The Recall Lawyers

Federal safety regulators are investigating claims of throttles sticking in 2005 and 2006 models of Ford Tauruses. There have been 14 complaints so far about the problem. The National Traffic Safety Administration has said that no accidents or injuries have been reported but that recently a driver ran a red light and was unable to stop the vehicle before crossing the intersection.

The agency says the problem may be caused when cruise control cables become detached. There has not yet been a recall of the vehicle and Ford is said to be cooperating.

Continue reading "Feds Investigating Sticky Throttles in Ford Tauruses" »

Another tragic wreck involving sudden, unexplained acceleration of a Toyota has claimed the lives of 72-year-old Eugene Fajarda Macala and 66-year-old Ma Perlita Supnet Macala of Las Vegas. The 2002 Camry they were driving "sped through a red light and struck a wall while exiting an off-ramp at the 215 Beltway and Cheyenne Avenue" early yesterday morning.

According to witnesses, the car "darted" mysteriously and crashed in a way that "didn't make sense." Toyota has recalled millions of cars worldwide over allegations of sudden, unexplained acceleration events.

This is not the only Toyota that has been involved in deadly wrecks in Las Vegas. The attorneys at Jones Ward PLC represent the family and driver in another Las Vegas case involving the sudden acceleration of a 2002 RAV4. The case is on file in Nevada federal court and is awaiting a trial date.

Continue reading "Toyota Wreck Kills Pearl And Gino Macala " »

As the sudden acceleration recall litigation continues in California and across the country, Toyota has recalled another 550,000 cars for problems that will make the car harder to steer. Over the past two years, Toyota has now recalled more than 14 million cars for defects that have included deadly wrecks from sudden acceleration.

This recall involves the outer ring of the engine's crankshaft pulley, which can become misaligned with the inner ring and cause noise or a warning light to turn on. If the defect is not fixed, the belt for the power steering pump can detach away from the pulley, which renders the steering wheel difficult to turn.

While Toyota says no one has been injured by this defect, a car with a steering wheel that locks up can be very difficult to drive and can easily lead to a wreck.

The models effected are: 2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander, Sienna and Solara, the 2004 Avalon and the 2006 Highlander HV. Because Toyota owns Lexus, it is also recalling the 2004 and 2005 ES330 and RX330 and 2006 RX400h.

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls 550,000 More Cars" »

After Toyota delayed its recall and got fined for it, car companies seem to be more responsive to potential defects and are being more proactive about recalls. For instance, today Honda announced it was recalling more than 962,000 vehicles because of problems with the power windows and computer systems. The cars recalled include the Fit subcompact, CR-V crossover and Fit Aria in North America, Asia, Europe and Africa. The Fit is also called Jazz in some places, and the Aria in others.

The recall is because defects in the driver's-side power window switch units could melt and catch fire. The recall will also include 26,000 CR-Z compact hybrids because of computer problems with the engine control unit.

Continue reading "Honda Recalls More than 900,000 Cars" »

Toyota is recalling more than 82,000 of its popular hybrid automobiles due to concerns about the mechanism that switches power between the electric motor and batteries and the gasoline engine. This further increases the total number of recalled Toyotas to more than 2 million since 2010.

Hundreds of Toyota injury cases have been consolidated into one Court, the Central District of California, which recently set the first test trial over "sudden acceleration" for February 2013. While that seems like a long time away, as normal litigation can take years, the Court and parties are pursuing an aggressive discovery and trial schedule on an extremely complex piece of litigation spanning multiple countries and plaintiffs in almost every state in the U.S.

According to a report from USA Today, the potentially faulty Toyota hybrid components are at risk of overheating. Affected models include the 2006 and 2007 versions of the Highlander Hybrid and the Lexus RX 400h.

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls More Cars, Hybrids Over Safety Concerns" »

Embattled automaker Toyota again recalled some of their cars last week. This recall covers 308,000 RAV4s and Highlanders because side curtain airbags can deploy under certain conditions.

More than 214,000 RAV4s and 94,000 Highlanders are being recalled. The recall will replace the assembly for the airbag sensor. The years covered are 2007 and 2008 RAV4s and some 2008 Highlander and Highlander HVs, which have a roll-sensing curtain airbag system that has two sensors designed to detect the vehicle's roll angle.

According to Toyota, one of the sensors can fail, the airbag warning light can come on and the roll-detection system will turn off, but the airbag will still function during a side collision. However, if both sensors fail simultaneously after the first airbag system check, the seat belt pretensioner and the curtain shield airbag could be deployed.

Continue reading "Toyota Again Recalls RAV4s, Highlanders " »

More than a year after first admitting that its cars could be unsafe due to unintended acceleration, Toyota expanded the list of recalled models to include cars that go back as far as 2003. The recall, affecting floor mats, now includes 2.1 million more Lexus and Toyota vehicles. The mats can get stuck against gas pedals, which causes pedal entrapment and can cause the vehicle to speed up and the driver to lose control.

The recall comes after a year long federal investigation and comes at the request of federal regulators.

Toyota said the new models they are admitting are affected by the defect are:

Lexus GS: 2006 and early 2007
Lexus RX: 2004 through 2006 and early 2007
Toyota Highlander: 2004 through 2006
Toyota 4Runner: 2003 to 2009
Lexus LX: 2009 to 2011
Toyota RAV4: 2006 through 2010

Continue reading "Toyota Recalls Millions More Vehicles" »