WASHINGTON — At least 13 new complaints have been submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as of Thursday by consumers who have had recall repairs performed on their Toyotas but are still experiencing sudden acceleration, Inside Line has found. In one complaint, a driver says that even though her 2009 Toyota Matrix had its brakes and gas pedal fixed on February 10, the car suddenly accelerated on February 26.
"I put my foot on the brake and I felt the car push forward," she wrote in her complaint to NHTSA. "I put my other foot on the brake as well. My son said, 'It's doing it again, Mom!' "
She added: "This obviously means the recall fix isn't working! I am very concerned what this means in terms of future safety and my monetary investment in this car."
The owner of a 2009 Toyota Camry wrote that the car "suddenly accelerated and brakes did not work. Car ended up in a ditch and needed to be towed. Toyota Camry recall fix was done two days before the incident."
The 81-year-old owner of a 2010 Toyota Camry who said the car was in the shop earlier for the "mat/gas pedal problem," reported subsequent problems on February 16. "I was pulling into a spot at CVS," the driver wrote. "I took my foot off the gas pedal and started to put the foot on the brake when the car suddenly flew up forward over the cement curb and into the dirt and bushes, which thank God stopped the car." The driver reported "nightmares" after the incident.
Toyota steadfastly insists that the safety recalls are solving its car problems and that their recalls will end the sudden-acceleration complaints.
"As a result of our extensive testing, we do not believe sudden unintended acceleration because of a defect in our ETCS [electronic throttle control system] has ever happened," said Takeshi Uchiyamada, the executive vice president of Toyota Motor and the automaker's chief engineer in testimony earlier this week before a congressional committee. "However, we will continue to search for any event in which such a failure could occur."
Yoshimi Inaba, president and chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, testified under oath in front of Congress on March 2 that "Toyota engineers have developed safe and durable solutions for the vehicles we have recalled." He said Toyota's U.S. dealers "have repaired more than 1 million vehicles to date."
U.S. regulators say they are in the process of contacting Toyota owners who have reported problems after having their recalled vehicles repaired.
Inside Line says: It will be interesting to watch if the mounting complaints against the repaired Toyotas are investigated promptly by the federal government or written off. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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jmtdo says:
04:35 PM, 03/03/2011
My 2004 Toyota Camry suddenly accelerated when I was pulling into a parking space with my foot on the brake. There was no recall on my car but last year the throttle body assembly was replaced due to stalling. Ever since that part was replaced, I experienced intermittent surges and sluggishness. My factory floor mats are no where near the accelerator, I know the difference between accelerator and brake (duh!) and my foot was on the BRAKE when the car accelerated. If you read the NASA report, it says, "...absence of proof that the ETCSi caused a UA does not vindicate the system." Also the NESC team stated that, "...Because proof that the ETCS-i caused the reported UAs was not found does not mean it could not occur." Of course, we don't hear about this, do we.
ballerdc says:
04:09 PM, 03/09/2010
some of these people are gold diggers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
debbaranko says:
04:12 AM, 03/06/2010
"Its doing it again, MOM?" Who in their right mind would let their child drive or be a passenger in a Toyota brand vehicle? The parents should have the children taken away for this one. Someone call social services and have these parents arrested
tbone85 says:
03:52 PM, 03/05/2010
"The US government, NHTSA and the media can argue until the cows come home but people who bought Toyota will likely keep buying Toyota or Honda or Mazda or Nissan. They are not going convert into domestic sales anytime soon. Just look at the cars which were touted by the media as the best "car of the year" in their days but in hindsight were all crap -Dodge Neon, Lincoln LS, Chevy Malibu, Caddy Catera. And for anyone buying a Chevy Volt, better buy a seat cushion for those times you'll spend waiting at the dealer service room."
There have been a number of turkeys both domestic and foreign that were named car of the year. Having driven the Malibu and LS, I can't agree they fell in this category. I also drove the current generation Camry and Prius, and I was shocked to find how much I disliked the way they drove. I currently own Mazda, Mercury, and Hyundai. I'm open to buying foreign or domestic depending on the quality of the car. Some buyers are strongly loyal to their brand, but there was a time when foreign cars were considered cheap and unworthy of purchase. Times change. If any of these companies think they own their customers and don't need to continue producing the best cars in the categories they compete in, they will be in for a rude wake up call. The perception of quality lags a decade behind the actual execution of quality. When you miss the mark, the climb back uphill is steep.
jasonmzw20 says:
03:22 PM, 03/05/2010
Now don't think I'm dismissing EVERY claim. A technician could've been overworked and might've botched the job or there are cars out there that are lemons. Every manufacturer makes a lemon. I just want the facts reported without any fluffery/hyperbole.
Just remember though, there will always be UA claims/complaints.
jasonmzw20 says:
02:57 PM, 03/05/2010
Well if you can't be bothered to understand how ABS works (the Internet is full of good information from reputable sites), then what does that say about you? Will you remain ignorant of its operation?
How long has ABS been around now? Are you grasping for straws or something? It's not exactly something that's relatively new. Should we be concerned about the ECU not being able to correctly adjust the cam phasing (variable valve timing), effectively running the engine out of tune, because it can't be bothered to make adjustments in mere milliseconds at the slightest touch of the pedal or a change in calculated engine load?
