2008 Toyota Avalon

NHTSA, I WOULD LIKE REPORT AN INCIDENT OF 'SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION' WHEN DRIVING MY 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. I WAS DRIVING WITH MY WIFE, [XXX], ON SUNDAY, 10/23/16 TRAVELING WEST ON WALKER ROAD IN BEAVERTON, OREGON AT 11:05AM (ADDRESS: [XXX]) . I WAS STOPPED BEHIND (2) CARS WAITING AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT WITH MY RIGHT FOOT ON THE BRAKE. THE CAR WAS IN DRIVE. SUDDENLY THE CAR ENGINE QUICKLY REVVED UP. MY CAR SURGED FORWARD AS I DEPRESSED MY RIGHT FOOT ON THE BRAKE FURTHER. THANKFULLY MY CAR ONLY SURGED FORWARD A FOOT OR TWO AND THEN THE ENGINE RETURNED TO IDLE. NO CONTACT WAS MADE TO THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. THIS INCIDENT WAS VERY SCARY FOR ME AND MY WIFE AND I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT THIS 'SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION' IS A SAFETY HAZARD AND WILL CAUSE HARM TO ME, MY FAMILY AND OTHERS. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TAKATA RECALL MARCH 9TH 2016 9:30PM I WAS ACCELERATING ONTO THE HIGHWAY FROM THE ONRAMP TO ABOUT 70MPH WHEN THE CAR KEPT ACCELERATING AFTER PRESSING THE BRAKE SO I CONTINUED TO PRESS THE BRAKE BUT THERE WAS NO RELEASE OF ACCELERATION SO PUT THE GEAR IN NEUTRAL AND I FOUND ROOM TO PULL TO THE RIGHT SIDE AND TURN THE ENGINE OFF AND PUT THE VEHICLE IN PARK. I GAVE IT 15 SECONDS AND RE-STARTED BUT IT WAS STILL ACCELERATING, I REPEATED THIS AGAIN WITH THE SAME RESULTS. I LEFT ITHE ENGINE OFF FOR A FULL MINUTE AND RE-STARTED TO FIND IT HAD RESET. I THEN CHECKED THE FLOOR MAT AND FOUND IT INTACKED AND PINNED TO THE FLOOR PINS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. WHILE DRIVING AT 40 MPH, THE CONTACT RELEASED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, BUT THE RPMS INCREASED AND THE VEHICLE INDEPENDENTLY ACCELERATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS SERVICED UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 10V017000 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL), BUT THE REMEDY FAILED TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000.

THE CAR ACCELERATED ON IT'S OWN, BRAKES WERE LOCKED !!! I MADE A LEFT TURN AFTER A STOP SIGN AND THE CAR JUST TOOK OFF ON IT'S OWN - ACCELERATING UP TO 50 MILES PER HOUR. I SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES, BUT THEY WERE LOCKED. I QUICKLY PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL, IT SLOWED THE CAR DOWN ABOUT 10-12 MILES. TO AVOID CARS IN FRONT OF ME - I THEN PUT THE CAR IN PARK. AFTER AN UGLY NOISE AND JERKING OF THE CAR...IT DID STOP! THERE WERE NO INJURIES OR PROPERTY DAMAGE. IT WAS A HORRIFIC EXPERIENCE. THE CAR WAS IN FULL THROTTLE! HAD IT TOWED TO A MECHANIC.....IT WAS STILL AT FULL THROTTLE WHEN HE LOOKED AT IT A COUPLE DAYS LATER. HE ADVISED ME TO CALL TOYOTA. TOYOTA SAID IT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. I JUST WANT MY CAR FIXED,

