Toyota floormat recall gets explained

Toyota floormat recall gets explained

Filed under: Recalls, Safety, Toyota

Wondering what the deal is with all those potentially dangerous Toyota floormats? After all, just about every car sold in America is equipped with or at least offers optional floormats, sometimes with multiple choices. So, why are Toyota's mats being singled out? The short answer is because the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has received a slew of complaints that indicate the floormat design used in a number of Toyota cars and trucks may cause the accelerator pedal to stick wide open. But why?

Our friends at KickingTires took a look at the 2010 Prius that happens to be in their fleet at the moment, and they found that the mechanism that locates and holds the car's floormats in place is a possible cause for concern. It seems that Toyota engineered a floormat hook that can be detached from the carpet so that cars not equipped with optional mats don't have latches protruding from the floor. Unfortunately, this design also means that there are two places where the mats could become unhooked.

According to Toyota spokesman John Hanson, some other Toyota vehicles not included in the recall are also equipped with this same floormat hook design. Only the models that have received specific complaints were included in the initial recall, though more Toyota vehicles could be added once the details are finalized, including some 2010 models.

[Source: KickingTires]
Toyota floormat recall gets explained originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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This story is really getting under my skin, it's such a fucking joke. The 911 call that started this all, the guy said "The brakes won't work and my accelerator is stuck."

Of the 100's of cars I've driven in the last 10 years, never in my life have I ever had a floormat move up toward the pedals more than 5-6 inches. And that's ONLY when I had been in the car for more than 100 miles and needed a little stretch.

How, the fuck, do you jam your floor mat so much up there that not only do you stick the throttle in wide open position, you jam it under the brake to the point it doesn't work. No fucking way. Something else is going on here.

Apparently, being stupid can kill you.

...sigh.

i heard that someone got into a really bad accident and the reason why they said the floor mat was the problem.

Yeah, the autoblog post on the CHP officer that died in the Lexus rental car.