so should i park my XB and wait for the recall notices…it is made up of toyota parts. i have the corolla engine.
Look here http://www.toyota.com/recall/
If your car is on the list, schedule an appointment with your dealer. Request a loaner until they fix yours.
If it’s not on the list, drive on.
What my friend mountainbike says is true, but at this point nobody really knows if there are underlying problems in more Toyota products than have already been recalled.
Below is the text of my response earlier today, to a person who drives a Japanese-made Camry. The same thoughts can apply to your car:
[i]In terms of the recall(s) that have already been announced, Japanese-made Toyota products are not affected because the accelerator pedal components were made in Japan, by Denso Corp., and these parts are different from the parts made by an American supplier based in Elkhart, Indiana. That is the good news.
The bad news is that Toyota of America’s CEO, Mr. Lentz, has stated before Congress that he cannot guarantee that the existing recall(s) will resolve all Toyota issues regarding unintended acceleration. Many people believe that Toyota’s electronic “drive by wire” system has an inherent defect, and that this could have been the cause of some/many of the reported fatal incidents.
Unfortunately the 34 dead people cannot speak for themselves, and some of the Toyota/Lexus owners who testified before Congress made “questionable” or self-contradictory statements. As a result, more testing and evaluation will be necessary before anyone figures out this situation in its totality.
Since there is a very real possibility that there is a defect in your car that is not yet covered by a recall, you need to begin familiarizing yourself with the recommended procedure in the event that the car decides to accelerate on its own:
Press the brake pedal very firmly and keep it depressed
Shift to Neutral
Watch for vehicles in your blind spot as you steer toward the road shoulder
As soon as the car is safely stopped on the shoulder, shift to Park and apply the e-brake
Shut off the engine
If the engine races very loudly when you shift to Neutral, don’t worry about it. The electronic controls (supposedly) will not allow the engine to over-rev. And, even if the engine was ruined, wouldn’t that be preferable to a fatal accident?
Also, you should practice shifting to Neutral, so that you can do it without taking your eyes off the road.
The shift interlock mechanism should allow you to shift to Neutral by simply pushing the shift lever forward, without any danger of shifting to Reverse or Park.[/i]
Good post. I personally don’t buy the EMT and signal interference theories, but I think they’re going to discover untimately that some of these problems are caused by a faulty transducer. I just feel it in my gut.
Unfortunately, we can’t know what we don’t know until we finally know it.
What year xB? I know the 1st-gen’s (through 2007 I think?) still had cable-controlled throttles and so that’s not a problem. The '06 I drove for a while didn’t even come with floor-mats, so that wasn’t a problem either!
Generally, Scions are supposed to be a cheaper brand and so they’re generally lower tech than the actual Toyota-branded cars. Because of this, they generally don’t have all the high-tech stuff that may or may not be the problem here.
I drive a Honda, but I don’t sweat it when Acuras get recalled. My mother used to drive a Ford, but she didn’t park it every time Lincoln recalled a model for a safety issue.
Just go on living your life. Don’t let fear take over. Toyota is trying to minimize the PR damage this issue has caused, so it isn’t in their interest to hide more problems that are inevitable to surface.
Even if your Scion was on the list of recalled models, the chances of experiencing unintended acceleration are extremely remote. Having a car that isn’t in the recall means you are even less likely to experience a problem. I think your chances of experiencing unintended acceleration are lower than your chance of being struck by lightening.