The Detroit Free Press reports that Toyota has finally responded to months-old accusations that its Tacoma pickup suffers from "unintended acceleration." Reading ToMoCo's letter to ToMoCo tells the National Highway Transport Safety Administration (NHTSA), it's clear they're treating them with all the contempt engendered by the Audi 500 debacle. "Toyota believes that it is likely that many of the consumer complaints about the general issue of unwanted acceleration… as well as many of the complaints about this subject that have been received by Toyota, were inspired by publicity… Even taking (the accusations) at face value, it is clear that the majority of the complaints are related to minor drivability issues and are not indicative of a safety-related defect." NHTSA has been investigating some 32 complaints of the deus-ex-machina defect in 2004 – 08 Tacomas. Toyota held its own investigation of 12 pickups that had supposedly suffered from unintended acceleration back in October, concluding that the machines harbored "no mysterious brake-circumventing defects." In fact, having prepared for this possibility, Toyota programmed its drive-by-wire system to report an error in case the accelerator pedal and throttle are mismatched. And no such error codes have not been found on any Tacomas reported to have driven themselves into stationary objects.
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Toyota’s response to this seems very unToyota-like. Whether the reported problems are legit or not, Toyota traditionally would not have dismissed this as BS and the customers as idiots. And the drive by wire system COULD be suspect in limited cases by electronic gremlins.
Who knows? Maybe ToMoCo really is becoming the big faceless corporation, the GM of Japan with growing negative PR. The signs are certainly there with bland vehicles and their quality reputation slipping. What a shame. And I like Toyota. I own or have owned 3 Toyota vehicles.
That would be the Audi 5000 debacle.
Apparently the reports of unintended acceleration aren’t limited to Tacomas, according to this RAV4 owner.
http://rav4world.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16073
There are these claims on almost every vehicle made (regardless of manufacturer). What really hurt Audi was that it had a very high rate of occurring. I’m not sure if these accounts are true as Toyota seems to have the ecu tracking these. Could they accidently hit the cruise button?
Toyota’s response to this seems very unToyota-like.
What would a Toyotalike response look like?
Whether the reported problems are legit or not, Toyota shouldn’t dismiss this as BS and the customers as idiots.
Where did Toyota say the complaints were BS? When did they say their customers were idiots?
If the investigated a number of affected vehicles and reprogrammed them to ‘trap’ the error code, I would say that they took it very seriously.
And the drive by wire system COULD be suspect in limited cases by electronic gremlins.
As could any software controlled device. Millions of people put their lives at the mercy of such systems every day and there is rarely a problem.
Who knows? Maybe ToMoCo really is becoming the big faceless corporation, the GM of Japan.
What’s a ‘faceless’ corporation? Toyota are a multinational corporation like a thousand others. While there may be some similarity between the decisions they make with decisions that GM make, that does not make them another GM. In fact there is a world of a difference between the 2 companies. Just compare them with any metric you care to use.
The signs are certainly there with bland vehicles and their quality reputation slipping. What a shame.
Bland vehicles are not a sign of anything. besides, what’s bland to you can be viewed entirely differently by someone else. Toyota’s quality reputation has experienced a spill recently but there is no reason to believe that it is a permenant trend.
It’s about time Toyota responded, and a good response it was. They only didnt go far enough…
“inspired by publicity,” …. should be translated as inspired by herd mentality and dreams of easy lawsuits. (These lemmings should learn from the Audi “victims” who lost their sham lawsuits.)
“are related to minor drivability issues” …. should be translated as lousy, incompetent drivers.
“problems were not as prevalent as the number of complaints suggested” …. should be translated as people are liars.
I guess the lawyers kept them from saying what was really on their mind. Cars don’t accelerate, people do.
My mom experienced this twice in her (at that time) new Toyota Corolla. I believe her as there was no way for me to easily get my big foot to cover both the brake and accelerator pedals. Even contorted so that I could push down on both pedals, the engine rpms only got up to around 3500 due to the limiting factor of the brake pedal travel. I then checked out the NHTSA website for complaints of this nature. I’m sure the number has grown since I was there at the end of 2004, meaning that there are many more than 32 complaints against the Corolla; and the Camry numbers were even higher, already over 32 just for the ’04 model by late 2004. I think the probelm lies in the drive by wire accelerators and the fact that nothing we make is going to be perfect. Defects occur. As far as Toyota’s response, whether there truly is a problem or not, I wouldn’t expect Toyota to acknowledge it. I’m sure everybody remembers how they dealt with the engine sludge allegations, delay and denial.
