Japan, Inc. hates three things:1) Defects
2) Going to court
3) Bad press
And Toyota has all three these days.
Frankly, they deserve it. I've never understood the problem with Happy Meal toys. How many times have fast food places recalled those toys? There have been dozens of them over the years. You would think they would know how to avoid the recalls after...say...the FIRST time you have a problem.
Toyota is in the same boat. They had the gas pedal hanging up on the floor mat problem and finally owned up to it in September.
It turns out that the fix created problems of its own.
The flaw is so bad that they halted sales and production. (I'm guessing that the flaw isn't all that bad, but it puts Toyota in a tough legal position. If someone were to get hurt or killed with the reworked design, there isn't anywhere Toyota could hide.)
And just to add an element of Nanny-ism and upset the libertarians, Toyota is also creating a software fix. If you hit the brake, it automatically overrides the accelerator. (Sorry kids, no more drag racing with the Camry.)
A history of the problem in pictures.....
Original flaw, recalled in October of last year:
Original solution by Toyota was to wrap the feet of American drivers:
Just kidding!The new pedal with plenty of space, even if the floor mat slides up.
This looks like a pretty good fix. I wonder what's wrong.
Whatever it is, your special order Avalon arrived just in time for your wife's birthday...but you can't have it.
