Toyota to recall 1.9 million Prius Hybrids

Toyota is recalling 1.9 million of its top-selling Prius hybrid cars because of a software fault that may cause the vehicle to slow down suddenly.

The world's biggest car maker said it had identified more than 400 reports of the problem, with the bulk of them occurring in Japan and North America.

No accidents or injuries have been reported over the defect, Toyota said.

When I first read this I was delighted and thought Toyota are removing those hideous Prius eyesores from the roads, but no it turns out that this is the latest Toyota car that has a problem and needs to be shipped back to the factory to be fixed.

What I don’t understand about this is that Toyota is the world’s biggest car maker and spends a fortune developing their cars, and yet they can’t seem to make one that doesn’t have a problem.    

They had that problem a few years ago where they had to recall about 10 million cars because the accelerators in their cars would jam on, then they had to recall almost a million cars because the airbags wouldn’t deploy if you crashed, then their Lexus hybrid had to be recalled because there was a problem with the breaks, and now their recalling two million cars because of a software problem that means the hybrid system could shut down and see the vehicle stop even while it’s being driven.

I do love the ‘no accidents or injuries have been reported’ line yes don’t worry if you own a Prius you could be driving on the motorway at top speed doing what 30/35 and your car will shut itself down and grind to a halt but you’ll be fine.

As I said the world’s biggest car maker can’t seem to make a safe and reliable car, but what is even more surprising than Toyota ordering another mass recall is that last year their sales were up by 2.4%.

Is everyone just a thrill seeker and finds it exciting to own a car that might kill them or is everyone just adopting the mindset of well they must have sorted out all their problems this time, or thinking it won’t happen to me the Toyota I buy will be ok someone else will buy the one that goes wrong.

I really don’t understand how business works, you make several products that have faults and need to be recalled in their millions because they have put people’s lives in danger, yet your sales and profits go up? I really need someone to explain that one to me.

Next I’ll no doubt be reading about how sales of Pirelli’s are through the roof!