Latest Toyota recall includes NO Prius models

And the reason for this might be....???

Look at the models involved. They are produced in N America!! It appears that there might be an issue with the supplier of the gas pedal made here and shipped to all six of the assembly plants in N America.

None of the vehicles made in Japan is involved in this recall. According to MSNBC 1.7 million of these are also involved in the prior recall. Thus swapping out the gas pedal on these 1.7 million solves two problems and satisfies two recalls at once.

 

Probably the reason it took Toyota so long to figure out what was happening. We had killer floor mats holding accelerator pedals down, and failing potentiometers. But it appears Prius only had the killer mats.

Meanwhile, people (troglodytes) who didn't see a cable and wheel mechanism were panicking ("The computer is trying to kill me!!!").

 

As someone whose Gen II had the acceleration problem not caused by floormats, I am happy to see that there is progress recognizing that there may be an electronic cause unrelated to pedals and mats

In Friday, January 22nd's Wall Street Journal...

"Toyota has a widespread problem of unintended acceleration across multiple years, makes and models," said Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies, a Massachusetts-based safety research firm. "What we are seeing is more than one root cause. We feel that there is more too this and there clearly is growing evidence of electronic-related problems."

Full article at Toyota Recalls More Vehicles - WSJ.com

I firmly believe that the Prius problems with unwanted accleration are ECU related. In my case (there is a long thread somewhere on here about this) I know the problem was electronic and not mechanical.

 

Prius is drive by wire... So I guess it is different from the non-hybrids with the pedal mechanism connected to the throttle.

 

Whoa there fella, I must have missed that recall, because I've never read anything about unwanted acceleration on the Prius G3. Please ellaborate? Me thinks you've got things reversed, and it's the Prius that is one of the few Toyota vehicles that does NOT have this problem.

 

comment deleted

 

To the topic of this thread - there are no recalls of the Prius - for anything (at this time).

The Prius braking issue - well, it's not clear that there is (yet) any formal "investigation" by the NHTSA. I would assume that Toyota is looking into it, to see if they can duplicate the affect...but at this point all it looks like what the NHTSA is doing is simply tabulating complaints. Is there a formal investigation by the NHTSA that you know of?

 

My G II Prius had that problem in spades! It was serious enough that I traded in the car and got a Gen III. I am convinced the problem is in one of the Gen II ECU"s.

 

I have a 12 yr. old MB and it is drive by wire, in fact most late model MB are drive by wire and I am sure there are other cars that are.

My wife was relieved when she found out that no Prius III have been recalled, as she is going to buy one in the near future and she was getting nervous and jerky about the recall. Why she doesn't buy now I don't know both dealers in our area have cars in the trim and color she wants. Can't convince her that the longer she waits the more it is going to cost her. Of course the fact that I want to play with a new hi tech toy has nothing to do with me trying to persuade her to buy now.

 

G2?? I thought this forum was about G3? Why are you bringing up your G2 issue on a G3 forum? Do you have some kind of evidence that the g2 problems have migrated to G3's? If so, let's hear your evidence.

That said, the only recall that I can find on any Prius concerning acceleration, revolves around the accelerator pedal and floor matt issue, which has been a widely publicized problem for many Toyota models.

Toyota Recalls 3.8 Million Vehicles, Including Prius Hybrids : TreeHugger

 

Hey hockeydad, how about a pill there!!! Would it annoy you if I said it once happened to my G1 prius too??? It never did but I was stunned by your reaction to a fellow member that expressed a valid and genuine concern. It is a widespread problem, and I suspect that prius' are exempt for the time being. And please remember that this club is for people to relate their experiences, true or not, as club memebers we give eachother the benefit of a doubt. Perhaps you missed the seriousness of this recall, 16 PEOPLE DEAD!! So if you are content believing your Prius is totally safe then by all means, but I am leery that other vehicles are affected... Ask yourself why the camry is recalled but not the Lexus ES350?? Strange. Also remember that Toyota denied these issues in the first place, and blamed the driver, but are making this a voluntary recall before NHTSA makes a federal case out of this. I sincerely hope that Toyota has corrected this issue so we can go back to enjoying our Prius' again!

 

LOL. Now who's getting worked up? Oh, and please don't lecture me. You don't know me. YOU are free to give anyone you want the "benefit of the doubt". But don't tell me what to do.

As I said, I thought this was a G3 forum, and for those G1 or G2 owners that have had issues, it might actually be more useful if they provided data, information, articles of why they think their problems will permeate into the next generation, G3? Having been around a number of different web sites like this, I've come to realize that stuff just gets thrown out there without any validation. While some of this stuff may, in fact, be good, relevant information...a lot of it is nothing more than mis-information, or hype. I'd like to try and separate the mis-information from what's relavant to me, the G3 owner.

