The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Complaints start rolling in about hybrid car

Own a Toyota? Here’s what you should know

Hope Ride pedals inspiration
7/31/10
Stafford: In the good-old summer
7/31/10
McGinn dunked for good... cause
7/31/10
Cottrel: When a drip turns into a renovation
7/31/10
Champaign County Senior center hopes voters renew levy
7/31/10
> More headlines

E-mail this page

By Ken Thomas, Associated Press Updated 7:35 AM Thursday, February 4, 2010

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told Toyota owners Wednesday, Feb. 3, they should stop driving their vehicles, then quickly took back his words, adding to confusion over the safety of millions of recalled cars. Toyota, for its part, tried to reassure drivers that sticking gas pedals have been rare — and the cars can be stopped in any event by firmly stepping on the brakes.

The final word from LaHood: “What I meant to say or what I thought I said was, if you own one of these cars or if you’re in doubt, take it to the dealer and they’re going to fix it.”

The back-and-forth played out as word surfaced that Toyota Motor Corp. also has been the subject of more than 100 complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems with the popular Prius gas-electric hybrid, which is not part of the recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received about 100 complaints, two of them involving crashes that resulted in injuries. In addition, Japan’s transport ministry said it had received 14 complaints.

U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigative subcommittee, said he will ask Toyota about the complaints related to the Prius.

Further clouding the picture for consumers: the notion that problems could extend beyond Toyota vehicles. Federal officials have widened their investigation of malfunctioning gas pedals to see if the same problem exists in cars made by other auto companies.

The traffic safety agency said it had sent a letter to CTS, the Indiana company that made the pedals for Toyota, to find out more about the pedals it has manufactured for other auto companies, including Honda, Nissan and a small number of Fords in China. CTS has said the issues are limited to Toyota alone.

The Toyota recall in the U.S. covers 2.3 million vehicles and involves 2009-10 RAV4 crossovers; 2009-10 Corollas; 2009-10 Matrix hatchbacks; 2005-10 Avalons; 2007-10 Camrys; 2010 Highlander crossovers; 2007-10 Tundra pickups; and 2008-10 Sequoia SUVs. The recalls also extend to Europe and China, covering nearly 4.5 million vehicles overall.

Repairs have begun locally. “We’ve received our first shipment of parts from the company and for the first couple of weeks, parts are being allocated based on the size of a dealership,” said Jay Lawrence, general manager at Jeff Wyler Springfield. Wyler will order more parts as needed.

“We encourage owners to wait for official notification from Toyota before they contact us to schedule repairs,” he said. The company began mailing notification letters this week.

Information to identify a vehicle as part of the recall will be included in the letter, he said.

“If any Toyota owners have questions or concerns about safety issues, of course we want them to call us or come in,” he said.

Toyota said the sticking gas pedal situation is unusual and “generally does not occur suddenly. In the rare instances where it does occur, the vehicle can be controlled with firm and steady application of the brakes.”

Share this article

ADD COMMENT

Comments feed

I think battery is Heart from <a title="hybrid vehicles" href=" http://hybridca-r.com/hybrid-vehicl..." target="_blank"><strong>hybrid vehicles</strong></a>, and everybody know that not in perfect.But if we care about better world for our children we must support for Hybrid technology.

jeffry
1:00 PM, 2/6/2010

REPORT ABUSE

We welcome your comments. Please remember this is a public forum and behave appropriately. Your comments must conform to our visitor's agreement.