Toyota to Replace 4 Million Gas Pedals

(CBS/AP)  Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will replace accelerator pedals on about 4 million recalled vehicles in the United States because the pedals can get stuck in the floor mats, another blow to the reputation of the world's largest automaker.

Toyota said dealers will offer to shorten the length of the gas pedals by about 3/4 inch beginning in January, as a stopgap measure while the company develops replacement pedals for their vehicles. New pedals will be installed by dealers on a rolling basis beginning in April, and some vehicles will have brake override systems installed as a precaution.

CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports five deaths have been blamed on the unintended accelerations. The recall was prompted by a crash outside San Diego last summer that killed a family of four.

The family's horrifying last moments can be heard on a 911 call.


Toyota announced the massive recall in late September and told owners to remove the driver's side floor mats to keep the gas pedal from becoming jammed.

Popular vehicles such as the Toyota Camry, the top-selling passenger car in America, and the Toyota Prius, the best-selling gas-electric hybrid, are among those getting fixed. The recall also included the luxury Lexus ES350, the vehicle in a fiery fatal accident in California that focused public attention on the danger.

"The safety of our owners and the public is our utmost concern and Toyota has and will continue to thoroughly investigate and take appropriate measures to address any defect trends that are identified," the Japanese automaker said in a statement.

Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said the company was "very, very confident that we have addressed this issue" with the new fix. Toyota has found "no reason to believe that there is a problem with the electronic control systems," he said.

Toyota officials said the floor mats are only sold in the U.S. and the recall would be limited to North America.

Toyota declined to provide a cost estimate for the fix, but analysts said it would be extremely expensive because of the extensive repairs involved and the manufacturing of new pedals. Toyota also said it would provide newly designed replacement floor mats for the driver and front-passenger side.

The recall represents the latest blemish for Toyota, which developed a sterling reputation for quality in the U.S. by selling reliable family vehicles but faced challenges as it rapidly expanded. While recalls do not always indicate diminished reliability, Toyota executives have expressed concern about large numbers of recalls and pushed for improved quality controls.

In a separate action, Toyota announced Tuesday that it would recall 110,000 Tundra trucks from the 2000-03 model years to address excessive rust on the vehicle's frame.

"Their reputation has taken a hit because the actual quality has taken a hit," said Aaron Bragman, an automotive analyst for the consulting firm IHS Global Insight. "That's absolutely critical for Toyota to get that fixed because that's the central pillar that they've built their business on."

The gas pedal recall is Toyota's largest in the U.S. and the sixth-largest ever in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It includes 3.8 million vehicles, including the 2007-10 model year Camry, 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, 2004-09 Prius, 2005-10 Toyota Tacoma, 2007-10 Toyota Tundra, 2007-10 Lexus ES350 and 2006-10 Lexus IS250/350. NHTSA said 4.26 million vehicles would be covered, including new cars and trucks sold since September and others manufactured since the recall was announced.

It was prompted by a high-speed crash in August involving a 2009 Lexus ES350 that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three members of his family near San Diego. The Lexus hit speeds exceeding 120 mph, struck a sport utility vehicle, launched off an embankment, rolled several times and burst into flames. In a frantic 911 call, a family member told emergency responders that the accelerator was stuck and the driver couldn't stop.

NHTSA investigators determined that a rubber all-weather floor mat found in the wreckage was slightly longer than the mat that belonged in the vehicle, and could have snared or covered the accelerator pedal.

In addition to the five deaths and two injuries, the government has received reports of more than 100 incidents in which the accelerator may have become stuck. A Massachusetts-based safety consultant who has investigated the Toyota cases, however, has found more than 2,000 incidents involving 16 deaths and 243 injuries potentially tied to the Toyota gas pedals.

To fix the problem, Toyota and the government said dealers will shorten the length of the accelerator pedal on the recalled vehicles and in some cases remove foam from beneath the carpeting near the pedal to increase the space between the pedal and the floor. They said owners of the ES350, Camry and Avalon would be the first to receive notification because the vehicles are believed to have the highest risk for pedal entrapment.

Toyota also plans to install a brake override system on the Camry, Avalon and Lexus ES350, IS350 and IS250 models, Toyota and NHTSA said. The brake override system will ensure the vehicle will stop if the brake and the accelerator pedals are applied at the same time.

Toyota plans to make the brake override system standard equipment throughout the Toyota and Lexus lineup by the end of 2010.

The automaker and government regulators have been discussing a potential fix for several weeks. Toyota urged owners in September to remove driver's side floor mats and not replace them until the company had determined a fix. The automaker said unhooked floor mats or replacement mats stacked on top of the originals could lead to stuck accelerators.

In November, Toyota issued a statement saying NHTSA had confirmed "that no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver's floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured." But in a rare rebuke, NHTSA accused Toyota of releasing misleading information about the recall, saying removing the mats did not "correct the underlying defect." Toyota said it was not the company's intention to mislead anyone.

For more information, owners can contact Toyota at 800-331-4331 or the NHTSA hot line at 888-327-4236.

