-old driver always said he tried to prevent the tragic accident by stepping on the brakes of his 1996 Toyota Camry, which accelerated to speeds as high as 91 mph. However, Lee says his vehicle would not stop.
Although the car he was driving is not one of the vehicles that Toyota has recalled to date, Lee is just one of a number of drivers of passengers with 1996 Camrys and other vehicles that haven’t been recalled yet that have said they’ve also experienced Toyota sudden acceleration problems—an auto defect that has led to numerous injuries and death.
Toyota to recall 138,000 Lexus vehicles in US to fix faulty engines that can stall in motion, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2010
Toyota recalls Lexus hybrid for fuel spills, MSNBC, June 25, 2010
Man who crashed Toyota moves one step closer to new trial, Twin Cities, July 7, 2010
Related Web Resources:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Toyota Motor Corporation
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