Toyota announced ANOTHER Toyota recall which includes 05-10 Avalons. This one is about the accelerator sticking that does not involve floor mats. Still engineering solution.
More info below on "stuck accelerator" Avalon recall not involving floor mats but "worn components". Since their is no gas pedal cable, like older cars, another possibility is worn electronic sensors that are part of the computer inputs. The real solution is installing the software to disable acceleration when the brake is pushed. We are suppose to be getting this recall mod in the spring of 2010. It can't come soon enough before more people are killed like the four in Texas with out of control acceleration situation. The floor mats were in the trunk as the previous Toyota recall suggested. See stories in link below.
I saw the news reports on this last night. On ABC it was the lead story, very shrill and loud, and gave the impression that everyone was going to die a horrible death if they drove a Toyota. CBS, on the other hand, had the story at the end and it was sort of an afterthought. The problem is real, however, the percentage of incidents is miniscule when compared to the total number of vehicles being recalled but the deaths that have happened should make this a top priority for Toyota. We really haven't been told if it's a mechanical problem or an electrical problem. I would also like to know if the pedal gets stuck in the down position and can you put pull it back up. I don't like the idea of correcting this by simply making it so when you push the accelerator and brake at the same time the motor shuts off. There are other ways to accomplish this. The current solution I've heard is to put the car in neutral, come to a stop, and then turn the motor off.
I can't comment on Toyota's quality 20 years ago. I bought my first Toyota in December of 1997 and have been very pleased with what I've gotten. Before that I had Fords. I've had good luck with the two Toyotas I own (my Sienna has 222K+ with 300K in its sights). I also don't plan to buy another car for at least 10 or so years and by then who knows what will be available. My concentration right now is keeping both my Sienna and Avalon on the road.
That's a great link. Thank you. When I heard about the fix Toyota proposed I had thought about the possibility of the friction becoming too light. I wonder if it would be possible to get a Denso pedal installed and how much that would be.
I have been driving my 06 Avalon for 3.5 years and have had zero issues with it. I am 6' 220lbs love to squat at the gym and drive all of my vehicles pretty hard...I have mashed the gas peddle on my Avalon a couple of times and never have I got it to stick as a result of over travel or excessive friction from too much force.
I have owned 2 Corvettes, 2 Camaros, 2 Mustangs, 3 Honda Accords, 2 full size trucks (Dodge, GMC), 1 BMW 7, 1 Mercedes CLK, and one Toyota Avalon. Now growing up in an Automotive household I know how to build and maintain my own vehicles and built a shop with a lift to do most of my custom work on my sports cars. So far the Toyota has been the best car company I have ever dealt with, especially over BMW and Mercedes..I won't even get into the issues that I had with those dealerships...but thank them because it made me look at Toyota/Lexus as a suitable replacement car.
Being somebody that is responsible for major highway projects with the mantra of safety to the traveling public I am the last person on earth that wants to see anybody killed. But it irritates the hell out of me to see some guy on the news with an in car video of him calling for help as he is driving his Toyota and reports that his accelerator is stuck. I have to laugh! I have friends that put cameras in their car for High Performance Driving Events...but not in a Camry or Avalon (how convenient for the mainstream media to have such a video)...then the news flashes to a car crash where 4 people died. George Carlin once said during one of his comedy routines, "what happened to all of the stupid people". "There are no stupid people anymore...what happened to the kids that used to eat marbles?"
Point is that it is hard to engineer and account for people being incredibly STUPID, if they can't figure out how to handle an emergency and apply the brakes and put the car in Neutral, or slowly apply the parking brake (not to a point where it locks up the rear wheels but just to add friction)...or even put their toe under the accelerator and pull it back up...or even all of the above...I don't want them driving. I have kids that drive and the first thing I show them is how to handle emergencies while driving. It isn't like they are in a situation like Capt. Skully and having to land a plane in a river.
I once was at a meeting where a crying parent told me his kid was killed because there was not a traffic signal instead of the stop sign that was in place, a story like that will ruin your day if you are in my business. So we assembled a team to look at the issue and as we looked at the issue we found no real cause (engineering wise) that could have resulted in the accident that occurred. Upon pulling the vehicle accident report we found that the only fatality was a result of (turned out to be his kid) had a .24 BAC when he got into the accident. We put the signal up for public perception..but the reality is that it will never stop a drunk driver from doing the same thing.
I think Toyota is doing the right thing but want to point out that it takes a while to develop a strategy and collect information (technical information) for intermittent failures as they occur. There is also a percentage that doesn't get reported...this makes it really hard to establish a failure and come up with a fix. The results of this recall show that it is approximately 10% of the cars in America that are being recalled...that is not even all of the Toyotas that are on the road. If there have only been lets say 100-300 incidents that have been reported that is not enough to gather information to make an intelligent fix. We have high expectations of Toyota because they are not an American car company.
