Toyota-Lexus recall 3.8 million cars for evil floor mats
The U.S. NHTSA safety agency has alerted Lexus and Toyota owners about conditions that could cause the accelerator to get stuck in the pressed position under certain conditions. The agency “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. After numerous reported “unintended acceleration” incidents, Toyota is now conducting a major recall on 3.8 million affected cars, but only in the United States.
Even after Toyota issued a U.S. recall in September 2007 for a similar problem with all-weather floor mats in the 2007-2008 Lexus ES350 and Toyota Camry, the 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 fully-pressed position. A stuck accelerator may result in very high vehicle speeds and a crash, which could cause serious injury or death. The NHTSA said it has received reports of 100 related incidents that include 17 crashes and five deaths involving Toyota vehicles.
Until Toyota develops a remedy, the company is asking owners of specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat. The following models are affected:
• 2007 – 2010 Toyota Camry
• 2005 – 2010 Toyota Avalon
• 2004 – 2009 Toyota Prius
• 2005 – 2010 Toyota Tacoma
• 2007 – 2010 Toyota Tundra
• 2007 – 2010 Lexus ES
• 2006 – 2010 Lexus IS
Should the vehicle continue to accelerate rapidly after releasing the accelerator pedal, this could be an indication of floor mat interference. If this occurs, Toyota recommends the driver take the following actions:
First, if it is possible and safe to do so, pull back the floor mat and dislodge it from the accelerator pedal; then pull over and stop the vehicle.
If the floor mat cannot be dislodged, then firmly and steadily step on the brake pedal with both feet. Do NOT pump the brake pedal repeatedly as this will increase the effort required to slow the vehicle.
Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.
If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF, or to ACC. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.
If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.
If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.
In the event owners choose not to remove their floor mat, Toyota simply says to ensure that the original floor mat is being used anyway, that it is properly installed and secured, that it is not flipped over with bottom-side up, and that one floor mat is not stacked over another.
Incidentally, our PR guy suffered from an extended “unintended acceleration” incident when he was driving our 2007 Toyota Camry tester, and while I had brushed it off as a fluke, at the time I did notice the loose floor mats coming onto the throttle pedal. However, there is no recall in the UAE yet on GCC-spec Toyota and Lexus models, but a little care goes a long way in avoiding such incidents.
Comments
BJD (Boris)
eesh! big companies=big recalls! not tht its their fault tht they are a big company. i nvr imagined these kind of problems. wonder what do the floor mats look like.
Zao
i remember long back someone here complaining about floor mat problem in aurion…
eazy_mas
we demand a lowering of prices after this news Toyota.
Vivek
i was shocked to hear so many othr major problems with the camry, yaris and corolla! a friend of mine works of the toyota-lexus dealer in muscat; it seems many Camrys and corollas (the new ones) suffer from transmission problems, ABS failures and A/C related issues…A friend’s cousin bro has a Yaris vising futtaim for the third time coz of problem with it’s A/C compressor; the car has only 60k kms no the odo…And the crowd is still dumb enuf to pay such high prices for such stupid cars only coz it wears a Toyota badge..
lucid
On a manual Camry’98, I always found the driver floor mat to be very small and it would keep riding up. On the manual Camry’03, though a good sized mat, same thing, it’d ride up and make it hard to fully depress the clutch all the way.
@Vivek,
I think, as with all companies doing big business, the reputation was built over a long period. But with all this growth, that initial dedication to perfection & aim for a high-quality product is gradually diminshed, yet they’re still cashing in on the name.
I would say, for the everyday ‘go from point A to B’ driver, Toyotas are still cheaper to maintain than the American/Europeans. Plus, in Gulf (Saudi Arabia at least) we get the best resale for a Toyota than any other brand.
S2000
The new corollas , camry’s floor seems low. Though i never felt that the accelerator was was goin to get stuck. The people with the best opinion would be the taxi drivers driving the 2007 – 2010 Toyota Camrys. The new toyota models are crap. My friends yaris got written off after a frontal crash in karama,he was lucky since he was standing outside with the haz on.
eazy_mas
@ Vivek
Long time ago Merc used to make the best reliable cars til the beging of the 90s then after a decade it came from top best reliable car maker to the worst one.
People who used to follow cars or own the 190E and other Benz would understand how good they are.
Another part of the story is brand loyality which stays for couple of years til people relize that they are buying a failed product. and also the reverse in American cars where people still believe it unreliable but actully they improved alot.
aaamohamad
^^^
agree with all what U said..the proof is by asking saeed lol 😉
BJD (Boris)
I’ve started to like ford now. they have some truly respectable cars in their line-up now.
Samer
I agree with you BJD, Ford are offering very good cars and I rarely hear about recalls by them, most other brands did recalls, besides, Ford are paying good attention for safety issues. for toyota and other jap cars’ resell value, I would say who created this reputation? it is us the consumers because we stupidly ready to pay 60 or 70k for a 100000kms used camry rather than buying a fully loaded mMondeo or any other car that has 40000 on the odo for 35k or 40k
SR
But the issue is lot of people will go for “brand” rather than value offered by a car. I think this is mostly in the GCC because there is lot of excess cash floating around!
BJD (Boris)
actually, its more likely tht most ppl dont have much knowledge about cars and and just go for the cars they see aplenty on the road