[geeslice]

Toyota recalls 57,000 Lexus cars

The automaker will replace seat belts in front seats, which can become jammed due to a faulty part; no accidents reported.

April 13, 2006; Posted: 11:25 a.m. EDT (1525 GMT)

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp. said on Wednesday it is recalling 11,000 Lexus cars in Japan and 46,000 overseas to fix a faulty seat belt part.

Toyota will replace seat belts in both front seats. Due to a faulty part, the seatbelts can become jammed so that they cannot be buckled, the company said.

In the U.S., some Lexus IS and GS cars from the 2006 model year involved. A total of 29,000 vehicles in the U.S. will need to be repaired.

No accidents have been reported due to the defect, it said. Until the recall repair is completed, customers can avoid the problem by releasing the seatbelt slowly.

The company did not disclose estimated recall costs.

[BMW F22]

haha That's the first time Toyota's at fault. Thank you for sharing.

[vladinecko]

i wonder how much that's gonna cost them...

[BMW0]

Originally Posted by vladinecko

i wonder how much that's gonna cost them...

Lots of $$

[Imperial]

I thought that Toyota could never do anything wrong with their cars and that Toyota/Lexus cars were the most amazingly reliable cars ever built in the history of the galaxy, in contrast to our unreliable and problem-ridden BMWs?



Interesting. Of course, it's just a single recall...of 50,000+ units, but still, just making an observation.

[geeslice]

Originally Posted by Imperial

Interesting. Of course, it's just a single recall...of 50,000+ units, but still, just making an observation.

Yeah on a car (the IS) which has been out for... how many months?

The funny thing is Consumer Reports gave them an "excellent" on reliability based on Lexus as a whole... while the e90 has to "Wait for reliability data".

[KL2DC]

Is this the recall where Lexus owners who were 'inconvenienced' were given ipod nano's or is this another new one...(wonder what they'll give now)

[geeslice]

Originally Posted by Ethirtynine

I noticed some problems with the passenger seatbelt in my mom's lexus. Other than that, everything else is very reliable. I don't know if it this problem is big enough to really LOL at though. Toyota still make great cars

Yeah my Mom's Lexus is cool... I just tihnk its a snickering thing.

BTW< what's with Mom's and Lexus...

[BMW F22]

well I actually think Toyota will benefit from this. Anyone remembers the Tylenol case?? Liabilities aside, Toyota will recall all the cars even if they only have minor problems. It's things like these that make consumers trust Toyota even more. After they fix the belts, that pretty much makes them the most reliable cars in the world.

It's crazy how many Toyotas are out there. Every intersection I come to there are at least 4 Camrys around (2002-current only; not even including the older models). If I were the CEO of toyota, I would be happy as heck!

[geeslice]

however... i feel that they lack PASSION!!

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by geeslice

however... i feel that they lack PASSION!!

Are you talking about the styling??? If so, I would most definitely agree that Toyota/Lexus cars look like crap. the 2007 LFiness Camry looks freaking weird. THe lights and everything (especially the front) looks retarded.

[E90-4life]

if push comes to shove, cut the seat belt off, bitch til kingdom come, wall-ah, a new shiny, clean seat belt.

well.. that would be kinda pointless now since they're doing hand outs.

[cdheaven]

this reminds me of one of the first cars i remember my parents having. it was some year celica. like the first year of the "rounder" body style or whatever. and the recalled them all for paint. My parents where to lazy to take it to get repainted and after a bunch of years it was just gross with huge pieces of paint flaking off. i think it never got a clear coat.

[JO3]

Originally Posted by geeslice

Toyota recalls 57,000 Lexus cars

The automaker will replace seat belts in front seats, which can become jammed due to a faulty part; no accidents reported.
...

I think it's pretty cool that Lexus is doing this with no accidents reported. I think most car companies would let a couple dozen people die before they would even look into if there's a problem.

[tl_boy]

(ford). lexus still rocks, as does toyota. every manafacturer gets recalls.

Originally Posted by JO3

I think it's pretty cool that Lexus is doing this with no accidents reported. I think most car companies would let a couple dozen people die before they would even look into if there's a problem.

[ward]

Originally Posted by JO3

I think it's pretty cool that Lexus is doing this with no accidents reported. I think most car companies would let a couple dozen people die before they would even look into if there's a problem.

don't think toyota doesn't know exactly how much $$$ they'd have to fork over for the deaths from a known defect

they know exactly how many people could die (and pay the families) vs how much the recall will cost

[Hej]

An alternate interpretation to this is, as pointed out by another poster, that Lexus is simply proactive when it comes to serving their customers. This would be at the opposite end of the spectrum compared to the many complaints I've seen from BMW owners that they have a difficult time convincing the service departments to even complete warrantied repairs, let alone getting a car serviced for a recall.

Try Googling for "BMW recall" and "Lexus recall", and see how many hits each one generates.

[donger274]

and i believe more so the reputation, toyota has definatly built itself a reputation close to what many ars could achieve, but there seems no reason too. to the common person, if your car doesnt break down, why buy another one? i believe if you wanted a car to run a 100 years it could be done with one premium price.

[shimshimhada]

Originally Posted by JO3

I think it's pretty cool that Lexus is doing this with no accidents reported. I think most car companies would let a couple dozen people die before they would even look into if there's a problem.

Who knows? A couple people could have died already, but their families were paid to hush up. :shifty

[SP330]

Originally Posted by geeslice

Yeah on a car (the IS) which has been out for... how many months?

The funny thing is Consumer Reports gave them an "excellent" on reliability based on Lexus as a whole... while the e90 has to "Wait for reliability data".

If you think about Consumer Reports was being fair to BMW. If they based "excellent" based on Lexus as a whole, then they have just enough right to base realiability as "average" for BMW as a whole. But they didn't, they're rightfully waiting for data hoping the e90 won't follow the path of its other series stablemates.(reliability wise)

[ALPINE6SPD]

Originally Posted by shimshimhada

Who knows? A couple people could have died already, but their families were paid to hush up. :shifty

good point

[dkizerian]

Originally Posted by Imperial

I thought that Toyota could never do anything wrong with their cars and that Toyota/Lexus cars were the most amazingly reliable cars ever built in the history of the galaxy, in contrast to our unreliable and problem-ridden BMWs?

I don't see how this recall has anything to do with reliability? this is a safety recall. It's not a problem with the car not starting, or dieing on the freeway, or having an electronic problem that keeps you from being able to do anything at all...