Groppetti Automotive which owns Visalia Toyota refused to talk to us about the recall, but national Toyota officials said the recalling of four-million gas pedals and floor mats is changing the gas pedal design for all future Toyota models.
Thousands of Toyota owners have reported a scary situation where their gas pedal was pressed down and would not release. Now, Toyota has announced it is fixing the problem by recalling 4-million gas pedals on Toyota and Lexus models.
"What we're doing at the dealer level is removing the accelerator pedal assembly and removing about 3.4 inch of the bottom of the pedal so we're making it shorter at our dealers," said Brian Lyons with Toyota.
Lyons said the problem is a combination of the gas pedal being too long and the floor mat getting in the way. Dealers are expected to repair both on a number of different models of Toyotas and Lexus' starting in January.
"The first vehicles that will be repaired will be the Camry, Avalon and on the Lexus side, ES350. Those three models by themselves make up about 2 million of the 4 million vehicles," said Lyons.
Some South Valley Toyota and Lexus owners we spoke to were concerned about the recall and the amount of time it will take to replace all 4 million gas pedals.
Toyota owner Maryanne Brannan said, "If there are cars out there with malfunctioning gas pedals that would be something to be concerned about."
Lexus owner Elizabeth Lucha said, "I think it's going to be challenging it sounds like a lot of gas pedals to replace and just making time for all of the owners to take them in and get them service right away is going to be difficult."
Toyota also said starting in April 2010, the new shorter gas pedals will be available in service dept at dealerships, and all 2011 model Toyotas and Lexus's will have the new shorter, gas pedal.
Toyota and Lexus owners affected by this recall should expect to get something in the mail from Toyota in December. If you have any questions you're asked to call your local Toyota dealership.
