WASHINGTON - Toyota says it will recall 3.8 million vehicles in the United States to address problems with a removable floor mat that could interfere with the vehicle's accelerator and cause a crash.
The company says it will be the largest U.S. recall in its history. Owners could learn about the safety campaign as early as next week.
Toyota and the government warned owners of Toyota and Lexus vehicles about safety problems tied to the removable floor mats.
"A stuck open accelerator pedal may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop the vehicle, which could cause a crash," the company said in a statement.
"Until Toyota develops a remedy, Toyota Canada joins our US colleagues in asking owners of specific Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable driver's floor mat and not replace it with any other floor mat."
Toyota Canada spokeswoman Sandy Di Felice said the move was a precautionary measure.
"All we're saying to people is just do the right thing here. Never mind what nuances may nor may not exist. We're asking them to remove the floormats on the driver's side just as a precaution," she said.
The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon, 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra, 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.
Toyota's previously largest U.S. recall was about 900,000 vehicles in 2005 to fix a steering issue.
