Toyota scrutiny persists as U.S. grand jury seeks defect data

[DainBramaged]

working to rebound from its worst recall crisis, said it faces additional scrutiny over potential defects in vehicle steering rods.

The company said in a filing today that a federal grand jury in New York issued it a subpoena to provide documents related to flaws in steering relay rods. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May said it opened an investigation on the matter.


In 2004, Toyota in Japan recalled Hilux trucks with steering-relay rods prone to fatigue, cracks and possible breaks. At that time, Toyota told NHTSA in a letter that the defect was limited to vehicles in Japan and that it hadn't received similar information from the United States.

In 2005, Toyota told the agency that the steering-relay rod defect was in models sold in the U.S. market and conducted a recall. NHTSA said last May that it was alerted to complaints filed with Toyota by U.S. consumers before the recall in Japan.

Toyota, in an Oct. 26, 2004, letter to NHTSA, said it was recalling 330,496 Hilux and Hilux Surf trucks in Japan because the steering-relay rods may crack “if the driver maneuvers the steering under conditions where there is high steering effort.”

Almost nine months later, Toyota recalled 977,839 4Runner, Toyota Trucks and Toyota T100s vehicles in the United States for the same defect.

“We all know the government has been investigating this,” said John Kristensen, a lawyer suing Toyota. Kristensen, of O'Reilly Collins in San Mateo, Calif., represents the family of Michael Levi Stewart, 18, who died when his 1991 Toyota pickup truck rolled over into a ditch in Idaho on Sept. 15, 2007.


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