History Of Toyota's Unintended Acceleration Recall
It started late September 2009 when Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Toyota's largest recall ever. The problem was blamed on floor mats that would become entangled with the accelerator causing vehicles to speed out of control. The recall involved many popular Toyota vehicles as well as three Lexus vehicles. Over 3.8 million vehicles were recalled.
Toyota Vehicles Recalled:
- 2007-2010 Camry
- 2005-2010 Avalon
- 2004-2009 Prius
- 2005-2010 Tacoma
- 2007-2010 Tundra
- 2008-2010 Highlander
- 2009-2010 Corolla
- 2009-2010 Venza
- 2009-2010 Matrix
Lexus Vehicles Recalled:
- 2006-2010 IS 250
- 2006-2010 IS 350
- 2007-2010 ES 350
Over the months, the NHTSA continued to get complaints of unintended acceleration in vehicles with removed floor mats. In January 2010, Toyota had issued another recall. This recall was blamed on an accelerator mechanism that would become worn causing the pedal to be harder to depress and slower to return. In some instances the pedal would stick leading to unintended acceleration. This recall included another 2.3 million vehicles.
Toyota Vehicles Recalled In Second Recall:
- 2009-2010 RAV4
- 2009-2010 Corolla
- 2009-2010 Matrix
- 2005-2010 Avalon
- Certain 2007-2010 Camrys
- 2010 Highlander
- 2007-2010 Tundra
- 2008-2010 Sequoia
This was followed by the stop sales and production of these eight models until the problem could be resolved. By the beginning of February Toyota announced they had found the problem and the task of fixing it had begun.
A few short days later, the NHTSA came forward with over 100 complaints related to the Toyota Prius. People complained about momentary loss of braking while traveling over an uneven road surface. Four of the complaints claimed the momentary loss resulted in an accident. Toyota came back with a fix that involved a quick update to the vehicles computer software.
As the NHTSA's investigations continued, they pressed Toyota about looking into electronic interference problems as the cause for unintended acceleration. Toyota and the NHTSA were invited to participate in a congressional hearing where Toyota was accused of dragging their feet in issuing recalls related to unintended acceleration. The committee also accused the NHTSA of having a "cozy" relationship with Toyota which affected how the recall was handled.
All this time, Toyota was adamant that the problem was not related to the vehicles computer and electronic interference. But as the acceleration problems continued congress pushed Toyota to prove they were right. Toyota hired an independent consulting firm to study the problem.
As Toyota works to repair their vehicles the law suits against the company grow. The bad publicity has hurt Toyota's sales leading them to offer customers great deals such as cash incentives and zero percent financing. Even though their sales had been hurt, the damage was less than what had been expected. Some analyst believe the problem has been blown out of proportion, and that many reports of runaway vehicles may be the cause of mass hysteria.
In March, Toyota continues to receive complaints, though they are few. They explain the testing they do to make sure that electronic interference is not the problem and tell their dealerships that if people are still not satisfied after their vehicles have been repaired, that the dealerships will replace the pedal free of charge.
Toyota News Updated April 16-2010
As the NHTSA continues to investigate Toyota, they claim that the time line in Toyota's recall has inconsistencies. In Canada, for instance the recall was issued on December 16, 2009 but did not make it to the U.S. until January 27, 2010, and in Europe dealers were notified of the problem even sooner. Under U.S. law, automakers have five business days to notify the government after finding a potential defect. The NHTSA has indicated it will strictly enforce this rule and has fined Toyota $16.4 million to prove their point.
Toyota News Updated June 01-2010
Toyota has been ordered by U.S. District Judge James V. Selna, to turn over thousands of records to lawyers who have sued the Japanese automaker for alleged sudden acceleration problems. The documents, previously supplied to Congress and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), will help Steven W. Berman, one of the attorneys representing Toyota vehicle owners, prepare a consolidated class action lawsuit for Toyota owners. The owners say that the value of their automobiles have diminished because of the recalls.
Lawyers for the company said they would be happy to turn over the requested documents, but say they needed time to review them to make sure they did not contain privileged material. The process is further complicated because many of the records are in Japanese and would have to be translated. Over 120,000 pages of documents could be involved.
