Toyota May Shorten Gas Pedals to Fix Floor Mat Problem

[msirach]

Progress is being made toward a safe resolution

U.S. News - U.S. News Rankings & Reviews - Nov. 19, 2009

Over four million Toyota vehicles have been recalled or had their floor mats removed due to reports of some vehicles exhibiting unintended acceleration. Toyota says the problem is due to improperly installed floor mats, though now they may have come up with another solution.

Inside Line reports, "Toyota is reportedly on the brink of deciding to make accelerator pedals shorter in millions of vehicles, as a fix to a problem with floor mat sticking that has led to a 4-million-vehicle recall."

Autoblog says, "The alleged fix would be performed by Toyota dealership employees at no charge to the customer. The report doesn't mention whether the floor mats would be secured in addition to the pedal shortening, but we're assuming Toyota and Lexus dealers will kill two birds with one stone. Swapping out four million accelerator pedals will probably be a pricey endeavor, but Toyota claims it has saved up $5.6 billion over the years in its recall kitty for just such a rainy day."

Still, nothing official has been decided, and Toyota is still working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to decide on a final fix. If you own one of the affected vehicles, which include the 2007 to 2010 Camry, Tundra and Lexus ES 350; the 2005 to 2010 Avalon and Tacoma; the 2004 to 2009 Prius; and the 2006 to 2010 Lexus IS 250, you can take your car to a dealer to have its floor mats secured, or remove the driver's side floor mat altogether while a final fix is decided on.... [Read More]

[WriConsult]

I've had floormats that wouldn't stay put in ... well, practically every car I've ever owned. I've had them bunch up under the clutch and interfere with its operation maybe twice, but I've never had them interfere with the accelerator in any way. Sounds like shortening the go pedal would at least allow the mat to more easily slide under the pedal ... which might still keep you from pushing it all the way down, but that beats having the pedal pushed down for you.

[brick]

I bet your VWs have gas pedals that pivot where they meet the arm, thereby shedding most things that might get in the way (including floor mats). Toyota doesn't seem to do that, which seems to be an important design element in this problem.

[ATaylorRacing]

I had this problem on a 94 Plymouth Sundance model. The factory floor mats DID stay in place, but about half the time that I'd floor it the pedal would stay at the floor where they've gotten hooked between the regular carpet and the edge of the floor mats. I ended up removing them and putting in some universal ones. It took me about three times before I found the cause.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Shorter pedal?

That just means somebody will make thicker floor mats.