Infiniti FX Owners Forum (The Org)

So Toyota is in big trouble!

I can't beleive they do so well in the quality ratings. I just saw the news and they are reporting that Toyota knew about the stuck accelerator since 2007 but swept it under the carpet. Speaking of carpet, do you remember their stance on this a few months ago - floor mats are getting stuck in the accelerator pedal.

My sister has a 2008 Corolla and her car wouldn't slow down, she had to cut across a lane and smack into the guard rail to stop.

Never liked Toyota - will never buy one of their cars now.

And Infiniti gets slammed for quality - sheesh!

Man, I'm glad your sister didn't get into a worse accident. It's outrageous how Toyota hasn't come up with a way to fix the problem in almost 3 years. Apparently it affects 8/16 Toyota model lines...

Well I think you are very quick to judge on that. Where did you see that they were hiding it? I dont believe anything on the fear mongering news unless there are some facts out there. I've owned many Toyota vehicles and they are far more reliable than anything else, and even built better than my FX even. One issue here and people jump all over them. I mean how many cases of this were there actually? Many mfrs go thru issues like this. Lest we not forget Ford and its fire setting brake cylinder valves.

They apparently dont know the exact cause yet so lets wait and see what it actually is. I think what they are doing is appropriate. If they do or did know what the problem is and arent telling, then yes shame on them. But they build excellent vehicles. Its not time to call them crap just yet.

And yes I do own one of the covered vehicles, a 1997 avalon. I wish my FX was built as well as that car.

Ah- American built Toyotas... Quality is Job One!

LOL, surely you have taken a peak at the plummeting quality of new Toyotas. Toyotas of today are nothing like the Toyotas of the mid-90s.

All I remember hearing is Toyota said that the accelerator could get stuck on the floor mats. Then the issue happened after people removed their floor mats, as Toyota recommended.

I tend to use common sense when analyzing situations like these. Lets look at the details:

Toyota has known of an issue with the accelerators becoming "stuck" on some of their vehicles (due to some unknown cause) for several years now. They apparently decided that the cause was floor mats getting in the way. I've owned multiple vehicles and driven multiple more vehicles that I did not own, and most of them had factory installed floormats. I have never experienced a factory installed floormat becoming an issue with the accelerator in any vehicle. I may be able to understand if it were a problem on one Toyota vehicle, because one design varies from the next. But the fact that the accelerators have been sticking on several Toyota models should have been a clue. I do not believe that Toyota didn't recognize a problem with their accelerators earlier -- they had to know full well. I also think they realized the high cost, both monetarily and to brand perception, and were not willing to do the full-scale recall. They probably hoped that the occurrences would be very rare, and that people would just forget about the problem shortly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a statement last year that stated that the recalled Toyota and Lexus vehicles have an “underlying defect” that involves the design of the accelerator pedal and the driver’s foot well. They also said that “Safety is the No. 1 priority for NHTSA and this is why officials are working with Toyota to find the right way to fix this very dangerous problem,” and that “This matter is not closed until Toyota has effectively addressed the defect by providing a suitable vehicle-based solution." Toyota dragged their feet and tried to avoid the recall as much as possible, but with the NHTSA puting their feet to the fire, Toyota finally caved and did the recall.

Now all they can do is hang on and hope the damage isn't too bad.

I watched ABC World News last night and they had copies of documents from Toyota going back to 2007 and showed them on the broadcast.

It's almost laughable that they have not made a public statement and have told current owners to continue to drive their cars.

My sister is ok, a little sore but that's it. Her car is still in the shop and will need extensive repiars.

What I heard is the root cause is not the mats, but a part related to the accelerator. I do not know the exact part name though. The parts is provided by two US companies and one them is for Prious and Sienna which does not have any problems reported so far. But the other company whose factory is in Cananda ( I forgot which city in Cananda), has provided the parts for the cars which has the issue. One of my friend is about to buy Camry this weekend, but he called me last night and asked me other alternatives. Anywya, it's snowing here. Drive safely!

Tell him to buy an FX!

I now yield to all Toyotas... their gas pedal might be stuck!

Remember the story with the CA police officer down somewhere north of San Diego (I think) last spring/summer that had has gas pedal stuck?

I'll bet it has something to do with the drive-by-wire technology that all cars have these days. If that's the case, just about any manufacturer could be subject to similar problems with a similar faulty part. And I have no knowledge but would be willing to bet Toyota knew about this far longer than just recently.

One thing I heard yesterday (I think) which I thought was BS was that GM is trying to capitalize on this and is offering 0% financing on a new GM with the trade-in of a Toyota. C'mon, show a little respect for a fellow automaker... is Government Motors in that much trouble that they need to try to use this to their advantage? I understand business is business but this is just downright NOT classy. I didn't like GM beforehand. Was Toyota offering discounts for a GM trade when GM was about to go out of business a little over a year ago until the government stepped in? I might be wrong but I don't think so

See this attachment:
http://www.insideline.com/car-news/gm-w ... tives.html

But my Avalon has a cable throttle, and many of the other affected vehicles do as well. A bit confusing. It could be in the pedal, or somewhere in the cable drive assembly. Im curious to where it is coming from.

