Toyota Will Fix or Replace 4 Million Accelerator Pedals

Toyota Will Fix or Replace 4 Million Accelerator Pedals
By NICK BUNKLEY
Copyright by The Associated Press
Published: November 25, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/business/26toyota.html?ref=global-home


The Toyota Motor Corporation said Wednesday that it would fix or replace the accelerator pedals of 4 million vehicles to resolve a widespread problem with unintended acceleration that has stripped some of the luster off the carmaker’s reputation for safety and reliability.

The problem is caused by gas pedals getting stuck on floor mats, and starting in January Toyota dealers will be instructed to shorten the vehicles’ existing pedal by about three-quarters of an inch. Meanwhile, the company will develop new pedals.

In some vehicles, including the top-selling Camry sedan, dealers will remove some padding from the floor under the pedal and install a brake override system that will stop the car if both the gas and brake pedals are pressed simultaneously.

The recall, Toyota’s largest ever, covers slightly less than half of the cars and trucks that the company sold in the United States over the last several years. Initially, Toyota blamed the problem on ill-fitting floor mats and instructed owners in September to remove the driver’s side mat.

On Wednesday, the company insisted that the problem was limited to the pedal and that there was no evidence of a malfunction with the vehicle’s electrical system, as some drivers who have experienced unintended acceleration have claimed.

“We are very, very confident that we have addressed this issue,” a Toyota spokesman, Irv Miller, said on a conference call Wednesday morning. “We can come up with no indication whatsoever that there is a throttle or electronic control system malfunction.”

The affected vehicles include the 2007-10 Camry sedan and Tundra pickup, 2005-10 Avalon sedan and Tacoma pickup, 2004-9 Prius hybrid sedan, and three Lexus sedans: the 2007-10 ES350 and 2006-10 IS250 and IS350.

Toyota said in a statement that it would have new pedals available by April. Customers whose pedal is shortened by a dealer can choose to have it replaced at that time, although the new pedal would be identical to the modified one.

The company planned to begin installing a brake override system as standard equipment in most of its models next year. Toyota’s push-button ignition system makes turning off the vehicle in case of a jammed accelerator pedal more difficult.

Toyota’s announcement came a day after it said 110,000 older-model Tundra pickups were being recalled to resolve a problem with excessive rust on the frames.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the override system provided an “extra measure of confidence” and that was “particularly pleased that Toyota is taking this additional step.”

Earlier this month, the agency criticized Toyota for asserting that “no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver’s floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured.”

The recall was prompted by an August crash near San Diego that killed four people, including a California Highway Patrol officer who was driving, in a 2009 Lexus ES350. The car was going more than 120 m.p.h., and a rear-seat passenger who called 911 said the accelerator pedal was stuck and that the driver could not stop. The car crashed and burst into flames.

Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, later apologized for the crash.

“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 company said in a statement Wednesday.

Toyota executives declined to estimate how much the recall will cost.