Floor mat “safety advisory” may point buyers to used Toyota cars in New York

Nearly 4 million Toyotas need to have their driver side floor mats taken out to prevent the possibility of uncontrolled acceleration following a report that a new Lexus ES350 in San Diego crashed, causing four fatalities. Buyers looking to minimize their risk may want to stick with some used Toyota models instead.

Among the models affected are the 2005-2010 Avalaon, 2007-2010 Camry, 2004-2009 Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma and the 2007-2010 Tundra. Along with the Toyota models, the luxury models from Lexus such as the 2007-2010 ES350 and 2006-2010 IS250 and IS350 may all be affected.

“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, serious injury or death,” noted company officials in a statement regarding the millions of vehicles that could be affected by removable floor mats.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said that waiting for a fix was not as important as immediately removing the mats, as it remains an “urgent matter,” DOT secretary Roy LaHood told Forbes.