stall

We all know that only cars from Japan are any good but it seems here that their penchant for gimmicks has caught them. Keyless entry still requires you to carry a fob and is a foo-foo sort of improvement akin to carpet on the bottom of your cup-holder. Read through this little ditty from the NHTSA and realize there are unintended consequences in every facet of life. I bet the engineers never even considered floor mats as a potential problem. The photo on AUTOBLOG shows a floormat that creeped up and pushed the accelerator down and no key to just turn the dammed thing off. Yikes

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The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has just issued a safety alert to owners of particular Toyota and Lexus models from 2004-2010 (see list below) that will soon involve a full recall of some 3.8 million vehicles. The issue involves a nagging problem Toyota has had with floor mats in certain models that, in some cases, have caused the accelerator pedal to get stuck in a wide open throttle position (see example above). There are apparently clearance issues with these floor mats and the pedals, as well as issues with the unique steps required to shut off vehicles with keyless ignitions, and Toyota and NHTSA is warning owners to remove the mats immediately and not replace them with mats from Toyota or any other brand.

The models affected 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 IS350
Toyota issued a recall in September 2007 for a similar problem with all-weather floor mats in the 2007-08 Lexus ES350 and Toyota Camry. NHTSA, however, has continued to receive complaints of unintended acceleration in these models and more.

Toyota will follow up NHTSA safety alert with its largest ever recall in the U.S. as soon as it has a solution figured out. In the mean time, if you own one of the above vehicles, your government would like you to play it safe and remove the driver-side floor mat. Now we have to wonder, who's going to pay the rather large bill for cleaning the carpet in thousands of vehicles that got their foot wells dirty from having no floor mats?

Follow the jump for press releases from both NHTSA and Toyota, the latter of which includes instructions on what to do if you experience unintended acceleration caused by the floor mats in these models. Thanks to everyone for the tips!

[Source: NHTSA]

65-396

[QUOTE=stall;1571671980]We all know that only cars from Japan are any good
I totally disagree with this statement. The build quality and reliability of domestic cars today exceed the Japanese.

wmf62

the recall also states:

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.

Bill

Matt Gruber

WOW 3 seconds is an eternity at WOT.
Nobody figured out they could cut off the corner of the mat?

stingrayl76

Hopefully they haven't eliminated the transmission gear selector. WOT in neutral will just cause the rev limiter to be accuated until you can kill the engine.

Nick D.

Japanese cars aren't the only make with keyless ignition, the C6 has it also, and I'm sure, many other domestics. They do have a key but it is to open the trunk/hatch in case of power failure. Don't know how many times I've gotten in the car with key in hand, only to remember, duh, you don't need it :o Also, if you walk away from the car with the FOB, and the car is programmed such, the doors will lock. This is ok, but if there is someone in the car, it will lock them in if they don't know about the door trip wire under the carpet. This happened to me and my wife in the Texas heat with the windows up, when I got out to look at a 62 Chevy by the side of the road. Lucky the horn still worked cause the windows and doors did not. Not sure how I got along without all this new technology