Smart Auto Insurance Blog

Toyota is still feeling the brunt from their huge recall of defective cars across the nation.  Seven auto insurance companies are filing suit against Toyota Motor Corporation to retrieve funds they paid out in claims cause by the accidents attributed to the Toyota cars’ defects.  This is according to the article “Seven Additional Car Insurers Sue Toyota” by Naota Hayashi on Automobile.com.

RIght now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into claims that about 89 accident deaths since 2000 may have resulted from sudden acceleration in certain Toyota cars.  Toyota could face up to $10 billion in civil liability in the US courts from wrongful death, consumer fraud, and personal injury.

A recent litigation filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, makes claims related to those in other cases filed in other areas that Toyota disregarded and tried to hide the defect that caused several engines to accelerate, and did not put in a particular brake override technology that may have prevented crashes.  The seven auto insurance companies are requesting minimum compensatory damages of $188,000.

There has been some concern that the 8 million Toyota cars and trucks that have been recalled may affect auto insurance rates.  But industry experts are saying this is not the case.  The article “Factors Influencing Auto Insurance Rates” by The Associated Press on ABCNews.com discusses the specific factors that do affect auto insurance prices.

These factors include driving record, miles driven, where you live, the type of car you drive, credit history, and the type of coverage you choose.  The article points out that the larger the policy the more expensive your auto insurance quote will be.  Some auto insurance companies offer discounts if you have your homeowners insurance and auto insurance under one policy.

Auto insurance rates also vary greatly from company to company and it’s encouraged to compare auto insurance quotes.  You can use online programs to get many quotes at once to save you a lot of time and ultimately save you money.

Toyota has recalled 2.3 million vehicles due to a certain accelerator pedal which may mechanically stick when in a partially depressed position.  It’s a very rare possibility, but serious enough to spur the huge recall.

Toyota has started production on the redesigned accelerator pedals which will fix the problem that led to the major recall of 8 vehicle models according to the article “Toyota Says New Design for Faulty Gas Pedals Ready” found on Businessweek.com.  Toyota worked on the design along with CTS Corp which supplied the pedals in the recalled cars.  Toyota is also working with the supplier to test modifications to the pedals already in the cars and plan to get those out at soon as possible.

This recall has stirred a lot of concern among Toyota owners.  Toyota has an outstanding reputation which makes it a great value in terms of car price, auto insurance quotes, as well as cost over time.  It will be interesting to see how Toyota will bounce back from this mistake.