05stangkc

Please Check your Mats if you own any of these Toyota Products! Lets be Safe out there! As far as it Goes Make Sure you don't have CREEPING Mats in any of your cars! I have experienced the mat creep in cars over the years! CHEAP Mats are no Bargain at that point!

KC

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...llion-vehicles
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red pony

This concept of drive-by-wire has me wondering just how safe the new electrically controlled throtle motor/ potentianomer petal idea will malfunction down the road in a few years! 1 little short and there you go racing down the road without control! I hope Ford thought ahead to some type of fail-safe for their system!

07S197

Guess my mothers Highlander is safe.

cdynaco

No problemo with WeatherTech tubby's.



http://www.weathertech.com/store/mvp.aspx

Antigini-GT/CS

That's when you throw it into neutral, blow a bunch of stuff up and walk away after you hit the brakes. Anything is fault, to an extent. Throttle cables could always mess up as well(i've been in a car with one).

red pony

True, but a throtle cable costs like 28 bucks. What will this technology cost to replace? Plus, when a throtle cable breaks,or binds, you know where to look! Now we have a control motor, wires, and a variable potentiameter (gas petal unit) to question instead! Don't get me wrong, I like the new technology, but wonder just how safe it really is! I hate to think my life is dependant on wether or not some stupid rodent chewed the insulation off a couple wires and by chance they touch! With my luck, that would happen on a wet road in the middle of a long bend in the road!

07S197

They have been using this type of technology on diesel powered vehicles for quite some time now w/o any major incident that I can recall. I want to say at least as far back as the early ninties.

BlueSkyVert

Had a 2007 Tundra with no issue, and my 08 Sequoia is not on the list. Phew! But I also check for obstructions when I get in the car.

Antigini-GT/CS

We better get used to it! Drive-by-wire now, brake-by-wire tomorrow. BMW is already working on it.

red pony

Now THERES a scary thought! Blown brake lines AND bad wires to worry about! Not to mention the devices driven in between! They really need to keep it simple!

UMich97

I had a floor mat catch the gas pedal once, but it was because the little plastic tab that holds the floor mat in place had broken after 150K miles and 10 years. I instinctively pushed in the clutch, while I quickly went through the possibilities in my mind....then when I put my foot back on the gas, I realized it was the pedal was stuck on the floor mat and so I grabbed the floor mat and pulled it towards me. Was good to go, but thankful I had a manual trans, not sure I would have been as quick with the auto.

05stangkc

http://autos.aol.com/article/toyota-gas-pedal-remedy

http://autos.aol.com/article/runaway-toyotas

UPDATE

edumspeed

My brothers 06 Matrix left him stranded with no acceleration action. The potentiometer on the gas pedal is cheap, like $30. Is the motor assembly that is worth a ton. It was quoted on the dealer as a $700+ part Luckily it was covered by the warranty. The thing is designed to stay at closed throttle if there's a malfunction. That's what my automotive professor told me on my tech school years.

GottaHaveIt

If you have the correct floor mats in your car and secure them properly, Toyota maintains that you should not have a problem. Regardless of the brand, if you actually experience sudden acceleration, place your car into neutral, apply hard and consistent brake pressure, and find a clearing in traffic to pull your car over to the shoulder.
and then "Burn it to the ground" - good tune by Chad Kruger, Hump it must have shorted out !

ManEHawke

Steer by wire too. Soon many cars will lose the rack&pinion setups.

tonylop33

I don't want to speak poorly of the dead, particuliraly a CHP Officer, but the article states they made a cell phone call to 911 saying the pedal was stuck on their loaner Lexus. Even if they could not shut off the engine for some reason, why not shift into neutral? I don't have a Lexus so I don't know if their pedals and mats are more of an issue than on my Tundra. I can't see how the mat would jam the throttle with the two safety hooks on the mat and how the mat is cut to avoid the gas pedal on my truck.

The listed article has the 911 tape included. You can read the article and then click to listen to the call. WARNING THESE ARE THE LAST MOMENTS OF THIS FAMILIES LIVES SO DECIDE FOR YOURSELF IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN.

Family Killed when Car Accelerator Sticks | momlogic.com

hi5.0

Actually, Mercedes-Benz employs brake-by-wire systems already. I believe Toyota has a vehicle equipped with it too.

cdynaco

LA Times 11.29.09
"But accounts from motorists such as Weiss, interviews with auto safety experts and a Times review of thousands of federal traffic safety incident reports all point to another potential cause: the electronic throttles that have replaced mechanical systems in recent years.

The Times found that complaints of sudden acceleration in many Toyota and Lexus vehicles shot up almost immediately after the automaker adopted the so-called drive-by-wire system over the last decade. That system uses sensors, microprocessors and electric motors -- rather than a traditional link such as a steel cable -- to connect the driver's foot to the engine."
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...tory?track=rss

GottaHaveIt

Interesting how this will end : could they even be found at fault for the huge pulic out cry that would come as a result forcing if not a fix then a total refund and collapse of a company ? I don't think they'd let it fly (twist or covering it up will be someones answer.

Ask the computer

"With the electronic throttle, the driver is not really in control of the engine," said Antony Anderson, a Britain-based electrical engineering consultant who investigates electrical failures and has testified in sudden-acceleration lawsuits. "You are telling the computer, will you please move the throttle to a certain level, and the computer decides if it will obey you."

Although Toyota says it knows of no electronic defects that would cause a vehicle to surge out of control, it has issued at least three technical service bulletins to its dealers warning of problems with the new electronic throttles in the 2002 and 2003 Camry.

edumspeed

As I said then, and I say now, drive by wire is a POS. The trusty good 'ol throttle cable FTW.