Toyota Vehicle Receives “Don’t Buy” Warning
Toyota may soon find itself tangled up in yet another public relations catastrophe as the company’s popular Lexus GX 460 SUV has been slapped with a “Don’t Buy” warning.
Following tests that were conducted on the model to gauge safety performance, Consumer Reports issued the rare and sales-unfriendly “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” rating after the vehicle proved to be prone to skidding while turning. The magazine stated that the skidding can trigger rollovers that can lead to serious bodily harm and death.
“We believe that in real-world driving, that situation could lead to a rollover accident, which could cause serious injury or death. We are not aware, however, of any such reports,” Consumer Reports stated.
The test which focused on how well the vehicle could handle unusual turns resulted in the rear of the vehicle sliding to almost a complete sideways angle before the vehicle’s electronic stability control system would begin to make adjustments intended to avoid incidents such as rollovers.
The rating raised concern with Toyota saying that it had not experienced any similar issues through its vehicle tests.
“We will try to duplicate the Consumer Reports’ test to determine if appropriate steps need to be taken,” the Japanese automaker said in a statement.
“Customer safety and satisfaction remain our highest priorities. We take the Consumer Reports’ test results seriously and appreciate Consumer Reports bringing it to our attention.”
Since late 2009, Toyota has been shaken to its core as a result of vehicle recalls that numbered in the millions. The recalls had been tied to a problem commonly called “unintended acceleration” which was accredited to multiple deaths in the U.S. Raising public concern about the safety standards of the automaker, congress even brought the company’s President and CEO Akio Toyoda to the nation’s capitol to testify in front of the United States Congress committees on Oversight and Investigations. Currently, the company is facing a possible $16.4 million fine from the United States for hiding dangerous vehicle defects from the public.
2001 was the last year that Consumer Reports handed out a “Don’t Buy” warning. In that particular case, the magazine gave the poor rating to Mitsubishi’s SUV, the Montero. Mitsubishi disputed Consumer Reports’ rating, choosing to forego a recall or vehicle modification. The Montero sold in the U.S. up until 2007, but still continues to sell overseas.
So, will this new public relations problem for Toyota snowball into a larger one, or will it simply fade away like the Montero did?