Toyota woes

Reading all the reports in the media about the problems Toyota has with sticking accelerators reminds me of a very similar problem I had a few years ago with a Jeep Cherokee. Travelling down the motorway at speed, I noticed the car was getting steadily faster, even though I'd eased off on the accelerator. I braked, yet the car still seemed to rev and get faster as soon as I took my foot off the brake again.

We stopped, and I had a good look around the engine bay to see if I could see anything loose or missing in the throttle mechanism that would explain it. Nothing.

Fortunately, the Jeep was under warranty, so I called the recovery truck and the car was left at my local Jeep dealer and we were taken home.

The next day, I got a call from the dealer to say they had examined the car and could find nothing wrong. But they did notice that floor mat on the drivers side was resting on top of the accelerator peddle! Oh dear!

Of course. I'd cleaned the car the day before and must have put the mat back wrongly. I felt a fool.

So, Toyota. I suggest you ask owners to check the floor mats before recalling all those cars.