TORRANCE, California — Reeling from a major hit to its quality reputation, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. early Monday said its dealers will begin fixing recalled vehicles with defective accelerator pedals this week. The Japanese automaker also said it has "developed an effective solution for vehicles in production."
Toyota is stopping production of the affected vehicles, which include the 2007-10 Camry and 2009-10 Corolla, starting today, February 1. It said some U.S. Toyota dealers are planning to stay open 24 hours a day to fix the problem. The repair should take approximately 30 minutes, Toyota said in a statement.
The automaker said a precision-cut steel reinforcement bar will be installed into the accelerator pedal assembly, "thereby eliminating the excess friction that has caused pedals to stick in rare instances."
Toyota said it will begin contacting customers with affected vehicles as early as this week. It said parts to reinforce the pedals are already being shipped to dealers. It also said that Camry, RAV4, Corolla, and Highlander vehicles with Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN) that begin with "J" are not affected by the accelerator pedal recall. The VIN can be found on a sticker located on the driver's side pillar and through the windshield on the driver's side at the front of the dashboard.
Toyota's top U.S. executive also issued a formal apology to customers.
"We deeply regret the concern that our recalls have caused for our customers and we are doing everything we can — as fast as we can — to make things right," said Jim Lentz, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. "Stopping production is never an easy decision, but we are 100 percent confident it was the right decision. We know what's causing the sticking accelerator pedals, and we know what we have to do to fix it. We also know it is most important to fix this problem in the cars on the road."
Under federal law, Toyota dealers cannot deliver affected new cars to customers until the problem is corrected.
Toyota is recalling 2.3 million vehicles and suspending sales of the eight models involved in the recall. Besides certain models of the Camry and Corolla, they include the 2009-'10 RAV4, 2009-'10 Matrix, 2005-'10 Avalon, 2010 Highlander, 2007-'10 Tundra and 2008-'10 Sequoia. No Lexus or Scion vehicles are included in the recall. Excluded in the recall are the Camry Hybrid and Highlander Hybrid.
Toyota plans to implement a similar remedy in Europe, China and other countries and regions, where details are to be worked out with local authorities, it said in a statement.
Inside Line says: Consumers finally begin to get some answers from Toyota to the sticking accelerator pedal fiasco. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
tbone85 says:
09:13 AM, 02/04/2010
"Guy's this is our Gov't doing this. They control the media. this pedal has been in production since 92. trying to "level" the playing field for GM oh and now they are going after the new prius, less comp for the VOLT"
So now it's the U.S. government's fault, or the media's?!? What conspiracy theory will be next? Is there no end to the fanboy blame-shifting? I'm glad Toyota is not following this blame game path--it would permanently destroy their credibility.
pones1 says:
07:57 AM, 02/04/2010
Guy's this is our Gov't doing this. They control the media. this pedal has been in production since 92. trying to "level" the playing field for GM oh and now they are going after the new prius, less comp for the VOLT
hybris says:
04:25 PM, 02/03/2010
"precision-cut steel reinforcement bar"
So the solution of all of Toyota's pedal problems... is a block of steel?
I don't know what say...
tbone85 says:
11:42 AM, 02/03/2010
"So they are admitting to everyone out their NHTSA are doing willful blindness to this matter for a decade long. Which, our trusted agency that are suppose to put Consumer 1st before manufacturer does, have fail this country.
A Deja Vu from Firestone/Ford event. God Bless America"
This keeps getting funnier. You started by blaming the parts supplier without a factual basis. You then blamed lazy and stupid American workers (because after all there have never been any Japanese recalls). You then moved on to blaming the domestics for not doing as much as Toyota has done in this recall. Now you're blaming the NHTSA for TOYOTA's failure?
Who will you blame next, the Oompa Loompas? Thank goodness Toyota itself is not following such an irresponsible, cowardly path.
atenza94546 says:
05:21 PM, 02/01/2010
bjerke says:
"The NHTSA has 2152 accounts on its file of a toyota having speed control problems since 1999, which includes sudden acceleration. 116 of those were related to the gas peadal. The NHTSA has known about this, so has toyota, and that is why toyota is going to appear before congress on the 25th. The congress is going to find out for sure if toyota has been neglecting this problem"
So they are admitting to everyone out their NHTSA are doing willful blindness to this matter for a decade long. Which, our trusted agency that are suppose to put Consumer 1st before manufacturer does, have fail this country.
A Deja Vu from Firestone/Ford event. God Bless America
bjerke says:
05:03 PM, 02/01/2010
atenza94546 says:
01:40 PM, 02/01/2010
yamahr1 says:
You really have got to be f-ing kidding. After shoving this problem aside since 2002...
What do you think of NHTSA did for the past decade to these car test for all the manufacture???
When did NHTSA found the problem ??? Never !!!
The NHTSA has 2152 accounts on its file of a toyota having speed control problems since 1999, which includes sudden acceleration. 116 of those were related to the gas peadal. The NHTSA has known about this, so has toyota, and that is why toyota is going to appear before congress on the 25th. The congress is going to find out for sure if toyota has been neglecting this problem or not.
Here is my source check it, its an interesting article.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-toyota-pedal30-2010jan30,0,4401302.story?page=2
atenza94546 says:
01:40 PM, 02/01/2010
yamahr1 says:
You really have got to be f-ing kidding. After shoving this problem aside since 2002...
What do you think of NHTSA did for the past decade to these car test for all the manufacture???
When did NHTSA found the problem ??? Never !!!
juan_mx says:
11:34 AM, 02/01/2010
Toyota is recalling in Europe the Toyota Aygo (a city car smaller than the Yaris) because of a similar problem.
This car is manufactured in Prague (Czech Republic), and I doubt that CTS supplies the accelerator pedal to that factory.
So, what is really the problem?
It may be the design...
It may be the software...
Who knows..................
yamahr1 says:
10:45 AM, 02/01/2010
jeremy_c says: "At least Toyota is taking accountability..."
You really have got to be f-ing kidding. After shoving this problem aside since 2002, it was only with the heat of the Feds, plus intense public scrutiny, that Toyota even ACKNOWLEDGED there was a problem, and one it's surely known about for several years now. Then they tried to deflect blame by naming their US parts supplier, which turned out to be only as bad as Toyota's part specification made it. This is all better than old GM and Ford recall behaviors how exactly? By most reports I've read lately, this and other issues Toyota has been in denial about (rusting, engine sludging, etc.) puts them among the worst behaving carmakers in automotive history.
There will surely be more to come out of all this against Toyota, starting with the Congressional inquiry on 2/25, and continuing with several class action lawsuits starting up now, which specifically finger the Toyota ECM, not pedals or floor mats, for many deadly incidents with Toyotas and Lexuses careening out of control.
bwoodahl says:
09:49 AM, 02/01/2010
This is likely a "band-aid" fix to cover up the real issue -> the drive-by-wire throttle system in the ECM has some bad code and TOYOTA cannot find it. If this "sticky accelerator" was the real problem, they would have addressed it long ago.