NHTSA Complaint #11175040 — 2013 SCION FR-S

ON FEBRUARY 6, 2019 I WAS PULLING UP TO A TRAFFIC LIGHT ON A CITY STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH IN HEAVY TRAFFIC AND MY CLUTCH PEDAL STUCK TO THE FLOOR. THE ENGINE STALLED AND WOULD RESTART, BUT I COULD NOT MOVE THE CAR EITHER IN FORWARD OR REVERSE. THE VEHICLE HAS APPROXIMATELY 72,000 MILES OF MOSTLY HIGHWAY DRIVING. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO MY HOUSE AND CONTACTED A LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER'S SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND THEY CONFIRMED AN OPEN SAFETY RECALL EXISTED (18V-772) THAT COULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL. THEY CALLED BACK AFTER RECEIVING THE VEHICLE IN THEIR SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND AND INDICATED THAT THEY COULD DO THE RECALL REPAIR, BUT THAT MY CLUTCH RELEASE BEARING HAD FAILED CAUSING THE ENGINE TO STALL AND SINCE THE VEHICLE'S WARRANTY HAS EXPIRED, I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE CLUTCH AND ASSOCIATED PARTS AS WELL AS TOWING AND THE RENTAL CAR. THEY ALSO INDICATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION MIGHT NEED REPLACEMENT DUE TO POTENTIAL DAMAGE THAT THE CLUTCH FAILURE CAUSED. SUBSEQUENTLY, I FOUND A TSB (S-SB-0012-17 DATED 4/10/17) INDICATING THAT TOYOTA KNEW THAT THE CLUTCH RELEASE BEARING DESIGN WAS BAD AND INSTRUCTING DEALERS TO REPLACE IT WITH AN UPDATED VERSION. NO RECALL OF THIS DEFECT WAS NOTED. TOYOTA KNEW A SAFETY DEFECT EXISTED WHICH WOULD CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL AND THE CAR TO BE UNDRIVEABLE, BUT CHOSE TO HIDE THE PROBLEM FROM A RECALL.