The bad news just keeps mounting for Toyota.  First, it was the downrating of the brand by Consumer Reports.  Now it is yet another recall.
   
Toyota is recalling 264,000 vehicles, including Lexus models, due to defective fuel pipes.  The vehicles were manufactured in Japan, but sold elsewhere.  The Lexus models include the GS300, IS250 and IS350.  Reportedly, though there have been 39 cases of problems caused by the defect, none has resulted in an injury.
   
The recall adds to Toyota’s increasingly dismal product quality record, one that led to the company recalling more cars in the United States last year than it sold here.  Though the company claims that it has renewed its commitment to quality, the series of quality problems bedeviling the company in the last two years are leading many observers to the conclusion that Toyota’s quest to become the world’s largest auto manufacturer has overtaken its commitment to product reliability.