Toyota Motor Sales USA (TMS) last night said it would recall about 2.3m Toyota branded vehicles to correct sticking accelerator pedals, a move separate from the current recall of around 4.2m Toyota and Lexus vehicles to reduce the risk of pedal entrapment by incorrect or out of place accessory floor mats. The announcement came just hours before ABC News aired a prime time news report about unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles followed later in the evening by a separate investigatory programme.
Toyota said 1.7m Toyota vehicles are subject to both separate recalls.
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“In recent months, Toyota has investigated isolated reports of sticking accelerator pedal mechanisms in certain vehicles without the presence of floor mats,” said TMS group vice president Irv Miller. “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. Consistent with our commitment to the safety of our cars and our customers, we have initiated this voluntary recall action.”
This recall is confined to 2009-2010 RAV4, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Matrix, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2010 Highlander, 2007-2010 Tundra and 2008-2010 Sequoia models and does not affect Lexus or Scion brand vehicles.
“The condition is rare, but can occur when the pedal mechanism becomes worn and, in certain conditions, the accelerator pedal may become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position. Toyota is working quickly to prepare the correction remedy,” TMS said in a statement.
The company advised the driver of a car in which the accelerator pedal sticks in a partial open throttle position, or returns slowly to idle position, to control the vehicle with firm and steady brake application, drive it to the nearest safe location, shut off the engine and contact a Toyota dealer for help.
“Toyota will continue to investigate incidents of unwanted acceleration and take appropriate measures to address any trends that are identified,” TMS said.
Meanwhile, over 60 new cases of runaway Toyotas have been reported since the company said last year it had solved the problem with the huge recall of suspect floor mats and proposed changes to accelerator pedals, safety experts told ABC News.
In the most dramatic incident, late last month, four people died in the Dallas suburb of Southlake, Texas, after a 2008 Toyota sped off the road, through a fence and landed upside down in a pond. The car’s floor mats were found in the boot of the car, where owners had been advised to put them as part of the recall.
“There’s one thing that didn’t cause the accident,” a Southlake police spokesman told ABC News. He added that federal safety investigators had joined the investigation.
Reports of possible electronic problems or on-board computer glitches have been strongly denied by the automaker. “There is no evidence to support these theories,” Toyota executive Bob Daily told ABC News.
In another case, in New Jersey, a Toyota owner was able to make it to a local dealer with his car racing out of control, even though his foot was not on the accelerator and the floor mats were not involved.
Kevin Haggerty, a salesman from Pittstown, New Jersey, said he had seen an ABCNews.com report about how to control a car experiencing unexpected acceleration – by shifting into neutral.
With his brakes smoking and the engine racing, Haggerty summoned a Toyota manager to witness what was happening with his car.
Haggerty said after consulting with Toyota corporate offices, the local dealer replaced the sensors and assembly on Haggerty’s accelerator and throttle.
“We now have that evidence right in front of Toyota, they’re witnessing it and they can’t walk away from it,” safety analyst Sean Kane told ABC News.
“The Haggerty case is a real breakthrough case,” he added. “It’s a real problem and it points to electronic defects in the vehicle.”
According to ABC News, dozens of other Toyota owners had made similar claims about electronic problems with their cars, unconnected to floor mats, over the last few years, but they were routinely dismissed by Toyota as unfounded.
