Toyota: If Your Car Speeds Up, Keep Driving

Ouch what the hell happened during the design/test?

This is payback for Hiroshima.

jk, but I had to type it. Sucks for Toyota, they normally do very well in their quality control.

Toyota is the king of lean. If you are a Lean Master, you know the safety and test aren't value add =)

But yes it sucks. Especially since many people have died from this issue.

5.9 million vehicles, wow. I predict a loss for Toyota this year. Especially since they have completely stopped selling their 9 best selling vehicles. You cant even go buy one today if you have the money, they are not for sale.

wow this is going to to hurt Toyota's reputation. Isn't it awkward that these problems mostly orient around the time of economic meltdowns??? Toyota reported loss for the first time in a very long time...

didn't occur to them to put that nice little hook on the floor to catch the mats?
For that matter, do they not realize that most people will panic in a situation that causes them to lose control of their vehicle? I highly doubt most people would take to time to think "Now what was it Toyota said to do in such a situation? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to..." that's where they hit the median, tree, wall, other car/truck, or other large and probably difficult-to-move object.
At least they acknowledge there's a problem, unlike Ford and the Focus (maybe others, only noticed it on the Focus before turning away). Sorry, but trunk release is entirely electronically controlled? No key or mechanical release (except the emergency handle INSIDE THE TRUNK)? What were they thinking?
No wonder KIA is picking up steam. They're not getting better (actually, the new Forte and Sorento are damn impressive). Other companies are getting worse!

This might be a time where I would be grateful to have a KEY to turn off my engine instead of a button. Buttons are too unpredictable.

Step 6: If all of the above fails, now is the time to become a believer. Pray to the closest divinity. Thank you for driving a Toyota.

Yeah, keep driving alright...
navigate to someones house you don't like and plow your way through.
Blame Toyota's "sticking accelerator" afterwards and remember to sue Toyota for damages ;-) :-)

First of all, Japan should have thought of that before attacking the US unprovoked 68 years ago. (not kidding)

Second, Toyota's quality started going down a while ago. They've been arrogant and complacent with their top dog quality status for far too long and ignored the warning signs of quality. Even these accelerator reports didn't cause them to take action until people started getting KILLED.

Toyota has been running on a reputation built up over decades, and in my opinion, they are finally realizing what it's like to be GM at one time - downhill quality. This is going to hurt Toyota a lot more than people realize.

[quote Toyota] If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.[/quote]
Then turn it on again, go into Safe mode and disable the Accelerator service in the Control Panel.

As a note, neither the Kia Forte or Sorento use a key or mechanical lock to open the truck. They are all electric, just like the Focus.

Ignorance is bliss i suppose.. The Japanese gave FAIR warning and it was ignored/hidden to give the US a chance to enter the war. If you paid attention in history you'd know they sent a warning of attack before their attack and the US "dropped" the ball if you want to call it that..

Jane, what's with the tabloid headline again?

BTW, NYTimes has a much better coverage on why the pedal might stick.

"• If you need to stop immediately, the vehicle can be controlled by stepping on the brake pedal with both feet using firm and steady pressure. Do not pump the brake pedal as it will deplete the vacuum utilized for the power brake assist."

okay. First the gas is stuck and therefore the car still going at speed, so by appling the brakes this would heat those brakes very quickly and possiably burn them out before the car comes to a stop if it actually does, remember the gas pedal is stuck so the car is still wanting to go.

"• Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine."

Should this not be considered the first step? In a manual this can be done easily by pushing in the clutch and putting it into neutral. With an automatic I would think it would be more difficult and could cause massive transmission failure that could result in not even being able to get it in neutral.

" If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost."

Once again I think this should be considered first or second in the list. Correct that the power assist will be lost making for braking and steering diffcult but not impossiable. Most cars I have seen have an emergency brake that is manual and not assisted by anything. Hence "emergency brake". Is this not an emergency?

I'm thinking cut the the power to the car by shutting it off, but not locking the wheel, apply emergency brake (even pressure here, just don't yank it up) and bring the car to a stop. Plus since the emergency brake has no power assist to begin with you can pump it (most emergency brakes I have seen are cable operated and as such do not use the brake fluid to apply the brakes) so when, heaven forbid, your in this situation going up down hill, mountains, and/or corners you can pump the emergency brake to help control/navigate the car till it comes to a stop. You bypass the possiablity with applying brakes to car whose gas pedal is stuck and still want to go and burn the brakes out before the car stops and bypass the possiablity of depleting the vacuum utilized for the power brake assist.

