FYI the recall effects: 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon 2004-2009 Toyota Prius 2005-2010 Tacoma 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350. I bought my Tacoma in '04, right before the new models rolled out...glad I did now. And if the accelerator gets stuck, and the brakes aren't slowing it down, I would think you could just witch it to neutral, then apply the brakes.
From what I've read, the Audi hysteria was caused by novice drivers unused to the small gas & brake pedals being so close together. Reports come out all the time about spontaneous acceleration. 60 Minutes or Dateline runs with it, raising panic, and in the end, it's always been just a few idiots who hit the gas pedal when they think they're hitting the brake. I'm willing to believe that there's something wrong with Toyota's computer system, but until I hear more than anecdotal evidence I remain skeptical. There are a heck of a lot of late-model Toyotas on the road, and relatively few such instances reported. Also, the cases mentioned in the article are of an elderly gentleman (married almost 50 years) and someone who had just borrowed the car for a drive (and was likely unused to the layout). e.g., found this article through Google: [rquoter]...In 1986, sales of the Audi 5000 collapsed after CBS “60 Minutes” aired a sensational show charging the German-made car with sudden acceleration. In that case, as in those that came later, studies by NHTSA and by safety agencies in other countries found no defect in the car and instead assigned the blame to “pedal misapplication” — put more plainly, drivers’ tendency to hit the gas pedal when they think they’re hitting the brake. Theories that seek to blame mechanical defects for sudden acceleration face the difficulty of positing that something has gone wrong simultaneously with a car’s brake system as well as its power (since regular foot pressure on the brake can readily overpower a gas pedal stuck at full throttle) while in both cases leaving no trace behind of a distinctive “failure state” for later investigators to discover. But alarmism over the issue simply will not die — not so long as expert witnesses hired by trial lawyers keep developing new theories to take to juries. In February of last year a segment on NBC’s “Dateline” gave extensive, highly sympathetic coverage to the contentions of a plaintiff’s expert named Sam Sero, who blames sudden acceleration on malfunctions in the electronics in cars’ cruise control systems. A few months later Little Rock, Ark. attorney Sandy S. McMath, representing plaintiffs in a sudden acceleration case against Ford, filed the petition with NHTSA asking that it take another look at the phenomenon in light of Sero’s theories. Bad move. In its response to the petition, NHTSA could hardly have been more scathing. The proponents of the theory, it said, “have never produced credible evidence” that it has led to a single incident of sudden acceleration. “The theory propounded by Mr. Sero, and others, has never been published nor is there any literature in the automotive engineering field supporting it”. The evidence for the pedal misapplication finding remains “compelling”. In an unusual swipe at Mr. Sero, a licensed electrical engineer formerly with the Allegheny Power Company, the agency said he “has no professional experience in the auto industry and no human factors training”. McMath, the lawyer who petitioned for the probe, admits being stunned by the vigor of the agency’s response...[/rquoter]
You are referring to the floor mat recall done in the past year, correct? I have an 07 Camry. I wasn't eligible for the recall, it was only in some models I think.
to be somewhat fair to the driver in the one situation where 4 people died, it was a loaner car. He "probably" wasn't used to the push-button start (as opposed to the key in the ignition). Also, on the brake issue, apparently witnesses in other cars did see sparks flying from the wheel wells, meaning he was definitely applying the brakes, to the point of creating sparks, but it wasn't stopping. Why didn't he at least put it in neutral...I don't know...maybe he tried. It's somewhat hard to believe it is a floormat issue. Alternatively, I can definitely envision the floormat getting stuck, the brakes not being enough force to counter-act the accelerator telling the car to go, the driver not understanding how to turn off the car (push button) and too much freaking out to even consider going to neutral. After all, if at some point he's going 80+, and just starting to freak out, he has to concentrate on driving, too, no?
What? Putting it in neutral won't hurt your car at all, no matter what speed you're going. Downshifting is a different matter.
This is what gets me, Toyota's pre 06 (I think) were still cable driven throttle bodies, wich means it's still a mechanical action to accelerate, controlled by the driver. That makes it hard to use the computer excuse, but it still leaves the cruise control theory in play. Once they wnet to fly by wire on the throttle bodies then all bets are off. You the driver are sending a signal to the computer to accelerate. The computer will then feed fuel, timing according to how much pedal depression and TPS signal. There is not direct connection to the throttle body from the driver, maybe a big red shut off switch should be intalled on the dash of futre Toyotas.
holding full throttle with no load certainly would not be ideal for your engine. It has a rev limiter but still.
My dad had a 2000 corolla and I think a few years back they DID issue a recall on the cruise control system and supposedly replaced them then to fix the problem. I am sure if you search around you will see this recall notice. This does nothing for me but make a stronger case for Honda. This would NEVER happen with a Honda
I got a Camry and have been paying attention to this stuff. I cannot believe Toyota is still going with the "floormat" excuse and some if any people are buying the excuse. I guess all we can do is hope they get to the root of the problem soon.
Are you serious? Look I'm not Anti domestic or foreign but where have you been hiding when Ford had massive recalls when the ford explorer would burst into flames? Or the rollover accidents? Every maker is not 100% defect free.
this is awful... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KHGSWs4uJzY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KHGSWs4uJzY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
“Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.” Benjamin Franklin Never buy a Ford. GM only cares about profits. Rather than sell you a better vehicle, they slander Toyota.
