After announcing the largest auto recall in US history last fall to fix sudden acceleration problems, Toyota late Thursday announced an additional recall of some 2.3 million vehicles. The announcement was made after ABC News told the Japanese automaker that it was going to air a report about more Toyota sudden-acceleration problems.
The problem: The accelerator can stick when it's pushed down. "Our investigation indicates that there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position," Irv Miller, a group vice president for Toyota Motor Sales, said in a press release. (Click here for the full release.)
Is your Toyota at risk? Here's a list of models involved in the latest recall:
2009-10 RAV4
2009-10 Corolla
2009-10 Matrix
2005-10 Avalon
2007-10 Camry
2010 Highlander
2007-10 Tundra
2008-10 Sequoia
If you own one of those vehicles, you're at risk.
The problem involves a specific accelerator pedal assembly
from a specific supplier. And it happens over time, not overnight. So just because you're not seeming to have an issue, that doesn't mean you won't.
"This is a wear issue," he says. "The owner will begin to feel that the accelerator is a little rough when they push it down. It doesn't operate as smoothly as it used to."
If owners don't address the problem, it will get worse, the company warns. The accelerator may begin to come up more slowly after it has been depressed. And in some instances, the company says, that situation will devolve into it sticking in that depressed condition.
Because the company issued the recall so suddenly (probably as a result of the upcoming ABC report), it was still scrambling Friday morning to respond to customer questions. A call to Toyota's call center Friday morning yielded only a recorded message saying the call center couldn't respond at that time. Similarly, Boston-area Toyota dealers said they hadn't yet received guidance about how to fix the problem.
"We're at least a month away from sending official notices" to owners, Mr. Hanson says. "We don't have the specific remedy for [the problem] developed fully yet."
The
recall is separate from the acceleration problems caused by floor mats
jamming the accelerator, a problem for which Toyota issued a recall in
November. The vehicles involved in that recall are the 2007-10 Camry,
2005-10 Avalon, 2004-09 Prius, 2005-10 Tacoma, 2007-10 Tundra, 2007-10
ES 350, 2006-10 IS 250, and 2006-10 IS 350.
Nevertheless,
some 1.7 million of the 2.3 million Toyotas being recalled this month
have both problems. There are other solutions to the problem however, Greenbrier Dodge is giving you an opportunity to trade out of your Tundra, Tacoma or Sienna and get and additional $1,000 on top of all rebates and incentives. Call 757-213-2798 for more information.