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Toyola recalls 3.8M vehicles for defective gas pedals

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alphatarget1

Diamond Member
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_floor_mats

If anyone watched Dave Chapelle's show you'd know what a "toyola" is lol.

I hate Toyota. They build the most boring cars on the road. I do have to wonder though. The article mentioned how a highway patrolman and his family died because the gas pedal got stuck. At no point did anyone think about shifting the car into neutral? People who don't understand how cars work should not be given driver's licenses.
 
Come to think of it, a similar thing happened to my dad on a POS Ford Fairmont. He pushed the brakes all the way down and the engine just kept going. It was low speed and he didn't hit anybody but um... he had been driving for like, 30 years at that time and still didn't know what to do.
 
alphatarget1 said:
I hate Toyota. They build the most boring cars on the road. I do have to wonder though.
Click to expand...

I guess you have never heard of the Supra, Celica or MR2 have you? And even then, most people don't want, or can afford fun cars. They just need something to get them to work and back.

alphatarget1 said:
The article mentioned how a highway patrolman and his family died because the gas pedal got stuck. At no point did anyone think about shifting the car into neutral? People who don't understand how cars work should not be given driver's licenses.
Click to expand...

I can agree with that. I heard about something similar to this before and my thought was, why didn't they shift into neutral? It will hurt your engine a bit but thats better than the alternative.
 
1. All weather mats are an accessory
2. The carpeted mats have hooks that hold them in place, but the car wash vacuum guys do not re-attach them
3. The government bailed out the US auto makers, and they control NHTSA
Anybody for a conspiracy theory?
 
Horsepower said:
1. All weather mats are an accessory
2. The carpeted mats have hooks that hold them in place, but the car wash vacuum guys do not re-attach them
3. The government bailed out the US auto makers, and they control NHTSA
Anybody for a conspiracy theory?
Click to expand...
Oh, let's hear it! I want to hear how the U.S. government got Toyota to design a gas pedal that's too close to the floor. Bonus points if you can wrap the rusty frames up into it too.
 
So they are going to chop the bottom off the gas pedals for now, then install replacement pedals later?
 
I am firmly convinced that foreign automaker fanbois would need to have their favorite automaker rape and impregnate all the females in their family before they would even admit even the slightest beloved patriot their armor.

How do you get to this point? I don't remember being so loyal. This phenomena should have a whole chapter devoted to it in the psychology books.
 
Horsepower said:
1. All weather mats are an accessory
2. The carpeted mats have hooks that hold them in place, but the car wash vacuum guys do not re-attach them
3. The government bailed out the US auto makers, and they control NHTSA
Anybody for a conspiracy theory?
Click to expand...

2v13sl0.jpg


hahahahha, that's right, car wash employees are actually employed by the federal goverment to try to bring down Toyota.
 
Horsepower said:
1. All weather mats are a factory accessory

2. The carpeted mats have hooks that hold them in place, but the car wash vacuum guys do not re-attach them, every single time this has happend? My Saturn Astra does as well, but if it comes unlatched my gas pedal doesnt get stuck at WOT

3. The government bailed out the US auto makers, and they control NHTSA
Anybody for a conspiracy theory? Nope......toyota has ef'd up on its own for years, unless you think the big 3 and NHTSA are going around actively sabotaging toyotas. If so, nice tinfoil hat, now go back to your basement!!
Click to expand...


seriously. some peopole are just plain dilusional
 
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Squisher said:
I am firmly convinced that foreign automaker fanbois would need to have their favorite automaker rape and impregnate all the females in their family before they would even admit even the slightest beloved patriot their armor.

How do you get to this point? I don't remember being so loyal. This phenomena should have a whole chapter devoted to it in the psychology books.
Click to expand...
It's a cultural thing.
 
Horsepower said:
1. All weather mats are an accessory
2. The carpeted mats have hooks that hold them in place, but the car wash vacuum guys do not re-attach them
3. The government bailed out the US auto makers, and they control NHTSA
Anybody for a conspiracy theory?
Click to expand...

