NHTSA Not Busy Enough With Toyota, Begins Investigation of Chevy Cobalt Complaints

Would GM have to reimburse customers for this? Does anyone ACTUALLY know? The steering went out on my sister's car and it was really expensive to fix. The car is out if warranty and the extended warranty didn't cover it. (also her car is an Ion, but I think they are the same platform)

It would be very ironic if Toyota managed to spin this off and make out GM to be the bad guy.

Karma is a bi*ch! GM should have not delivered low blows to Toyota (offered current Toyota owners incentives on GM products). Lets try to be a bit more professional GM.

this is a smart move by NHSTA because they have been taking flak for going after Toyota because Americans presume the only reason a regulatory agency would ever aggressively police Toyota is to help government owned GM and Chrysler. This shows they are actively pursuing cases with GM as well which kind of puts all the bias talk to rest.

honda:

I can only hope you arent being serious. Going after Toyota customers is "unprofessional"? Please. Guess Hyundai is unprofessional as well. Trying to increase sales is always the right thing to do.

I find Toyotas and Cobalts to be equally dangerous- I'd die of boredom if I had to drive one on a regular basis...;)

This is EXACTLY why automakers should tread carefully when piling on Toyota. After all, don't they all have closets full of skeletons?
One just doesn't know when it will blow up in his face. If this Cobalt issue snowballs, GM will look really stupid.
But then perhaps customers are too stupid to remember.

Well, this only affects cobalts, not 7, 8 more chevys.

What is ironic here is that GM has a lawsuit with the supplier, JTEKT, which is a joint venture between Koyo Seiko and Toyoda Machinery Works, about the problem. There is another joint venture within the supplier between JTEKT and Toyota Motor & Denso that was formed to develop the electric power steering systems on these cars. The question now becomes did Toyota & JTEKT sabatoge these systems, or just another example of inferior Japanese engineering.

cr_driver: "Well, this only affects cobalts, not 7, 8 more chevys. "

It's also much less dangerous. At high speed, the loss of power steering is barely noticeable. At low speed, the chance of a fatality is greatly reduced.

Back when I drove a POS, the car killed on me a couple of times while driving. Of course, you lose power steering when that happens. It was unpleasant, but hardly deadly. I've also had a floor mat (non-factory) catch the gas pedal. Thankfully, I was driving a clutch so it didn't take much to deal with it. The lack of power steering is much preferred.

That's not to say the Toyota issue isn't overblown. It is.

Inferior Japanese engineering? Let's not forget that Saginaw had a big problem that also affected a lot of Chryslers at one time. Once again a reason not to go slinging mud.

Disclaimer: I do own a 2006 Chevy Cobalt Coupe. However, I think I can still be neutral here because my feelings towards the Cobalt are neutral in general. There are some aspects I like, and some I don't. I readily acknowledge it isn't the best car in its class, and it wasn't in 2006 either. However, it was affordable, and I bought it because I needed cheap, efficient, and reliable transportation while I was in college. 4 years later, it has delivered on that quite nicely. Still, there are plenty of refinement shortfalls that bother me. While it is ok, there are night and day differences between it and newer GM products. It is one of GM's most dated offerings, so it wouldn't be very fair to cite it as evidence of GM's current quality state. Now with all that said, I feel there are a few distinctions between this probe and the Toyota recall that should be called out:

1. As others have noted, an increase in steering weight isn't nearly as serious as uncontrollable acceleration. I'll leave it at that.

2. All manufacturers have recalls. Toyota in the past did indeed offer remarkably better than average reliability, but consumers and the media have responded to that by assuming nothing would ever change and therefore nothing could ever go wrong with a Toyota no matter what the company did. (Looking at Consumer Reports that recommended Toyota products by default without looking at any data). Finally the evidence that Toyota is just like every other manufacturer was so great that it couldn't be ignored anymore.

3. Notice that this is not a recall, but a probe. This is the preliminary investigation. Notice how Toyota had a history going back years with this problem, but with very few exceptions it was ignored by the media (and everyone else) until Toyota was forced, kicking and screaming) into issuing a recall. When it comes to GM, the media jumps at the first hint of blood in the water. I'd say that's a bit of a double standard.

I'll agree the Cobalt isn't the best, but it isn't the worst. In addition, at least in SS form, it is much better than a Corolla on a track or anywhere for that matter. Actually it is quite fun, and 150+ mph can not be ignored. People seem to forget about the SS model, but it humiliated quite a few cars in the bang for the buck showdowns.

Chevy had better get on it pronto. It probably takes about that six months to realize that there is a real pattern showing a defect. So if Chevy handles it now then they will be fine. If they drag their feet, then they're going to have problems like Toyota. Especially if there are casualties.

GM did take low blows against Toyota.

I'd like to see how many accidents or complaints it takes to initiate a NHTSA investigation.

"an increase in steering weight isn't nearly as serious as uncontrollable acceleration"

I know it's fun to pick on Toyota but at least get the defect correct. There is no unintended acceleration. The complaint is the throttle is slow to return to idle. I know some idiots are claiming the car took off on it's own at full throttle but that could only happen if you were at full throttle to begin with.

As for which is more dangerous... they are about the same. Both can be easily handled by any driver with a brain. The lack of power steering might even be more serious for small or or older drivers if it went out at lower speeds while turning.

"This is EXACTLY why automakers should tread carefully when piling on Toyota. After all, don't they all have closets full of skeletons?"

No one needs to tread lightly. All automakers KNOW what investigations or potentially deadly issues are out there regarding their product. All the Toyota faithful are now getting excited everytime they read about a recall from GM or anyone else. Recalls happen all the time. recalls of top sellers for a dangerous defect do NOT happen all the time. If you want to act like a potential steering system recall for Cobalts makes Toyota look better thats your choice but I can assure you the two issues are not comparable.

