Toyota Accused of Hiding Evidence

[SpartanDem]

Source: CBS

A former attorney for Toyota has accused the automaker of illegally withholding evidence in hundreds of rollover death and injury cases, in a "ruthless conspiracy" to keep evidence "of its vehicles' structural shortcomings from becoming known."

The explosive allegations are contained in a federal racketeering suit filed in Los Angeles by Dimitrios P. Biller, former managing counsel for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc., who claims his complaints about the company's legal misconduct cost him his job.

Toyota, which is second to General Motors in car and truck sales in the U.S., called Biller's charges "inaccurate and misleading," in a statement issued late Friday to CBS News. "Toyota takes its legal obligations seriously and works to uphold the highest professional and ethical standards," the company said.

Company lawyers have not filed an answer to Biller's lawsuit, but have brought a motion to seal the complaint, claiming it is "rife with privileged and confidential information" that Biller, as a former Toyota lawyer, has no right to divulge.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/29/cbsnews_investigates/main5273636.shtml

[Bluzmann57]

1. But...but... I thought Toyotas were the greatest cars ever made.

Not to me. I've never owned one and never will.

[customerserviceguy]

2. Then you won't know what you're missing

Had a 1994 Camry, that didn't have a single problem for six and a half years, then the repair was only about a hundred bucks, parts and labor included.

The only bad thing to happen with it after that was that my ex got it in the divorce.

This is a disgruntled fired employee, looking to get some "pay me enough to shut up and go away" money.

[Deja Q]

4. I had a 1995 Toyota Corolla (also sold as a Geo Prizm). In 2003, oil started leaking...

That was at 70,000 miles.

In 2005, at 90,000 miles, the transmission fluid leaked.

It had a recall. After the repair, I left with a broken windshield wiper reservoir, that I discovered a couple months later. Now, you tell me: Do those big, well-bolted containers break on their own? Doesn't speak much for the people they hire either...

'nuff said.

[Pharlo]

18. I had a 1998 Chevy Prizm.

Changed the alternator twice, battery once. My only complaint was it didn't make it to 300,000 miles. It died at about 297,000 miles. Great car - standard transmission. I'd buy another one in a second, but they don't make them anymore.

[Demeter]

7. Too Bad You Sent all that Money to Japan

I've had excellent results with a second-hand Saturn that now has 209,000 miles on it.

[Pangolin2]

12. The Geo Prizm was built in California.

Lots of Americans had jobs there.

[Demeter]

16. Bet the Profits Didn't Stay There.

[Pangolin2]

17. I'm sure the workers there really hated that.

Probably it's why they all resigned in protest.
\

[customerserviceguy]

20. If someone can build a car

that more often than not outlasts it's financing, then they deserve a profit, and I don't care where it goes. Maybe that's why it's been quite some time since the Big Three have seen a profit.

[Telly Savalas]

25. So you're saying that the capitalists are more important than the workers?

[fujiyama]

23. The Geo Prizm was later rebadged as the Chevrolet Prizm

Geo was a GM badge and was built at NUMMI by UAW workers.

[DainBramaged]

33. Them 'Murican made japanese cars is what's good for us yes they are....

Don't matter the cost to the enviorments to get them some 50MPG, they be a Green-washed comutter.......

Don't cha knows?

[Dr_Willie_Feelgood]

8. The Prius is a great car...

...except for the headlights and taillights. The headlights burn out quick and the taillight connector is VERY flakey.

Other than that, we have 7 in our fleet, with 4 over 100,000 miles, and none have been "down" for anything other than wrecks.

Our Dodge vans were down less than a week after getting them. We've spent more maintaining the 2 Grand Caravans than the 7 Priuses. It stinks to say, being Motor City born and bred, with family in the auto industry, but Toyota blows away American cars.

[Deja Q]

13. Then you won't want to read this:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_prius.html

The number of similarities amongst complaints is definitely eyebrow-raising...


I will agree, Dodge (G piggy M) sucks...

