Have you removed your driver's side floor mat?

I don't even have the factory Toyota mats. My dealer was able to yank them for me since I didn't want to pay for them.

On every/virtually every car my parents have had, we've either had aftermarket mats which don't even have hooks or had them on top of factory mats (supposedly even more dangerous per some news stories I've seen). We've never had any trouble w/accelerators getting stuck under them on any car. My mom's been driving since ~1979 and I've been driving since ~1991.

Are all aftermarket mats sold dangerous too? The vast majority of them don't even have hooks. Should they all be recalled and banned?

If there really is some problem, I think at least % of them weren't due to floor mats.

If I ever have an unintended acceleration, I know what to do: get on the brakes and shift to neutral.

 

The floormat theory (or should I say "hypothesis") is total BS.
Why don't other automakers have similar problems? Honda uses the same dual hook also.

It is probably the crappy pedal position sensors Toyota used, and they refuse to admit it still.
A floormat does not impose enough pressure on the pedal to accelerate a Lexus to 120mph and fry the brake in the process. Put your Prius in P and try it. It just isn't heavy enough. I call BS on this one.
You have to assume that a CHP officer is not automabile-challenged.

 

All: I agree with the above posts... This does not sound logical but as efusco mentioned it appears to be a CYA from Toyota.. I might say a very expensive CYA.. With the cost of a floor mat probably (and I am guessing) around $5 plus the 1 hour of dealer labor (ave $90/hr) charged back to Toyota, it is going to be a very costly activity for them.. So far, I have not had any mat problem with my 08 Gen II... Don't plan to remove the mat that is unless it needs a cleaning...

 

I always make sure that it is properly installed and clipped back to the correct position whenever it was out. I am not going to remove it, it is pretty safe when installed properly. I really cannot imagine what is Toyota going to do with that - nail it down to the floor ?

I really don't think this is a car issue. The driver should be responsible enough and make sure it is installed properly before driving out.

 

There ain't no way in hell that the factory mat I have could cause the reported problem. I'm an engineer and until I see something that can explain how the floormat could move about 6 inches (with the current clips), depress the accelerator and cause this sort of problem, I will remained convinced that the CHP officer was a friggin' idiot.

 

This photo from the NHTSA suggests that with a particular type of mat, the accelerator pedal can get wedged down:



I don't think this is a picture from an actual accident, though.

That said, I'd be surprised if this could happen with a cloth mat.

We have had reports of uncommanded accelerations but they have been frustratingly difficult to follow up on - as you would expect from some intermittent glitch. The closest we got was nylion's thread, where the OP eventually traded in the car with the problem. Since the sensors are magnetic, Hall-effect (after the 'big hand' syndrome caused by potentiometers on Gen 1) I recommended keeping electromagnetic fields out of the driver's footwell - don't put a bag containing the smart key or a mobile phone down there.

The shielding of the accelerator pedal sensor wiring is connected to a different ground point (IK) from the HV ECU's ground connections (IH). IK is way over on the left (RHD: right) of the car and IH way over on the right (RHD: left). Poor continuity could I think potentially cause some extra voltage to be induced, or the noise rejection to be affected - I'd be happier to see the shield on this cabling connected to ground at the ECU end, not to a faraway ground point on the other side of the chassis. I'd be surprised if it could induce the 2.4V necessary to change the interpretation of pedal position from fully-closed to fully-open, though.

It could also be cruise control enabled and the brake light switch, which cancels CC if pressed, not operating correctly.

 

Good morning all......I agree with the doc also that this is a gigantic CYA move by Toyota. I checked "Eleanor's" clips yesterday just to make sure she was holding tight and she is. So, no I am not taking the mats out. Also checked the hubby's mats in his "09 Taco truck that is also under the notorious recall....same finding. All is well. I am curious though to see how Toyota fixes this!!!

