Toyota Agrees Lexus S.U.V. Has Problem With Handling (putting the vehicle at risk for a rollover)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NY Times

By CHRISTOPHER JENSEN

Toyota said Friday that its engineers had duplicated the errant slide that prompted Consumer Reports to issue a “don’t buy” warning on the 2010 Lexus GX 460 and acknowledged that the vehicle had a safety problem.

A Lexus spokesman, Bill Kwong, said the engineers in Japan had “duplicated Consumer Reports’ results on the GX 460, and they are currently evaluating potential remedies, but at this point there are no details of what the remedy is.”

On Tuesday, Consumer Reports announced that its tests had uncovered a dangerous handling problem that caused the rear end of the GX 460 to swerve, putting the sport utility vehicle at risk for a rollover. “When pushed to its limits on our track’s handling course,” the magazine wrote on its Web site, “the rear of the GX we bought slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to regain control.”

Mr. Kwong said Friday that the automaker “definitely” considered the tail sliding to be a safety issue and was “very concerned.” He said Toyota hoped to have the problem isolated in no more than a week.

FULL story at link.





Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/business/17toyota.html?src=busln