Toyota halts sale of Lexus SUV model

About 12 hours after Consumer Reports magazine warned consumers that the 2010 Lexus GX 460 sport utility had a dangerous problem, Toyota said late Tuesday that it would temporarily stop selling the SUV.

The magazine described a handling problem with the SUV that could lead to a rollover and possibly "serious injury or death."

A "don't buy" warning is rare for Consumer Reports, but there was no doubt it was necessary, said David Champion, senior director of its auto test division. The litmus test was whether the testers would want their families in the vehicle. The answer was no, he said, so "I wouldn't want anybody else in it."

In response, Mark Templin, the group vice president and general manager, said in a statement that Lexus had "asked our dealers to temporarily suspend sales of the 2010 GX 460."

Templin said the carmaker was taking the situation "very seriously" and determined to identify and correct the issue Consumer Reports identified.

"For any customer who has purchased a 2010 GX 460 and is concerned about driving their vehicle," he said, "we will provide a loaner car until a remedy is available."

The last time the magazine made a similar warning was in 2001 for the 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Limited.

The handling problem arises if the driver of a Lexus GX 460 SUV lifts off the gas pedal while driving quickly through a sharp turn. That causes the rear end of the vehicle to slide toward the outside of the turn, a condition known as "trailing throttle" or "lift-throttle oversteer."

On dozens of other SUVs tested, the electronic stability-control systems detected and quickly stopped the slide. But the stability control did not stop the GX 460 until it was almost sideways, Champion said.

Earlier in the day, a spokeswoman for Lexus, Toyota's luxury-car division, said the company was "puzzled" by the magazine's results because it conducts its own tests.

The magazine's action is yet another public-relations problem for Toyota. In addition to complaints about unintended acceleration and Prius brakes, there have been questions over whether the automaker was prompt in reporting problems to federal safety investigators.

Most recently the federal government said it was seeking a $16.4 million fine, accusing the automaker of not acting quickly enough.

Champion said the problem surfaced at the magazine's Connecticut test track while looking for "any nasty habits that might catch a driver out." He said, "We want a car to be benign."

The particular test that concerned the magazine involves a turn that suddenly gets sharper. The driver enters at about 60 mph and then, as if surprised, lifts off the gas. Ideally, the electronic stability control would stop a slide.

"I think it is more a calibration issue of the electronic stability control," Champion said.

Champion said such a problem could happen in everyday driving. For example, a driver heading quickly through a turn — like a highway offramp — who finds the turn is sharper than expected would naturally lift off the gas, he said.

In a statement, Lexus complained the magazine had not demonstrated the problem for its representatives. Champion said, however, on the day the officials visited the track, there was a hard rain, which would have made a precise duplication impossible. But, he said, they had shown the Lexus officials a video of their earlier tests.

Champion said electronic stability systems used on other Lexus and Toyota models have always worked quickly, so the problem on the GX 460 was surprising. The new Toyota 4Runner, which uses the same basic architecture as the Lexus, did not have the problem.

In 1996, Consumer Reports said the 1995-96 Isuzu Trooper and the mechanically similar 1996 Acura SLX could roll over during quick turns at low speeds. Isuzu filed a lawsuit, charging the publisher, Consumers Union, with product disparagement and defamation, but a jury in Federal District Court in Los Angeles decided that although Consumer Reports had made false statements about the Trooper, it had not defamed and disparaged Isuzu Motors.