[lami987]

American car magazines including Consumer Report never had report anything bad about Japanese cars or trucks. They actually help those car companies hide the problems. However this time the problem is getting too big for them to hide. Sudden acceleration problem is killing people and government is now involved. This acceleration problem along with rust problem are not new but our favorite magazines never report them. Instead they continue to brag about the reliability of Japanese cars and trucks.

[tryhonesty]

Sometimes being the World's largest automotive manufacturer has its negative sides. Having owned many Toyota products, I have confidence they will correct these problems. No matter the posts on this site, Toyota IS the benchmark for building cars and trucks. You can tour any of their plants around the world, and inside not know which country you are in. This one quality alone is very unique and provides obvious advantages to building the best automotive products in the world. Toyota is a world leader, driven with pride and quality, and will solve these issues. None of my family nor myself have ever been employed by Toyota, but have owned many of their cars and trucks for over 5 decades, that pretty well says it all!

[pcevet4]

I've owned Toyotas since 1975. After seeing clouded over headlight lenses, sagging headliners, self-clogging engine oil passages and self-destructing automatic transmissions, I can only conclude that Toyota has joined the rest of the world auto industry at a common level of mediocrity. May as well save my money and buy Hyundai, GM or Ford.

[tim9148]

When the four people where in the car and talking to 911 telling them there car would not stop.Why didn't they tell the driver to turn the key off that could have saved there lives.

[Kaliu3W]

This is weird, because I don't have a Toyota, I have a Honda Accord, and I have experienced this sudden acceleration three times in 6 months. I've had the car serviced, the transmission checked, the throttle cleaned and still, every now and then it happens and it is frightening. What I do when I have to go out, I keep the radio off and listen very intently to the engine: any sudden shifts in the timing, I pull over if possible and put it in park until the engine idles down. The dealer treats me like a crazy lady and keeps telling me there's nothing wrong with it. I can't afford a new car.

[GuardianGreg]

How is it that Toyota Dealerships continued to sell vehicles, one of which I purchased in the last two weeks, without informing consumers of this incredible risk? To what extent are they held culpable for the decision to continue to do business as usual in spite of the potential for injury or fatality to the American consumer? It's ashame that a company with such an outstanding reputation would be willilng to risk it all for the sake of maintained profitability. How can any company defend its decision to gamble with lives of so many, to knowingly withhold vital information? This tells us a little bit about Toyota.

[grandmaposh]

Was there no other way to stop the car? I think there was. And the dispatcher should have told them what to try. And more than that, CBS news should have gone over the other possibilities to stopping the car!! Otherwise this article is blatant politics. There are Americans working at Toyota plants - I think we forget that.

[boatdocster]

Toyota cars are crap, regardless of who makes them. There have been ongoing legal issues against Toyota concerning the V-6 motor burning up, sometimes after only 20K miles in new cars, usually 50-60K miles; appears to be a design problem that leads to engine sludge but Toyota blames it on poor owner maintenance, even for the owners that have their car serviced by Toyota at the recommended intervals (the 1MZ V-6 and the 5SFE inline 4 engines).

Toyota's corporate lawyer in LA California just quit after seeing documents being destroyed by Toyota that related to poor roof strength and deaths in roll over accidents in their truck and sport utility line. Those documents were requested by the courts for cases that were pending legal action. The documents supported that the roofs were liable to collapse in a roll over, something Toyota vigorously denied. Toyota is now suing their former lawyer. (Yep, Toyota really cares about you, the consumer!!)

The gas pedal issue has been going on for a while; had it not been for the death of the 4 people in the defective speeding Lexus, one of which was a California Highway Patrol officer, and the live 911 call of the crash, Toyota would still be denying there was a problem.

The might be one of the most popular cars; they damn sure are not the safest or best built.

Read more:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/01/toyota_sludge_settlement.html

[boatdocster]

Toyota just recalled 111,000 Tundra pickups, claiming "excessive corrosion due to "road salts" can cause the rear cross-member of the vehicle frame to fail and allow the spare tire to fall onto the roadway at any time, creating a road hazard for other vehicles."

Gee, I thought that is why you painted and applied anti-corrosion compounds to bare steel.

[Haughey6]

By saying the driver featured in this story "could not stop" CBS has perpetuated this myth that you cannot stop if your brake pedal is stuck. Your use of wording is awful and you should be ashamed and correct the story.

[apuan777]

What a better way to help the American car companies then to find something wrong with the number one selling brand in the US. It comes at a very convenient time.

[kbbpll]

All you have to do is shift into neutral, shut off the ignition, or both. A CHP officer allowed the vehicle to exceed 120 mph without realizing all they had to do was turn it off? And they had time to make a call? I feel sorry for the family, but something seems missing here.

[jmca2009]

Apparently, that model has the button start on the dash and the only way to turn it off is to hold down the button for a full 3 seconds, a long time when your runaway car is doing 120mph. I had heard the shifter is locked at speed as well.
The car was a loaner from the dealer and none of the occupants were familiar with it.