Los Angeles, CA – Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday about 270,000 cars sold worldwide — including luxury Lexus sedans — have potentially faulty engines, the latest quality lapse to hit the automaker following massive global recalls of top-selling models.
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Japan’s top-selling daily Yomiuri said in its evening edition that Toyota will inform the transport ministry of a recall on Monday.
The paper cited no sources.
Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma said the company was evaluating measures to deal with the problem of defective engines that can stall while the vehicle is moving.
He would not confirm a recall was being considered.
The automaker has been working to patch up its reputation after recalling more than 8 million vehicles worldwide because of unintended acceleration and other defects.
Of the 270,000 vehicles with engine problems, some 180,000 were sold overseas and the rest in Japan.
They include the popular Crown and seven models of luxury Lexus sedans.
Toyota said it has received around 200 complaints in Japan over faulty engines.
Some drivers told Toyota that the engines made a strange noise.
Homma said there have been no reports of accidents linked to the faulty engines.
The automaker’s shares dropped 2.3 percent to close at 3,010 yen in Tokyo on Thursday.
U.S. authorities recently slapped Toyota with a record $16.4 million fine for acting too slowly to recall vehicles with defects.
Toyota dealers have repaired millions of vehicles, but the automaker still faces more than 200 lawsuits tied to accidents, the lower resale value of Toyota vehicles and the drop in the company’s stock.
In the aftermath of the recalls, Congress is considering an upgrade to auto safety laws to toughen potential penalties against automakers, give the U.S. government more powers to demand a recall and push car companies to meet new safety standards.
Toyota said last week it will recall 17,000 Lexus luxury hybrids after testing showed that fuel can spill during a rear-end crash.
The Japanese have spent too much time on the internet with shmutz that’s why the quality of their cars has gone down.
I hope they will inform the public which cars are ‘infected’. i am looking to purchase/lease a Toyota, since they probably are going to be having great deals as people wont buy their cars anymore.
What’s a toyota crown? Do they mean Camry which means crown in Jappanesse?
Thank you Team Obama for your attack on this company all in the name of ‘fairness’ in competition with your GMC.
Give us back our country!!
I have a Toyota, I have taken it to the dealer with a couple of issues however they have not been addressed, Is there a number I can call in my complaint?
I bought a Lexus in 99. After a year of routine service at the dealer I took it to an outside oil change place. They told me it looked as though the oil was never changed. It turned out that that particular engine had a design defect that ruined the oil and caused sludge which could destroy the engine.
I was amazed at the 100% compliance, any dealer employee memorized the Toyota line that cars serviced at the dealer had no problems, only outside places that used cheap oil were problematic.
There have been countless suits and settlements on this issue, nothing new here.