There are a lot of other aftermarket floor mats that could cause the same problem, especially if it bunches up around the gas pedal.

I read about this during the last week of August. I think it also affects newer Corollas as well. GF is bringing hers to the dealer very soon.

Also, Corollas are having an issue with a part that will freeze up during very cold climates. I forget the name, but it's a simple repair.

Um, wow. The earliest cars with them were made in late 2003 and they're just recalling now? "Incidents" must not be too common, but I'm glad they're finally getting around to doing that.

Dang it... 2007 Yaris not included... my floor mat is pretty dingy. I did forget to hook it in place once and it slid up under the accelarator pedal. I thought i had lost power becasue i couldn't fully accelerate, but then noticed the floor mat.

And everyone said I was mad when I said not to get the floor mats because they were overpriced. They also kill! Now whose crazy, eh?!?!

I had the same trouble with the mats on a 1996 Saturn SL1. I ended up removing them because they were such a pain.

Dammit! I just bought some new floormats for the used 2007 Tacoma we just bought...

Wow, the first auto-related recall that has ever affected a car in my family. My husband has a Prius, either 2007 or 2008 I can't remember.

Thank you. I've let him know.

If you're going to put floor mats in cars, there shouldn't be anything under them but a rubber mat. Like in the old days. The part you put your feet on should be removable (I'd have mine out all winter) and washable.

Now wouldn't that make sense?

I spent a pile of money for their overpriced floormats, and now they want me to drive around looking at that skanky-looking underfloor?

Sheesh.

@GitEmSteveDave_JustAddHotWater:
Now I've got a legitimate excuse for why I was speeding!

Except I don't have a Toyota.
Darn, almost-foolproof.

@SagarikaLumos: I suspect this is due to the crash in San Diego a couple weeks ago. The accelerator was stuck and the car crashed at something like 120 mph.

@GitEmSteveDave_JustAddHotWater: You are, for not having experienced the awesomeness of a certified "Toyota" logo for you to place your feet on every day.

Now, I know your life must feel empty and hollow, knowing that all this time, you could have been enjoying this fine piece of craftsmanship. Running your naked toes past the "T", feeling the high-quality stitching created lovingly, fated to one day end up on your floorboard, accompanying you on your journeys, telling you that everything is going to be OK.

I may die on my way home today, but at least I won't have to live even one moment without my Toyota drivers side floor mat to comfort me through another mindless commute.

So, the question I have is, Will Toyota be compensating the customers because they had to remove the mats? or just take part of the car away(in some cases a premium part) and just call it a day because it's safety related?

THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME!

I own a '07 Lexus IS 350 and don't see how this is possible. The factory floor mats attach to clips in the carpet, but...

I was driving my secondary vehicle, a '97 Civic. I was driving across a bridge when all of a sudden my car starting accelerating for no reason. I downshifted and still kept picking up speed. At this point I'm going 80 in a 35. My heart is in my stomach and I'm slamming on my brakes but still accelerating. I keep it together, look down, and see my floormat shifted and was holding down the gas pedal. I quickly reached down and yanked it, and finally stopped.

[www.sandiego6.com]

Related to this crash in San Diego county, that killed a CHP officer and his family.

Darn, my 2004 4-Runner didn't make the list.

@Darklighter: 3.8 million car recall over one crash? I kind of doubt it. There would have to be many incidents to cause such a huge recall, even if noone else was hurt or killed. As Holytrainwreck noted above, though, many floormats (especially aftermarket) can bunch up from people getting in and out. Unless they can get a deep grip on the carpet or hook to the floor stud that many cars have, most aftermarket mats are at least as dangerous as these Toyota mats.

Mental note: if the car is running away with me, shift into neutral.

@bnceo: it's a brake line issue, it wasn't insulated properly.

@Darklighter: yeah exactly, and there's really no need.

if you use the included clamps on the floor there's no issue, but because it was a cop who died Toyota is getting a lot of pressure to do something.

@esp13: Sounds like it has a hook, so it probably isn't included because of that. Toyota will most likely send you an advisory to make sure it's hooked on.

Hyundai did that when they had the airbag recall. I went in and got the part fixed, but they still sent out a notice on how to properly deal with the passenger airbag.

