Toyota Has 3rd Recall for Sudden Acceleration
Sunday, January 31st, 2010Toyota Motor Sales recalled 3,800,000 vehicles in November 09 so they could alter accelerator pedals, floor mats plus software to address what was reported as sudden acceleration problems. Car dealers were doing fixes to the gasoline pedals by taking away inches from the underside so the gas pedals would not be restrained under the floor mattes.
Toyota Motor Sales has followed up that recall with an additional recall surrounding sudden and unstoppable acceleration on Jan. 21, 2010. That day Toyota Motor Sales declared a recall of approximately 2,300,000 cars which included
‘05-’10 Avalon
‘07-’10 Camry
2009-2010 Corolla
2010 Highlander
2009-2010 Matrix
2009-2010 RAV4
‘08-’10 Sequoia
2007-2010 Tundra
According to a USA article headlined with “100 Toyota drivers filed complaints before recall”, “she would become one of more than 100 drivers, according to a USA TODAY search of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration complaints database, who over the past few years have had their Toyota vehicles take off when they weren’t expected to.”
If people believe that this type of acceleration issue is solitary to Toyota cars, they are mistaken. According to the USA piece, “Jake Fisher, senior engineer at Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center, says unintended acceleration is not a problem unique to Toyota. He pored through NHTSA’s database of complaints for 2008 and noted that every manufacturer faced similar complaints. Sometimes, the issue is driver error, he says. But sometimes, there are defects. Toyota accounted for about 40% of the 2008 unintended acceleration complaints, Fisher says. “This could happen to anybody, but Toyota was over-represented,” he says. “But the underlying message of this whole thing is that, while there are instances of this in Toyotas, it’s still very rare.” The sudden acceleration issues are not solely a Toyota auto concern, but they hold the greatest share.
Toyota Motor Sales has issued the following issuance, “Our investigation indicates that there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position. They also provided instructions on how to handle the situation if the acceleration issue occurs If your car begins to accelerate uncontrollably, immediately move the shift lever to neutral and firmly apply the brakes. Do not pump the brakes. And dont worry about the engine on modern vehicles, they have rev limiters to prevent damage. Once you have brought the car to a safe stop, turn off the engine.”
Toyota does not have a solution to deploy, and further notifications are anticipated. Toyota and the manufacturer of the gas pedal, CTS, have been working on a answer, but nothing of substance has been provided yet.
To read details on this series of events an in-depth work on this concern from a third party see Consumer Reports report about the Toyota recall.
You can also stay abreast on Toyota declarations at Toyotas recall page.
For finding new cars see CarLocate.com.