Toyota defends against report on older Lexus ES trouble

[Omaha Steve]

Source: USA Today

As one might expect, Toyota officials are spending part of what might be an overwise lazy Sunday responding to the Los Angeles Times story alleging trouble in the 2002-2006 Lexus ES.

They put out a long statement -- you can read the whole thing on Toyota web site here -- basically saying the cars are safe, but some people might think the shifting feels strange. You'll note that Toyota waits until the last paragraph before saying it let down customers:

Given the concerns raised by some customers about this drivability issue, we did not meet the very high customer satisfaction standards we set for ourselves. However, we fully stand behind the engineering and
production quality of the vehicle, as well as our after-sale customer service and technical support.

Still the overall tenor of the response is to say the only thing wrong with the cars is they may not drive the way some people would like, but they certainly are safe:

The Times mischaracterizes a service process that is common throughout the auto industry to address rare performance issues. Transmission hesitation and momentary surge in the Lexus ES 300/330 was not a safety or unintended acceleration issue but a customer satisfaction and drivability issue about which only a limited number of customers raised concerns. We did not keep this issue from ES owners but, instead, proactively addressed the needs of those customers who were dissatisfied with the feel and performance of their vehicle's drivetrain.


Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/05/toyota-defends-against-report-on-older-lexus-es-trouble/1