are they affected by the recall? camrys, lexus, scion... if so, what are you guys/gals going to do?

also, did you see/hear about the family who was on the phone to 911 right as their lexus crashed, killing all on board??? hearing that call as it happened was sad....

my little sister and my mom both drive '09 camry se models. they had the floormats replaced originally, now its something else. fro what i've read they dont even know how they are going to fix it yet. whats odd is that the first big story dealing with this was the lexus es350 you mentioned above, the one who made the 911 call as it was happening. but the latest recall lists only toyota model; no lexus or scion models are mentioned. not sure how that is. from what i read it has to do with the "drive-by-wire" system, smoething about condensation makes the computer freak out. we'll see what happens...

yeah the pedal on the above mentioned lexus was a denso which was NOT part of the recall... even though that family perished,, they did leave evidence behind which may offer some relief to their surviving family.. and to others down the road...

the dealers are telling the customers to "use both feet to brake"!! the dealers have NO ideas as of yet to fix this. European customers across the pond will get some monetary relief ive been told...

i also guess you can just put the car in neutral.. but in a pinch that might not be something that enters ones mind....

I'd buy another Toyota in a heartbeat. Toyota is definitely stepping up to the plate here, which is another reason why many owners keep coming back.

As for the Lexus crash, that was caused by dealer added non-factory floor mats that were not hooked in place, thus they eventually shifted and became stuck under the accelerator pedal causing the crash. Amazing how the cops can always figure out the cause of a crash when one of their own is involved, but if it was you or me they can't be bothered.

My mother-in-law drives a Lexus, so she's all freaked out. I think the best approach is to make sure you know how to get the car in neutral quickly; in fact, that's probably a good idea for any driver to know, particularly if you drive a car with "throttle-by-wire" (inc. Armada). Then, just pull off to the side of the street.

Just another reason why I like a manual trans; can't beat pushing in the clutch!!

Keith

canddmeyer, thx for updating me/us on that. i didnt follow up on it... but yes indeed how they can and do take care of their own...

i love manual cluthces too CAMP.. wish the armada had one.. :D

Does anybody ever think to just turn the ignition off? Why Toyota isn't instructing owners of these vehicles to either turn the ignition off or flip it into neutral is pathetic. Step on the brake pedal with both feet, that would be funny, if people weren't being put at such a great risk.

so i got some info from a good friend (i trust this guy, not just some salesman) about this whole deal today. i went with my mom (who owns a '09 camry) to the dealer to see what we could do. he said that there have been 0 deaths in toyotas, only the 4 people who died in the lexus mentioned above. with the toyota, it only pertains to the cars built from 07-curernt that used an american made part for the gas pedal assembly. the cars built with the denso part (japan-made) are not effected by this warranty. all of the cars built in japan (which is all lexus models) used the denso part, and so are just fine (should make your mother in law feel better, camp). about 50% of the cars buit in the US used the denso part as well, so there are still quite a few cars for sale on the lots. the reason the factories were shut down was so that toyota could pull all of the denso parts off the assembly lines and get them to dealers to start replacing current customer cars. when parts supplies have been built back up they will replace the units in cars already on dealer lots, then resume production with only denso parts.

so my mom, who was all freaked out, ended up driving off the dealer lot in a '10 toyota venza v6. what a sweet car! we both test drove it, and i was very impressed. its got a ton of stuff, jbl sound, dual moonroofs, power liftgate, back up camera, and 20" rims. really a nice car. anyways, toyota seems to be doing everything they can, so my mom was stoked to get a new ride! hope all this info helps someone out...

Does anybody ever think to just turn the ignition off? Why Toyota isn't instructing owners of these vehicles to either turn the ignition off or flip it into neutral is pathetic. Step on the brake pedal with both feet, that would be funny, if people weren't being put at such a great risk.