@shinseiromeo: Next time shift into neutral.

Okay, that's just terrifying.

With all the talk about floormats affect pedals, I wonder about the reliability of 'throttle-by-wire' and 'push-to-start' on cars. What's to keep programming errors (this is a cost-at-all-costs industry) from suddenly flooring the engine?

If you press those start/stop buttons while the car is in gear and in motion, will it shut down or ignore it?

Looks like Toyota couldn't pay away this one like they did with their engine sludging issue that never made it to recall status.

Sounds annoying. At least you could just push the clutch down and coast to a stop if it happened though. Better than the brakes giving out, I guess.

Still, as someone else pointed out, it's curious that the vehicles affected stretch back 5 years!

@RustyRyan:
Just another reason for me to continue buying manual transmissions.

I'm accelerating for no reason!!!
*clutch* *Neutral*
Now lets coast to a place I can fix this at.

Not listed is the Yaris. It's not that the accelerator doesn't get stuck on Yaris models. It's just that nothing happens when they do get stuck.

@Darklighter:

I think I would have thrown the sucker in neutral/reverse/park and let the engine blow before I crashed at 120.

Although I understand the reasoning behind the "Speed" photo, I think a "Total Recall" photo would have been more appropriate.

Bad Consumerist! Bad! Bad! Bad! The Keanu "Speed" DVD cover! LOL. I keep telling my boyfriend his cheap, moves when you blow on, it saran wrap mats are gonna be the death of him. Hopefully, now my Pradas can get to know the cushy G35 factory mats a little better.

@wgrune: My thoughts exactly. Try neutral, lower gears, grind up against a wall and e-brake it as a last resort.

This happened to me a few years ago with an ES350 loaner car from a dealer. Really scary. Put a post up on my blog after it happened. Six months later I got an e-mail from someone at the NHTSA. Ended up calling him and discussing what had happened.

It sounds like the problem is with clearance on the gas pedal. So the issue isn't the floor mat.

@Quake 'n' Shake: Zing lol, nice and true!

Was a recall really necessary? I've had it happen to me once, but that was because my floor mat had lost the little teeth on the underside so it wouldn't stay put. Newer vehicles tend to have that little hook in the floorboard that engages a hole in the mat to keep it from riding up.

@Oranges w/ Cheese eats her veggies:

.. but first turn off the ignition. :)

@Quake 'n' Shake: The CHP and Merced County have evidence to the contrary and about $300 of mine to prove it :/

My GM floor mats are working just fine. No death threat to me from my fine GM automobile. Best I ever bought...

Toyota is having issue after issue after issue. This follows the bad run of Camry and Lexus ES transmissions in 2007.

Toyota just can't make cars as well as the domestic automakers do. Why can't they make cars Americans want to buy?

@Saboth:
I actually thoguht it WAS a "Total Recall" poster...
My eyes suck.

@drizzt380:
With an automatic you can put a car in neutral just with your hand (you do not even have to push the button), no wasted time stepping on a clutch.

Also if the accelerator was stuck you could also just turn your key to off.

This makes me believe that this happened to a driver with no license anyone with driving experience knows how to move a stick to neutral or turn a key.

@bnceo: My 2004 Corolla has this exact same issue. There aren't floor clamps for the floor mat and it continues to bunch up around the accelerator.

I may try bringing it in anyway to present the issue.

@andyross: hear, hear!! would you trust some doofus software engineer with your life? i think not.

btw: harware engineer here. never, never, never, ever fly-by-wire.

@zoz: Except if you don't have a clutch - in which case you turn the engine off and put it in neutral - then start braking.

@Oranges w/ Cheese eats her veggies: I think it is the models without hooks on the mats, that have a problem. My 2009 Matrix has hooks that keep the mat from sliding up under the gas pedal and scrunching.

@CaptainConsumer: That's why Hyundai/Kia is gaining market share so quickly - comparable quality (both due to Toyota's slipping and Hyundai's gaining) for less $.

@Saboth: I dunno, I appreciate the "can't slow down" sentiment more here.

@formatc: Or perhaps switch the ignition to "off" (not "lock", just "off")?

@Darklighter: I guess the brain freezes up so you can't think to switch the engine off.