IIRC, pictures of the pedals in question did seem to show them much closer to the floor than in other vehicles.
 
alphatarget1 said:
he had been driving for like, 30 years at that time and still didn't know what to do.
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Often in emergencies people panic and forget what to do, or don't have time to think through stuff.

zmatt said:
my thought was, why didn't they shift into neutral? It will hurt your engine a bit but thats better than the alternative.
Click to expand...

That was my thought as well. So the gas pedal is stuck. Does that mean the brake pedal or the gear shifter stopped working?

I've actually had something similar happen to me once. This was years ago in my mom's Mercury Sable. We were picking it up brand new from the dealer (had to do a dealer trade to get the options/color she wanted) and as I shifted into D the RPMs went up and the car lurched forward. Of course I stomped on the brakes and the car stopped, though it was still revving a bit and straining, then it was fine. No harm, no foul. It was kind of disturbing at the time but that car to my knowledge never did that again in the 9 years she owned it. In retrospect I think it was the engine management. I've noticed that when engines are cold, the RPMs often stay elevated for a while before settling to normal idle. This can be observed most easily by starting an engine while it is cold (from being off overnight) and especially on a cold day. Just start it up but do not press any pedals or shift out of park, and the RPMs will stay high.
 
LTC8K6 said:
So they are going to chop the bottom off the gas pedals for now, then install replacement pedals later?
Click to expand...

I thought the Japs were supposed to be smart. Why not cut out a notch in the damn floor mats and then replace them with new mats later on that have the notch there by design so they look better? Seems cheaper and less labor.
 
LTC8K6 said:
I'm guessing that the floor mat can't get wedged under those anyway... 🙄
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No, it actually can... When the accelerator is fully depressed, a gap, like a door jamb (where the door hinges are and the frame) and the mat fits nicely into the gap, keeping the accelerator down.

Toyota has had floor mat anchors for who knows how long, but I can tell you, I've seen them in a '94 LS400, there to address the very issue of a sliding floormat.
 
fleabag said:
Toyota has had floor mat anchors for who knows how long, but I can tell you, I've seen them in a '94 LS400, there to address the very issue of a sliding floormat.
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Article with picture of gas pedal

The gap between the floor and the pedal is pretty small. It looks like it doesn't take much to make it stick. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to design a pedal where it can't catch on something that small and accelerate on its own.
 
No, it actually can... When the accelerator is fully depressed, a gap, like a door jamb (where the door hinges are and the frame) and the mat fits nicely into the gap, keeping the accelerator down.
Click to expand...

No way it would keep it at full throttle though, which is what we are talking about in case you hadn't noticed. It would only keep it open a little, the thickness of the mat.

The Toyota design can wedge the pedal at full throttle, and apparently the DBW system is not programmed to recognize a brake/throttle conflict.
 
IIRC, a possible reason the guy didn't shift into N was the design of the shifter. If you aren't familiar with it, and have it in Sport mode, it could appear to be in D. You would then think you'd push it forward for N, but if you are actually in S instead of D, a forward push doesn't select N, it selects an upshift.

That's my theory, anyway. He had it in S and believed it was in D.

2010-lexus-is-convertible-shifter.jpg
 
boomerang said:
Oh, let's hear it! I want to hear how the U.S. government got Toyota to design a gas pedal that's too close to the floor. Bonus points if you can wrap the rusty frames up into it too.
Click to expand...

Just stating observations. I worked for a Rambler dealer from 1962-1964, Chevrolet dealer 1964-1966, Dodge dealer 1966-1992, then opened an auto brokerage in 1992 until present. Since NHTSA started tracking recalls in 1967, GM had 9017 and Toyota had 3004.
 
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Woohoooo look at Horsepower crawling out of the woodwork! 😛
not even 1000 posts in a decade. . You were working at that Rambler dealer just before I was born!
Where you been pops? snoozin. . . .

Just kidding Horse, keep lurking man
 
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