4 Million Vehicles Recalled for Unintended Acceleration
- Toyota owners complain that their vehicles accelerate suddenly and on their own.
- The automaker blames the issue on the gas pedals getting stuck on misplces floor mats.
- There was a massive recall of 3.8 million vehicles in 2009 to properly secure the floor mats in place.
Toyota believes the problems are caused by stuck gas pedals or misplaced floor mats that trapped the gas pedals. Independent testing by NASA and other outside laboratories agreed with Toyota and concluded driver error was also a contributing factor. The Department of Transportation, on the other hand, was quick to point out that other than a small number of incidents causes by pedals hanging up on floor mats, the majority of accidents were caused by driver error, or "pedal misapplication" as they like to call it.
In September 2019 Toyota recalled 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles because of a defect that might cause the floor mats to jam under the accelerator pedals. From 2009-2010 the number of recalled vehicles topped 10 million vehicles, with Toyota eventually issuing a recall for the pedals themselves.
It's believed unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles may have been involved in the deaths of 89 people over the past decade.
Intensive Settlement Process ∞
In December 2013, Toyota and its lawyers announced they were in an "intensive settlement process" to resolve lawsuits claiming the company's vehicles suddenly accelerated, causing injuries and in some cases death. This move towards settlement comes less than two months after Toyota lost its first trial in a lawsuit which claimed an electronic defect can cause its vehicles to speed up uncontrollably.
Toyota settled after an Oklahoma City jury ordered the company to pay $3 million.
Generations Where This Problem Has Been Reported
This problem has popped up in the following Toyota generations.
Most years within a generation share the same parts and manufacturing process. You can also expect them to share the same problems. So while it may not be a problem in every year yet, it's worth looking out for.
3rd Generation Avalon
- Years
- 2005–2012
- Reliability
- 63rd out of 81
- PainRank™
- 10.34
- Complaints
- 405
5th Generation Camry
- Years
- 2002–2006
- Reliability
- 80th out of 81
- PainRank™
- 29.99
- Complaints
- 560
7th Generation Camry
- Years
- 2012–2017
- Reliability
- 77th out of 81
- PainRank™
- 23.66
- Complaints
- 380
1st Generation Camry Hybrid
- Years
- 2007–2011
- Reliability
- 61st out of 81
- PainRank™
- 9.76
- Complaints
- 179
2nd Generation Camry Hybrid
- Years
- 2012–2017
- Reliability
- 49th out of 81
- PainRank™
- 6.13
- Complaints
- 51
2nd Generation Prius
- Years
- 2004–2009
- Reliability
- 66th out of 81
- PainRank™
- 11.43
- Complaints
- 812
2nd Generation Tacoma
- Years
- 2005–2015
- Reliability
- 72nd out of 81
- PainRank™
- 20.75
- Complaints
- 631
2nd Generation Tundra
- Years
- 2007–2021
- Reliability
- 56th out of 81
- PainRank™
- 8.92
- Complaints
- 268
Further Reading
A timeline of stories related to this problem. We try to boil these stories down to the most important bits so you can quickly see where things stand. Interested in getting these stories in an email? Signup for free email alerts for your vehicle over at CarComplaints.com.
Toyota is being sued for an accident that is being blamed on unintended acceleration.
The crash involved a rented 2015 Toyota Yaris. The driver says she couldn't slow the car down after taking an exit off I-10 in California. The Yaris reached a speed of 100mph before slamming into a Toyota Solara, killing 5 people including the Yaris driver's 7-year old grandson. It's a terrible story, and one that Toyota is quite familiar with.…
keep reading article "Yaris Crash Blamed on Unintended Acceleration"Toyota doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation when it comes to unintended acceleration.
And so, when Corolla owner Robert Ruginis petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to investigate low-speed surging in the 2006-2010 Corolla, it seemed like a slam dunk, home run or <insert sports cliché here>. Go sports team! But instead NHTSA said no to the investigation. The agency said they analyzed data from an event recorder cited by Ruginis in his petition and came up with a completely different conclusion. Ruginis said his Corolla moved forward with the brake pedal pressed, NHTSA said it didn't. Ruginis said Corollas can move forward even with the brake pressed to the floor, NHTSA said they can't.
Instead, NHTSA placed the blame on Corolla drivers in most cases. They also said an investigation wasn't worth their time:…
keep reading article "NHTSA Says No to Unintended Acceleration Investigation"Toyota thought the scourge of unintended acceleration was finally behind them.
They had, after all, recalled millions of cars, paid hefty fines to the government, entered talks to settle hundreds of class-action lawsuits and even paid out $1.6 billion to owners because the trade-in value of their vehicles had diminished. Besides, the world's attention had turned to GM's ignition switch fiasco. So are Toyota's problems with unintended acceleration in the rearview mirror? Not so fast, or in this case ... slow.…
keep reading article "New Unintended Acceleration Petition Filed"