Lumbergh21:
As far as Toyota’s response, whether there truly is a problem or not, I wouldn’t expect Toyota to acknowledge it. I’m sure everybody remembers how they dealt with the engine sludge allegations, delay and denial.
I’m sure you ALSO remember that Toyota later did admit to the problems, and at considerable cost offered to replace or repair affected vehicles with said problems under an extended warranty type of campaign.
Toyota has also shown that they acknowledge problems even when there are no complaints. The vast recall Toyota had of old pickups to replace a steering shaft that could fail due to “wear and tear” comes to mind.
As the old saying goes, the truth will set you free.
My 1996 Toyota 4Runner V6 barely had intended acceleration…
But all jokes aside, I’m always mystified at how “unintended acceleration” is supposed to cause accidents. I can’t imagine the scenario where even my throttle was stuck full open where I wouldn’t have the good sense to apply brakes, depress the clutch or shift into neutral.
Heretics!!
Another chink in the armour….
I can tell you absolutely and for sure I experienced unintended accelleration. It was last December while I drove a clients 2007 Toyota Camry LE. I put my foot down while accellerating and she wouldn’t stop! Had to turn ignition switch off. Will never drive that car again!
Could they accidently hit the cruise button?
Most cruise control systems are not a one-touch operation, and they’re usually deactivated at speeds below 25 mph.
It’s about time Toyota responded, and a good response it was. They only didnt go far enough…
“inspired by publicity,” …. should be translated as inspired by herd mentality and dreams of easy lawsuits. (These lemmings should learn from the Audi “victims” who lost their sham lawsuits.)
“are related to minor drivability issues” …. should be translated as lousy, incompetent drivers.
“problems were not as prevalent as the number of complaints suggested” …. should be translated as people are liars.
I guess the lawyers kept them from saying what was really on their mind. Cars don’t accelerate, people do.
Blaming the driver…I don’t think it’s a good idea for them to take a page out of GM’s playbook.
Toyota has a history of denying problems if they could result in a recall. They’re at least as bad as every other company out there in this regard, possibly worse, but they are certainly not more forthcoming. It’s a mistake to put them on an ethical pedestal just because their quality is good.
Back in 1986 or 7, my friend and his wife were parked at a store, having backed into their spot. His car was a 1985 Audi 5000 Turbo. While his wife was shopping, he idly noticed that across the street was a brand new Audi 5000S parked at a pharmacy, nose in.
His wife returned with her purchase, and at that moment the woman driving the 5000S came out of the pharmacy across the street, and hopped in her car. He decided to wait while she backed out of her spot onto the road, before leaving himself.
Imagine his and his wife’s surprise when the 5000S roared backwards across the road, just missing his car and climbing over the ubiquitous concrete kerb before coming to a rest just shy of the store his wife had just been in.
Because he had been watching her, he KNEW the woman’s brake lights had never come on, yet she was sure she had been standing on the brake pedal. Nope. It was the gas pedal, had to be, as he told the cops. No other explanation fit the facts.
Now, I know it took a good second for reverse to engage on those automatics. You’re looking behind you — easy to mix things up when something unexpected happens, like movement because it was slightly downhill and delayed by the slow engagement of reverse.
The woman was convinced it was unintended acceleration, because it was all in the news that Audi 5000’s were like that.
Hmmm. That’s why brake pedal/shift interlocks were then invented, and why Audi retrofitted orange tangs into the floorboard on the driver’s side to hook into a hole in the floor mat, so as to prevent the carpet from riding up and catching the accelerator pedal, and maybe causing it to stick. My 2008 Subaru has both features as well, although the orange-colored pin has become basic black.
As for situations in new Toyotas, I’ll bet there is some physical reason for the problem, some ergonomic “misfit” that fools people. We tried and tried with my friend’s Audi to see what happened with full throttle and full brake at the same time, and the result was a lot of shuddering and the car stopping anyway. Check your floormat’s position for good measure would be my first thought.
I’m inclined to call Occam in on this one for a shave.
Sure, it’s possible for any electronic device to fail. You would only know why (or even if) it happened if you included some kind of diagnostic flag in the software, as it appears Toyota has done. It could be mechanical as well, such as the pedal assembly got stuck, but the driver would surely notice that.
Crumpled floor mat?
this is GREAT!!!
Its about time the Japanese auto industry had a monkey on their back!!
