Lexus and Toyota recall floor mats

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has announced it will recall 55,000 All-Weather Floor Mats due to a problem with the mats potentially getting stuck under the accelerator pedal in certain cars. If not secured properly using the provided retention hooks, the heavy-duty rubber mats can slide forward causing the vehicle to accelerate uncontrollably. The recall affects driver's side floor mats that were an option on 2007 and early 2008 Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry models.   

Toyota will notify owners by mail in early October and will begin replacing the mats in November at no charge to consumers.

Toyota also urges all drivers utilizing a driver's side floor mat to make sure they are properly secured and not placed on top of another floor mat. The hooks for the mats are designed to accommodate only one floor mat at a time.

If you have any questions on the recall, contact your local Toyota (888-270-9371) or Lexus (800-255-3987) dealer. Or call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Hotline at 888-327-4236.

Although this recall affected Toyota and Lexus vehicles, improper mat usage can pose risks in any vehicle. When installing factory or aftermarket mats, follow the directions. If your vehicle has them, utilize the mat anchors; they provide a real safety benefit of keeping the mats secure and out of the way of the pedals. And do not stack a new mat on the old one. The combined height of the two mats or a loose upper mat may interfere with pedal operation.

--Liza Barth

Discuss Lexus and Toyota in the Consumer Reports Forums.

Comments

[Speedracer]

I've used aftermarket mats for many years. Most I've had slip under the accelerator at some point and result in a sustained run up in speed and sometimes is frightening. I don't know of any aftermarket mats that have the anchors. Even those that are ordered as "custom" from very large aftermarket firms.

[pepprdog]

Not using the anchors isn't a defect, it's simple owner/operator error. Why is the manufacturer being required to recall something because the people won't pay attention to the common sense instructions.

[Mister Ed]

Pepprdog: The reason Toyota needs to recall these mats is because (1) people should not be made to pay with their lives because they have slipped one mat in on top of another, (2) the "innocent" drivers of other cars collided with by out of control Toyotas deserve protection. I had these mats in combination with the start/stop BUTTON and experienced a 90 mile per hour ride down I55 with no way to stop the thing. It was a miracle my wife and I were not killed. The ONLY way I could stop the car was to put the car in neutral, at 90 mph, and get to the shoulder. If this would have happened on the 2 lane roads where I normally drive, there is no doubt in my mind that I would have injured/killed myself and/or others.
The directions for installation of this mat are in about size 8 font and are very easily missed (black letters on a black background) as I recall. Car manufacturers should consider every possibility in the design of their cars. When an "eager beaver" mistake such as this is so easily made, again, people should not have to pay with their lives, or others' lives, too.

[Shane Watson]

Your information is quite helpful for us in buying Floor mats for our car. Thanks for this informative post.