Toyota’s Car Exams Don’t Find Electronics Flaws, Lentz Says

Toyota Motor Corp. hasn’t found any electronics flaws to explain sudden, unintended acceleration after examining more than 2,000 vehicles, the company’s U.S. sales chief will tell a House of Representatives panel today, Bloomberg reported.

Toyota conducted 600 on-site inspections and more than 1,400 at its dealerships, James Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., said in remarks prepared for a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing and released yesterday.

“Significantly, none of these investigations have found that our Electronic Throttle Control System with intelligence was the cause,” Lentz said.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has been the subject of a series of congressional hearings since February for its handling of sudden-acceleration cases. The Toyota City, Japan- based automaker has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide to fix sticky pedals and misshapen floor mats linked to the flaw.

Some complaints about acceleration came from customers who double- or triple-stacked floor mats, Lentz said in the prepared remarks. The company needs to tell customers that higher engine speeds are normal when vehicles are being started in the cold or when air conditioning kicks in, he said.

Some customers had concerns about differences in how cars drive after software updates, while others have complained about how repaired accelerator pedals feel, Lentz said.

Toyota has completed more than 3.5 million recall repairs, Lentz said. With a new quality-assurance chief based in North America, its design, manufacturing and after-market support will be more effective, he said.

In cases where company examinations haven’t turned up any evidence of a problem, Toyota will closely monitor the customer’s complaints for further investigation, Lentz said.