All of the vehicles included thus far in the recall use drive-by-wire.

Interestingly, my parents had a '94 Camry whose gas pedal became very stiff and while it never became stuck in the depressed position, it was like an off-low-medium-high button rather than a linear pedal. It's the only car they have experienced it with.

toyota keeps amending their list of affected vehicles to the NHTSA. i don't think toyota even knows the extent of all the product lines affected. the latest according to toyota is a short list of only toyota products (no lexus or scion), but there are also two different issues here as stated above with 1) accelerators getting stuck on floor mats and 2)accelerators just getting STUCK.
i wouldn't drive any toyota product (or pontiac vibe) at least for the time being until they can figure out what the problem is and what models it effects.
All national rental car franchises have pulled ALL toyota products from their fleets.
also, at today's local Manheim auto auction, all 04 and up toyota products were pulled from the sale until further notice from NHTSA and toyota.
all is bad timing for toyota in a crap market and right when domestic manufactuers are starting to drastically improve quality.

WOOOOHOOOOO prices will be dropping like flies...

I can't believe how many people are not using their brain in situations like this. Shift into neutral and apply brake; you'll come to a stop as per normal operation. Granted the motor is going to be slamming into the rev limiter, but at least you and your beloved ones are safe.

Everyone out there with one of these please be safe! And to the TSer hope all goes well for your sister and just a suggestion, Toyota should be fiting the bill for the repairs to your sisters car.

Yea people have no common sense and panic. I asked my wife "you know what to do if this happens, right?" she said "yes. try to brake and stay in control, get off the road, shift into neutral, and turn off the key if I can safely get to a stop". Common sense. Even more simply- turn off the key. Yes you will lose some steering, but you'll slow down to a stop.

I've had this discussion with some friends months ago. In an emergency situation you really don't know how you'll react. It's tough to stay cool and *THINK* when you're forced into the situation. You might think you'll be ok and know what to do but when you're daydreaming thinking about what you're going to eat for dinner or what you need to do for work or that concert or movie you're going to see over the weekend, you're already at a disadvantage and distracted from the task at hand - driving! Add to that something like this that pops up and you panic. I've seen it plenty on and off the track and, until put in the situation, you don't know how you're going to react. I would hope that I'd be ok presented with a similar situation but you never know.

nicely put. i had a very similar situation in a merecedes years ago. the mechanical throttle linkage got stuck open pulling into a parking lot and i was able to slam on the brake with both feet before almost hitting another car. but i sat there for several seconds trying to decide what to do next while the rear tires were smokin and screeching away. it then finally occured to me that all i had to do was turn the ignition off!
granted, that small lapse in judgement didn't cost me anything except some tire tread, but in a different situation it could have meant a collision and reaction times for people are very different especially when you're not expecting it and you're brain goes into overdrive.

It seems like common sense to just shift into neutral.

Our driver "preparation" requirements are far too lax. They should include teaching people what to do if their cars are on the verge of being out of control. It is just crazy to me that anyone can obtain a license without truly knowing how to control their car in emergency situations. I guess our government feels it is more appropriate to worry about which way the wheel needs to be turned when parallel parking.

SEEMS! It's much tougher when you're actually PUT into an emergency situation to act and react calmly



Even at the high performance driving that I instruct, it is hard to know how you'll react without being put in that position. I've seen instructors who've been driving for 20 years freeze when put in a situation outside their comfort zone. The few times I've had stuff "pop up" I have at least reacted adequately to get out of it. Maybe not how I would say I'd react when presented with the problem in theory or on paper though.

Talking about reacting and actually reacting when *IN* the emergency situation are two completely different things and I'd wager that over 75% of drivers wouldn't react properly. Maybe given enough time they'd react how you'd expect but not at first

True, but a lot of people do not even know what their reaction should be. You cannot even attempt to react if you do not know what you should actually do, regardless of circumstances.

Yeah, at first I read the press release that GM was offering 0% financing and I thought "Hey, that's just good marketing when the opportunity presented itself". But I think the fact that they are requiring people to provide proof that they've owned or leased a Toyota is over the top. If it was just an incentive that happened to come out at the same time that Toyota is recalling their vehicles, then I don't think it would be anything more than good business. But they are asking people to provide proof that they owned or leased a Toyota -- that's a little unsportsmanlike. And a little desperate.

And I think and HOPE that most consumers see through that!

Yeah I got an email from Hyundai (I've been emailing a dealer about a Genesis Coupe) with similar "incentives" in it. Totally capitalizng on the fears out there. Anything to make a buck.