Have you had any problems with the breaks in your Toyota recently? Well, this week the world’s largest car manufacturer recalled nearly half a million of their hybrid model, the Prius, from places all over the world, after finding braking problems in the car. This follows two other recalls last year of up to 8million vehicles worldwide!
Is Toyota losing its touch? My first car was an old blue Toyota Corolla, and despite a few rattles and shakes, it was a very trustworthy car. Even when things did go wrong, it seemed that everyone knew how to get under the bonnet, tinker around and have it running again. Now in the age of computerized hybrid engines, can we put our faith in car makers to get it right? In the US, Ford Motor Company has had similar problems with their own Hybrid car models, but has claimed that they can roll out a software patch to fix the problems without having to make a recall.
The good news is that Toyota claims they have fixed the problem. None the less, with share prices dropping, and further speculation around the safety of their vehicles, it seems that to patch up their damaged reputation, Toyota may need a 4WD to get over the rough road ahead.
Contributed by Jeremy Veitch