Years before the investigation by congress and the record fine imposed on the automaker due to the massive recall in 2010, Toyota hid a defect from the public. Toyota announced a recall in 2005 to repair defective steering rods but documents have surfaced that show Toyota hid the potentially dangerous defect from the public for over a decade.
Documents uncovered have shown that for 11 years in Japan and 12 years in the United States Toyota was fixing cracked and broken steering rods in SUVs and pickup trucks. The steering rod delay connects the front wheels to the steering system of the automobile. A break will render the driver unable to steer the vehicle.
By law an automaker has five business days to report a known safety defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Toyota failed to notify NHTSA for over a decade and assured the agency that no recall was required in the United States after the recall was issued in Japan in 2004. The recall in the United States did not come for another year and covered close to one million 1989-1995 Toyota 4Runners, 1989-1995 compact pickups, and 1993-1998 T100s.
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Toyota fixed steering rods for over a decade before recall
