Toyota just got hit with a big recall, 3.8 million vehicles for ...floor mats!

Just about everything they make for the last 3-5 years.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

 

Hard to imagine that a little ol' floor mat could cause such issues.

In 30+ years of driving, I've had floor mats bunch up on me many times. Never occured to me to have the vehicle recalled.

IMO, it's up to the driver to make sure his vehicle is safe and the floor mat is not getting in the way of safer operation of the vehicle. I guess I'm just Old School.

 

Can they make anything that doesnt need a recall?

 

lol

 

It's all about Lawyers!........They have to recall or they will possibly be sued by millions of people over something as silly as floor mats! It's called CYA!!!

 

I wouldnt call it "old school", just common sense.

 

I agree. As soon as I heard this story a comic fog horn "wah wah waaaaah" played in my head.

 

Wouldn't the floor mat being bunched up slow it down?

 

camshafts

 

Never in my life have I ever had a problem with a floor mat interfering with the pedals if it is in the right position.

I've got to admit, the Yoda is really getting punched in the stomach by recalls...

 

4 people in a Toyota rental died in San Diego about a month ago because of this same problem. The floor mat jammed the accelerator down and the driver froze and they flew off the freeway and everyone died instantly, they even hit another car and injured that driver pretty bad.

 

Ever hear of turning off the ignition key? Like duh...

I had my throttle body spring break on my '03 Escape and I was suddenly doing 30 to 60... simply put it I cut the ignition... no biggie.

 

They also could have hit the brakes. Even a top fuel dragster does not have enough power to overwhelm a four wheel disc set up.

From what I've heard on the news, it was just the one incident in San Diego. There are not thousands of people having crashes due to Toyota floor mats.

Everytime I hear of an accident like this, I remember an article I read a long long time ago. In a nutshell, in many serious accidents, the drivers basically paniced and gave up control of the vehicle. In their panic, drivers will often slam their foot to the floor on the gas instead of the brake. Audi 5000, anyone?

IMO, it's absolute insanity to recall 3.8 million vehicles because some bozo got his floor mat bunched up, it freaked him out, and he mashed the accelerator to the floor.

 

DBD- Go to Club Lexus and go to the Chat forum. There are many pages about. You have to wade through a lot of ignorant posts, but at least you'll have a better idea of what happened by the time your through. I heard the tape of the 911 call on the news and it was for real. It seems the ES350, which is what it was (a loaner) has the "start,stop" button and though he pushed the button repeatedly, it wouldn't shut off because you have to push it for three seconds when you're driving to prevent accidental shut-off and he didn't know that. He was a veteran Ca. Highway Patrolman, so he shouldn't have panicked easily. There is also indication that because the transmission is electrically controlled (no linkage between shifter and trans, only wires through a computer), that it is programmed not to respond to a shift change (even to neutral) at that speed (120) to prevent engine damage if there was accidental lever change. This family died needlessly because of this totally electronic crap! The brakes no longer worked because of heat. You will find others on that site that report uncommanded acceleration, WITHOUT any chance of mat interference. My 1st response was to blame the driver, but after I read those posts, I could see easily how it could happen, under the circumstances, at that point they were along for the ride,with absolutely nothing they could do. I am not convinced at all that it was the mat.

By the way, I spent many years in body work and have personally seen twice, a similar thing happen (1 Mercedes, 1 Audi) in cases that positively did NOT involve a mat or hitting the gas instead of the brake. Faulty electronics.

 

Some more info on the story. Not just one example.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090930/D9B1G89G2.html