2025 Toyota Corolla Cross

I turned on the car after it had been sitting in the hot sun for about 4 hours (after a 180 mile trip). When I turned on the vehicle, about a minute into driving (on a gravel driveway), the car started blaring multiple lights and the steering wheel locked. Notifications were “System Failure" & "Electric Power Steering Malfunction - please contact dealer.” The steering wheel completely locked/uncontrollable - 3 others tried to help me. I was going ~5 mph when it happened. I was able to put the car into park & turned it off for 10min. On restart, the car acted normal again. If this happened while driving at a high speed I believe it would result in serious injury or death. This is the second episode. The first time it happened (XXX), Toyota did a full inspection/scan of the car but couldn't reproduce the issue despite confirming it was documented in the car's system log. This time, I emailed toyota same day. The car has now been at dealer for 4 days. They haven’t been able to reproduce the issue despite acknowledging both times that the events are documented in the car's log. The dealer recommended replacing the ECU. Unfortunately, toyota corporate claims they "cannot replace it without reproducing the issue" which is ridiculous given that the issue is inherently unpredictable (which is what makes it terrifying) yet irrefutably present. I am concerned I will die due to a malfunctioning steering wheel before toyota corporate will take it seriously. I do not feel safe driving the car now that this has inexplicably happened 2x. Multiple people online reported a similar issue [XXX]; the sounds occurring during the linked video are similar to my event. The main difference is that my car never once said low battery; no engine problems, never have had a dead battery. I was even able to drive 180 miles home that night (praying the whole time cause I had no other choice in a rural area). INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

At around 4:20 pm I was turning left at a stop sign (did not put on turning signal) and then about 30 feet later, turning right at a light. This is the same location I have driven for the past month. The car had been on for about 3 minutes after sitting in a hot parking lot all day (104 degrees). All of a sudden (after turning left) but before/during was turning right, the car’s steering wheel locked and transmission just started beeping. I could not turn the steering wheel more than about 5 degrees in either direction, so instead of turning right I had to go straight. No matter what I did the steering wheel would not turn. - I simultaneously got a notification on my dashboard that said “System failure” “system malfunction” [something along those lines]. Multiple lights on my dashboard illuminated in yellow [auto steering symbol, can’t remember what else] and lots of extremely loud beeping. - I to confirm I was not in neutral (I was not, I was still in drive) but I could not do anything besides brake. - I panicked, slammed brakes. Turned car off/stopped. The location was where 2 roads diverged and I had part of the car sticking out into a lane because there was nowhere else to go. - I sat for about a minute and then turned the car back on and it drove but I was scared to go on the highway. - I have called Toyota for repair (it happened prior to a holiday weekend so they were closed) but to date have not yet contacted insurance/etc. - I believe there are video cameras at this intersection so there may be footage of it.

I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY THE PROBLEM PART, BUT IT IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. I ONLY GOT IT FOR ONE WEEK. I DID LET THEM KNOW SINCE THE SECOND DAY I HAD THE CAR, IT WAS KEEPING BREAKING DOWN ON THE STREET. THEY TOLD ME TO KEEP DRIVING IT TO GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE TECHNOLOGY IT HAD. THINKING IS WAS TECHNOLOGY LIKE THEY SAID I KEEP DRIVING IT AND I HAVE EXPERIENCED 3 OCCURRENCES OF A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN. THE CAR JUST LOSES POWER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD and picks back up and continues like nothing happened. I could have been hit by another car. I bring the car back to them because I'm scared to keep driving it, my 3 kids have only me as family to support them, I do not want to die and leave them on the street. They have the car back the same week, and they have my $6700 down payment, as well as my trade Toyota CHR for another amount of $3700. The Sales manager told me I have to pay for the loan anyway, not to lose my credit. He said he had already spent his to get my credit okay, so I should pay for the car anyway because the loan is in my name. Or to sell him the car and pay the rest of the money after he values the car. It's unfair to me to lose my $6700 plus the $3700 from the trade plus my credit. I need a car, but not an unsafe one, which was the reason why I spent all this money and ended up with nothing. i need help to get another car or my money back to find another Brand, that's not my first time victim from Toyota.