Toyota's recall would even impress Arnie

By Steve Orme on Feb 4, 10 02:08 PM

We live in a time of extremes. Starting with the deepest recession since Christ threw out the money lenders, through the coldest winter since cold began and now into what may well be a car recall bigger than the one that killed the dinosaurs.

Today Toyota put a price on the problem. $2billion. Shares in Toyota have lost as much as

That is not the stuff of a celebration sushi meal for two. That is pretty deep doo-doo.
And yesterday they listed the cars affected. It would have been quicker to identify those that are not. 180,865 vehicles are bring recalled in Britain so if you own an IQ, Aygo,Yaris, Auris,Corola, Avesis or Verso there's a letter in the post.
On the bright side the part only takes 30 minutes to replace. But then some dealers are charging £60 an hour labour, so this is making a big hole in someone's accounts. Free repairs are a major cause of heartburn in the car industry.
You know how a car reliability problem is big when the manufacturer sends out the top PR man to explain the meaning of life. Scott Brownlee donned his tin hat on this morning's BBC radio news.
Long, long ago, before you were born, Lancia wheeled out a young Andrew Andertz to explain why the bottom was falling out of the Beta. Quite literally.
His reward for pimping Fiat's excuses for making a car out of lasagne sheets was, figuratively, the concrete overcoat.
Andrew subsequently resurfaced to direct the UK GM press operation but only after five years perfecting his rattan canework skills in Singapore.
I hope being front man to the Toyota rag time band has no such lasting effect on Scott.
Ah, but back to the present.
The accelerator defect only occurs in rare circumstances, says Toyota, which is reassuring for those of us in the habit of using t-junctions and other sorts of give way situations.
The problem is not one of sudden onset. The pedal shows sticking inclinations well before you find yourself in aisle three of your local Tesco.
Prius models are unaffected, you self satisfied saviour of the planet.
Of course the circus is going to be in town for a while longer. So let us ponder on the bigger picture.
PSA is recalling 97,000 cars whose accelerator pedals were made on a Czech production line shared with Toyota. The recall, described as precautionary, is believed to affect almost 7,000 Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 in Britain. The company said there had been no reports of accidents.
This is the shape of things to come as the collaborations between manufacturers become ever more intertwined. Bit like life in Dogs Bottom, Arkansas where your brother's your uncle and your sister's your mother.