But now they have a whole lot more ‘payoff money’
so who knows..
but I still love to see the ‘perfect’ car company get their shoes in the mud.
I wonder if this is it (although reading the case studies, probably not):
I own a 2006 Scion xA, and it has an interesting behavior. The xA is unique in that in addition to a “high temperature” light, it has a “low temperature” light (same light, just that it glows red for overheating, blue if it’s cold). In any case, when the light is blue, showing a cold engine (as in first thing on a winter’s morning, right after starting the vehicle for the first time), the automatic transmission shifts very roughly. It takes forever to shift, and then it slams into the next gear. When it finally does go into the next gear, the car accelerates briskly for a second, more than I intended to. This particular quirk only happens when the engine is cold, is predictable, and is, IMHO, not a safety problem.
But all jokes aside, I’m always mystified at how “unintended acceleration” is supposed to cause accidents. I can’t imagine the scenario where even my throttle was stuck full open where I wouldn’t have the good sense to apply brakes, depress the clutch or shift into neutral.
It was an automatic, and my mom did apply the brakes (actually, they were already on as she was sitting in stopped traffic)resulting in no accident. The second time it happened she was more prepared and also remembered to turn the ignition off. The way an accident can occur, as described in one of the complaints, you could be pulling up to a cross street, the engine accelerates causing the car to jump forward a few feet before you can react, and a semi smashes into the front of the car.
I’m sure you ALSO remember that Toyota later did admit to the problems, and at considerable cost offered to replace or repair affected vehicles with said problems under an extended warranty type of campaign.
How many years, how many complaints, and how many incidents of cars that had routine oil changes yet still experienced engine sludge were there before Toyota stood up.
skooter: I put my foot down while accellerating and she wouldn’t stop!
That’s what they all said. Question is, which pedal was your foot on? Are you 100% sure? Read wmba’s post below.
Geotopf: My ’05 xB’s engine does rev a bit high when first cold. That would cause hard shifts. Maybe your’s does more than normal. Might be a bad sensor.
This reminds me of the old joke that Audi stands behind their products because they are afraid to stand in front of them.
Seriously, if you don’t expect your car to move, when it does it seems to be moving much faster. I remember accidentally putting my lawn tractor in reverse instead of forward and when I released the clutch expecting to go forward, the backward motion seemed way more powerful than it really was. So, if you hit the wrong pedal, your body/mind is expecting something that doesn’t happen. Instinct takes over and you jam the pedal that you think is the brake. Even “Toyota the Great” can’t overcome human instinct.
There was a guy at a local grocery store a few years ago who drove into the store. I guess he had parked his old Caprice (pre 92) and forgot to put it into park. As he took his foot off the brake, the car started moving forward. He then jammed his foot on the ‘brake’ pedal, not realizing it was the gas pedal. Then there was a big bang.
But no one’s blaming Chevy for unintended acceleration on Caprices (not that I’ve heard anyway.) Besides, there’s been 32 complaints out of how many millions of Tacomas on the road. I would think if it were a defect, there’d be a fair bit more. Serious, yes, but it’s in all likelihood a driver caused phenomenon.
I’m sure that a (kept private) investigation has been done regarding the demographic involved.
#1 is probably older women, followed by older men.
These people are possibly less likely to respond immediately to such an event, whether it’s caused by a defect or their own mistake, to avoid an accident.
If the problem really exists, then eventually Toyota will start getting reports from younger owners — that will be their call to action.
Of course, I could be full of crap.
I read any “unintended acceleration” claim as “driver error”. The automakers probably are, as well.
I believe “unintended acceleration” is due to PEBSWAS – Problem exists between steering wheel and seat. (tech support people are familiar with PEBKAC)
My Jetta TDI’s drive-by-wire system has an interesting feature. If you try to press the go pedal and the brake pedal at the same time, the ECU cuts fuel to the engine and it goes to idle speed. I always wondered how people could be accelerating (kind of) with their brake lights on. It’s impossible in my car at least. Apparently this programming was done as a result of “unintended acceleration”.
In my mom’s case, she could not have possibly hit the gas instead of the brake, otherwise, there would have been an accident. The fact that she was able to hold the car in place by jamming on the brake, means that she truly was jamming on the brake. As I said, I tried to push down on both the brake and the gas pedal, and there is no way to do it with your foot in anything approaching a natural position, and even after contorting my foot to do it, I was unable to rev the engine all that high. I doubted my mom as well until I tried my little experiments with the brake and accelerator pedals. Just because this is not turning up in a large percentage of the cars sold, doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening; it just means that it isn’t a design defect. There could still be isolated incidents of manufacturing or assembly defects.
