Frequent readers will recall that I have had a rocky relationship with Toyota in regards to my 2009 Matrix. I’ve had problems with it that required the intervention of Toyota Canada to solve, as well as a couple of recall notices. I just had the latter one done and I have to admit that I am not impressed. According to Toyota Canada, they needed to do the following to my car:
- Modify the the accelerator pedal and the floor so that the accelerator pedal doesn’t get stuck.
- Ensure that OEM floor mats are properly secured and that the proper ones are being used.
So when I took it in for an oil change and some other service last night, they did just that. This is what my pedal looked like afterwards:
What it appears that they have done is cut the bottom corners off the pedal and trimmed the size of the pedal down so that it doesn’t touch the floor. It also appears that they pulled the carpet and did something to the floor to increase the clearance between the pedal and the floor. However I cannot tell what they did specifically. Now on the drive home, the pedal didn’t feel any different and the car drives the same. But this really doesn’t look like something a major car company should be doing. It’s has a “ghetto engineering” feel to it that my wife and I are not impressed with. We’re going to drive it like this for now, but we’re thinking of asking them to replace the pedal as it is becoming clear to us that their recall fixes have more to do with cost containment rather than customer satisfaction.
UPDATE: My wife drove the car today and she finds it impossible to do the heel and toe between the gas pedal and brake. She is not a fan of this and is considering calling Toyota about it. I pity the human who gets her call.