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Virginia Legal News

Massive Toyota recall affecting millions of vehicles announced


Posted on Nov 30, 2009

After warning that a recall was coming this past September, it is now official.  The Toyota Motor Corporation has announced a recall that will affect over 4 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada because of a sudden acceleration problem that has caused traffic deaths and injuries.

 

Toyota announced that they have developed a series of fixes that vehicle owners can have installed by dealers.  The problem, according to Toyota, is that accelerator pedals can become entrapped by floor mats, causing vehicles to surge forward unexpectedly.

 

To fix the pedal problem, Toyota dealers will cut off part of the accelerator pedal, and in some models dealers will install what is known as a “smart pedal”, which is software that will cut the engine power if both the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal are depressed at the same time.  In addition, replacement pedals will be available around April 2010.

 

So far Toyota has maintained that the root of the problem is floor mat interference with the accelerator pedal.  Critics, however, contend that the problem may be more serious and may involve the electronic throttle introduced around 2003.  Toyota denies that anything other than the floor mats are to blame.

 

The recalled vehicles include the 2007 to 2010 model-year Camry sedans; 2005 to 2010 Avalon sedans; 2004 to 2009 Prius hybrids; 2005 to 2010 Tacoma pickups; 2007 to 2010 Tundra pickups; and Lexus’s 2007 to 2010 ES 350, 2006 to 2010 IS 250 and 2006 to 2010 IS 350 sedans.

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