Further, who said the ECU problem controlling the accelerator is a widespread problem? Please provide a link? I've read all the recalls, and from what I can tell, the problem does not lie with the ECU. But if you have other info, I'd love to see it?

"Our investigation indicates that there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position," Toyota USA group vice president Irv Miller said in a statement. The situation is rare, according to Toyota, but can occur when accelerator pedal mechanisms become worn."

Addtionally -

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has done six separate investigations of such acceleration surges in Toyotas since 2003 and found no defect in Toyota's electronics.
The U.S. Department of Transportation released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying the matter "is not closed."
The full statement read: "Toyota has announced a safety recall involving 3.8 million vehicles in which the accelerator pedal may become stuck at high vehicle speeds due to interference by the driver's side floor mat, which is obviously a very dangerous situation. Toyota has written to vehicle owners stating that it has decided that a safety defect exists in their vehicles and asking owners to remove all floor mats while the company is developing a remedy. We believe consumers should follow Toyota's recommendation to address the most immediate safety risk. However, removal of the mats is simply an interim measure, not a remedy of the underlying defect in the vehicles. NHTSA is discussing with Toyota what the appropriate vehicle remedy or remedies will be. This matter is not closed until Toyota has effectively addressed the vehicle defect by providing a suitable remedy."

Oh, and let me be clear - I'm not "content to believe" anything regarding safety issues unless it's backed up with some credible info. You don't have to worry about me buying into the official party line. I'm a pretty skeptical individual that has to be convinced. Right now, I'm not convinced of the following:

(1) That the G3 prius has a problem with unintended acceleration.
(2) The G1 or G2 acceleration issues were ECU related.


This much I know for fact - Unless the problem also involves the contol of the braking system, there is not an automorive braking system - on any car made - that can't bring an out of control/accelerating car to a complete stop. I've taken many, many advanced driving classes, with very powerful cars, and one of the first things they teach you is that there is no engine made that is more powerful than the cars brakes. If I have the brakes depress on the most powerful car, while simultaneously flooring the accelerator pedal, the car will not move. I promise you that. Try it, if you don't believe. That said, it's puzzling why the reports of some of these folks accelerating to over 90 mph, could not bring the car under control by applying the brakes?? Either the control mechanism for the brakes was also faulty, or some of these people paniced and did what those in Audi's did several decades back - put their foot on the wrong peddle? I don't know? I would have to know more about the control between the gas and the braking systems. One would think that these are two independendent systems - so if one fails, they both don't stop working? From a safety aspect, I have to believe that Toyota engineers would recognize this.

Didn't Audi go through this same thing? If memory serves me, they ended up moving the position/separation between brake and gas pedals. I have not heard anymore problems with Audi. I remember reading stuff in the German press who (basically) pointed a finger at stupid Americans who didn't know how to drive.

 

Tell her more about the Smartkey and how she won't need to take out the key from her purse. Prius even has a place to put her purse (under the floating center dash). These kind of things make women want to buy.

 

Information provided during the other recall indicated that all modern Toyotas, since early in the past decade, have drive-by-wire fuel control.

Since the mechanical linkage to the engine is gone, the stickiness must be right at the pedal itself.

 

The whole idea of "drive-by-wire" is so that computer can easily intervene when needed (such as traction control and stability control to cut engine power off).
The so called "stickiness" may not be at the pedal.
I am with nylion. I also believe the problem lies in the ECU programming, not the pedal. Toyota is changing the mat, then, the pedal. Eventually, they will realize that all that was needed is debugging the d**mn program and reflash it.

Many vehicles have drive-by-wire nowadays. In fact, most vehicles that have traction control and/or stability control use drive-by-wire pedal.

 

From the NHTSA information posted to another thread, it is clear that this particular recall is for a mechanical problem that cannot be fixed by reflashing an ECU.

Your ECU problem, if it exists, is on a different layer of the onion. A layer that has not yet been peeled back.

 

I think fuzzy1 is referring to http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...cking-unrelated-floor-mats-2.html#post1045623.

 

...and yet (see my post #13, above):

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has done six separate investigations of such acceleration surges in Toyotas since 2003 and found no defect in Toyota's electronics. "




So you have some evidence/data that both Toyota and the NHTSA doesn't? They think it's either (or both) related to the floor mat, and/ or peddle sticking...but you conducted your own investigation and think it's ECU related. Really? Me thinks you should call Toyota - right now - to let them know they are wasting millions of $$ on this mechanical recall. Maybe they'll give you a cut of all the money they save by following your suggestion.

A software fix is usually always cheaper than a hardware fix. I'm sure if Toyota had ANY evidence the problem was software related, they would prefer to go that route...first. But they don't, so they're not. Give 'em a call and share your thoughts.