NORTH SYRACUSE -- A North Syracuse man says he discovered a serious problem with his Toyota Camry but did not get a response from the company. Now, the automaker is recalling several vehicles because of a problem with the gas pedal. The gas pedals can become harder to press, slower to return, or even get stuck. 2.3 million vehicles are included in the recall, including the one driven by Preston Prue of North Syracuse.
Prue and his wife were driving on one of our local highways back in December when, all of a sudden, the accelerator on his new Camry became stuck. Prue said, "I immediately tried to break and from there I tried to put the car in neutral."
Prue couldn't figure out why his 2009 Toyota Camry wouldn't stop that day. The only explanation he had was that something is wrong with the accelerator.
"I put my right foot under the pedal and pulled the pedal up and the RPMs went back to normal," he said."
Prue brought it to the dealership but they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. Since then, Prue and his wife have been on edge about driving their Camry.
He said, "There's a fear every time you get in the car. We talk about what to do in case the car gets out of control again."
Now that a recall has been issued, they're hopeful they can get their car fixed but they say it can't happen soon enough. "A can of dog food goes bad and they call it off the shelf. These cars have gotten thousands of complaints and they're still on the road."
Toyota won't say exactly how many complaints it's gotten but Prue is one of them. His car only has 5,000 miles on it. But before this car, he had been a loyal Toyota customer. "I've owned 5 Toyotas. We've traded them and paid cash for them. We had no gripe with Toyota until this thing happened."
For his next car, he says he'll likely go elsewhere. Prue said he has contacted the Attorney Generals office about the problem. As for Toyota, a spokesperson says there isn't a solution to the accelerator sticking problem.
Click here for more coverage of this story with links to the list of vehicles on the recall list.
