Toyota to replace 2004-2009 Prius gas pedals, give new all-weather mats

I got the first letters for both my 05 Avalon and 07 Prius. Personally, I don't see how it would be possible a properly attached oem floor mat to get tangled up with the accelerator pedal. I have them in both cars and the hooks hold them very well.

 

Re: Toyota to replace 3.8M gas pedals - Washington Post

Mike Dimmick beat me to it. It is obvious in the video that the brake command overrides the "go" pedal command.

 

I'm ready for the new all weather mats. I noticed a couple of months ago that I have a series of holes through the mat where the ribs have torn away at the bottom. I patched the bottom side by gluing a flat piece of mat to the bottom. I had to shave off the nubs in that area, so I'm living dangerously with my renegade mat repair. :madgrin:

 

Hi Tideland...,

It was Audi, and te specific car was the Audi 5000 which had great reviews until the more clumsy amoung us started drving them through the backs of garages. As I remember, the rallye driver placement of the pedals (which allowed heal-and-toe or rotate-the-ankle cornering maneuvers) was confusing to as I remember predominatly older drivers (as expose'd on 60 minutes et al).

 

Technical Service Bulletins and Recalls don't follow warranty guidelines....they are covered

 

Mine stuck a few times in the mat after flooring it on an up hill entrance ramp to the expressway, and managed to free it by using the side of my foot to lift the gas pedal. I fixed the problem myself by drilled a hole in the floor mat (generic all weather) and attached it to the clip on the floor by the seat. No further problems.

 

Although I'm a loyal Prius owner, I can't help being concerned about this problem. I'm also an electrical engineer and an experienced computer user. I carefully examined the mat/pedal arrangement in my 2005 model after receiving the letter from Toyota a month or two ago, and couldn't see how the mat could interfere with the pedal. At any rate I removed the mat per instructions.

My concern is that the problem may not be mechanical, but some sort of software glitch or electronic malfunction in the "drive-by-wire" system. At no time has Toyota addressed this possibility (as far as I can tell) and that bothers me.

Shortening the pedal length won't help solve an electrical/computer problem. We all know how weird computers can be (at least the 20 or so IBM type PCs that I have owned in the past 20 years.) And yes, even software can be "intermittant."

I would feel better if Toyota would be able to say they found a problem and then set out to fix it. From all the press hoopla I've read, I don't believe they themselves think it's a pedal/mat problem, but for CYA purposes are offering this solution.

I was planning on upgrading to a 2011 next year. So I have a year to sit back and watch. in the meantime I am training my wife to instinctively reach for the gear lever to shift into neutral, brake and hold the power switch in and prepare to navigate w/o power steering and power brakes.

Geez...

 

The are four key points why I don't think that there's anything software related. They are ...

1. Many of the alleged complaints reported unintended acceleration without the presence of the All Weather mats. However in every one of these alleged cases noone has been able to find any trace of software error. Back just before you bought yours and I bought mine there was a error in the software for fuel consumption. It caused the 'stalling issues'. It was identified and corrected immediately, never to be heard from again.
2. The NHTSA has investigated 400+ alleged cases of this unintended acceleration ( UA ) in the Tacomas and they couldn't find any reason other than floormat interferences or driver errors. The terminated all 400+ investigations.
3. The insurance industry has the most interest in this issue. It's the insurance companies themselves that have to pay loss, damage and death claims when accidents occur. Noone from any crash scene investigation nor at any insurance testing lab ( IIHS ) has identified any hint of a software glitch.
4. Lawyers wanting to cash in on a potentially lucrative class action suit against a wealthy target have $100s of millions if not $Bilions to gain by finding a smoking gun. None have.

The OEM carpetted mats as you noted yourself cannot be a cause of the problem if installed properly. Common sense should prevail IMO. Nobody will be doing anything to my Prius.

 

This is my view as well. But I have learned a lot by all the discussions herein and elsewhere. More knowledge is always useful.

 

2010 prius is not included in any of these recalls. Does that mean 2010 priuses are/ will always be free of these problems? I hope so otherwise these problems sure sound like pretty serious stuff!

 

LMAO!

Somewhere in the UK, Clarkson and the Stig are pounding their heads against the wall, "Why didn't we think of this!!!"

Bob Wilson

 

Re: Gas Pedal--Re-call ?

I drive a 2006 Prius. (Europe), I tried today to brake during acceleration. Power to the engine was cut immediately. Is this different than American Priusses?

 

I'm also an EE, though not in the automotive or hi-rel fields.

Historically, in other makes and models, mats and driver error have been the major causes. My experience is that a flood of these problems make it much more difficult to replicate and trace the other potential problems. Applying these fixes will both greatly reduce the future set of faults to be diagnosed, and reduce the uncertainty that there even is another problem hiding in there.

These changes are also the right thing to do. Even if no other problems exist, and all the problems derive from 'pilot error', fixing the hardware is faster, cheaper, and better (more reliable) than fixing the drivers. In engineering, we normally get to pick any two, not all three.

 

Poka-yoke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I saw this before back in the 80's with Audi 5000. Most if not all is media hype and driver stupidity. Properly installed floor mats with clips wont cause it either. In the case with Audi some people were actually pressing on the accelerator instead of the brakes. In an emergency some people panic and do the wrong thing and then swear it was the cars fault.

One thing for sure if we keep beating it to death in the media the value of our toyota's will drop like a rock.

CBS made a big deal of it last night on the evening news, watch out and hold on to your wallet when you want to trade in your toyota again.

I had an Audi 5000, believe me it was painful I bet I lost $3000 the next time I traded.

 

My mats are anchored, end of story.
On many levels I am disturbed by this pathetic mandated recall.

~500 million dollars to try and fix stupid ?

 

Although "stupid" may be part of the issue, I'm not so sure that constitutes 100% of the problem. From today's LA Times story:

Toyota to fix 'very dangerous' gas pedal defects -- latimes.com

"...Mary Ann Hoffman of Medford, Ore., won't be taking part in the recall. After three frightening incidents of unintended acceleration, including one with her 15-year-old daughter behind the wheel, she took her 2007 Prius to the dealership.

Last week mechanics and a Toyota field representative told her that they believed the problem lay in the pedal, which was replaced. But Hoffman, who thinks there could be some deeper electronic or mechanical problem with the car, had lost faith in the vehicle and Toyota altogether.

"I think this recall is window dressing," Hoffman said. "I don't think the problem is the pedal or the floor mat or any of that."

On Monday, she traded in her Prius for a 2008 BMW 5-series."

Unfortunately, at this time it doesn't appear that Toyota plans to retrofit 2G Prius with the new brake override system. See the official Toyota press release:

http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-consumer-safety-advisory-102572.aspx

"In addition, as a separate measure independent of the vehicle-based remedy, Toyota will install a brake override system onto the involved Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES 350, IS350 and IS 250 models as an extra measure of confidence. This system cuts engine power in case of simultaneous application of both the accelerator and brake pedals."

 

Because it already has it. Look at the video that Carolyn made. She pegged the "go" pedal to the floor and when she applied the brake the ICE rpm dropped immediately.