Toyota has issued a safety advisory which will be followed by a recall regarding the all weather floors mats of many models dating back to 2004. 

The company will begin sending formal safety campaign notices next week and is working to solve the problem, but strongly urges driver's of all affected models to remove their driver's side floor mat immediately.

When the recall gets underway, it will become the companies largest recall in U.S. history.  More than 3 million vehicles could be involved in the recall trumping the companies previous high of 900,000 vehicles recalled in 2005.

One of the affected models is the 2004 to 2009 Toyota Prius.  Complaints regarding unintended acceleration have cropped up before in the Prius models and Toyota has confirmed that the acceleration was caused by the floor mat becoming stuck under the accelerator. 

As Toyota spokesman Irv Miller said, "The company is aware of numerous complaints that began in 2004 with Prius owners who said their cars experienced unintended acceleration when improperly fastened, or unfastened removable mats jammed the accelerator pedal into an 'open' position."

Toyota announced the recall / safety advisory as the NHTSA announced an investigation into the floor mat problem.  To date, at least one multiple fatality crash resulted directly from the floor mat problem.

Toyota will make an official recall announcement when they determine how to rectify the problem.  The affected models are listed below

2004-2009 Toyota Prius

  • 2007-10 Toyota Camry
  • 2007-10 Toyota Tundra
  • 2007-10 Lexus ES 350
  • 2006-10 Lexus IS 250 and  IS 350
  • 2005-10 Toyota Avalon
  • 2005-10 Toyota Tacoma

For more information please contact the manufacturer directly at the numbers listed below.

Toyota Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331; or the Lexus Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-255-3987