MY LASER CRUISE CONTROL BECAME UNRELIABLE TOWARD THE END OF 2013. I HAD USED IT ON A DAILY BASIS FOR OVER 5 YEARS AND AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE WAY IT SHOULD PERFORM. WHEN TRACKING A VEHICLE DIRECTLY AHEAD OF ME ON A STRAIGHT AND LEVEL ROAD, THE LASER CONTROL SHOULD MAINTAIN A SAFE DISTANCE AND A SPEED THAT IS ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL TO THE "LEAD" VEHICLE. THIS HAS NOT BEEN THE CASE FOR THE PAST 7 MONTHS. MY CAR WOULD OFTEN CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN A SPEED THAT WAS FASTER THAN THE "LEAD" CAR,AS IT WAS SAFELY SLOWING DOWN, AND COME SO CLOSE THAT I WOULD HAVE TO JAM ON MY BREAKS. I BROUGHT IT INTO THE DEALER, WHO INSISTED THAT THE LASER CRUISE CONTROL HAD BEEN DAMAGED IN AN ACCIDENT (THEREFORE MY EXTENDED WARRANTY WOULD NOT APPLY) AND I WOULD HAVE TO MAKE A CLAIM ON MY CAR INSURANCE. MY INSURANCE COMPANY AS WELL AS MY REPAIR SHOP COULD SEE NO DAMAGE THAT WOULD HAVE CAUSED THE MALFUNCTION. EVENTUALLY MY INSURANCE COMPANY AGREED TO PAY FOR THE "REPAIR". AFTER THE DEALER REPAIRED THE CAR WITH A NEW LASER CONTROL SENSOR THE PROBLEM HAS CONTINUED, ALTHOUGH NOT AS OFTEN. I'VE HAD IT BACK TO THE DEALER SEVERAL TIMES AND THEY INSIST IT MEETS ALL SPECIFICATIONS AND IS PERFORMING TO MANUFACTURER'S SPECS, AND THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE THEY CAN DO FOR ME. CORPORATE TOYOTA BASICALLY WASHES THEIR HANDS OF THE INCIDENT BY SAYING EVERYTHING RELATED TO THIS MATTER IS AT THE DEALERS DISCRETION. ALTHOUGH I HAVE NOT HAD AN ACCIDENT YET, THIS MALFUNCTIONING "SAFETY" FEATURE PUTS ME AT JEOPARDY. I FEAR FOR MY LIFE EVERY TIME I USE IT. IT WOULD SEEM TO ME THAT OTHERS HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS, AND MAY HAVE HAD SIGNIFICANT ACCIDENTS AS A RESULT. I HOPE YOU WILL LOOK INTO THIS MATTER. *TR

I WAS COASTING TO A STOP AT A RED LIGHT WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE AND AS I APPLIED THE BRAKE HARDER TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP THE ENGINE BEGAN TO UNCONTROLLABLY RACE AND THE CAR BEGAN TO ACCELERATE. I APPLIED THE BRAKE AS HARD AS I COULD, FLIPPED THE TRANSMISSION INTO PARK AND TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, MISSING THE CAR IN FRONT BY INCHES. I WAITED APPROXIMATELY 10-15 SECONDS, RESTARTED THE CAR WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE AND THE TRANSMISSION IN PARK AND THE ENGINE BEGAN TO UNCONTROLLABLY RACE AGAIN. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE AND WAITED APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES RE-STARTED THE CAR AND IT STARTED SOMEWHAT ROUGHLY BUT THE UNINTENDED ACCELERATION STOPPED AND I WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE CAR OFF THE ROAD. WHEN I PARKED THE CAR I CHECKED THAT THE FLOOR MAT WAS FIRMLY ANCHORED AND NOWHERE NEAR THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND IT WAS. PRIOR TO THE INCIDENT I WAS BRAKING AND THE CAR WAS SLOWING APPROPRIATELY SO IT DOESN'T SEEM THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL ITSELF BECAME STUCK. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE THE CAR SAFELY TO THE DEALER AND NOTIFIED TOYOTA. *TR

2008 TOYOTA AVALON. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE SUDDEN ACCELERATION. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED AS HIS WIFE TURNED INTO A PERPENDICULAR PARKING SPACE, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN, ONLY STOPPING WHEN IT HIT A PARKING BARRICADE. HIS WIFE DID ATTEMPT TO APPLY THE BRAKE, BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE CONSUMER STATED THE AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT WAS AT A COMPLETE STOP WITH THE BRAKES APPLIED WHEN THE VEHICLE ABNORMALLY ACCELERATED. THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO A RESIDENCE. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED A FRACTURED RIGHT FOOT AND INJURIES TO THE FACE, KNEES, BACK, AND NECK. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A LOCAL AUTO BODY SHOP. THE CONTACT STATED THAT PRIOR TO THE CRASH, THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED UNDER NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 10V017000 (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL). THE VEHICLE WAS NOT FURTHER REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 33,000.

DRIVER WAS PULLING INTO A PARKING SPACE WHEN THE CAR HAD UNEXPECTED, SUDDEN ACCELERATION AND HIT A CONCRETE WALL. DRIVER WAS WEARING A SEAT BELT; AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE PERSON WAS UNINJURED EXCEPT FOR CHEST BRUISES. THE CAR HAD BEEN TAKEN IN WHEN IT WAS RECALLED AND WAS " FIXED" IN RESPONSE TO 2 RECALL NOTICES BY THE DEALER ON MARCH 4, 2010. THE FRONT OF THE CAR IS BASHED IN, HOOD IS BENT UPWARD, RADIATOR DAMAGED AND THE FRONT DOORS JAMMED. MEN HAD TO FORCE THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR OPEN TO GET THE DRIVER FROM THE CAR. TOYOTA AND THE INSURANCE COMPANY HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED BUT NEITHER HAVE HAD TIME TO EXAMINE THE CAR. *KB