make and model
All of the news headlines I see about Toyota’s auto recalls are really upsetting to me. Here’s an excerpt from the release:
On January 21, Toyota announced its intention to recall approximately 2.3 million select Toyota Division vehicles equipped with certain accelerator pedal mechanisms that may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position. Toyota vehicles affected by the recall include:
• Certain 2009-2010 RAV4
• Certain 2009-2010 Corolla
• 2009-2010 Matrix
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• Certain 2007-2010 Camry
• Certain 2010 Highlander
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2008-2010 Sequoia
Click here to see the full official press release from Toyota’s website.
My family has faithfully bought Toyotas for as long as I can remember for their quality and reliability. In one of my undergraduate business classes, I remember reading a compelling case study about Toyota’s “Kaizen” quality control and improvement philosophy which further cemented my loyalty to the car manufacturer.
When the husband and I were ready to buy a new car (my first new car ever), I knew I wanted a Toyota 4Runner.
We are probably going to be in the market for buying a new car soon and before the Toyota recalls, it was a pretty limited conversation because it felt irresponsible to buy something other than a Toyota. But now that the Toyota isn’t as reliable, I feel like we’re liberated to consider other makes. Is that weird? Haha, I don’t know, it makes sense to me somehow.
As a fun side fact, my parents are the kind of people that go around checking VIN numbers on potential Toyota cars that they are interested in buying because if they start with a “J” then it means it was manufactured in Japan. I’ve always humored them about this requirement but have never really bought into it. But then I read this line on the Toyota press release:
“Further, Camry, RAV4, Corolla and Highlander vehicles with Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) that begin with “J” are not affected by the accelerator pedal recall.”
Sometimes I guess your parents do know best.
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