Toyota News Updated August 10-2010
Early Testing Finds No Flaws In Toyota Electronics
Government investigations into the Toyota vehicles accused of unintended acceleration have found no evidence of flawed electronics. Though federal officials said the investigations will continue, the raw findings support Toyota’s contention that electronics were not at fault and that many of the reports of sudden acceleration might actually have been instances of human error.
Of the 3,000 complaints of sudden acceleration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was able to study the data recorders of 58 vehicles. These vehicles were chosen on the criteria that they actually had a data recorder, the owners were willing to allow testing, and whether the accident was severe enough to activate the recorder.
In the report to Congress, the safety agency said that in 35 of the 58 accidents, the data recorder did not indicate that the brakes had been applied. In 14 of the vehicles analyzed, there were indications that the driver had braked; in 9 of the cases, the brakes had been pressed late in the crash sequence. One recorder showed that both the brake and accelerator pedals had been pressed.
By examining the vehicles and interviewing the drivers, in addition to downloading data, it was found in one instance, the accelerator pedal became stuck under the floor mat. No cases of sticky pedals were found, and seven recorders did not provide useful information at all, the investigators said.
Toyota has continually stood behind the reliability of their electronic throttle controls, and has conducted over 4,000 on site vehicle inspections that found no problem with the system. But, Toyota’s critics remain skeptical. Sean Kane, a Massachusetts safety consultant working on behalf of plaintiffs in lawsuits against the car maker, said the event data recorders in the crashed vehicles are unreliable and not scientifically validated.
Toyota News Updated September 15-2010
Toyota Black Box Software Bug
A software bug in the reader for black boxes has raised questions about the usefulness of information retrieved from vehicles involved in sudden acceleration. Toyota spokesman Mike Michels said that while the software bug affected post crash speeds, it did not affect readouts for any other data points, particularly pre-crash data. Michels added that there was no known problems with the event data recorder (EDR) itself, and that the information is still valuable for determining causes of accidents.
Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety questions the reliability of the information. "You can't rely on EDR's to determine whether there has been a sudden acceleration event." Ditlow added that the EDR is not accurate enough to clear Toyota of responsibility for sudden unintended acceleration.
Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported to Congress that it had reviewed 58 EDRs from Toyota vehicles involved in accidents and that they did not indicate any new safety defects. Instead safety regulators found data that suggested driver error, rather than a vehicle defect, caused the crashes.
Until this year, Toyota had only one black box reader in the U.S. Just recently, the company has release 150 readers, including devices given to NHTSA and Transport Canada. Toyota plans to release a commercially available version of the reader soon. Other automakers, including General Motors Co. and Chrysler, already make such readers available to the public.
Toyota News Updated November 03-2010
Toyota Installs Smart Pedals In Vehicles
Toyota has installed almost 2.2 million "smart stop" pedal systems in vehicles, in order to deal with consumer concerns of unintended acceleration. The pedal is designed to override the gas pedal and cut power to the engine under certain circumstances. Toyota says if the gas pedal is depressed and then the brake pedal is being pushed "firmly for longer than one-half second at speeds greater than five miles per hour" the system tells the engine to cut power and idle. While the system will prevent unintended acceleration issues, Toyota says it will not interfere with normal driving.
Toyota spokesman, Brian Lyons says all new models will have the system by the end of the year. Models that will be retrofitted with the new system are:
- 2008-2010 Sequoias
- 2005-2010 Tacoma
- 2009-2010 Venza
- 2007-2010 Camry
- 2005-2010 Avalon
- 2007-2010 Lexus ES 350
- 2006-2010 IS 350
- 2006-2010 Lexus IS 250 and IS 350
The upgrade, which is free, is not a part of the recall remedy, but is being added as an extra measure of confidence for Toyota owners. The only limiting factor on whether older models can handle the new software is the available memory in the computer that controls the engine. European auto makers have used such smart pedals for years.
Toyota News Updated December 29-2010
Toyota Receives Another Fine
Two separate investigations into Toyota's unintended acceleration will have the automobile company paying an additional $32 million in fines, bringing its total fines paid out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to almost $50 million. Toyota agreed to pay the penalties without admitting to any violations of U.S. Law, meaning that they could still be fined through private law suites or other federal investigations. These fines are in response to how Toyota dealt with massive recalls involving accelerator pedals getting trapped under floor mats and steering relay rods that could break allowing a driver to loose control of their car.
