The Pontiac Vibe has been included in Toyota’s sticking accelerator recall that has affected more than 2.3 million vehicles in the US.
The Vibe crossover is the sister car to the Toyota Matrix and is engineered and built in California by Toyota.
General Motors spokesman, Alan Adler, said his company had not received any complaints about the 2009-2010 Vibe’s accelerator pedals sticking, but said it was now arranging for the recall work to be performed at GMC and Buick dealerships.
“We didn’t manufacture it, but we sell it, so we have a responsibility to make sure that Pontiac customers are taken care of,” he said.
The Vibe/Matrix was one part of the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc joint venture between GM and Toyota that ended after GM’s bankruptcy last year.
Meanwhile, Toyota is investigating a number of solutions to the sticking accelerator issue, which is now known to be caused by a device that controls the pedal’s return to idling position after being pressed to the floor. Toyota says it is caused by faulty pedal design by supplier, CTS Corp.
Toyota is looking at better pedal lubrication and re-engineering the faulty pedals, the latter option expected to take a significant amount of time to execute.
(with Automotive News)
