Almost as soon as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told owners of recalled Toyotas they should stop driving them until repairs could be made, he recanted those comments amid deepening confusion and growing concerns over the vehicles’ safety.
Testifying before a House appropriations subcommittee earlier today, LaHood said his advice to owners of a recalled car was “stop driving it.”
“Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it,” LaHood said.
Prior to his testimony, LaHood told reporters Toyota owners should contact their dealer and “exercise caution until repairs can be made.”
As fallout from his “stop driving” comment increased, LaHood did yet another about-face.
“What I meant to say, or what I thought I said, was if you own one of these cars or if you’re in doubt, take it to the dealer and they’re going to fix it,” LaHood said following the subcommittee hearing.
The recall in question affects 2.3 million Toyotas with the potential for sticking gas pedals.
Earlier in the week, Toyota said its engineers had developed and “rigorously tested” a solution that involves reinforcing the pedal assembly in a manner that eliminates the excess friction that has caused the pedals to stick in some rare instances.
Today it was revealed that the National Highway Traffic Safety administration had received about 100 complaints about brake problems with the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid. Two of those complaints involved crashes.
The Prius models are not a part of the current recall.
Additionally, late last year Toyota issued a separate recall for some Toyota and Lexus models in which floor mats have trapped the accelerator pedal. That recall was announced Nov. 25.
Local dealerships appeared nervous about the recall situation, referring questions to the corporate office. Corporate spokespeople referred journalists to previously-issued press releases.
The manager of one area dealership said they want to make sure the repairs are made, but are “afraid to get too far out in front of this thing” in case the scope of the recall widens.
For that reason, the manager asked that neither his name nor the name of the dealership be used.
“In this kind of car market, we just don’t need a huge black eye right now. It’s been tough enough selling cars in the last year without that,” he said. “I just hope corporate has a good handle on this and is being completely honest about the scope of this thing, but I’m really worried about this Prius (brake pedal) thing that just came up. A lot of our cars are sold based on consumer confidence in the Toyota quality; we don’t need that confidence to be hurt.”
Parts to reinforce pedals in recalled vehicles are already being shipped for use by dealers, and dealer training is under way. Some Toyota dealers will work extended hours to complete the recall campaign as quickly as possible, with some even staying open 24 hours a day.
The company also stopped production of affected vehicles this week.
In a statement announcing the suspension of production, Toyota President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Lentz said nothing was more important than the safety and reliability of Toyota’s vehicle line.
“We deeply regret the concern that our recalls have caused for our customers and we are doing everything we can – as fast as we can – to make things right. Stopping production is never an easy decision, but we are 100 percent confident it was the right decision,” Lentz said. “We know what’s causing the sticking accelerator pedals, and we know what we have to do to fix it. We also know it is most important to fix this problem in the cars on the road.”
Lentz also said the company was focused on making the recall as simple and trouble-free as possible.
“We want to demonstrate that our commitment to safety is as high as ever and that our commitment to our customers is unwavering,” he said.
On Jan. 21, Toyota announced its intention to recall vehicles equipped with a specific pedal assembly. Five days later, the company also suspended sales of the eight models involved in the recall.
Toyota models affected by the recall include:
- Certain 2009-2010 RAV4
- Certain 2009-2010 Corolla
- 2009-2010 Matrix
- 2005-2010 Avalon
- Certain 2007-2010 Camry
- Certain 2010 Highlander
- 2007-2010 Tundra
- 2008-2010 Sequoia
No Lexus Division or Scion vehicles are affected.
Also not affected are Toyota Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Highlander hybrids and certain Camry models, including Camry hybrids, all of which remain for sale.
Additionally, Camry, RAV4, Corolla and Highlander vehicles with VIN that begin with “J” are not affected by the accelerator pedal recall.
