No accidents or incidents are reported.
Toyota is recalling 94,000 2011 Model Year Sienna vehicles because the brakes might hang up and ultimately fail.
The latest safety defect from Japan’s once preeminent automaker arises from the faulty design of a brake light switch bracket, which, according to Toyota, is too close to the parking brake pedal and can become “deformed” if the driver applies the parking brake.
Toyota starting receiving reports of the problem one year ago.
Large questions remain as to how Japanese development engineers apparently missed this defect during testing, or procurement and manufacturing engineers missed it after production began.
It is the latest safety recall from a maker once world renowned for quality, but now also known for paying the largest fine in history to the U.S. National Highway Traffic safety Administration for covering up safety defects in violation of U.S. regulations.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
