As is usually the case when complaints of unintended acceleration are levied against a vehicle, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has concluded that no specific vehicular defects have been found in 2004-2008 Toyota Tacomas. The mid-sized truck had been under fire from over 400 owners who claimed their trucks had accelerated without them touching the gas resulting in 51 crashes and 12 injuries. According to Toyota, however, the truck features a drive-by-wire system and its computer records any event of a mismatch between the gas pedal and the engine's throttle. None of the trucks involved in accidents reported any such codes. The NHTSA has closed its investigation and believes that driver error is the most likely cause for the vast majority of complaints while a few could be attributed to loose floor mats. While the fact that the Tacoma has received so many specific complaints is worrisome, we are not big believers in unintended acceleration and tend to agree that publicity of the issue may well have attracted more erroneous claims. Debris stuck under the brake or pedals that are just closer together than some drivers are used to remain possible explanations, but could hardly be considered defects.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently performed side crash tests for the first time on small pickups. Their sampling included the Toyota Tacoma, Dodge Dakota, Ford Ranger, Nissan Frontier and Chevy Colorado. The results were published today and they indicate that small pickup owners might want to start wearing helmets while driving.
The IIHS has only three grades for its crash tests: Good, Marginal and Poor. The Dakota, Ranger and Frontier all earned Marginal ratings, while the Colorado could only muster a Poor rating due in part to the moving barrier actually coming in contact with the dummy's head during the simulated crash. The Tacoma, however, was the only vehicle to earn a Good rating. It was also the only small truck tested with side air bags, which are an option for 2008 but will be standard equipment on 2009 Tacomas.
If side airbags are an option, the IIHS will, as a rule, test a vehicle without them unless an automaker wants to rerun the crash test with a model that has side airbags and is willing to pay for the cost of the vehicle that's crashed. Not unsurprisingly, the archaic Ranger was the only small pickup that doesn't offer side airbags at all, though it was surprising that none of the other automakers requested their models be tested with side airbags. The IIHS also tells us that small pickups have the highest driver death rates of any vehicles on the road, which makes these tests all the more significant.
Audi went through it in the '80s. Jeep went through it a couple years ago. Other makers have been accused of it, and now it's Toyota's turn: the NHTSA is considering investigating Tacoma pickup trucks from 2004-2008 due to claims of unintended acceleration. In one instance, a man said he turned off his cruise control to exit the freeway, and the truck surged on him, forcing him to dodge a few vehicles -- even as he had his foot on the brake pedal.
Toyota says there is nothing wrong with the Tacoma's drive-by-wire system. The trucks that have been inspected have not shown the error codes Toyota would expect if the throttle and accelerator pedal were out of whack. The company wrote to the NHTSA and said, "Toyota believes that it is likely that many of the consumer complaints about the general issue of unwanted acceleration ... as well as many of the complaints about this subject that have been received by Toyota, were inspired by publicity."
We can't comment on the claims of unintended acceleration, as we have no idea if they are true or publicity driven. But we can wonder out loud why the brakes suddenly don't work. No matter what a car does -- even at full power -- the brakes should still do their job. After Audi's debacle, the NHTSA conducted a 2-year investigation of the issue and found nothing wrong with those cars, and everyone who sued Audi lost in court. Perhaps the folks in Tokyo should make time for a call to Ingolstadt.
We've already recently covered Toyota's efforts to ease the pain of some Tacoma owners. Here's a refresher: some Tacomas from 1995 through 2000 received insufficient rustproofing and are now experiencing frame failures. In an effort to mitigate customer pain and suffering, Toyota is extending the warranty on rust-through for vehicles with frames that have not yet perforated, and will repair or repurchase Tacomas with extensive enough corrosion. It is not a recall, not even a silent one, repeat that strenuously to your reflection.
That's all old news, but we keep receiving reports of the buy-back program offering phenomenal amounts for old trucks. Many message boards are alight with tales of payouts equaling 140 - 150% of the offending Taco's value, and Toyota itself pledges to consider any buy-back candidate an "excellent condition" specimen, regardless of how horribly it's been abused. The reasoning behind these happenings is likely manifold. Upon discovery of extensive corrosion, it could be a liability to allow the driver to continue using the vehicle. Also, making people extremely happy with make-goods likely improves the odds that they'll take the short walk from service to sales and drive away with a new Toyota. The program may be costly, but if enough people jump up and exclaim "Oh, What a Feeling!" it will be a priceless goodwill coup.
Toyota had begun receiving a few reports from customers that excessive corrosion was occurring on the frames of some older Tacoma pickups, specifically 1995 to 2000 models. The Japanese automaker determined that during this half decade of production, some Taco frames may not have received the kind of corrosion protection from the factory that's needed to withstand harsh climes, especially ones where salt is used to deice roadways. While there is no recall and Toyota says that the number of instances where it has found rust go beyond the surface of the frame to penetrate the metal is small, the automaker is pulling an unorthodox move and doing something about anyway.
Toyota is extending the rust perforation warranty on all 1995-2000 Tacoma pickups, some 813,000 units, to 15 years from the original date of purchase, AND you don't have to be the original owner, or the second or the third even. Anyone who owns a Tacoma from this era and finds rust perforation on the frame can have his or her truck officially inspected for rust damage, in which case Toyota will either repair or buy back the truck regardless of its condition. Owners will start receiving letters by mid-March, and those who don't can visit a dealership for a free inspection.
We've harped on the fact that this market is ready for a small truck that splits the difference between full-sizers of today and compact pickups of yore. While many in the industry are skeptical about whether such a vehicle could be a sales success, Toyota is looking hard at the A-BAT concept, which debuted in Detroit as a vehicle that could slot in below the Tacoma.
Toyota execs are keeping a close eye on how the public responds to the hybrid trucklet while it makes the rounds of the national show circuit, and hopes that it garners the same amount of interest that the FJ Cruiser concept did, which was instrumental in bringing it to market.
While it's debatable that a hybrid truck sporting some of the high-tech features and unibody structure of the A-BAT is a viable product, the idea might be sound, and Toyota wants to be at the forefront of the small truck revolution if it does come to fruition.
