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Runaway Toyota Recall at least 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus

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http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/29/automobil...tos-toyota.html

 

Runaway Toyota Recall

Joann Muller, 09.29.09, 06:00 PM EDT

In its biggest recall ever, carmaker warns that floor mat could jam accelerator.

 

 

 

DETROIT -- Toyota Motor said Tuesday it will soon issue a recall for at least 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to fix a potential safety problem caused by a car's floor mat jamming the accelerator.

 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, meanwhile, urged motorists not to wait for a fix. "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."

The impending U.S. recall, the largest in Toyota's ( TM - news - people ) history, followed a horrific crash last month in San Diego in which a mat was suspected of snagging a gas pedal on a runaway Lexus, ending with a fiery crash that killed four family members.

 

A minute before the crash, the driver called police to say the car had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck. The runaway car was doing more than 120 mph when it hit a sport-utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. The car, equipped with all-weather floor mats, was on loan from a dealership while the driver's own vehicle was being repaired.

 

"The tragic accident in San Diego was certainly an eye opener for all of us," said Senior Vice President Irving Miller, prompting the company to review previous allegations of unintended acceleration caused by floor mat interference.

 

Miller said the company could not quantify the number of complaints, nor could it estimate the cost of the safety campaign.

 

The affected vehicles include 2007-2010 Camry, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2004-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS350.

 

NHTSA said the advisory was precipitated by "continued reports of vehicles accelerating rapidly after release of the accelerator pedal."

 

The agency said the use of unsecured mats was partly to blame, along with the particular configuration of the accelerator pedals in the affected vehicles. Adding to the potential danger: In cars with keyless ignition, a driver must hold the on-off switch for three seconds in order to shut off the engine.

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Advisor

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http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/...ory-102572.aspx

 

Toyota Consumer Safety Advisory Potential Floor Mat Interference with Accelerator Pedal

 

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. takes public safety very seriously. It believes its vehicles to be among the safest on the road today.

 

Recent events have prompted Toyota to take a closer look at the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position due to an unsecured or incompatible driver's floor mat. A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.

 

Toyota considers this a critical matter and will soon launch a safety campaign on specific Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Throughout the process of developing the details of the action plan, it will advise the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

 

Until Toyota develops a remedy, it is asking owners of specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver

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Zyr0

Zyr0

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(edited)

hmmm...floormats are killing drivers now. gives me another reason to celebrate driving MT. runaway engine? clutch in, brake, cut engine and complain on MCF.

 

the floor mat jam your clutch also. haha. the auto floormats will attack auto cars and manual floormats attack manual cars. Evil floormats for the win!

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Beehive3783

Beehive3783

Turbocharged

wtf... 3.8 million car recall due to a stupid floormat.. and i'm sure the driver in the Lexus could have done something to stop the car or at least slow it down. switching off the engine would have been the best option..

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Amortifiedpenguin

Amortifiedpenguin

Clutched

the floor mat jam your clutch also. haha. the auto floormats will attack auto cars and manual floormats attack manual cars. Evil floormats for the win!

 

oh no!!! we are so doomed! we shall all stop driving lest these floormats kill us all!

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Felipe

Felipe

3rd Gear

its is safe.

 

its unsafe coz ppl add non-factory floormat to it so it get stucked. not toyota fault...

 

hmm, something as simple as a floor mat should not affect safety. its still toyota's fault. if its engine mods and brake mods, then maybe its not. There are so many reputable 3rd party brands like 3M and it has not caused accidents.

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Hermitage

Hermitage

1st Gear

"A minute before the crash, the driver called police to say the car had no brakes and the accelerator was stuck."

 

How can this be??? Even if floormat jams accelerator pedal, there's no reason why the brakes won't work as well. Sounds like a Sabotage case straight out of Hollywood! Else, there's something seriously, and fatally wrong with Toyota cars in the US which the company is not letting on...

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Guest EverestLeasing

Guest EverestLeasing

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Switch to neutral gear, pull the hand-brakes.

Confirm will stop in less than a minute.

 

 

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Bern2

Bern2

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hmmm...floormats are killing drivers now. gives me another reason to celebrate driving MT. runaway engine? clutch in, brake, cut engine and complain on MCF.

 

 

This has happened to me before. Some time back while driving an old VW beetle the floor mat got stuck behind the pedal. As you said, Lucky its a MT, clutch in (engine screams), neutral gear, on hazard lights, move to the side of the road and brake.

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Hermitage

Hermitage

1st Gear

Switch to neutral gear, pull the hand-brakes.

Confirm will stop in less than a minute.

 

Hmmm...possible I guess. But at 120mph (approx. 200km/h), pulling the handbrakes would most likely result in a sudden and catastrophic loss of control [sweatdrop]

 

Still cannot understand why the normal brakes didn't work [shakehead]

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Advisor

Advisor

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There is a rumor about this recall....

Actually it is not about the floor mat, the faulty part is a sensor which will affect the chip for fuel injector

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Advisor

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"review previous allegations of unintended acceleration caused by floor mat interference"

 

 

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