“And no such error codes have not been found on any Tacomas reported to have driven themselves into stationary objects.”
Does this mean that error codes have been found on said Tacos?
Ed–have you been studying Russian?
I wonder if the people who experience “unintended acceleration” are the same ones who drive automatics with 2 feet.
I see them all the time. I’ve got my foot on the gas and they are pulling away from me with their break lights on.
If they have a foot on both the accelerator and the brake, it would be easy to mix up the pedals.
Just a thought.
jaje :
June 10th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
There are these claims on almost every vehicle made (regardless of manufacturer).
I’ll bet that no such claims were ever made on 1960s Volkswagen buses! 0-60 in 40 seconds on a good day…
Toyota dismisses everything ‘due to American stupidity’
screw them!!
make em pay..just like Audi was made too!
oops, I’m sorry,you cant beat up the Japanese but its ok to do it to the Germans!
I guess Audi didn’t have enough PAC money!
I did a google search on “unintended acceleration.” Although I found many articles, something was missing from all of them, i.e., whether the cars had manual or automatic transmissions.
Probably everyone here is sufficiently astute to recognize that unintended acceleration is much more likely to occur with an automatic transmission, regardless whether it is caused by driver error (probably by far the most common cause) or a malfunction of the car.
It seems to me that all accident reports should indicate whether the cars had a manual transmission or an automatic transmission, and that that information should also be included in all accident statistics. Also, the accident statistics should indicate the percentage of cars of that model which have automatic transmissions. If that information were readily avialiable, it could provide information useful to prevent accidents.
Blautens wrote: “But all jokes aside, I’m always mystified at how “unintended acceleration” is supposed to cause accidents. I can’t imagine the scenario where even my throttle was stuck full open where I wouldn’t have the good sense to apply brakes, depress the clutch or shift into neutral.”
Quite so.
I can think of at least 3 cars which I have driven which have had the accelerator stick. In no case did I have any trouble bringing the car quickly under control. This can be done in a number of ways. In two cases, I pulled up the accelerator with the sole of my shoe (which should be tried only if there is time to do so), and in one case I simply turned off the ignition ’til I could free the accelerator. When a friend of my mother had her accelerator stick (she wasn’t going very fast and had a manual transmission), she turned into a tree to stop the car and congradulated herself on quick thinking!! Obviously some people should not be driving.
The indications are that in the vast majority of cases, unintended acceleration (not caused by a sticking throttle) is the result of accidentally hitting the accelerator instead of the brake, then freezing in panic. Statistics indicate that unintended acceleration correlates with age; the older the driver, the more likely it is to occur. One would suppose that if it were usually the fault of the car, there would be no correlation with the age of the driver.
In case of unintended acceleration, the driver should immediately lift his right foot and then apply the brakes, regardless of which pedal he thinks his foot is on. If the acceleration stops when the foot is lifted, obviously the foot was on the wrong pedal. If the acceleration doesn’t stop, applying the brakes hard will stop the car because the engine cannot over-power the brakes.
Also, the problem exists only with AUTOMATIC transmissions. I am not aware of any statstics that compare the safety of manual and automatic transmissions, but I suspect that manual transmissions are safer.
Perhaps cars, like motorcycles (I ride a motorcycle) should have an emergency engine kill switch and drivers should practice using it. Or, perhaps drivers should practice by pretending that there is an emergency and quickly turning off the ignition switch. In any case, drivers should be prepared to deal with emergencies, and obviously many are not!!
I am taking my 2009 Toyota Matrix in for service tomorrow because the accelerator sticks. It has happens 5 times. I thought my floor mats were causing the accelerator to stick. Not the case, the peddle is attached at the top not on the bottom. This has all happened on the expressway during acceleration while merging. It has not happened on the local roads while driving casually.
I live in England and have a manual 01 Avensis. I think this might be a Camry in the USA. I have an over-revving problem which sometimes occurs on start up without my foot even being on the pedals. When I’m driving sometimes if I slightly touch the gas pedal the revs increase dangerously. Even worse, the brake pedal also becomes unresponsive and solid, so that I cannot push it down. The only way that I have found to stop this happening is to pump the gas pedal (not easy when accelerating exponentially!)which eventually restores things to normal. I guess that something is getting stuck and this action free’s it up, but I cannot figure why there appears to a problem with both pedals? Anyone got any ideas?
