LLCoolT! The Lawyers Love Cool Toyota! Toyota has dug such a bottomless pit for themselves, that even instances where it is hard to believe that the Toyota vehicle caused a death, and not driver error, acquire nasty headlines like "Toyota Attempting To Block Executive Testimony!!!" I mean, I'm sorry, Toyota; I tend to side with you on this one, but that is the headline because that is what's happening.

So, just the facts, Friday. A 78-year-old woman, Guadalupe Alberto, was driving a 2005 Toyota Camry when it accelerated out of control, veering towards and smashing into an oak tree, killing Mrs. Alberto instantly. This happened in Flint, Michigan in April of 2008. The family is attempting to take Toyota to the cleaners.

Uhm, well, no offense, but the elderly may have mistaken a gas pedal for a brake pedal once or twice over the course of American history. That being said, Tough Rocks, Toyota! You sold cars that thrash, kill, and maim, youse got's dis come'n!

Mark McGwire was a hell of a baseball player. On the field, he was unstoppable. In court, not so much. Same with Roger Clemens. Testifying just wasn't their bag. How about Akio Toyoda? How did he fare against the awkward jabs and sideways questions presented to him on Capitol Hill?

Enter the post, and decide for yourself . . .

Today Akio Toyoda is in Washington D.C., getting lambasted by the board of GM, err, the US government. We will have a complete report on what was said under the hot lights of the Capitol building, but for the moment we want to make sure that we all know exactly what Toyota vehicles might be disastrously unsafe to drive. The Mighty List, located inside yon post . ..

Wow, Toyota, people say that we Americans learned a lot from you, but it appears that you have also taken a few lessons from us. Like the joy that can be gained from abject greed. Or how easily our government can be manipulated for the sake of pure evil. What's the death toll up to again? 30 some-odd Americans?

We will lay out everything there is to know about the Toyota recall over the course of these posts, starting with the newest updates from Toyota.

Two huge developments over the last 24 hours, one of which is good, the other, well, not so good. GM has finally unloaded beleaguered Saab, and the little Super-Car company that could, Spyker, is the proud new parent. On a slightly more somber note, Toyota has suspended sales of all of its domestically made vehicles. In other words, no Scions or Lexi, but everything else wearing a Toyota badge . . .

GM is selling so many CUVs they can't make enough of them;

Opel is forced to close a plant in Belgium;

and Toyota just keeps trying to murder us with floormats . . .

Toyota has announced they will replace the gas pedals on 3.8 million vehicles. This announcement is part of the largest recall in Toyota's history and affects both Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the United States. The company said it will reconfigure the shape of accelerator pedals to cut down on the risk that they may be jammed in the floor mat. In addition, it will replace original equipment floor mats with redesigned mats.

The following models are affected:

• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2007-2010 ES 350
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

Toyota will start notifying owners of the involved vehicles via first-class mail by the end of this year. Owners of the involved vehicles are asked to take out any removable driver’s floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat until the pedal is replaced or modified.

Initially (beginning of 2010) dealers will reshape the current accelerator pedal until a replacement pedal is manufactured. As replacement pedals become available (around April 2010) customers will have the opportunity to receive a new pedal if they desire.

Owners with questions or concerns, are asked to please contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center (1-800-331-4331) or Lexus Customer Assistance Center (1-800-255-3987), or consult the information posted at http://www.toyota.com and http://www.lexus.com.

We have posted the press release from Toyota after the jump.

Nah, Nah - Toyota finally screwed something up. Not that I'm wishing Toyota any bad luck, but MAN, am I sick of their "holierthanthou" reputation in the US market. Finally, after years of hearing all about Toyota's amazing reliability, and their astronomical resale value and their magical fuel economy blahblahblah, they've finally gone and really screwed the pooch. Hard. The pooch has a broken hip.

"Wasn't that 'floor mats' thing a pretty big deal?" you ask. Well, no, not really. Zip-ties solved that problem. Here we have a real serious failure. Here we have an afront to humankind that just cannot be overlooked: The thingee that holds the spare tire in place gets a little rusty . . .. What?!? What a let down!! Is that all??! No, this rust can cause your Tundra's brakes to fail in extreme cases . . . sigh, I was hoping for some sort of grisly catastrophe that involved the Tundra completely imploding on itself, crushing the driver and the driver's dog in a cocoon of twisted metal and shattered glass . . . Toyota, you always let me down . . .

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a safety alert to the owners of particular Toyota and Lexus models from 2004-2010. This recall affects 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles in the United States. The alert reports of accelerator pedal clearance issues which provide the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position. A stuck accelerator may result in very high vehicle speeds and a crash, which could cause serious injury or death.

The following models are affected:

• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2007-2010 ES 350
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

Toyota has announced that it will soon launch a safety recall to address the problem with the vehicles listed above. The NHTSA is asking owners of specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver’s floormat immediately and NOT replace it with any other floormat until Toyota develops a solution (see photo above?).

Owners with questions or concerns, are asked to please contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center (1-800-331-4331) or Lexus Customer Assistance Center (1-800-255-3987), or consult the information posted at http://www.toyota.com and http://www.lexus.com.

We have posted the press releases from both the NHTSA and Toyota after the jump. Toyota's press release includes instructions on what to do if your gas pedal gets stuck due to floormat interference.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a recall (campaign ID #09V358000) for 2009 and 2010 Nissan Altima and Maxima models to correct a problem with faulty suspension components that may contribute to an accident. This recall involves up to 26,398 vehicles. The problem component has been identified as the upper front strut insulators. The poorly designed insulators may crack, allowing the struts to move out of position which could cause vehicle instability and potentially lead to a crash.

Nissan will replace both the left and right side front strut insulators at no charge to the customer. The recall is expected to officially begin on October 5; consumers may contact Nissan at 1-800-NISSAN1 (1-800-647-7261), or the NHTSA's Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (1-800-424-9153) for more information.