"GM did take low blows against Toyota. "

Offering incentives is a "low blow"? GM has offered "conquest" rebates before they just werent limited to one brand. It's called business and Toyota understands. Notice Toyota hasn't criticized any of the competition for trying to poach customers- there's a reason for that. You poeple need to man up and stop whining. If Toyota has a problem with competitors trying to take their loyal customers they need to build more compelling cars that aren't prone to pedal defects. It's that simple.

"Well, this only affects cobalts, not 7, 8 more chevys. "

Exactly, and no one died. Those trying to celebrate this potential issue as some sort of vindication for Toyota need to get a grip on reality. This isn't going to take the press off Toyota's case. Now Waxman from california is saying Toyota officials told his staff they had no idea what was causing the pedal problem and then last week they suddenly emerged with a quick fix.

"GM did take low blows against Toyota. "

Competitive upgrades happen in every industry, every day. That's not a low blow.

If GM had advertised how reliable their accelerator pedals are (except the Vibe), that would be a low blow.

The reason that this is such a fiasco for Toyota is that they are new to the whole NHTSA recall thing. For GM this is old hat and they know what to do. "Don't look over here at the safety recall look over here where we give $2000 cash back for buying our cars! We didn't make any money? oh well Bankruptcy bail out"

"If GM had advertised how reliable their accelerator pedals are (except the Vibe), that would be a low blow."

LOL

"The reason that this is such a fiasco for Toyota is that they are new to the whole NHTSA recall thing. For GM this is old hat and they know what to do. "Don't look over here at the safety recall look over here where we give $2000 cash back for buying our cars! We didn't make any money? oh well Bankruptcy bail out" "

I dont expect any intelligent or accurate commentary from you but just so you know Toyota has been outrecalling GM and Ford for the last few years. They recalled a few million back in 2007 or 2008- more than they sold in the US that year.

"Those trying to celebrate this potential issue as some sort of vindication for Toyota need to get a grip on reality"

You can easily turn your statement around and say..

"Those trying to celebrate this potential issue as some sort of vindication for GM need to get a grip on reality"

...with regards to Toyotas problem. There is no difference.

benson2175: "The reason that this is such a fiasco for Toyota is that they are new to the whole NHTSA recall thing. "

I know 1487 already mentioned it, but it needs to be repeated. Toyota has had a mind numbing number of recalls over the last eight years. Toyota is more familiar with recalls than any other auto manufacturer. It's just that the media had a tendency to report Toyota reliability, rather than Toyota problems.

I want to note that I don't think Toyotas are junk. It's just that they're not the holy grail of reliability that they're portrayed as.

That's a fair assessment.

"...with regards to Toyotas problem. There is no difference. "

difference is I never made such a claim. Sorry to disappoint. Toyota's recall woes have nothing to do with GM or anyone else. All it does is make all the arrogant folks to loved to brag about the superiority of Toyota engineering look a little foolish. Never said the recall "vindicates" Gm or anything similar.

"I want to note that I don't think Toyotas are junk. It's just that they're not the holy grail of reliability that they're portrayed as."

Exactly. No one makes "junk" in 2010- not even VW and jaguar and certainly not Toyota. This just proves that all of the hype about their superiority was just that- hype.

"Going after Toyota customers is "unprofessional"?"

1487, going after Toyota ISN"T unprofessional as its all about HOW you do it. GM and others (Ford, Hyundai and Chrysler) saw Toyota in a certain unfortunate situation and pounced on the opportunity to try to get the Toyota faithful away from the brand. Why not just let your products lure Toyota buyers away instead of trying to draw them in with heavy incentives? I think it makes them look bad and desperate to make a sale. Good business ethics and professionalism? I don't think so.

Honda took a totally different approach:

http://www.insideline.com/honda/honda-takes-the-high-road-on-toyota-recall.html

hondaacura4,

Honda simply has an intelligent marketing department. The media has convinced the public that Toyota and Honda are top tier when it comes to reliability. Now that Toyota is getting bad press, Honda expects people to migrate to Honda. Not drawing undo attention to themselves is probably the smart move.

Of course, this Honda dealer didn't get the memo:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/60395969opt.jpg

"1487, going after Toyota ISN"T unprofessional as its all about HOW you do it. GM and others (Ford, Hyundai and Chrysler) saw Toyota in a certain unfortunate situation and pounced on the opportunity to try to get the Toyota faithful away from the brand. "

This is what competitors do. What do you think this business is all about? Every ad Toyota and Honda run about quality is aimed at people who believe American cars are low quality. The Japanese got established her by poaching customers from the then dominant American brands and by advertising how their cars addressed the real and perceived deficiencies of American cars. That is how you gain share. Hyundai has gained share by stressing how their cars offer far more value and standard equipment than Japanese branded vehicles. The incentive was mean to prod a Toyota loyalist to take a look at a product they may not have considered before. It's a great idea.

"Honda took a totally different approach:"

Who cares? Honda already knows that they are likely the next brand to be considered by a disgruntled Toyota owner. There is no need for Honda to offer special deals.

And how the hell is it unethical to offer and incentive as a tool for dealers when the incentives arent even been advertised? Have you seen one GM or Ford commercial mentioning Toyota's woes? Both companies have gone out of their way to not talk about how this could benefit them. Give me a break. Trying to increase market share by offering rebates is hardly unethical. Toyota is offering dealers up to $75,000 to bribe customers to make up for this fiasco. Is that ethical or professional in your book?

Yawn...

"Honda already knows that they are likely the next brand to be considered by a disgruntled Toyota owner. There is no need for Honda to offer special deals"

1487, if GM would have executed better business practices in the past maybe they would have that luxury also.