Toyota has issued a statement denying media reports that it plans a new recall of the 2004-2009 Prius to address the potential risk for floor mat entrapment of accelerator pedals.
"There is no new recall being planned for the Prius to address this issue," the company said in a statement Tuesday.
The report first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
The company said the 2004-2009 Prius was part of Toyota's November 2, 2009 announcement of a voluntary safety recall campaign to address floor mat entrapment in certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Other models involved in this previously-announced recall include 2007-2010 Camry, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Tundra, 2007-2010 ES 350, 2006-2010 IS 250, and 2006-2010 IS 350. On January 27, 2010, Toyota expanded the campaign to include the 2008-2010 Highlander, 2009-2010 Corolla, 2009-2010 Venza, 2009-2010 Matrix and 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe.
The remedy process for these vehicles began at the end of 2009 and is occurring on a rolling schedule during 2010, Toyota said. Owners of the involved vehicles that have not yet been remedied are asked to take out any removable driver's side floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat.
Not the mat
But the driver of that 2008 Prius involved Monday in the highly publicized runaway car incident on the San Diego Freeway says the floor mat had nothing to do with the uncontrolled acceleration in his car.
James Sikes' Prius took him on a terrifying 30 minute ride when he accelerated to pass a car and the car kept gaining speed, even though he pressed on the brakes. Sikes said he immediately looked down to see if the pedal was caught on the floor mat and said it was not.
Sikes eventually stopped his car with the assistance of a California Highway Patrol Officer, who pulled alongside and used his PA system to instruct Sikes to hit the brakes and pull on the emergency brake at the same time. With the car slowed to about 50 miles per hour, the frightened driver was able to turn off the ignition, allowing the car to roll to a stop.
While Sikes' wild ride was international news this week, another out of control Prius, with circumstances almost identical to Sikes' incident, received almost no coverage other than by ConsumerAffairs.com, when it occurred in 2005.
Similar incident
In October of that year, Herbert, of Battle Creek, Mich., was traveling down the highway in his Prius with the cruise control active at 55 miles per hour.
He said he found it necessary to speed up while passing a slower vehicle on the highway. That is when the problem with the Prius began.
"I let off the accelerator and pressed the brakes several times, but the vehicle continued to accelerate under full power," Herbert said. "I tried to slow the vehicle by pushing the power button, manipulating the cruise control lever, and putting the vehicle in neutral. All attempts were unsuccessful."
Herbert found himself barreling down the road with the cruise control stuck wide open, running approximately 20 miles over the posted speed limit, all the while continuing to accelerate.
Still searching for someway to slow his runaway hybrid, Herbert "elected to apply full braking force to the Prius while 'laboring' the vehicle to a standstill on the gravel shoulder of the road."
Once he had regained his composure, Herbert pushed the main power button, and the vehicle shut down. "The cabin of the Prius exhibited a strong odor reminiscent of an electrical motor smell," Herbert said.
Little interest in 2007
It is worth noting that ConsumerAffairs.com reported in 2007 that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was "aware of" complaints of runaway acceleration in the popular Toyota Prius hybrid and at the time, said they were in a "monitoring mode."
"It is currently like dozens, or maybe hundreds, of other issues of this kind," an agency official said at the time.
The Toyota Product Communications office did not responded to several 2007 requests from ConsumerAffairs.com to discuss the issue of unintended acceleration in the Prius.
To date, Toyota has recalled some 6 million cars in the United State because of acceleration and braking problems. Safety Regulators have linked 52 deaths to crashes possibly caused by uncontrolled acceleration.