And variable valve timing is something that is dependent on hydraulic oil pressure, but the adjustment is electronically controlled. Or in the case of the Lexus LS, the intake valves are completely electronically controlled (motor and all).
Where will it end? "zOMG my engine won't stop running!11!1"
Stop watching so much TV. The power of suggestion is really getting to a lot of you without you even realizing it. Ah, but that is its strength. ;)
juan_mx says:
12:41 PM, 03/05/2010
jason:
I would not dismiss the ABS system so quickly.
I am no expert on ABS, but it has to reduce the pressure on the wheel that is locked,
then it has the ability to reduce the brake power.
Considering that the ABS system is controlled by an ECU that in most cases communicates with the other ECU in the car, it is not that far fetched that it may have some role in the problem.
A recent example of a software glitch with the brakes is the 2010 Prius that had to be recalled,
I agree that the Prius has a different brake system, that is actually "brake by wire", but in the end it was a software problem).
iskch says:
11:38 AM, 03/05/2010
I'm going to try it myself. Test drive a Camry and give it the good all 100. Lets see.
jasonmzw20 says:
10:11 AM, 03/05/2010
guy1974 says:
06:51 AM, 03/05/2010
jason - you dismiss the floormat issue (which did killed 4 people and was driven by a highly trained state highway trooper) but only Lexus and Toyota have had an issue with their floormats. Other companies seem to know how to fix floormats to the floor and have decent pedal geometry.
You're right, I do dismiss it because in the end it's a stupid recall for stupid people triggered by an unfortunate accident (sorry, but it's common sense to me)*. For one, don't use an improper floor mat that doesn't anchor or isn't made for your vehicle; two, don't stack an all-weather floor mat on top of a regular floor mat. I haven't had an issue with my floormats in my 05 Tacoma, and yes, I did receive notice via a letter about the recall. Have I taken it in? Nope because there isn't a problem. My floor mats are anchored and are correct for the vehicle and the driver's side mat doesn't interfere with the pedal, so why would I want or need the pedal shortened? And maybe he was a highly trained CHP officer, but he rode the brakes for so long that they effectively overheated and faded beyond any use. Did he know where neutral was on the gated shifter? I've been surprised by many people's comments on video sites where a driver will put the car in neutral when stuck at WOT, and some people had no idea they could do that. It further strengthens my belief that our drivers might have well received their license out of a Cracker Jack box. Aside from neutral, you can slowly set the emergency brake to slow the vehicle as well as an absolute last resort (esp. after pumping the pedal and losing power brake assist). There are still mechanical linkages. If you're not confident enough in your driving ability to control a vehicle with the rear wheels locked, I'd suggest taking a supplemental driving course.
The ABS system does not interfere with the braking system, it only serves to supplement it. It cannot reduce the amount of pressure afforded by the brake booster to the master cylinder pushrod and then to the brake fluid. Those are mechanical operations without electronics. If you overheat the ABS system, as I have while driving on ice, the ABS system deactivates to cool. You can then lock the wheels during that time. Instead, I used engine braking by downshifting the automatic transmission manually and by using 4-Lo, as well. In fact, it's been proven by statistics, that most people in accidents don't depress the brake hard enough to activate the ABS system. This is why things like Brake Assist and Electronic Brake Force Distribution are added to ABS to detect an emergency stopping maneuver to activate the ABS system for you along with MORE pressure (not less).
But you know what's funny? When Audi was accused of UA, they also replaced the floor mats in the 5000 first, then moved to other issues, the last of which was the shift interlock mechanism that required a driver to depress the brake to move the shift lever out of park (and now look, it's standard on every automatic transmission vehicle). How interesting.
* I do wonder, however, why the previous driver of that Lexus ES who experienced the floor mat induced "pedal entrapment" only notified the dealership and didn't take the floor mats out. Hell, if I were driving it, and that happened to me, they sure as hell would be out of the car. I also would've talked to the service manager and showed him. But, these days, people don't have enough time to do these things, and now the surviving members of the Saylor family have filed suit against Toyota alleging they produced a deadly vehicle. Sorry, but whoever stacked the floor mats is to blame and it was an unfortunate accident. The car caught fire afterwards because the brakes were so badly overheated that once airflow stopped, they burst into flames, which then engulfed the entire car. It's terrible to think about, but it could have been prevented, plain and simple.
thetruth01 says:
09:31 AM, 03/05/2010
few thoughts.
One, everyone who makes a driver error in a Toyota is now going to blame Toyota in the hopes of not having to pay for their mistakes.
Second, doesn't every auto transmission car suddenly accelerate when you start it up? They drive themselves to a point. I've even been in a manual whose idle was set so high that it drove itself in first gear. When I wanted it to slow, I put my foot on the clutch (same as shifting into neutral, natch).
Finally, Toyota will NEVER solve this issue. There are too many variables to SUA. But that doesn't mean that the faults will continue to be in the cars themselves. Many of those variables are the nature of all vehicles or drivers and CANNOT be fixed by Toyota or anyone else.