There's another thread on this subject from a few months ago. The Toyota's with keyless ignition require you to push and hold the start button for three seconds before the engine switches off, which many people don't know, and even if they did, would be difficult to do if your car was accelerating uncontrollably and you were trying to steer to avoid hitting something. Shifting into neutral is the best way, because even the brakes won't do it, Consumer Reports showed that a powerful car at full throttle will overwhelm the brakes, causing them to overheat and completely lose effectiveness.

I read that Toyota is going to make a SW change that effectively cancels the throttle input once the brake pedal is pushed. So, no more power-braking your Toyota!!

so i got some info from a good friend (i trust this guy, not just some salesman) about this whole deal today. i went with my mom (who owns a '09 camry) to the dealer to see what we could do. he said that there have been 0 deaths in toyotas, only the 4 people who died in the lexus mentioned above. with the toyota, it only pertains to the cars built from 07-curernt that used an american made part for the gas pedal assembly. the cars built with the denso part (japan-made) are not effected by this warranty. all of the cars built in japan (which is all lexus models) used the denso part, and so are just fine (should make your mother in law feel better, camp). about 50% of the cars buit in the US used the denso part as well, so there are still quite a few cars for sale on the lots. the reason the factories were shut down was so that toyota could pull all of the denso parts off the assembly lines and get them to dealers to start replacing current customer cars. when parts supplies have been built back up they will replace the units in cars already on dealer lots, then resume production with only denso parts.

so my mom, who was all freaked out, ended up driving off the dealer lot in a '10 toyota venza v6. what a sweet car! we both test drove it, and i was very impressed. its got a ton of stuff, jbl sound, dual moonroofs, power liftgate, back up camera, and 20" rims. really a nice car. anyways, toyota seems to be doing everything they can, so my mom was stoked to get a new ride! hope all this info helps someone out...

So, who says this issue is hurting Toyota sales and dealer profits? Look at this, it's actually increasing sales!!!

I personally think the pedal story is a cover-up for something else that isn't known yet. There was an article in the LA Times yesterday talking about the company that supplies the pedals to Toyota, and they were saying that the reports of unintended acceleration from Toyotas included models as old as 1999, and they didn't even make pedal assemblies for anyone before 2005. I work in the aerospace industry, and we provide systems with significant software content. Before we can deliver a product to fly on an airplane, that software must be verified every which way to ensure that there isn't any chance that a latent defect can cause something untoward to happen. Vehicle software doesn't require that level of verification. So, I'm thinking that there is a certain combination of environment / sensor signal / driver input that causes the software to command the engine to a certain rpm or fuel input level (not necessarily wide open) and until the engine is switched off, the software holds that command. Yes, they have an issue with the pedals, which the pedal vendor has acknowledged, but I don't think that is the smoking gun. We'll see whether I get proven wrong.

By the way, again from the LA Times, 19 people have been killed by unintended acceleration from Toyotas, including Lexus (which don't use the CTS pedals). They also said that the total number of unintended acceleration complaints filed against Toyota are more than the number of complaints filed against all other manufacturers combined. And, this statistic was taken before all of the publicity came out about this happening, so you can't say people were just reacting to what was happening to others.

Toyota has a problem. How they continue to handle it will be interesting to watch. But, I'm rather relieved my family (except my m-in-law) doesn't ride in a Toyota right about now.

Keith

My parents own both a 07 Camry and a 09 ES (along w/99 Camry). My father is a die hard Toyota fan and even said that on his next car, his first stop will be Honda/Acura.

I don't think the problem is that Toyota is having an issue...the terrible part is their "non-reaction". This is the kind of reaction that led many of us (me included) to become anti-American in terms of cars. I know that I'll think twice before considering a Toyota/Lexus and won't think twice abt shopping Ford/GM. Interesting how the worm turns!!!

By the way the reason you want to shift the car into neutral rather than shutting it off, is so that the power assisted systems like the brakes and steering wheel won't loose power and are easier to use.