If I change to neutral the revs go off the scale, so I don’t try that anymore!
The garage has told me that I need a new throotle control body but why should this cause the brakes to harden up?
I have explained the problem to the garage but they seem to disbelieve me although this happens regularly and Mrs HG has refused to drive my car until its fixed!
If the throttle is fully open, there will be no intake manifold vacuum. The power brakes require vacuum to operate. Even so, if the throttle is completely open, there should be sufficient vacuum for one or two brake applications but, if you pump the brake pedal a couple times with the throttle open, then there will be no vacuum for the power brakes and considerably greater force will be required to apply the brakes.
If there is no vacuum for the power brakes, the brakes will still operate, but it will require several times as much force on the pedal. That could cause some drivers to conclude incorrectly that the brakes had totally failed and panic. However, most drivers have sufficient muscle power so that they can still stop the car quickly if they don’t panic and simply apply greater force to the pedal.
In my opinion, it is a good idea for drivers to learn, by experience, what happens if there is no vacuum. To do so, get the car up to perhaps 20 mph, shift to neutral, and shut off the ignition, being careful not to lock the steering. Then, pump the brakes rapidly a couple times, then use them to stop the car. By doing so, you will learn exactly what happens if the vacuum fails and will be able to stop the car without panic if the vacuum unexpectedly fails.
Similarly, if the power steering fails, the car can still be steered, but the force to steer the car will be greatly increased. That can also be tested by shifting to neutral and shutting off the engine. That way, you will know what to expect if the power steering fails.
Thanks. That certainly explains why the brakes don’t work, and you’re absolutely right in stating that the car can still be stopped if enough pressure is exerted on the pedal. I did this once, but the car was accelerating at the same time so there was a big smell of burning disk pads!
So, this seems to indicate that the garage could be right and a new throttle body is required, huh? Is it easy to fit?
Allthough I have a good theoretical knowledge of engines and cars, I do not have sufficient specific knowledge to understand what caused your unintended acceleration. You might want to get the service manual for your car to learn more about the throttle body, how it works, etc. etc. That would enable you to communicate better with the Toyota service garage and help you to evaluate their suggestions to fix the problem.
It’s been many years since I’ve experienced a stuck throttle, but I’ve had it happen on about 4 different cars, including an antique Packard. When the accelerator didn’t stick very far down, I was able to pull it up with the sole of my shoe. Other times, I shut off the ignition until I could get the accelerator unstuck. Never did it cause me to come even close to crashing, but I can see how it could happen.
On some cars, including my Mazda 3, it seems that there are two throttles in parallel. One is operated by the accelerator pedal, and the other is operated by the cruise control system. So, I can see how, in theory, the throttle operated by the cruise control system could somehow go to wide open even when the accelerator is at the very top of its travel, in which case pulling up on the accelerator would do nothing.
All motorcycles have an emergency stop switch on the handlebars; it can quickly be operated with the right thumb. Perhaps cars should have something similar. It could be in a standardized position on all cars and located so that it could quickly be reached. It would be easier to reach than the ignition key and would eliminate even the slight possibility of accidentally locking the steering when shutting off the engine.
The difference between your Packard and a semi-modern car is that the semi-modern car has an accelerator cable. Your Packard had a lever connecting the pedal to the carburetor. You could pull up on the pedal with your toe and have an effect on the carb. On a modern car pulling up doesn’t do much if anything. Pedal slides on cable or cable just bends. Now in the most modern cars there is nothing between the pedal and the engine – just the computer (drive-by wire). Nothing that you can do but shut off the key and hope you don’t lock the wheel or go to neutral and risk blowing up the engine.
What worries me would be a computer going bonkers and telling the throttle body to go WOT. Not likely but it could happen. Sort of like worrying about the airbag going off while I’m vacuuming the carpets or reaching in to get something through the open open placing my head against the steering wheel. Not likely that the air bag would go off for any reason but if it did I’d be dead.
It’s like putting my head near the barrel of a loaded gun. It’s cocked but the safety is on and the guy holding it won’t squeeze the trigger – right?
You are quite right.
With drive by wire, there is nothing mechanical connecting the accelerator to the throttle valve, so pulling up on the accelerator wouldn’t necessarily have any effect, depending on the nature of the failure. Just how likely the car would be to go to full throttle without input from the driver I don’t know, but surely it would be possible. An electrical failure, or a failure of an integrated circuit, could cause that to happen. One of the times I experienced a stuck accelerator it resulted from ice on the base of the accelerator; that could also happen with drive by wire, depending on the design of the accelerator pedal. The accelerator was stuck only part way down, so the result wasn’t very dramatic.
