MEXICO CITY — Toyota announced it will expand its recall over a sticking accelerator pedal to its Mexican customers. Toyota's dealerships in Mexico will begin fixing the defective accelerator pedals on February 8.
Models involved are the 2009-'10 Toyota RAV4, Matrix and Corolla; the 2010 Highlander; the 2007-'10 Camry and Tundra; and the 2008-'10 Sequoia.
The cars sold in Mexico come from U.S. facilities, except for the Corolla, Matrix and RAV4, which are manufactured in Canada. The Avalon is the only model that currently is not sold in this market. Although no accidents have been reported so far in Mexico, the manufacturer decided to repair the vehicles from its Mexican customers anyway, said Adolfo Hegewisch, general director of Toyota in Mexico.
Toyota is still a relatively small player in the Mexico market. Last year, it sold close to 52,000 vehicles, less than 7 percent of total sales in the country.
Toyota has an assembly plant near Tijuana, where it assembles the Tacoma pickup, and had been planning to build a second plant right before the crisis hit the automotive industry in 2008.
Inside Line says: Toyota reportedly hesitated to include Mexico on the recall but ended up deciding to act now and avoid potential further reputation damage. — Loriana Marietta, Correspondent
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justinlink says:
12:23 PM, 02/03/2010
therein lies the problem, beermagazine. if you want to get to 65 in a corolla, you have to push the pedal to the floor.
psteve says:
09:26 AM, 02/03/2010
TOYOTA SHOULD JUST COMBINE THE BEST ATTRIBUTES OF THE DENSO PEDAL AND THE CTS PEDAL. THE INNER DESIGN ASPECTS OF BOTH GAS PEDALS HAS BEEN OUTLINED ON WEB LINK 'THE TRUTH ABOUT CARS'. ON THE LINK IT SHOWS WHY TOYOTA WENT WITH A NEW DESIGN OVER THE DENSO FOR BETTER STABILITY AND DURABLITY OF THE GAS PEDAL BY USING A METAL BUSHING INSTEAD OF PLASTIC ON THE DENSO. BUT IN USING THE METAL BUSHING TOYOTA MAY HAVE WENT WITH A CHEAPER WAY TO CREATE THE PROPER AMOUNT OF FRICTION DESIRED FOR PROPER FEEDBACK IN THE GAS PEDAL. LONG STORY SHORT TOYOTA SHOULD MAKE A REPLACEMENT GAS PEDAL ASSEMBLY UTLIZING THE METAL BUSHING FROM THE CTS PEDAL IN THE DENSO DESIGN TO GET THE BEST POSSIBLE GAS PEDAL FOR LONG DURABLITY AND NON -STICK ISSUES.
beermagazine says:
09:19 AM, 02/03/2010
Here's a quick tip for any Toyota drivers...don't push the pedal to the floor!