At 3.8 Million Vehicles, Toyota Hit with Largest Recall in its History

Detroit, MNThe one-time Japanese upstart that emerged to become the biggest supplier of vehicles to North America and set the standard of quality for everyone else to follow has just announced a massive recall that is easily the biggest in its history. Yesterday, Toyota announced the recall of 3.8 million vehicles due to a defective design .

The problem has to do with a floor mat that could cause the accelerator to stick, causing a potential catastrophic event. The huge recall encompasses many of Toyota's biggest and most respected badges, including Lexus and Camry from 2007 to 2010, and the Prius Hybrid built between 2004 and 2009.

According to a story appearing today in the New York Times the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is recommending that for now owners of the affected vehicles simply remove the floor mat from the driver's side floor, leaving it out until contacted by a dealer for either a replacement or further instruction. It's the quickest and easiest way to immediately mitigate the risk.

It's a huge safety risk and "an urgent matter" to be sure, according to the NHTSA. "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration."

The NHTSA issued an alert September 29th based on reports of accelerator pedals jamming up against the floor mats—an occurrence that could lead to high speeds and deadly crashes beyond the control of the driver.

A serious crash on August 28th near San Diego that killed four people may have been caused by an improperly installed floor mat in the 2009 Lexus ES 350, according to police. The driver was an off-duty officer with the California Highway Patrol, in command of a car that was on loan from a dealership.

Subsequent to the crash Toyota ordered dealers to inspect floor mats in all Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

"The incidents appear to be related to factors including the use of a variety of unsecured mats, the particular configuration of the accelerator pedals in these vehicles, and the unique steps needed to shut off the engines in some of these vehicles with keyless ignition," the NHTSB said.

It was noted that a recall two years ago focused on all-weather floor mats sold for some Lexus and Camry sedans. However, the government stated yesterday that it continued to receive reports of sticking accelerator pedals even after that recall was conducted.

The largest previous recall undertaken by Toyota involved 900,000 vehicles. In comparison, 3.8 million vehicles is a massive hit that comes at a time when Toyota, like the rest of the automotive industry, is feeling the effects of a slumping economy.

The recall, once officially undertaken, will include the following models: 2007 to 2010 Camry; 2005 to 2010 Avalon; 2004 to 2009 Prius; 2005 to 2010 Tacoma; 2007 to 2010 Tundra; 2007 to 2010 ES 350; and 2006 to 2010 IS 250 and 2006 to 2010 IS 350.