 

We have an '09...haven't noticed any such issue. Further, our '05 Sienna seems to have the same floor mat attachment hook system installed and it wasn't on the recall list. Before I remove floor mats from any of our vehicles, I want to have a replacement available. Toyota's motives with this announcement are left open to question since they have no replacements available....Press releases seem cheaper than fixes.

 

Not removing mine either! The mats stick to the floor and the cutout for the gas pedal is big enough not to interfere with the gas pedal.

 

We have OEM all-weather mats in both of our cars and the Gen II driver's mat comes within an inch of the bottom of the accelerator whereas the Gen III mat has plenty of clearance around the pedal on the left and underneath. If the Gen II mat were to come loose from its hooks and slip even a little I can see where it could interfere with the accelerator.

We have no intention of removing the mat from our Gen II but we'll probably be more vigilant about insuring the mat stays secured from now on. And if Toyota wants to give us a replacement mat, all the better.

That said, I don't understand why so many people are ticked off about this issue. Warning people about a potential safety hazard a generally a good thing. Of course Toyota is covering their hind quarters. Corporations rarely do anything without financial incentive but so what?

 

Pearl came with the Toyota carpet mats, drivers side clipped in (so well, it's hard to remove for cleaning and is hard to re-install properly, which may be the problem!). If I get a recall in the mail I'm not going to let them take my mats until they have something better at no cost. They have -never- slipped, and I don't think they -could- jam the pedal (I tried repeatedly after hearing about the woman who burned her brakes a few years ago - including folding the mat and trying to wedge it around the pedal - no way could I get any jamming action).

I have soft rubber winter mats from the anti-Prius (aftermarket - the anti-Prius was a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder LE AWD). I put them in on top of the carpet mats and even then there is no jamming action with two winters use so far.

Soooo, I must conclude you have to be -very- clever to jam the pedal. The cop who died, so sorry, but why didn't he just shut off the ignition if he was so clever? If they had time to phone 911 and ask for help there was plenty of time to actually -think-. Darwin in action?

 

No, I am not going to remove mine. It is installed correctly and I always put both clips in whenever I clean it.

 

I like to live on the edge with my dangerous floor mat. :madgrin:

 

I second that. Let's start the "extreme sport" of driving a Prius with a floor mat! We can have "slam the pedal down" competitions to see if they catch, and intentionally wad up the mat so the pedal sticks and perform the dangerous and risky "hold the power button down for 3 seconds" manouver that seems to be beyond the capability of even the most professional drivers. Maybe we can get on a sports channel somewhere as "professional athletes" (like those most athletic of professionals, bass fisherman). It will probably get outlawed, and we'll have to go underground like base jumpers, practicing our extreme sport of Driving-With-The-Mat as social outlaws.

 

Both DH and I did some serious looking at our floor mat situation, and decided that there is no way the mat is any sort of threat to the accelerator pedal.

It's staying.

 

I removed my stock floormats when I put in the molded/heavy-duty/whatever weathertech mats in.

 

Jesus Christ this is stupid. Floor mats? C'mon people. Is this where we are now as a species? Floor mats are picking us off. Wow. what next, cupholders are throwing us down? completely and utterly ridiculous. And it wasn't even a stock OEM Toyota mat at fault? Okay, I'm finished here, got an errand to run in my death machine...

 

I have double carpet mats (one set from my previous 2005) plus a Toyota black rubber mat in all four sections of the floor. They do not move or slip, help keep things clean. The triple thickness absorbs sound and helps keep the interior quiet. I'll keep mine.

 

Yay, I'm gonna place a sticker saying "I have a MAT in my Prius!" on my rear bumper :madgrin:. Complete with the urinating "No-Respect" boy .

On the more serious note, I agree that it is a good thing that this issue is brought to attention - at least people will check their mat instalation, hopefully...

And I am also still horrified by the Lexus-crash - four innocent people died, and whatever we might think about the abilities of the driver, we definitely shouldn't laught at *that*.