Toyota safety recall notices arrive in owners' mailboxes

Consumer Reports News: November 18, 2009 10:58 AM

Late September, Toyota Motor Sales issued advice online for Lexus and Toyota vehicle owners to remove their floor mats pending further investigation into sudden acceleration complaints. As promised, the automaker has sent notifications by mail detailing the risks and corrective measures for owners.

The impacted vehicles identified by Toyota include:

2005 - 2010 Toyota Avalon
2007 - 2010 Toyota Camry
2004 - 2009 Toyota Prius
2005 - 2010 Toyota Tacoma
2007 - 2010 Toyota Tundra
2007 - 2010 Lexus ES350
2006 - 2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350

FloorMatRecall_2 An "interim" notice received by a Consumer Reports staff member lists the specific, factory-approved mats for their Prius. (A sample letter can be view as a pdf.) It advises "Only install floor mats designed specifically for the model and model year." The multi-page letter provides instructions for identifying the floor mat part number (located on the bottom of the back side of the mat) to confirm appropriate fitment.

The letter warns not to stack mats. This is particularly important with the approach of winter, as many motorists want to install all-weather mats. Such mats are designed to better hold water and debris, and therefore are generally thicker. As with all mats, again, only install models specifically designed for your vehicle.

A key concern is that a mat may interfere with the accelerator or brake pedal. These pedals should move freely without touching a mat.

The bottom-line advice from Toyota is to "take out any removable driver's floor mat and not replace it… until the campaign remedy is ready and implemented on your vehicle."

Toyota will notify owners as soon as a remedy is available. And as we have reported separately, there is an indication that they are looking beyond the floor mats to a possible change to the accelerator pedals. (Read: "Toyota may address gas pedals in acceleration recall.")

Be prepared in case of sudden acceleration on a Lexus, Toyota, or model from any other brand by reading these steps from Toyota, and our test-based advice:
Putting a car in Neutral might save your life
Putting stuck floor mat survival strategies to the test

For more information, visit Toyota.com/floormats.

Learn about safety technologies in our car safety section.