More than two years after Toyota and its luxury brand Lexus recalled the majority of its hybrid cars to stop the accelerator pedal sticking on aftermarket mats, yet more of its cars have just been recalled for the snip.
This time, it isn’t Toyota’s Prius hybrid, but over 150,000 RX crossover models from 2009, including the 2010 RX 450h hybrid.
According to Toyota’s official recall, the affected cars have been added to an existing recall believed to affect a total of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus cars.
The recall addresses the risk that in cars with poorly fitted or aftermarket mats, there is a possibility that the accelerator pedal may become lodged behind the mat, leading to unintended acceleration.
2004 Toyota Prius accelerator pedal after being shortened as part of sudden-acceleration recall
As a consequence, the recall will examine each car to check it has the correct, secured floor mats fitted, and that the accelerator pedal can not get caught on the floor mat. Where needed, modifications to the accelerator pedal will be performed.
Toyota says that owners of cars affected by the modified recall will be contacted via post during the first part of August. Service appointments will then be booked at Toyota’s expense for affected cars.
In the meantime, if you think your Lexus RX350 or RX450h is affected by the problem there is one simple stop-gap solution: remove the floor mats.
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