Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ — March, 10, 2016 — In some Maserati vehicles, loose floor mats can leave a car’s gas pedal pressed down, posing a major crashing hazard to occupants. A Part 573 Safety Recall report has the details on the issue, which appears in autos produced between February 1, 2013, and November 30, 2015. Maserati first started investigating the problem last February. Dealers and owners will both be notified on April 29, and the dealer inspection is expected to take an hour to complete.
As the report stated, these Maserati recalls involve 28,235 vehicles of two different model types: the Quattroporte and Ghibli. Model years for both of these vehicles range between 2014 and 2016. If the floor mat anchors in any of these vehicles breaks, the mat could get stuck under the accelerator pedal.
Although the source notes that the brake override system can help prevent this, there’s still the risk that it would, at the very least, “startle the vehicle operator.” The mat could potentially trap the pedal in any position, not just the “wide open throttle.”
Toyota recalls in the past have concerned a similar issue. In 2010, Consumer Reports Auto Test Center senior engineer Jake Fisher spoke to Scientific American about some of the factors that might lead to a gas pedal being pressed down. One of these include “the electronic throttle control – the digital fly-by-wire unit that links the gas pedal to the fuel delivery unit.”
He also noted that buyers that purchase floor mats as an extra or from an outside source both risk encountering the same issue. “In the first case the dealer typically throws them into the car or the trunk, so the mats don’t necessarily get hooked into the floor correctly,” Fisher said. “In the second, the mats may not fit or be installed properly.”
The remedy and recalled components will have different part numbers.
