Toyota has been under scrutiny for suspected unintended acceleration for approximately 10 years. A total of 19 deaths have been connected to unintended acceleration in Toyotas over the decade, according to some analysts, a figure the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration called "plausible," based on its own research.

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he misspoke today when he said owners of recalled Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles should stop driving them until the company fixes a defect causing sudden acceleration.

LaHood sought to clarify his remarks in comments to reporters after a congressional hearing. He said that if owners are in doubt, they should take their cars to the dealership.

In earlier comments to a House Appropriations panel hearing in Washington, LaHood advised drivers to “stop driving it and take it to a Toyota dealer.”

“What I said in there was obviously a misstatement,” LaHood told reporters. “If you own one of these cars, take it to the dealer. If you are in doubt, take it to the dealer and have them fix it.”

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp. vehicle prices recommended by Kelley Blue Book may be trimmed as much as 5 percent after a recall to fix a defect causing sudden acceleration.

The Toyota recall prompted Kelley Blue Book, the used-auto pricing service used as a guide in private-party transactions, to lower suggested rates on involved vehicles by 1 percent to 3 percent, Robyn Eckard, a Kelley spokeswoman, said today in an e- mail. Any delay by Toyota in resolving the issue may reduce prices by 3 percent to 5 percent, she said.

Key:
P = Pedal recall only
F = Floor mat recall only
B = Both recalls apply

Note: Some Toyota vehicles were assembled in both Japan and North America. Japanese-built cars, identified by a vehicle identification number (VIN) that begins with J, have not been recalled for sticking pedal issues. Some have been recalled for floor mats, however.

North American market Toyotas affected by recall
Avalon (2005-2010) – B
Camry (2007-2010, except Hybrid, J VIN) – B
Camry (2007-2010 J VIN) – F
Camry Hybrid (2007-2010) – F
Corolla (2009-2010) – B
Highlander (2008-2010, except Hybrid, J VIN) – B
Highlander (2008-2010 J VIN) – F
Highlander Hybrid (2008-2010) – F
Matrix (2009-2010) – B
Prius (2004-2009) – F
RAV4 (2009-2010) – P
Sequoia (2008-2010) – P
Tacoma (2005-2010) – F
Tundra (2007-2010) - B
Venza (2009-2010) – F

European market Toyotas affected by pedal recall
Toyota’s United Kingdom office announced a pedal recall only for a number of European-market Toyotas. Check your vehicle’s build date (found on a sticker located in the driver’s door well) to verify when your car was assembled.

AYGO manual transmission (2/2005-8/2009)
iQ (11/2008-11/2009)
Yaris (11/2005-9/2009)
Auris (10/2006-1/2010)
Corolla (10/2006-12/2009)
Verso (2/2009-1/2010)
Avensis (11/2008-12/2009)

Non-Toyota products affected by pedal and/or floor mat recall
Citroen C1 (2/2005-8/2009) – P
Peugeot 107 (2/2005-8/2009) – P
Pontiac Vibe (2009-2010) – B

NAGOYA, Japan--The Japanese government said Wednesday that it had ordered Toyota to investigate a possible defect in its newest Prius hybrid model after receiving 14 reports of brake trouble, another blow for an automaker already embroiled in its biggest-ever recall.
The drivers have complained that the brakes on their Priuses have momentarily stopped working when driving at low speeds, especially on slippery surfaces, said Kenji Sato, a transport ministry official in charge of recall policy.

In one incident in July 2009 in Japan, a Prius collided with another vehicle at an intersection, hurting two people. Ten of the 14 complaints in Japan about the new Prius, which went on sale here last May, came in January. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has logged 111 complaints about the brakes on the 2010 Prius. Many are from drivers who say the vehicle surged forward or temporarily lost braking after driving over a pothole or other uneven surface, and many say it is a recurring problem....

Federal regulators uncovered stark evidence that some Toyota cars accelerated unexpectedly more than two years ago. But neither the government's safety agency nor the automaker apparently recognized at the time how broad the dangers would turn out to be.

During a little-noticed 2007 inquiry, investigators found that at least three of every 100 Lexus ES 350 owners in Ohio reported experiencing unintended acceleration, an unacceptably high percentage given the potentially fatal consequences, industry experts said.

"Anything over 1 percent would raise a red flag, particularly for the manufacturer," said James C. Fell, who worked at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for 30 years, and was chief of research for traffic safety programs.

