Toyota

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Toyota Motor Corporation, commonly known as Toyota, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer. This page contains topics related to business practices as well as products and/or services provided by the Toyota Motor Corporation and its subsidiary Lexus.

Toyota

Basic information
Founded	1937
Legal Structure	Public
Industry	Automotive
Also known as
Official website	https://toyota.com/

Incidents

GR Corolla engine fire denied warranty claims

Image of first burned Toyota GR Corolla

Image of second burned Toyota GR Corolla

The Toyota GR Corolla is a high-performance hatchback released in 2022 and still for sale in the United States and other countries as of the time of writing. There have been at least 2 owners whose warranty claims have been denied by Toyota under suspicious circumstances.

The first owner suffered an engine fire, which resulted in the vehicle being totaled. Toyota denied the claim, asserting that the tires were the cause of the accident. The reply from Toyota's Engagement Center was: "The owner's manual warns not drive [sic] in excess of the speed limit. Even if the legal speed limit permits it, do not drive over 85 mph unless your vehicle has high-speed capability tires. Driving over 85 mph may result in tire failure, loss of control and possible injury. Be sure to consult a tire dealer to determine whether the tires on your vehicle are high-speed capability tires or not before driving at such speeds. Based on our inspection findings and the facts relating to this incident, we cannot provide any assistance in this matter." The Tires Fitted on the GR Corolla from the factory are Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires that have a speed rating of 186mph.

The second owner suffered a more severe fire that completely destroyed the vehicle. Toyota denied his warranty claim, saying "In response to your concerns, a vehicle inspection was conducted on June 6, 2024....The odometer reading at the last service visit was 8,146 miles. The vehicle was severely burned. A possible hole in the engine block was observed on the front side, near the rear of the engine. No data could be recovered from the vehicle due to the amount of extensive burn damage. Based on the inspection findings, the cause of the fire could not be determined. Therefore, we are unable to offer any assistance.”

Neither of these denials of warranty coverage has yet been supported by evidence from Toyota.

Causes

GR Corolla tire specifications from Toyota's website

Owners and Mechanics have speculated on the cause of these engine failures. A video from PIRAS Motorsport disassembles the G16E GTS Engine found in the GR Corolla and proposes engine failure results from excessive engine tolerances. Prevention measures recommended include disassembling the engine and replacing the connecting rods, pistons, and piston rings.

Start the vehicle using my Toyota key fob

Remote starting Toyotas with a key fob is now behind a pay wall. A Remote Connect subscription is required for some vehicles to process the remote start radio signal sequence from the key fob.

Crash protection is offered only on the driver's side

Toyota has intentionally left out all the structural metal that can protect passengers in a small-overlap crash, and has only added it on the driver's side

Ending support of app suite (2023)

In 2023, Toyota decided to stop supporting the Toyota app suite, which included models as late as 2024, such as the 4Runner. Depending on the vehicle, Alexa, NPR One, iHeartRadio, LiveXLive, Scout GPS Link, Destination Search, Saved Destinations, H2 Station Finder (where applicable), Fuel, Sports, Stocks, Traffic, Weather. If your vehicle did not have Android Auto, you were out of luck for GPS and all other apps.

MyToyota app, that replaced the Toyota Suite, has built-in paywall features for example for scheduled pre-heating of your car. This affects all Toyota models. They offer the service for free for 3 years after purchase, but then disable it forcing owners to either give that feature up or go into subscription model.

Obfuscation of Maintenance Alerts (2016)

Prius Prime dashboard alert for an oil change

Starting with the 2016 Prius, oil change alerts changed with a new generation of vehicle. Many static indicator lights were replaced with a simple screen message. The oil change light in particular was replaced with the message "Maintenance Required Visit Your Dealer". This change obfuscated a regularly timed maintenance task, likely funneling customers towards corporate dealerships rather than making a decision based on the actual cause. In the owner's manual, it's noted that the original oil change light remains for Canada only.