from the Detroit Free Press:
New court filings accuse Toyota of secretly repurchasing vehicles whose owners reported unintended acceleration and forcing owners to sign confidentiality agreements promising not to discuss their complaints.
In addition, attorneys representing thousands of Toyota owners charged that the automaker’s technicians were able to replicate the sudden acceleration and failed to notify the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the problem.
NHTSA spokeswoman Olivia Alair said the agency first received Toyota technicians’ reports earlier this year “as part of our ongoing investigation of unintended acceleration, but we didn’t receive complaints directly from the consumers.”
The new charges are part of a 1,056-page document filed Wednesday as part of a class action case against the Japanese automaker. .........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.freep.com/article/20101028/BUSINESS01/101028065/1318/Toyota-accused-of-forcing-auto-owners-to-keep-quiet#ixzz13hu5Myw5