Go read history books and by that, I don't mean high school history books that essentially feed you American propaganda.

FDR was looking for an excuse to join the war. American air corp. was already fighting in China and the Navy was blockading Japan’s access to oil and rubber in South East Asia. By taking our Japan and Germany FDR insured the 2nd half of the 20th century will be America’s century. FDR was a good president but he is no saint.

If somebody dies because their accelerator gets stuck they shouldn't have been driving in the first place.

Don't get me wrong Toyota should be held accountable, but seriously learn to drive already.

Sticking gas pedal happened to me once, 4 years ago on my 1988 GMC Sierra. It was cold as hell outside and the throttle body plate got frozen open. A couple of drops of lock de-icer and it was good to go. But I almost had an heart attack, I'm not used to hear such an engine rev so fast! Had it happened in traffic, it would certainly have been dangerous!

My exp. never had a gas pedal sticking, hope I never do, but did have brake failure. Had brakes then 10 minutes later no brakes, thank God for the emergency brake. Like you luckily it was on a country road and not in traffic.

"In Soviet Russia, Car Drives You!"

Can I quote this "Toyota: If Your Car Speeds Up, Keep Driving" if the cop asks why i hit the car in front of me?
Seriously hope Toyota can remedy the problem ASAP. I drive a Toyota but fortunately not one of those affected models.

[citation][nom]Parrdacc[/nom]"•

"• Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine."Should this not be considered the first step? In a manual this can be done easily by pushing in the clutch and putting it into neutral. With an automatic I would think it would be more difficult and could cause massive transmission failure that could result in not even being able to get it in neutral."

No, in an automatic, you can shift to N with your gear selector just by pushing down you don't even need to press the button. And no, there won't be a transmission failure. One should always shift to Neutral, put on your hazard lights and break in this case, once you have the car under control and sufficiently slowed -- you can kill the engine if pedal is still stuck.

@ ParrDacc...
You seriously have no clue on what your talking about...
All cars a designed to brake even if the gas is full throttle.
who cares if your heat up the discs or pads.. its life or death my friend... I can stop my 220+ HP WRX while giving FULL GAS and applying brake.. I've tested it and its a common technique in track lapping/rally ( its called left foot braking)

Next: Shifting from D to N on a Automatic even while giving gas while cause absolutely NO damage to the transmission because its actually GETTING shifted to neutral.(your removing the load) Doing the opposite.. N to D on full throttle is asking for trouble

And concerning the E-Brake.. THIS WILL NEVER STOP YOU..it will take a very long time to slow you down.. plus if gas is being applied.. don't even think it will slow you down.. not if the car is turned to off... and you try your e-brake.. for a normal person.. its asking for trouble because the rear CAN lock... and if it does.. nto alot of people remember to keep pushing on the e-brake putton to release pressure.. and since you turned the car off.. maybe to even locked the steering if you went pass ACC.. so in other words.. DO NOT TOUCH the e-brake... first thing is getting on the brakes! all these cars have ABS.. so DO NOT PUMP... press the hardest you can..and look in the direction you want to go.

Okay, good to know. Never owned an automatic in my life as a matter of fact never even driven one. Raised on manuals. Thx for the info.

Most people would rather believe what the Govt. tells them rather than the truth. The US was given warning of Japanese Ships in the Northern Pacific but they did nothing. Now people are ignorant to the fact and claim to know the truth. (Not Kidding)

It's a sad day when people have to be told to "apply pressure to the brake" "turn ignition to acc".... "put car/truck in neutral".

Maybe we should recall drivers in this country and not the cars/trucks.

Scary indeed! Turning off the ignition while the car is accelerating must not be good for the engine... Then again, dying because of a faulty gas pedal would be worse. I wonder how many cocktail parties GM, Ford and Chrysler are holding lately over this news.

Hey look honey, another one of those "the government is out to get us" types. I'm sure he also thinks our government wanted the nigerian man to blow up that plane last Christmas too. What's that you say honey? You think the vital information got lost in the oversized beuracracy that is our government? That would never happen....

Toyota's quality is NOT what it once was. Reputation takes a while to change, but I think they're headed that way.

Funny, I thought Hiroshima was payback for Pearl Harbor.

Now we just need to pay Michael Bay back for "Pearl Harbor".

I thought they announced that no one has died from this issue??