[No Elephants]

26. Your car was good, so this guy is an extortionist? LOL

Extortionists don't file lawsuits that reveal too much. The damning info is all he had to sell Toyota. Once he puts it into a lawsuit, it's public and he has nothing to sell. Why would Toyota give him "go away" money after the info is public?

Besides, he is talking about a structural roll over problem and you are responding with longevity in the absence of a rollover. Apples and oranges.

[customerserviceguy]

30. I guess I tried to address two things in my post

One was the attitude of the individual that I was responding to in regards to Toyota products.

The other was noting that disgruntled ex-employees often try to blackmail their former employers with lawsuits, and being as this guy is a lawyer, I'd put nothing past him.

I guess the truth will come out some day, and we'll all see who is lying between the two sides.

[billybob537]

3. I had one it was a piece of shit

engine went tranny went cost a small fortune to fix. Scrapped it. worthless POS

[Deja Q]

5. I just posted my own experiences. I'm glad I sold mine before anything big happened...

[Pangolin2]

11. We have 4 right now and have had several in the past. We won't ever buy anything else.

:-)

[emilyg]

14. I love my Camry.

[Pangolin2]

15. Me too. We have one Camry, 2 Tacomas and a Tundra

2 of the trucks are for work...one has 214,000 miles and except for normal wear items plus a starter, alternator and fuel pump has never had any repair issues.

[imdjh]

19. They are. This is bullshit.

[Lugnut]

6. I'm not surprised.

Last year my brother-in-law took his older Tacoma to the local dealership for service and they confiscated his truck. He was told that his truck was "structurally unsound" and he'd be generously compensated to enable him to replace it. He was given a loaner to use for as long as it took him to find a replacement. He did not buy another Toyota.

[bsiebs]

9. Every Toyota Ive owned has been great

No mechanical or electrical problems at all. I have had problems with previous Fords and VWs. Had a Mazda Miata that lasted for over 15 years and gave it up after someone totaled it.

I know people have bad experiences, but get real, Toyota produces a good product. As far as this lawsuit goes, that is a different story... while the lawyer appears to possibly have his own issues, there is a typical corporate-coverup aspect to this that is disturbing.

[rollingrock]

10. The article is poorly written

SUVs are inherently more prone to roll over, regardless of the brand. 99% of SUVs are designed for the street, and are not built with ROLL BARS. There is an inherent risk of being crushed to death in them when they roll over in an accident.

The bigger and heavier the SUV, the greater the chance of roof failure upon rollover because the roof isn't designed to hold up the extreme weight placed on it when the vehicle is in an upside down position. The article is giving owners of non-Toyota SUVs a false sense of security.

[Omaha Steve]

21. Kick

[fujiyama]

22. Hopefully this is investigated further

but either way there is not enough information here to really go off of.

As another poster stated, there is an inherent risk in SUVs of rolling over. It's just common sense. I can't imagine the risk being much greater in a RAV4 as opposed to a Jeep Patriot or whatever else.

[SpartanDem]

24. Let's not forget that they the did same thing with the sludge problem

some of their engines were having, so it's not exactly far fetched for them to do this type of thing.

[DainBramaged]

32. You bet, they tried to BLAME THE OWNERS for that one...

[Romulox]

27. Why is this sinking? Kick. nt

[Blue_Tires]

28. ttt

[struggle4progress]

29. I had a Tercel for a dozen years: replaced the clutch once, a broken emergency brake cable,

a few batteries, a few brake pads, and a few tires in about 200K of driving

I've had an Echo almost a decade: aside from tires and brake pads, I've replaced a flaky vapor sensor in the gas tank -- and there was a recall concerning the brake system master cylinder, which is potentially serious but cost me nothing

[DainBramaged]

31. Oh what a relief it is...........

Toyota, the DU god of automobiles, is no fucking better than GM, Ford, or Chrysler, and actually may be as bad as Apple in trying to prevent damaging information from seeing the cleansing light of day. And one question that bothers me, if they are the wunderkind of gas mileage, why does the gas mileage for their fleet basically suck, because without the Peeus, they'd be last.