Toyota to recall 3.8 million vehicles

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

Anybody see what the problem is? I can't.

 

The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

Toyota to recall 3.8 million vehicles - Yahoo! Finance=

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

there was a crash due to a floormat under the gas and brake pedel

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

I seem to remember that the paper w/ my all-weather mats said to make sure you don't install them over the carpet ones...

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

I've had the mat bunch up to the side of the accelerator and jam the accelerator towards the floor. Fortunately, the brakes overrode the accelerater before I had the presence of mind to hit the power switch.

There have been similar postings about phantom acceleration in this forum and the first question always seems to concern the mat. So this probably isn't an isolated problem.

Viva la Recall. My mat is really, really, dirty.

 

Recall of 3.8 Million Toyotas - Not the '10 though

Urgent' recall of 3.8M Toyotas; accelerator may stick

Toyota is recalling 3.8 million Toyotas and Lexuses because floor mats could make the accelerator stick, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced.

USA TODAY auto writer Chris Woodyard has the details. The NHTSA "strongly recommends taking out removable floor mats on the driver’s side in certain models and not to replace them with any other mat, either from Toyota or any other brand."

Read the news release.

"This is an urgent matter," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration."

NHTSA notes that there continue to be reports of accelerator pedal clearance issues which provide the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position. A stuck accelerator may result in very high vehicle speeds and a crash, which could cause serious injury or death.

NHTSA said that Toyota has announced that it will soon launch a safety recall of various model year vehicles to redress the problem. However the safety agency warned owners to remove all driver-side floor mats from the models listed below immediately as an interim safety measure in advance of the recall.


The affected models are:

2007-2010 Camry

2005-2010 Avalon

2004-2009 Prius

2005-2010 Tacoma

2007-2010 Tundra

2007-2010 ES 350

2006-2010 IS 250 and IS 350

It's the company's largest U.S. recall.


In September 2007, Toyota recalled an accessory all-weather floor mat sold for use in some 2007 and 2008 model year Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry vehicles because of similar problems.

Today’s advisory was precipitated by continued reports of vehicles accelerating rapidly after release of the accelerator pedal. The incidents appear to be related to factors including the use of a variety of unsecured mats, the particular configuration of the accelerator pedals in these vehicles, and the unique steps needed to shut off the engines in some of these vehicles with keyless ignition.

NHTSA Consumer Safety Alert
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 NHTSA Media Contact: Eric Bolton, 202-366-9550
NHTSA Consumer Hotline: 888-372-4236

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfile...n/Articles/Associated Files/Toyota_Mat_09.JPG

 

Re: Recall of 3.8 Million Toyotas - Not the '10 though

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/69729-prius-recall-04-09-a.html

 

[deleted]

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

Owners should take out the floor mats on the driver's side and not replace them.

Are they going to replace the matts with something else?

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

Well, la-de-dah. Better check those floor mat retention clips.

For a photo of one problem see
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...million-toyotas-not-10-though.html#post969548

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

There are multiple threads going on this, but this looks to be the most posted-to one so I will jump in with my opinion:

1) This is about litigation, not safety

2) If this were about safety, Toyota would have to teach idiots how to press HARD on the brake pedal or press the power button. That ain't going to happen.

3) They could always program the ECU to not allow sustained hard acceleration for more than, say, 5 seconds. Of course, passing would become a real challenge...

4) They could build a sensor into the throttle pedal that requires special Toyota-supplied shoes so the ECU is assured that a human foot is causing the acceleration and not a foreign object (however, the foot is an object, and if the driver is foreign...but I digress...). In fact, I think we should petition the NHTSA to make this law for all cars. In fact, they could program the chip in your shoe to only allow the car to work with your shoe, making car theft more difficult. If you owned more than one car, you would need shoes for all. If you rented a car, they would have to supply shoes to match the rental car. They could also put a sensor in the brake pedal, and record the last 5 minutes of driving in a continuous stack loop. In the event of an accident this would prove, once and for all, that unintended acceleration isn't caused by aliens or faulty cars but by drivers mashing the gas pedal and/or NOT mashing the brake. When a person is stopped for a traffic infraction that would normally require the car to be towed, the cops could impound the shoes, thus doing away with tow fees, towing damage, etc. The city would collect the fee directly for releasing the shoes. This would be ecological as it would save all that pollution created by tow trucks. I'm beginning to REALLY like this solution!

3) If Toyota lawyers are so afraid of being sued, they have a simple solution: issue an addendum to the owner's manuals saying Toyota prohibits the use of floor mats on the drivers side, stop selling them, and "recall" the dealer-sold driver's side mats. End of legal exposure.

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

If that's a Toyota dealer-installed HD mat, then all I can say is Toyota might deserve the thumping they will get over this for such a poor design. If it's aftermarket, then what does the government do? Ban the sale of aftermarket, "one-size-fits-all" mats? People probably expect such a mat to be safe, but I certainly don't.

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

We replaced our floor mats (that have retention clips, and were clipped properly) with the exact mats, which are hard plastic with teeth that hold them in place. They don't move. They can't bunch up (or bend).

This is a litigation thing. I agree. Like putting a warning on a coffee cup that the contents may be hot.

 

Re: Recall of 3.8 Million Toyotas - Not the '10 though

Triggered by a local incident:

Toyota orders all floor mats inspected after fatal Santee crash - SignOnSanDiego.com

 

Re: Prius Recall ('04 - '09)

In ehe Lexus crash that killed a California Highway patrol officer and his family flames were coming off the front disks. Did he push hard enough on the brakes for you?

 

Re: Recall of 3.8 Million Toyotas - Not the '10 though

Free floor mats for everybody!!!

 

Re: Recall of 3.8 Million Toyotas - Not the '10 though

Here is the Toyota site:
Toyota Vehicles : Toyota Consumer Safety Advisory Potential Floor Mat Interference with Accelerator Pedal / Toyota
Note that they talk about various scenarios (pull the mat back, use both feet on the brake....) but one of them is powering down (3 seconds on power button).