Toyota News Updated January 05-2011
Toyota Sued By Insurance Companies
Seven insurance companies have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Courts against Toyota to recover money paid out to customers over sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles. American Automobile Insurance Co., Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., National Surety Corp., Ameriprise Insurance Co., IDS Property Casualty Insurance Co., Motorists Mutual Insurance Co. and American Hardware Mutual Insurance Co. are seeking damages of over $230,000 from 14 crashes paid throughout the United States. The insurers blame over 700 crashes on the problem of sudden acceleration and say that Toyota failed to make their cars safe by equipping them with override systems.
The wave of insurance company litigation comes almost three months after Allstate Corp. sued Toyota to recover millions it paid to cover damages from 270 crashes, and the recent $10 million dollar payout to resolve a lawsuit filed by the relatives of four people, including California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor, who was killed in a fiery crash near San Diego in August 2009. On top of these lawsuits, Toyota faces dozens of claims filed by relatives of people who were killed or injured in crashes blamed on sudden acceleration.
Toyota issued a statement Monday that said the latest lawsuits are without merit, noting that such disputes are common between insurers and automakers. Toyota believes that any allegation that a vehicle based defect is the cause of unintended acceleration in this or any other complaint is completely unfounded and has no basis.
Toyota News Updated February 09-2011
Toyota Cleared Of Electronic Flaws In Unintended Acceleration
After a ten month study, government reports done by NASA were released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) clearing Toyota's electronics as the cause of unintended acceleration in the highly publicized Toyota recall of 2009/2010. According to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, "The best and brightest engineers were brought in to study the problem, and they reported that mechanical defects such as sticky accelerator pedals and pedals trapped under floor mats were the cause of the problem." A more complete report is expected to be released this July by the National Research Council.
Even though other automobile manufacturers like Honda, Jeep, Ford, Kia, and Audi have also experienced unintended acceleration in certain vehicles throughout the years, Toyota became the leader because of the size of the recall and the relentless media coverage. As a result, the NHTSA is considering steps to deal with unintended acceleration such as brake override systems, standardized keyless ignition systems and accident data recorders. They also plan to continue research on the reliability and security of electronic control systems and to study the design and placement of accelerator pedals.
Throughout the ordeal, Toyota has stood behind their electronic accelerator systems saying that extensive testing of their vehicles still makes them one of the safest and most reliable on the roads. But their reputation has been tarnished and as a result has hurt their sales. The automobile maker, once considered number one in safety and reliability, will have a hard time rebuilding the trust of consumers.
Toyota News Updated February 24-2011
Toyota Floor Mat Recalls and Amendments
Toyota announced today that it will be recalling certain Lexus and Toyota vehicles to perform modifications to the drivers floor area for the prevention of floor mat interference which lead to the massive Toyota recall in 2009.
About 20,000 2006-2007 Lexus GS 300 and GS 350 all wheel drive vehicles will be recalled to modify the shape of the plastic pad embedded in the driver's side floor carpet. This pad could interfere with the operation of the accelerator pedal if the carpet is not sitting in the proper position. Owners affected by this recall will receive a notification beginning in March.
Toyota will also be recalling about 372,000 2006-2007 Lexus RX 330, RX 350, and RX 400 vehicles and almost 400,000 2006 Toyota Highlander and Highlander HV vehicles to replace the driver's side floor carpet cover and its retention clips. If the carpet and clips are not installed properly, the carpet could slide forward and interfere with the accelerator pedal arm. Owners will receive a notification for inspection of the condition, and will receive a second notification when parts are available.
In an amendment to last years recall, Toyota is adding three more vehicles to address the potential for unsecured floor mat entrapment of the accelerator pedal. The vehicles added are:
- 2003-2009 4Runner
- 2008 -2011 Lexus LX
- 2006-2010 RAV4
Owners will receive a notification informing them of the condition, and a secondary notification when parts are available.
More information is available at www.toyota.com/recall or www.lexus.com/recall or call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 or Lexus Customer Satisfaction at 1-800-25 LEXUS or 1-800-255-3987.
