2010 Toyota Venza

ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 MY HUSBAND AND I WERE DRIVING OUR 2010 TOYOTA VENZA ON RTE. 19S, IN FAYETTE, WEST VIRGINIA. WE ACCELERATED OUR VENZA TO MATCH ONGOING TRAFFIC SPEEDS, WHEN THE THROTTLE STUCK WIDE OPEN AND WAS INCREASING IN SPEED. I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES, WHICH FAILED TO RESPOND. I THEN CHECKED THE CRUISE CONTROL, TO SEE IF I HAD INADVERTENTLY ENGAGED IT, BUT I HAD NOT. I THEN STARTED TO PUMP THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WITH EXTREME FORCE, AND AFTER NUMEROUS PUMPS, THE THROTTLE DISENGAGED. AS SOON AS IT WAS SAFE, WE PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND CALLED OUR DEALERSHIP, COURTESY TOYOTA. THEY INSTRUCTED US TO CALL 1(800)331-4331 TO REPORT THE INCIDENT AND HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER. THE CAR WAS BROUGHT TO L&S TOYOTA CITY IN BECKLEY, WV, WHERE THEY PROCEEDED TO PERFORM AN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION INSPECTION, BUT THE TECH WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE. THEY PERFORMED THE RECALL OF THE PEDAL RESHAPING, WHICH WE HAD NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY NOTIFIED OF, AND CLEARED THE VEHICLE FOR RELEASE TO US, AT THIS TIME, AND ADVISED US THAT IF THIS SHOULD REOCCUR, TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE INTO NEUTRAL AND SLOW THE CAR BY BRAKING. THE ISSUE WAS NOT RELATED TO THE PEDAL SHAPE OR THE DRIVER MAT, AND WAS IN FACT A COMPUTER ANOMALY. WHEN THE ANOMALY OCCURRED, IT FROZE THE THROTTLE AND BLOCKED THE BRAKING SYSTEM.. FURTHER MORE, THE IDEA TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL IS UNSAFE, AS THERE WERE NO BRAKES TO SLOW THE VEHICLE TO A STOP AND WOULD CONTINUE TO COAST ONWARD AT AN UNCONTROLLABLE VELOCITY. I EXPECT THAT TOYOTA COMPANY KNOWS THE DEFECT LIES IN THE COMPUTER CONTROL SYSTEM, BUT MAY WELL BELIEVE THE COST OF CLAIMS AND HUMAN LIVES IS CHEAPER THAN FIXING THE VERY REAL PROBLEM. WE PURCHASED THE TOYOTA VENZA MARCH 30, 2010 AND WERE ASSURED THAT, AT THAT TIME, THERE WERE NO RECALLS FOR IT. THE RECALL FOR OUR VENZA WAS ISSUED MARCH 16, 2010, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN PERFORMED ON OUR CAR, AND WE HAD NOT BEEN AWARE OF ONE UNTIL OUR VERY TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE OCCURRED. *TR

I WAS DRIVING A 2010 TOYOTA VENZA, AND WAS HEAVILY PRESSING ON THE ACCELERATOR TO GAIN SPEED TO MERGE ONTO THE EXPRESS WAY, WHEN MY CAR KEPT ACCELERATING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED, EVEN AFTER I TOOK MY FOOT AWAY FROM THE ACCELERATOR, APPROX 80 MPH. THE ONLY THING I CAN COMPARE IT TO, IS IT FELT LIKE THE CAR'S CRUISE CONTROL ENGAGED ON IT'S OWN AND TOOK OVER, BUT, KEPT ACCELERATING. I PUT MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE BUT SINCE THE CAR WAS ACCELERATING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED IT WAS HARD TO KEEP IT PRESSED, SO I USED BOTH FEET AND ALL MY LEG STRENGTH AND HELD THE BRAKE TO THE FLOOR. IT SLOWED THE SPEED A LITTLE. IT TOOK APPROXIMATELY OVER A 1/4 MILE, LESS THEN A 1/2 MILE, BEFORE THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL DISENGAGED. I COULD NOT SEARCH FOR NEUTRAL IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE I WAS WATCHING TRAFFIC AND MANEUVERING AWAY FROM TRAFFIC ENTERING AND EXITING THE EXPRESSWAY. NEUTRAL ON THE VENZA IS NOT A STRAIGHT SHIFT. YOU HAVE TO SHIFT LEFT AND THEN UP TO FIND NEUTRAL. MOST CARS IS ITS A STRAIGHT SHIFT. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 TOYOTA VENZA. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 35 MPH AND ATTEMPTING TO PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE WHEN HER VEHICLE ABNORMALLY ACCELERATED UP TO 55 MPH. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO BRAKE BUT TO NO AVAIL. SHE CONTINUED TO APPLY ABRUPT PRESSURE TO THE BRAKES AS HE MANEUVERED THE VEHICLE FROM CRASHING. THE CONTACT WAS FINALLY ABLE TO STOP THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER WAS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE AND THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 11,700 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 11,819. UPDATED 12/08/10. *LJ THE DEALER ADVISED THE CONSUMER TO TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND THE COMPUTER WOULD RESET ITSELF. UPDATED 12/13/10

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 TOYOTA VENZA. THE CONTACT STATED WHEN UTILIZING THE RADIO DURING DAYLIGHT, HE WAS UNABLE TO SEE THE STATIONS DUE TO LIMITED ILLUMINATION. THE DEALER ADVISED HE WAS UNABLE TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER ADVISED THAT IF HE WOULD SHUT OFF THE HEADLIGHTS, THE RADIO LIGHTS WOULD INTENSIFY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 500 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 700.

TOYOTA VENZA. THE REAR HATCH IS AUTO OPEN/CLOSE. USING THE AUTO CLOSING BUTTON ON THE DASH OF THE VEHICLE, I INITIATED THE CLOSE SEQUENCE. THE REAR HATCH STARTED TO CLOSE NORMALLY, THEN IT "SLAMMED SHUT" WITH ENOUGH FORCE TO CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY TO ANYONE UNDER THE HATCH. SUBSEQUENT ATTEMPTS AT OPENING OR CLOSING THE HATCH RESULTED IN A "STUTTER" EFFECT WHICH REQUIRED ME TO CLOSE THE HATCH MANUALLY. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER. THEY TOLD ME THAT I SHOULD NOT SLAM THE HATCH SHUT. I HAVE NEVER SLAMMED THE HATCH, I ALWAYS USE THE BUTTON ON THE DASH OR THE KEY FOB TO OPEN/ CLOSE THE HATCH. THE ROD IS NOW BENT THAT HOLDS THE HATCH OPEN. I AM CONCERNED THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN AGAIN WHEN I AM UNDER THE HATCH. THIS COULD RESULT IN THE LOSS OF A LIMB IF CIRCUMSTANCES WERE CORRECT. *TR