Pedal problem prompts carmaker to halt sale of 8 top models

LYNN – Putting the pedal to the metal probably isn’t the safest way to drive the eight most popular vehicles manufactured by Toyota Motor Co.The company has acknowledged wide-ranging problems with “sticking accelerator pedals” that can potentially cause accidents and death. On Tuesday, Toyota – the world’s No. 1 car maker – ordered its dealers to stop selling the Camry, Corolla and Avalon sedans, Matrix wagon, RAV4 crossover, Tundra pickup and Highlander and Sequoia sport utility vehicles. The eight models represented 57 percent of Toyota’s 2009 U.S. sales.John Biggio, general manager at the Atlantic Toyota dealership at 671 Lynnway, said the situation is evolving, with some good news and some bad. “The worst part is, the dealers don’t know much more than the consumers know at this point. But the main thing is, not all the cars we sell are affected,” he said.According to Biggio, a “good percentage” of the Toyotas on his lot are subject to the sales ban, particularly the more popular models. “In our instance, although the RAV4 is included in the mix, 80 percent of the RAV4s on my lot were built in Japan, so they’re not affected,” he said.Biggio explained that the faulty accelerator parts have been traced to CTS, an Indiana-based manufacturing company with an assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. “The parts in question came from that supplier,” he said. “So it’s not a matter of whether the vehicle was made in the U.S. or Japan. What matters is whether the parts from CTS were part of the assembly.”Most of the Camry, Corolla and Tundra models at Atlantic Toyota currently can’t be sold because they contain the faulty accelerator.”Toyota has issued a stop sale order, and that essentially told us to stop selling any defective units until a remedy can be provided. We are waiting on that remedy,” Biggio said.The halt in sales coincided with the company’s massive recall of vehicles with faulty accelerators. When the problem first arose, the company advised vehicle owners to simply remove the driver’s floor mat since it was the suspected cause of the troublesome gas pedal. Perhaps the quick-fix was wishful thinking on Toyota’s part, but the company soon realized the problems persisted.The unusual move by Toyota to halt sales followed two recalls of millions of vehicles in the last two months for a problem that the company has described as a “rare” condition in which the gas pedal can stick and cause a vehicle to speed up unintentionally.Unlike vehicles from previous generations, the latest Toyotas have no direct link from gas pedal to accelerator. As a result, the electronics connecting the two can either make the pedal hard to depress, or, when foot pressure is removed, cause the accelerator to return slowly to the idle position.”This action is necessary until a remedy is finalized,” Robert S. Carter, a Toyota group vice president, said in a statement. “We’re making every effort to address this situation for our customers as quickly as possible.”Toyota also announced Tuesday that it will stop producing the affected vehicles at several North American plants for one week, starting Feb. 1. Toyota said the move was intended to restore confidence in the automaker, and the safety of its products. The U.S. recall occurred just as Toyota was able to overtake longtime industry giant General Motors Co. in terms of vehicle production in 2009.”We’re hoping to get more information from Toyota in the next 24-48 hours,” Biggio said Wednesday.