It is a shame that Toyota
It is a shame that Toyota missed the opportunity to resolve these mechanical issues early, and communicating openly with customers, because the cost in current and future sales lost is much higher than just fixing the issues and being honest about there being a problem in the first place. Trust is hard to earn, and easily lost. But Japanese companies are focused on not losing face, so they often go to great lengths to hide and ignore problems, rather than simple resolving them. Mitsubishi had similar reporting/resolution issues, and similar bad outcomes.