By KEN THOMAS
Washington (AP) -- Complaints of sudden acceleration in
Toyotas repaired under recalls have nearly doubled in the past
two weeks, according to an Associated Press analysis of
government data.
The complaints from 105 drivers raise questions about
whether Toyota's repairs will prevent the cars from speeding up
on their own or if there is another reason for the problem.
Toyota has said it is confident in its repairs and has
found no evidence of other problems, such as faulty
electronics. The automaker did not immediately comment
Wednesday on the latest complaints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it
was contacting owners who have complained about their repaired
vehicles. David Strickland, NHTSA's administrator, said in a
statement Wednesday the agency has found "several instances in
which a dealer made mistakes in applying one of the recall
remedies."
He said NHTSA has discussed the issue with Toyota, which is
trying to improve instructions to dealers.
Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide
since October over complaints that gas pedals can become sticky
or trapped under floor mats.
An AP review of a NHTSA database found reports of repaired
cars continuing to accelerate on their own had jumped to 105
since March 4, when the government reported 60 such
complaints.
The complaints are submitted online or through a NHTSA hot
line and have not been independently verified.
In many of the comments, which can be filed anonymously,
owners said the sudden acceleration issue reappeared only days
after their cars were fixed at their local dealership.
"I went in for the recall and it seems there is a worse
problem now," wrote the owner of a 2008 Toyota Tundra in
Boynton Beach, Fla., who reported unwanted acceleration in
early March. "I truly believe this is an electronic problem."
John Moscicki, of Lake Oswego, Ore., told the AP his 2007
Camry accelerated on its own five times before he got the
vehicle fixed under the floor mat recall last month.
On March 4, his repaired Camry took off from a standing
stop on the freeway and accelerated to 50 mph before Moscicki
managed to stop it by shifting into neutral, hitting the brake
with his left foot and pulling back the gas pedal with his
right.
"It just went to the floor like some other system had
control of it," said Moscicki, who raced high-performance
sports cars and previously owned a Porsche restoration
business.
His Toyota dealer had the Camry for a week, and Toyota sent
in a field engineer to examine the car without finding anything
wrong. Moscicki said he had planned to give the vehicle to his
college-age daughter but now intends to get rid of it. "I
wouldn't let her anywhere near this car," he said.
The safety concerns are difficult to pinpoint because they
could be related to any number of factors, said Diane Steed,
who served as NHTSA administrator during the Reagan
administration.
Besides telephone interviews with owners, the agency will
look at how dealers fixed the cars, whether the problems
involved common parts or the same manufacturing facilities or
whether human error might be involved, she said.
Steed, who led the agency during a lengthy review of sudden
acceleration complaints in Audi sedans, said there is no
specific threshold that would automatically lead the agency to
demand that Toyota, or any other automaker involved in a
recall, come up with a new fix.
"It's really an engineering judgment call," she said. "The
real challenge is not so much the numbers but digging to get to
the bottom of what is the problem."
---
Associated Press Auto Writers Dee-Ann Durbin and Tom
Krisher in Detroit, Dan Strumpf in New York and AP writers
Allen Chen in New York and Dibya Sarkar in Washington
contributed to this report.
Washington (AP) -- Complaints of sudden acceleration in
Toyotas repaired under recalls have nearly doubled in the past
two weeks, according to an Associated Press analysis of
government data.
The complaints from 105 drivers raise questions about
whether Toyota's repairs will prevent the cars from speeding up
on their own or if there is another reason for the problem.
Toyota has said it is confident in its repairs and has
found no evidence of other problems, such as faulty
electronics. The automaker did not immediately comment
Wednesday on the latest complaints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it
was contacting owners who have complained about their repaired
vehicles. David Strickland, NHTSA's administrator, said in a
statement Wednesday the agency has found "several instances in
which a dealer made mistakes in applying one of the recall
remedies."
He said NHTSA has discussed the issue with Toyota, which is
trying to improve instructions to dealers.
Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide
since October over complaints that gas pedals can become sticky
or trapped under floor mats.
An AP review of a NHTSA database found reports of repaired
cars continuing to accelerate on their own had jumped to 105
since March 4, when the government reported 60 such
complaints.
The complaints are submitted online or through a NHTSA hot
line and have not been independently verified.
In many of the comments, which can be filed anonymously,
owners said the sudden acceleration issue reappeared only days
after their cars were fixed at their local dealership.
"I went in for the recall and it seems there is a worse
problem now," wrote the owner of a 2008 Toyota Tundra in
Boynton Beach, Fla., who reported unwanted acceleration in
early March. "I truly believe this is an electronic problem."
John Moscicki, of Lake Oswego, Ore., told the AP his 2007
Camry accelerated on its own five times before he got the
vehicle fixed under the floor mat recall last month.
On March 4, his repaired Camry took off from a standing
stop on the freeway and accelerated to 50 mph before Moscicki
managed to stop it by shifting into neutral, hitting the brake
with his left foot and pulling back the gas pedal with his
right.
"It just went to the floor like some other system had
control of it," said Moscicki, who raced high-performance
sports cars and previously owned a Porsche restoration
business.
His Toyota dealer had the Camry for a week, and Toyota sent
in a field engineer to examine the car without finding anything
wrong. Moscicki said he had planned to give the vehicle to his
college-age daughter but now intends to get rid of it. "I
wouldn't let her anywhere near this car," he said.
The safety concerns are difficult to pinpoint because they
could be related to any number of factors, said Diane Steed,
who served as NHTSA administrator during the Reagan
administration.
Besides telephone interviews with owners, the agency will
look at how dealers fixed the cars, whether the problems
involved common parts or the same manufacturing facilities or
whether human error might be involved, she said.
Steed, who led the agency during a lengthy review of sudden
acceleration complaints in Audi sedans, said there is no
specific threshold that would automatically lead the agency to
demand that Toyota, or any other automaker involved in a
recall, come up with a new fix.
"It's really an engineering judgment call," she said. "The
real challenge is not so much the numbers but digging to get to
the bottom of what is the problem."
---
Associated Press Auto Writers Dee-Ann Durbin and Tom
Krisher in Detroit, Dan Strumpf in New York and AP writers
Allen Chen in New York and Dibya Sarkar in Washington
contributed to this report.
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