Moving to correct what federal regulators have termed a “very dangerous problem,” Toyota Motor Corp. said it will modify and replace gas pedals on 4.26 million cars and trucks to reduce the vehicles’ risk of accelerating out of control.
Toyota said the measures are designed to prevent floor mats from jamming the accelerator pedal open. As an additional precaution, the Japanese automaker said most of its cars will be modified so that the brake overrides the accelerator if both pedals are pressed at the same time.
The action follows widespread reports of runaway Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Sudden acceleration events involving Toyota-made cars and trucks have claimed 19 lives since the 2002 model year, the Los Angeles Times has reported; federal officials say that is more than all other carmakers combined.
Toyota declined to estimate the cost of the recall, the biggest in its history. But industry experts said it could easily top $250 million, citing the time and labor needed to service more than 4 million vehicles.
Safety experts said the huge recall could do damage to Toyo ta’s reputation, much as Ford and Firestone suffered from rollover problems earlier this decade with the Ford Explorer.
The affected models compose nearly half of all the Toyotas sold in the United States over the past several years.
Toyota now says it will begin notifying customers in December to bring their cars into dealerships starting in January. It will offer to reconfigure pedals on seven models of Toyota and Lexus vehicles and also replace all-weather rubber floor mats and add new software to implement the brake override, at no charge to owners.
Eventually, the automaker will offer to completely replace the pedals in affected models and make the safety software a standard feature.
Sixth-largest recall ever in U.S.
The gas-pedal recall is Toyota’s largest in the U.S. and the sixth-largest ever in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
It includes 4.26 million vehicles, including the 2007-10 model-year Camry, 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, 2004-09 Prius, 2005-10 To yota Tacoma, 2007-10 To yota Tundra, 2007-10 Lexus ES350 and 2006-10 Lexus IS25 0/350.
