Toyota recalled nearly 4.9 million vehicles in 2009 -- the most of any automaker in the U.S., the Detroit Free Press reports. This is the first time Toyota has ever led in annual recalls, and of course this milestone is the result of the floor mat debacle during which 4.3 million vehicles were recalled.
Free Press writers crunched the numbers on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Web site. Ford came up second with 4.5 million recalled vehicles -- most of them covered by recalls for cruise control switches that can catch fire, a chronic defect in older Fords.
Next up was GM was 2.2 million recalled vehicles, followed by Hyundai with just over 1 million and Nissan with 700,000+. Chrysler rounded out the top five with 590,000.
You can see the full list in the Free Press article.
chopperx says:
08:29 AM, 12/30/09
ahh - how the mightly have fallen. Is Toyota the new GM? wow
jederino says:
08:36 AM, 12/30/09
The recall rate per unit is probably a better yardstick of overall quality. And, I hesitate to rank automakers on recalls, when you really do want automakers to chase down any defects quickly and effectively. What I care about is automakers backing their product and warranties.
brn says:
09:09 AM, 12/30/09
Didn't Toyota have similar recall issues in 2004-2005 as well, where they recalled more cars then they sold?
carlisimo says:
09:27 AM, 12/30/09
I don't entirely blame Toyota for the floor mat debacle. Excluding those, they didn't do too bad.
estreka says:
10:16 AM, 12/30/09
I find it odd you chose a picture of the Tacoma for this article. There haven't been any recalls related to the Tacoma have there?
santiagofdz says:
10:29 AM, 12/30/09
+1 on jederino's comment. Recall rate per unit is probably more valuable than a gross total of cars recalled, and I also don't mind if they screw up something(not life threating) , as long as they stand by their product and correct it ASAP.
And I also found it odd that a Tacoma is on the pic, but a bit of research and you can see they are also subject to the floor mat recall(and a recall to modify a wrongly printed label OMG!!). I would have placed the Camry on the pic, but then again, maybe it would render the article invisible and nobody would notice it.
huyracing says:
10:33 AM, 12/30/09
FYI, "recalls" are forced upon them. Toyota used to fix these problems before this happens, but I guess times have changed. The bad economy has affected boring old Toyota and they cannot continue to throw around money like that.
chopperx says:
06:29 PM, 12/30/09
"+1 on jederino's comment. Recall rate per unit is probably more valuable than a gross total of cars recalled, and I also don't mind if they screw up something(not life threating) , as long as they stand by their product and correct it ASAP. "
Toyota's recall was handed to them by the government and people have died as a result - very life threatening.
Toyota has the arrogance to claim any wrong doing and that is what is so horrendous about this recall.
hondacura4 says:
09:40 AM, 12/31/09
This is a fine example of why one shouldn't put quantity over quality.