Toyota has yet to begin repairing '07 - '10 Prius hybrids for a "carpet entrapment" problem.
Though Toyota announced the recall of 2007 through early 2010 Prius sedans, back in October, to fix a problem with so-called “pedal entrapment,” the maker says it is still not ready to start making repairs to the hybrid.
There is no set date, but “we’re hoping very soon” to notify owners to begin bringing their Prius sedans into service centers for repairs, Sean Gilligan, a Toyota field technical specialist, tells TheDetroitBureau.com.
Part of what is known internally as the “90L” recall, the broader recall campaign was announced last October. It targets vehicles where accelerator pedals can inadvertently be jammed open by loose carpet or mats. Originally, Toyota said that 3.8 million vehicles, including Camry and Avalon, as well as Prius, were affected by the problem. Since the beginning of the year, the automaker has expanded the number of models covered by the recall to more than 5 million.
There were several challenges, Gilligan explains, before the recall can be completed. First, Toyota has had to identify the problem, then develop a fix which can vary by model. The carmaker started by focusing on higher-volume models, like Camry and Avalon.
The repair will involve the placement of a rubber stopper behind the accelerator, as well as a so-called tibia pad. This is a piece of hardened Styrofoam that sits between the metal floor pan and the carpet, just in front of the pedals. The new pad is thinner than what the Prius was originally equipped with, so there’s more of a gap between the carpet and the accelerator pedal. That pedal will also be replaced to widen the gap still further.
It’s unclear whether the carpet entrapment issue was in any way involved in a well-publicized incident, in California, earlier this week, in which a motorist’s Prius raced out of control. It eventually stopped when the driver received help from police after calling 911. (Click Here)
While the 90L recall for Prius has been delayed, Toyota’s Gilligan notes that a separate campaign, to fix a problem with balky brakes on the 2010 Prius, is well underway. That repair involves “re-flashing” the electronic brake control system to modify its software.
Paul: I think this entire episode is a combination of Toyota arrogance, naivete, and absentee management. In other words, they thought they were too good for this; they didn’t know what to do – such as having a process for finding root cause; and there was nobody in this country giving direction and applying discipline on matters such as these. Those are my instincts developed from my “hands on” experience.
Editorial: While I agree they will overcome much of this in time, I think the U.S. press corps has been remarkably tolerant (e.g.,”where are the heads to roll,etc.?”)
Lee: Please look at my or Mike Davis’ bylined coverage of Toyota on the site. I submit that we have aggressively covered the story, as we do all other safety stories. Toyota’s U.S. executives are mere figureheads, as you correctly observed, and I have pointed this out more than once. – Ken Zino, editor
Hi, Lee,
You raise some solid points and while I think Toyota officials may argue some, even they will concede others. Please refer to the Q&A we posted yesterday, with Toyota Sr. VP Don Esmond:
http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010/03/qa-toyota%E2%80%99s-don-esmond/
Note this particular exchange, among the others in this interview:
TDB: Some of the most damaging testimony during last month’s Congressional hearings suggested that Toyota’s U.S. management team didn’t know about nor have input into safety issues and recall decisions.
Esmond: We’ll correct a lot of that. Toyota grew and grew really fast and that required globalization, but some of that was centered in Japan, like technical matters. But Akio (Toyoda, Toyota’s CEO,) believes that if the customer comes first, you have to move your decision-making closer to the customer. (We will) put more of those technical decisions, those recall decisions, on this side of the water.
To be blunt, I am surprised a few heads haven’t rolled over the crisis, though that might have been taken to suggest that Toyota is admitting “guilt.” It will be interesting to watch the corp. org chart over the next 12 months.
Paul A. Eisenstein
Publisher, TheDetroitBureau.com