The investigation opened formally in August 2007, one of the few times NHTSA commenced a full-fledged investigation into reports of Toyotas accelerating unexpectedly. More often, the inquiries have ended at the "preliminary evaluation" stage, meaning investigators reviewed the reports but didn't venture into engineering analysis. In this case, they acquired a Lexus ES 350 and attached instruments to it to monitor the operation of its accelerator and brake pedal. The investigators also exposed the accelerator system to magnetic fields.

Investigators also gathered accounts of drivers crashing in cars that sped out of control. Among those interviewed was a 70-year-old Illinois woman who was taken on a two-mile ride at 60 mph before she collided with another vehicle in an intersection.

But the investigation only partially identified the cause of the problem and, moreover, concluded it only affected a relatively small number of cars.....

After the engineering review, Toyota and the regulators decided that the cause was that the accelerator had been stuck in the grooves of the all-weather floor mats some owners had put in. It was shown that the floor mats could trap the accelerator, so the company declared a recall of approximately 55,000 such floor mats and the case was closed.

CHICAGO — The US transportation chief's public rebukes of Toyota's handling of a massive safety recall have raised eyebrows, given the US government's major stake in rivals General Motors and Chrysler.

"The optics are terrible because -- and this is what happens when a government owns a company - the two companies that are going to gain the most out of this are General Motors and Chrysler," said Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland's business school.

"But their behavior is consistent with the general policy of the US government, whether it's dealing with coffeemakers or cars."

Safety officials understand that product design mistakes are inevitable and will work to help companies correct the problem and alert consumers. But they will not tolerate a slow or weak response, Morici told AFP.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sat down with reporters Wednesday to lay out a timeline of how US officials had "pushed Toyota to take corrective actions" on its pedal problems since 2007.

The meeting came a day after he issued a statement accusing the Japanese automaker of dragging its feet on recalling vehicles in danger of sudden, unintended acceleration due to pedals which could get trapped under floor mats or become "sticky."

He also caused a brief panic when he told a congressional panel that owners of 5.3 million Toyota vehicles affected by the recalls should "stop driving" them.

LaHood later sought to tone down his remarks, telling reporters: "What I meant to say and what I thought I said was if you own one of these cars or if you're in doubt, take it to the dealer and they're going to fix it."

But he insisted that safety officials "will continue to hold Toyota's feet to the fire to make sure that they are doing everything they have promised to make their vehicles safe."

Legislators meanwhile signaled that they would expand their probe, demanding answers on why Toyota's Tacoma trucks -- which have a different pedal assembly than the 5.3 million vehicles recalled -- were also experiencing problems with sudden, unintended acceleration.

Toyota's top US official, Yoshimi Inaba, is set to testify at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

LaHood's strong initial comments could cause some "hysteria, but to some extent, we are such a litigious society, he has no choice but to say that because of the lawsuits that are lined up," said Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight.

"If one more person is killed, they can say that the government didn't act; Toyota did not act."

Weston Konishi, an expert on Japan at the Mansfield Foundation think-tank, said he doubted either Washington or Tokyo wanted the Toyota flap to escalate.

"Toyota is now a real stakeholder in the US economy -- think of its auto plants and jobs -- so trying to score points against it would be somewhat self-defeating," he added.

Konishi said he could only see Toyota becoming the governments' business if the company cut off contracts with US manufacturers due to lack of confidence in quality control after the problems with the US-made pedals.

David Champion, director of automobile testing for Consumer Reports magazine, said the reaction to the recall was overblown.

"When you look at the statistics we are putting an awful lot of effort on a very small risk," he said.

"There has been something like 2,000 complaints of unintended acceleration in some 20 million Toyota vehicles -- it's almost like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Champion lamented as "unfortunate" that it took the death of an off-duty California state trooper and three members of his family to prompt Toyota to issue a mass recall in September to address the problem.

But he said a congressional investigation was an "overreaction" and noted that the "sticky" pedal problem that caused Toyota to halt production and sales of eight models last month was not linked to any accidents or injuries.

"I'm sure it's going to hurt Toyota in the short term over the next year or so," Champion said.

"But if their products are as good as they have been in the past, we're going to see that Toyota's going to bounce back as Ford has from the Firestone (tire recall) fiasco."