Dealers swamped by Toyota drivers worried about recall

What to do if the accelerator sticks

Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped selling and building eight models, saying there’s a possibility that their accelerator pedals may get stuck in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position. The automaker and experts have advice for drivers if a vehicle’s accelerator pedal sticks:

Basic advice: Consumer Reports magazine’s instructions is simple: First, brake hard. Then put the car in neutral. When you come to a stop, turn off the engine.

The engine may keep revving loudly while you try to stop, but don’t turn it off if you can avoid it. Turning off the engine means you lose power-assisted steering and brakes, and if you turn the key too far, you could lock the steering wheel.

Don’t pump the brakes. Press firmly and steadily. Toyota warns that pumping the brake pedal will deplete the vacuum assist, which boosts the braking force using power from the engine. If that’s depleted, you’ll need to put much stronger pressure on the brake pedal, and it still might not be enough force to stop safely.

“If the engine really goes to wide open throttle, it’s really scary,” Heywood said. “You have to jam your foot on the brake really hard.”

If all else fails, turn off the engine. If you can’t put the vehicle in neutral, then turn the engine off. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.

New York ? Toyota dealers across the country were swamped with calls Wednesday from concerned drivers but had few answers a day after the company announced it would stop selling and building eight models because of faulty gas pedals.

Toyota insisted the problem — sudden, uncontrolled acceleration — was “rare and infrequent” and said dealers should deal with customers “on a case-by-case basis.” But drivers of Toyotas and those who share the road with them were left with uncertainty.

In an unprecedented move, the company said late Tuesday it would halt sales for the eight models — which make up more than half of Toyota’s U.S. sales volume — to fix the gas pedals. Last week, Toyota issued a recall for the same eight models, affecting 2.3 million vehicles.

A private firm said it had identified 275 crashes and 18 deaths because of sudden, uncontrollable acceleration in Toyotas since 1999.

In North Palm Beach, Fla., Clare Roden showed up at a Toyota dealership worried about the 2010 Camry she purchased recently. She was relieved when she was told her accelerator was not a problem part.

The dealership owner, Earl Stewart, said about half his cars are affected by the recall, a huge hit to business. He said customers had been flocking in with concerns about the accelerator on all of the models. He sent some home with loaners.

“They’re very frightened,” he said. “Many people are concerned their accelerator pedal is going to stick and they’re going to be involved in an accident.”

At Walser Toyota in Bloomington, Minn., owner Doug Sprinthall took calls all day Wednesday from people wanting to know if cars they once thought were dependable were affected by the freeze. He didn’t have much to tell them.

“It’s hurry up and wait,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of faith in Toyota. They’re a good company. These things are not unheard of. … What’s different about this is it’s just so many vehicles.”

Toyota has said the problem appears to be related to the buildup of condensation on sliding surfaces in the accelerator system that help drivers push down or release the gas pedal. The gas pedal mechanism can wear down, causing the accelerator to become harder to press, slower to spring back or stuck.