I read a suggestion by a safety expert to shift to neutral if the accelerator stuck, and he said that doing so would risk “burning out” the engine!! I wonder whether he knew anything about engines. Unless the engine had a rev limiter, shifting to neutral with the throttle wide open would probably cause destruction within about one second. Connecting rods could break, pistons could collide with valves, etc., and the engine would need to be replaced at a cost which would probably greatly exceed $1,000.
I suspect that hitting the accelerator instead of the brake while backing up is more common with an automatic transmission since, to look back, many drivers sit turned slightly to the right to see better while backing. With a manual transmission, the driver would probably have his foot on the clutch while backing so if he did accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake, not much would happen. I suspect that manual transmissions are safer than automatic transmissions, but unfortunately, statistics are not available to determine the relative safety.
Drivers should be prepared for mechanical failures so that if one occurs, they will be able to react quickly and calmly. In movies, one sees drivers panic when brakes fail and persistantly pump the brakes without even trying anything else, such as shifting to a lower gear to increase engine braking or using the hand brake. Generally, prepared drivers can deal with mechanical failures and avoid crashing.
FRE you are right on all points.
FWIW engines at full throttle (no load) last a surprisingly long time sometimes. Not that I’d do this to a car I intended to keep or a car that I intended to sell honestly.
We floored a Mercedes going to the junkyard. Engine was good, car’s problems were cosmetic (age, rust, collision damages). Engine never really died. So we cut the coolant hoses and went again. After several minutes we got bored and gave up. The engine was damaged but still running and very, very hot. Car was getting crushed anyhow. Complicated overseas Navy rules. I like to salvage anything reusable. Navy said no.
A Fiat 131 we did this to (severe chassis rust, Navy rules specified we could not salvage anything, long story) lasted a minute or two without OIL! Again it was quickly damaged but still running for a couple minutes before the oil drained out and it slowly seized.
I agree – a manual tranny is the better choice. Also doesn’t wear out at 100K miles needing a rebuild under normal use.
Got throttle body problems or run away cruise control? Just put the clutch in and turn the engine off. I like the key switch in my ’97 VW. When you turn the key all the way off the steering does not lock until I pull out the key. I think my ’99 Honda is the same.
I had a sudden acceleration incident yesterday with my 2009, (7000 miles) prius. I can’t believe how many people comment about applying the brakes!!!! Do they really believe that a driver would not have the immediate sense to apply the brakes!!!! I was accelerating from a stop light to cross an intersection when the car continued to accelerate on its own. I APPLIED THE BRAKES as any normal driver would do. They did not stop the car. It continued to accelerate until I hit the power button on the dash board. That finally stopped the car. Luckily there was nothing in front of me during this incident and I was able to think quickly enough to stop the vehicle. The first thing I did was check the floor mat as I couldn’t imagine anything else causing the situation. They were far from the gas pedal. I never use cruise control. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to believe these stories. Why would we make them up????? Does anyone else notice they are pretty consistent!!!!!
I was in that “love my prius” group. I enjoy the car and have been very happy with the ride, the gas mileage, and the overall look of the car. I am sick about this incidence and I like so many others, I am afraid to drive it again. Buying a car is no small expense. So far, toyota service says there’s nothing wrong and doesn’t even feel responsible to provide a loner car while I wait for the factory person to come and take another look. It is quite obvious when a vehicle is accelerating on its own and won’t respond to braking. Having fellow consumers smugly comment “it is impossible” or “why didn’t they apply their brakes?” is ridiculous. This is a huge problem and Toyota needs to take responsibility and address it before more people suffer or die as a result.
I had an experience with my 2004 Corolla a few days ago with sudden unexpected acceleration. This occurred when I put the car into reverse to back out of my driveway. Within aproxc 2 seconds I had accelorated accross the street and hit my neighbors house. My driveway has a slight downward grade little gas is needed to reverse out of the driveway. As well there is a school just beside my neighbors house (The house I hit.) In addition my next door neighbour does child care at home and my house is at a corner where trafic is frequent at 8:00 am. I am in the habit of being cautious and excessive acceleration is not my style. It happened so quickly and completely unexpectedly, and brake was very stiff.
Just an add on to my previous comment. The police report says I hit the house at at 40 kilometers or more. I travelled less than 50 feet. Thankfully no one was injured.