When I first heard about this failure I was a little perplexed. I started thinking about what could be the cause electronically. For example on my Z06 it has a drive by wire throttle body, the throttle blade (air intake) and fuel are based on the Throttle Position Sensor inputs to the PCM. If the PCM or TPS senses a fail the throttle blade defaults to closed and the fuel is cut off...a fail safe. I thought why the hell wouldn't Toyota engineers build in a failsafe...especially given the electronics that the Japanese come up with. I always said the BEST car would be a BMW with Honda/Toyota (Japanese) electronics...hell that is what Harley Davidson owners did with the ignitions. But the failure ends up being one of the oldest failures in the book...one that has been seen in Hollywood Movies going back to old Gangster movies or maybe even James Dean style movies....a sticking accelerator pedal! Just like in the movies like the person who walks from a serial killer in a horror film that could run but falls down and waits to be stabbed...we have people with a sticking accelerator people that can't figure out how to simply put the car in neutral, pull over to the side of the road, and shut the car off and have it towed to Toyota. These people need to take the train...much like we call the people in horror movies stupid and somehow substantiate that it was ok for them to die in the movie.
Kudos to Toyota for shutting down every facility, stopping sales, and issuing a full blow recall with a fix within 1 months time from the mainstream media finding something else to talk about beside Tiger Wood's 19 girlfriends (save Dave Letteman) and now it is Dean Edwards who is being nominated for having the "affair of the decade".
Getting back to my "this isn't an American Car company" comment. When this was Ford a few years back and they were purposely under inflating tires to increase sales sell Expeditions (SUVs) so that customers would not bitch about a full size SUV built on a truck platform riding like a truck...they threw Firestone Tires Co. under the bus big time and blamed them for de-lamination of the tire rubber....yes the Tires did de-laminate because they were never engineered to run at a lower tire pressure...this was deliberate action by Ford and not an intermittent engineering defect. I guarantee if you overload any under inflated tire and run it with a heavy load that it will come apart eventually...check your tires folks they have a max cold PSI inflation...and you will even get better fuel economy.
Last edited by Shinobi'sZ; 02-06-2010 at 11:40 AM.
As I mentioned in my last post when I heard of the fix I was concerned about ending up with a pedal where the friction was too light. I would think that in manufacturing a part there are plus and minus tolerances and maybe with this pedal the two parts involved are on the high (or low) side of the acceptable range creating a situation where there is too much friction. The percentage of autos with this problem is incredibly small and the vast majority will never have a problem. They have also mentioned that environmental conditions play a part yet I have never heard what they are. I would think that being on the inside of the car you would have the least environmental problems.
Anyway, it has crossed my mind that I my not have the fix done or at least not hurry and be one of the first.
We may hear what the pedal feels like from those who do have it done. I do not want a lighter pedal.
Well, I just had the pedal "fix" this morning. I went by my Toyota dealer just to see when they would start doing it and the service manager took me right away. I was in and out in one hour. I really can't tell that there's any real difference in feel. I didn't have any recall letter with me so they went by the VIN. No other recall was indicated.
In my last post I said I couldn't tell the difference in the feel of the pedal. That was my first impression, however, after driving it around in different situations for the day I believe there is a difference. It is not a looser feel. It feels as though the pedal is pushing back harder when you let up on the gas. This is an odd way of saying it but that's the feeling I have. Anyway, I'm glad this is over with.
Had my fix yesterday. Pedal now feels comparable to my 95 XL which I was really used to. More resistance/pressure in the pedal;before it was really floaty/spongy and very sensitive so I had to be very cautious about accelerating; otherwise I could lunge or be like spinning my wheels with high rpms but not going anywhere. I like it better now (thank goodness).
My aunt's Avalon is scheduled for an 8a appointment tomorrow morning to take care of this. They called her last week, which I thought was rather fast. I'm curious if/when they will roll out the software "fix" to cut off the throttle if the brake pedal is depressed at the same time - because my (elderly) aunt drives with her left foot on the brake pedal so half the time you can watch her accelerate up the street and the brake lights are on.
It's hard to break (no pun intended) a bad habit that someone's had for 60 years.. But if her car won't do anything other than idle with her foot on the brake AND accelerator, well, if that doesn't change her ways - I guess she'll be picking up a pre-2007 Camry!
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My aunt's Avalon is scheduled for an 8a appointment tomorrow morning to take care of this. They called her last week, which I thought was rather fast. I'm curious if/when they will roll out the software "fix" to cut off the throttle if the brake pedal is depressed at the same time - because my (elderly) aunt drives with her left foot on the brake pedal so half the time you can watch her accelerate up the street and the brake lights are on.
It's hard to break (no pun intended) a bad habit that someone's had for 60 years.. But if her car won't do anything other than idle with her foot on the brake AND accelerator, well, if that doesn't change her ways - I guess she'll be picking up a pre-2007 Camry!
I know your question is serious, but that is one of the funniest things I have read all day. I give you a Thank you for making me smile.
__________________ 2008 Black Camry XLE V6 (Mine)
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2010 White Corolla XRS (Son's) I always get stuck driving the "old" cars..
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It worked fine until I fixed it! 
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