Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

What % of claims are that serious and how does that compare to other manufacturers?

Toyota are globally renowned for their manufacturing process and build quality.

Toyota recall timeline for 2007-2011:

1. Sep 26, 2007 – US: 55,000 Toyota Camry and ES 350 cars in"all-weather" floor mat recall.
   
2. Nov 02, 2009 – US: 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles again recalled due to floor mat problem, this time for all driver's side mats.
   
3. Nov 26, 2009 – US: floor mat recall amended to include brake override and increased to 4.2 million vehicles.
   
4. Jan 21, 2010 – US: 2.3 million Toyota vehicles recalled due to faulty accelerator pedals (of those, 2.1 million already involved in floor mat recall).
   
5. Jan 27, 2010 – US: 1.1 million Toyotas added to amended floor mat recall.
   
6. Jan 29, 2010 – Europe, China: 1.8 million Toyotas added to faulty accelerator pedal recall.
   
7. Feb 08, 2010 – Worldwide: 436,000 hybrid vehicles in brake recall following 200 reports of Prius brake glitches.
   
8. Feb 08, 2010 – US: 7,300 model year 2010 Camry vehicles recalled over potential brake tube problems.
   
9. Feb 12, 2010 – US: 8,000 MY 2010 4WD Tacoma pick-up trucks recalled over concerns about possible defective front drive shafts.
   
10. Apr 16, 2010 – US: 600,000 MY 1998–2010 Toyota Sienna for possible corrosion of spare tire carrier cable.
    
11. Apr 19, 2010 – World: 21,000 MY 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado and 13,000 Lexus GX 460 SUV's recalled to reprogram the stability control system.
    
12. Apr 28, 2010 – US: 50,000 MY 2003 Toyota Sequoia recalled to reprogram the stability control system.
    
13. May 21, 2010 – Japan: 4,509, US: 7,000 MY 2010 LS for steering system software update
    
14. July 5, 2010 – World: 270,000 Crown and Lexus models for valve springs with potential production issue.
    
15. July 29, 2010 – US: 412,000 Avalons and LX 470s for replacement of steering column components.
    
16. August 28, 2010 – US & Canada: approximately 1.13 million Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix vehicles produced between 2005 and 2008 for Engine Control Modules (ECM) that may have been improperly manufactured.
    
17. February 8, 2011 – US: NASA and NHTSA inquiry reveals that there were no electronic faults in Toyota cars that would have caused acceleration issues. However, accelerator pedal entrapments remains a problem.
    
18. February 22, 2011 – US: Toyota recalls an additional 2.17 million vehicles for accelerator pedals that become trapped on floor hardware.
    
    

That's a total of 18.37 million recalled vehicles with a minimum of 37 deaths attributed and over 400 injuries...

I'll take my chances.