Thaindian News

Washington, Sep 30 (THAINDIAN NEWS) In a major blow to Toyota vehicle owners, their vehicles might be recalled back the parent company, over a dangerous issue with the floor-mats. In all, it is expected to affect around 4 million customers of Toyota.

The problem lies with a removable floor-mat that could in all probability cause an accident by interfering with the accelerator. This is quite a serious issue and Toyota is leaving no stone unturned in addressing it.

Sources say, that a fatal crash involving a family of four in a 2009 Lexus ES 350 last month near Los Angeles is believed to have been the source for the latest recall.

The company says it will be the largest U.S. recall in its history. Owners could learn more about the safety campaign as early as next week.

Toyota and the government warned owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about safety problems tied to the removable floor mats. The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

The owners are advised to take out the floor mats on the driver’s side and not replace them.

Toyota also had in the past done another major recall over a steering issue in 2005, which had affected around 900,000 customers at that point of time. In 2007, they had another recall over the floor-mat that could trap the gas pedal.

As Toyota put it in its official statement, “Recent events have prompted Toyota to take a closer look at the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position due to an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat. A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.