Toyota and U.S. regulators are looking into a possible recall on Toyota’s best selling car the Corolla. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 163 complaints about the steering in its 2009-2010 Corollas. Toyota said Wednesday it is looking into complaints about steering issues with the Corolla in the U.S., though it said it had received fewer than 100 reports and it was too early to consider a recall.

Toyota has been a top seller for decades and has sold nearly 1.3 million Corolla cars worldwide just last year. The recent rash of recalls has hurt Toyotas reputation resulting in sales to be the lowest since January 2006. Fears of an extended sales slump pushed Toyota’s shares down 3.7 percent in a flat market in Tokyo, compounding a slide that has sent the stock down 17 percent since its recall was announced on January 21.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that there have been 13 fatalities involving Toyota vehicles that were included in the recall that started last September. This brings the total to 34 people.

All but one of the deaths reported to NHTSA occurred in prior years, as far back as 1992. Most of the incidents occurred between 2003 and 2009. According to accounts filed with NHTSA, Toyota and Lexus vehicles suddenly raced forward, smashing into other cars, buildings and pedestrians. In addition to the fatalities, federal regulators said 22 people reported injuries from unintended acceleration accidents involving Toyota vehicles.

“It is normal for NHTSA to receive an increase in consumer complaints after a recall is announced ,” said Olivia Alair, a spokeswoman for the agency. “NHTSA takes every complaint seriously and reviews each one carefully. The agency is quickly gathering more data on all of these additional complaints to help guide our examination of sudden acceleration . . . as well as other safety issues.”

Toyota has not released data from its own internal complaint files on accidents, injuries or deaths related to the unintended acceleration. The automaker has declined to state how many complaints of the problem have been filed. In general databases of auto manufacturers are quite a bit larger than NHTSA’s.

This month, both Congress and NHTSA have said they are looking into whether electronic throttle control could play a role in sudden acceleration.

Toyota officials have denied that possibility, pointing to internal and external testing, as well as eight federal investigations, none of which found a throttle defect.

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced that they will resume production of the eight vehicles involved in last weeks sale and production stoppage. Speaking on The Today Show on NBC, Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA and a 28 year veteran at Toyota, said the company was confident it had found a fix for the 2.4 million affected vehicles. The recall will also include some PSA Peugeot Citroen cars made at joint Toyota-PSA factory in the Czech Republic. Including recalls in China and Europe, almost eight million Toyota vehicles will be repaired globally, including the separate problem involving floor mats and pedals.

On Thursday, Toyota Motor Sales (TSM) U.S.A., announced it would recall almost 2.3 million vehicles due to sticking accelerator pedals. This announcement is separate from the earlier recall of 3.8 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles to fix a design flaw that could cause the gas pedal to become trapped under the floor mat. Approximately 1.7 million vehicles are subject to both separate recall actions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been looking into two recent incidents in Texas and New Jersey, and was considering starting an investigation. Four people died on Dec. 26 near Dallas when a Toyota Avalon sped off a road and into a pond. Police found the floor mats in the Avalon’s trunk.

“In recent months, Toyota has investigated isolated reports of sticking accelerator pedal mechanisms in certain vehicles without the presence of floor mats,” said TMS Group Vice President Irv Miller. “Our investigation indicates that there is a possibility that certain accelerator pedal mechanisms may, in rare instances, mechanically stick in a partially depressed position or return slowly to the idle position. The condition is rare, but can occur when the pedal mechanism becomes worn and, in certain conditions, the accelerator pedal may become harder to depress, slower to return or, in the worst case, stuck in a partially depressed position. Consistent with our commitment to the safety of our cars and our customers, we have initiated this voluntary recall action.”

Toyota’s accelerator pedal recall includes the following Toyota Division vehicles:

• 2009-2010 RAV4,
• 2009-2010 Corolla,
• 2009-2010 Matrix,
• 2005-2010 Avalon,
• 2007-2010 Camry,
• 2010 Highlander,
• 2007-2010 Tundra,
• 2008-2010 Sequoia

No Lexus Division or Scion vehicles are affected by this recall action. Also not affected are Toyota Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser and select Camry models, including all Camry hybrids. Toyota will continue to investigate incidents of unwanted acceleration and take appropriate measures to address any trends that are identified. Toyota owners who have questions or concerns should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.