Factory Toyota Corolla Ae86 Gt-s Coupe Zenki 4ag T50 Trd Clean Interior on 2040-cars

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Safety Agency Studying Toyota Acceleration Problem

A U.S. safety agency is looking into a consumer's petition alleging that older Toyota Corollas can accelerate unexpectedly at low speeds and cause crashes. The inquiry by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers about 1.69 million of the Corolla compact cars from the 2006 to 2010 model years. The agency will decide whether to open a formal investigation into the problem. An unidentified consumer said in a letter to the agency that he experienced multiple low-speed surges in a 2010 Corolla, and the brakes failed to stop the car in time to prevent a crash. The consumer said the problem caused one collision with a parked vehicle on June 8. "In addition to evidence from our crash incident, we are providing evidence that many other Corolla owners are experiencing similarly unsafe scenarios that are leading to crashes," said a portion of the consumer's letter posted Monday on NHTSA's website. The consumer provided 163 reports from other drivers who experienced a surge at low speed or no speed. But NHTSA said it eliminated duplicates, those outside the scope of the 2006-2010 model years and those from foreign countries to get 141. No injuries were reported. The agency said it would evaluate all of the complaints from the consumer in order to decide whether to grant or deny the petition and open a formal investigation. The consumer filed the petition on Sept. 11, according to the documents. Messages were left Monday morning seeking comment from Toyota. In 2009 and 2010, Toyota issued a series of recalls totaling more than 10 million vehicles for various problems including faulty brakes, sticky gas pedals and ill-fitting floor mats. Toyota is under pressure to announce recalls quickly after a U.S. government investigation found it hid information about past defects. Last month, the company agreed to pay $1.2 billion to settle that investigation. It also paid fines totaling $66 million to the U.S. government for delays in reporting unintended acceleration problems. The company has said it made "fundamental changes to become a more responsive and customer-focused organization, and we are committed to continued improvements." Recalls Toyota Safety NHTSA crash unintended acceleration

Toyota CamRally is vanilla spiced

We weren't quite sure it was possible, but NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman and the other folks behind this Toyota Dream Build Challenge vehicle (check out the other cars in the challenge) have made the Camry, a versatile but vanilla family sedan, into a performance car to be reckoned with. And by stripping it (literally) of its versatility and injecting some spice into it, this rally-spec Camry does indeed appeal to the enthusiast crowd.
The appeal starts with the CamRally's vintage Toyota racing colors of red, orange and yellow painted on a widened body. Those wide fender flares and rocker panels, paired with the revised front and rear fascias (and massive rear spoiler), lend the car an aggressive look without being tacky, and enhance the aerodynamics. But peel back the skin and you'll find plenty of performance upgrades to back up the looks.
While Toyota doesn't say how much horsepower it makes, the CamRally's V6 is turbocharged, and we assume the car's brake upgrade is indicative of the engine's increased output. The stripped interior only contains what's needed for rally racing, including bucket seats, a motorsport steering wheel covered in Alcantara, a carbon-fiber dashboard and a roll cage.

PSA: Toyota wants to save your life, needs an hour of your time

Toyota wrote Autoblog to ask if we could spread the word about the Takata airbag inflator recall. Defective inflators remain installed in tens of millions of cars made by 19 carmakers, with manufacture dates that go back to the year 2000. Each inflator compounds the risk of serious injury or death in an airbag-activating crash. With a new ad campaign called "in about an hour," Toyota wants to make sure that unaware owners, or overly busy owners, know they can get their Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles repaired free of charge in about the time it takes to do a load of laundry. The campaign focuses on cities in three so-called Zone A states where hot, humid climates worsen the threat of the ruptured inflators: Los Angeles, Dallas, and Miami. However, every owner everywhere who cares about his life, or his child's life, should at least check to see if his car is affected. All it takes is a quick VIN entry at the dedicated recall site at Toyota.com/Recall. The results will let you know if your car is affected and, if so, locate a local dealer for the free fix. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said the Takata affair has become "the largest and most complex safety recall in U.S. history." The numbers so far suggest the recall covers more than 42 million vehicles and more than 60 million airbags. Autoweek keeps an updated list of Takata information, including every make and model on the recall list. Consumer Reports published a list of frequently asked questions covering issues directly related and tangential to the recall. The 19 automakers maintain pages dedicated to the issue; Fiat Chrysler lists every relevant model and how it prioritizes repairs by Zone, Honda says it offers a free rental car while owner cars are repaired, Daimler vans says its fix only takes about an hour. And of course NHTSA serves all owners with its own VIN lookup site. We encourage you to check your vehicle — the life you save could be your own. Related Video: