First the gas, then the brakes, now the STEERING?

[ReflexFX]

NHTSA's Karen Aldana told AOL Autos this morning that the company is reviewing Corolla complaints just as they investigate problems of other makes and models.

"We are reviewing steering complaints with the Corolla to determine if a safety defect investigation is warranted, as is standard procedure with all complaints," Aldana told us in an email this morning.

Automotive News reports that the Corolla's steering problem -- which is best described a "unintended veering" -- raised 83 complaints since April of 2008. The news report said that 76 of those incidents took place over 40 mph, with the cars inadvertently veering to the right or left.

In total, ten injuries from six accidents have been reported.

In complaints filed with NHTSA, owner stories of the events ranged from mild to terrifying.

"2009 Toyota Corolla EPS (electronic power steering) causes the car to wander at speeds higher than 50 mph," wrote one Toyota Corolla driver on June 18, 2009. "This makes for very dangerous driving conditions. Toyota needs to address the issue and do a recall to fix the problem."

Another complaint drove home how frightening the issue could be.

"This was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me in my life as well as my grandchildren!" wrote one North Carolina resident in a complaint registered on September 11, 2009.

While Toyota has not provided an official comment on complaints, some owners who filed complaints provided their own reasoning for why the car might pull to the left or the right.

"[I] notice the steeering wheel sometimes pulses only when my cell phone is...docked to the right of the steering wheel," wrote one Corolla driver in an official complaint on June 26, 2009. "It's strange I can sometimes tell if my Blackberry is going to ring or get an email. The steering wheel seems to shake or try to steer on its own. This is similar to my other 2009 Toyota Corolla that I resold to the dealer. I wonder if more shielding is needed to reduce any interference."

NHTSA said through a spokesperson that they will continue to monitor the complaints and will consider a formal investigation.

AOL News

Oh Toyota...

[Ukyo8]

ohhh man rough times for toyota

[Mitsu3000gt]

I'd be curious to know how many of these incidents are Toyota's fault, and how many are retarded owners.

[Kamen]

Are people just making things up now? Next thing you'll see is a problem with the power windows.

I've never heard of cell phone interference with power steering

[Cos]

actually first was floor mats. Dont forget the floor mats

[scat19]

Hybrids are a waste of money and they aren't saving the environment and BMW desiels get better gas mileage.....

Oh.. Wait.

[hampstor]

The media is making a shitstorm out of everything Toyota now. This is one of those times where they will dig up any possible dirt and show it to the world.

[Tik-Tok]

Automotive News reports that the Corolla's steering problem -- which is best described a "unintended veering" -- raised 83 complaints since April of 2008. The news report said that 76 of those incidents took place over 40 mph, with the cars inadvertently veering to the right or left.

So of the 83 complaints... how many of those people weigh in the 300 lbs range? Or have passengers that do?

"[I] notice the steeering wheel sometimes pulses only when my cell phone is...docked to the right of the steering wheel," wrote one Corolla driver in an official complaint on June 26, 2009. "It's strange I can sometimes tell if my Blackberry is going to ring or get an email. The steering wheel seems to shake ...

Umm... do you have your phone on vibrate?

[Zewind]

Why is the stock not going down more :P

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Zewind
Why is the stock not going down more :P

Because people are buying it up including myself. It will only go up again.

[snoop101]

Actually Toyota is doing the right thing. Get shit storm out of the way now. By next year everyone will have forgoten. They already in the shiter whats a couple more issues going to do.

Making the Prius issue bigger then the gas pedal issue is a good way draw attention to your non profit car and take the hit on that then to bring more attention to your lineup that makes money.

[Cos]

Originally posted by snoop101
Actually Toyota is doing the right thing. Get shit storm out of the way now. By next year everyone will have forgoten. They already in the shiter whats a couple more issues going to do.

Making the Prius issue bigger then the gas pedal issue is a good way draw attention to your non profit car and take the hit on that then to bring more attention to your lineup that makes money.

arent some of these recalls (honda included) for cars that are up to 9 years old?

Doesnt sound like they were in too much a hurry to 'get it out of the way'.

[tentacles]

The Cobalt had a lot of problems with the electric power steering, which was supplied by Toyota (JTEKT is a Toyota subsidiary). It got so bad that GM is sueing Toyota for their warranty costs. They also supply the PS for Corollas and such.

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/gm...30m-13616.html

[Zephyr]

I bet this one is user error...seriously a cell phone throws off my steering, really lady? What's next, a burrito causes the turn signal to signal slower? What a media shit storm... CNN and Faux news are gonna have fun with this

[tentacles]

seriously a cell phone throws off my steering, really lady? What's next

I haven't read the thread for that one but apparently it has something to do with the ghetto HIDs that guy installed. So Rf interference is not out of the question.

[Zephyr]

Originally posted by tentacles





I haven't read the thread for that one but apparently it has something to do with the ghetto HIDs that guy installed. So Rf interference is not out of the question.

That one was bad HID install caused the electrical to go out. User error, but I bet some media outlet will get a hold of this to make the story different...

Man I hated that car when I had it, any small mod to it will make it go insane.

[Tomaz]

The electric steering seemed like a bad idea right from the beginning. something always made me nervous behind the wheel of a cobalt. I think it was the lack of road-feel. Fucked up stuff.

i am starting to think that Toyota is publicly announcing all of it's recalls over the past decade. Like going to confession or something.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Tomaz
The electric steering seemed like a bad idea right from the beginning. something always made me nervous behind the wheel of a cobalt. I think it was the lack of road-feel. Fucked up stuff.

The lack of road feel comes from the steering rack, tie rods and even suspension. The EPS system doesn't really have anything to do with steering feel. You'd be hard pressed to find a super car, sports car and even a normal everyday car that doesn't run EPS. No more PS lines, no more messy fluids and way less maintenance. Of course as with everything it has it's positives and negatives. A negative would be having some hack mess up the wiring in your car like the IS shown in the video above.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Governors concerned that the Obama administration is being to tough on Toyota.

Indiana governor Mitch Daniels is among a bipartisan group of governors who are taking issue with how the Obama administration is handling the Toyota recalls. Daniels reportedly told Indianapolis NBC affiliate WTHR that he feels the federal government is going too far in its investigation of Toyota floor mat and gas pedal issues, and he even went so far as to question whether the government's ownership of General Motors and Chrysler is influencing decisions. Daniels reportedly said that he agreed with the recalls and the leveraging of fines if necessary, but he added "it's very, very suspicious in view of the government conflict of interest."

According to the report, four governors are writing a letter to president Obama to voice their collective displeasure over the handling Toyota's recall of 8.1 million vehicles, adding that the hysteria over the recalls is disproportionate to that of other recalls. Daniels also questions the motive of congressmen leading the investigation, adding "these congressmen running this committee have their own agenda and it is a discriminating agenda in this case. They didn't do this the last several hundred recalls." It should be noted that all of the governors who are contributing to the letter to president Obama are reportedly residing or states which have at least one Toyota plant.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been especially tough on Toyota in recent days, questioning whether the company's fixes for the recalls were sufficient, adding that he feels that the Japanese automaker has been "a little safety deaf." At one point, LaHood even told Toyota owners to stop driving their vehicles; a statement that he later recanted. LaHood and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have also stated that it took a great deal of effort to get Toyota to issue the recall, and several reports from various sources claim that Toyota may have known about the issues as early as 2004. Toyota is scheduled to appear before Congress twice in the month of February. Click on the link below to read the governors' letter and see newscast footage of the issue.

[Diocletian]

Talk about a witch hunt