2005 Toyota Avalon

THIS IS A FOLLOW UP ON THE INCIDENTS REPORTED UNDER 10142940. WHEN STARTING TO SLOWLY PROCEED FORWARD BEHIND HEAVY TRAFFIC AT A STOP LIGHT THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY SURGED FORWARD. I PLACED TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND ENGINE REV'S TO ~7000 RPM BEFORE I COULD SHUT IT OFF. TRIED RESTARTING THE ENGINE ABOUT 6 TIMES WITH IT IMMEDIATELY GOING TO ~7000 RPM. ON ABOUT THE 7TH TRY THE ENGINE STARTED NORMALLY AND RAN NORMALLY UNTIL I REACHED HOME (ABOUT 4 MILES). CALLED DEALERSHIP AGAIN AND THEY DID NOT PARTICULARLY WANT TO SEE VEHICLE AS I COULD NOT REPORT ANY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMING ON. I INSISTED ON AN APPOINTMENT AND WAS PUT OFF UNTIL NEXT WEEK. THEY CLAIMED THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THIS PROBLEM WITH TOYOTA AVALONS AND CAMRY'S EXCEPT FOR MY VEHICLE. CALLED THE DEALER/ZONE CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND PLACED COMPLAINT BUT THEY ALSO DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO EXCEPT CALL TOYOTA ENGINEERING. *NM SEE ALSO VOQ 10142940. *DSY

SINCE PURCHASING THE AVALON IN EARLY JUNE, I HAVE BEEN FRUSTRATED WITH HOW THE CAR OPERATES BETWEEN 20 AND 40 MILES PER HOUR. THE CAR DOES NOT ALWAYS KNOW WHAT GEAR IT NEEDS TO SHIFT INTO. IT WILL FREQUENTLY RACE 1000 RPM AHEAD WITHOUT ANY CHANGE IN SPEED. THEN SUDDENLY IT WILL ACCELERATE AND THE RPM'S WILL DROP BACK TO NORMAL RPM. IT SEEMS TO HAPPEN MOST OFTEN IN RUSH TRAFFIC WHEN TRYING TO CHANGE LANES. THE HESITATION IN ACCELERATION WILL CAUSE ME TO LOSE MOST OF MY MARGIN OF SAFETY IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING LANES. IN THIS REGARD, THE CAR IS NOT SAFE. THERE IS NO WAY TO PREDICT WHEN THE PROBLEM WILL OCCUR, AND THEREIN, LIES THE SAFETY HAZARD. IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE LAST EFFORT BY THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO UPDATE MY COMPUTER PROGRAMMING FAILED TO ACHIEVE ANY LEVEL OF IMPROVEMENT TO MY SATISFACTION WITH ONE EXCEPTION. SINCE THE FIRST COMPUTER UPGRADE, I HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THE COMPLETE LOSS OF GEAR AT HIGH SPEEDS. IS THIS A PROBLEM IN ALL 2005 AVALONS? IS TOYOTA AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND DO THEY HAVE PLANS TO RESOLVE IT? SERVICED ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. TOYOTA RESET THE COMPUTER LEARNING BACK TO FACTORY DEFAULT. TECHNICAL SUPPORT IN CA EXPLAINED THAT THERE ARE NO CURRENT PLANS TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE. ONCE THE LEARNING PROCESS DEVELOPS A BAD PATTERN, IT MUST BE RESET BACK TO FACTORY DEFAULT AND THE RELEARNING STARTED OVER. THE PROBLEM STARTED ALL OVER AGAIN AND THERE IS NO "UNLEARNING" THE PROBLEM. *JB

UNEXPECTEDLY THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED WHEN BACKING OUT OF DRIVEWAY WITH FOOT ON BRAKE. WENT TO NEUTRAL AND ENGINE SLOWED DOWN. PUT IN DRIVE AND IT TRIED TO RUN AWAY AGAIN. TOOK TO DEALER AND COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG AND NO CODES IN COMPUTER LOG. TWICE PREVIOUSLY HAD SIMILAR UNCONTROLLED ACCELERATION WHEN DRIVING ON FREEWAY. BRAKED LIGHTLY TO CHANGE LANES AND CAR UNCONTROLLABLY ACCELERATED. SHIFTED TO NEUTRAL WITH HEAVY BRAKING AND ENGINE RESPONSE CAME BACK UNDER CONTROL. CAR ONLY HAS 3200 MILES ON IT AT THIS DATE. 9/26/05 INCIDENT WAS AT 1975 MILES ON VEHICLE, PRIOR INCIDENTS WERE PROBABLY A MONTH TO 6 WEEKS EARLIER. *JB SEE ALSO VOQ 10149436. *DSY

DT: THE CONSUMER COMPLAINED ABOUT AN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. WHEN APPLYING PRESSURE TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL THE GEAR WOULD NOT ENGAGE. THE VEHICLE DID NOT SHIFT GEARS SMOOTHLY. THE CONSUMER SUSPECTED THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL. THE CONSUMER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE PASSED. THE DEALERSHIP INFORMED THE CONSUMER THAT THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS COMPUTER CONTROLLED. *AK (12/01/05) *SC

WE PURCHASED A 2005 AVALON LIMITED. FROM NEARLY THE FIRST DAY WE NOTICED A HESITATION DRIVING. THE SYMPTOM IS THAT THE CAR WILL HESITATE AS IT THINKS ABOUT WHAT GEAR TO GO INTO. THIS IS NOTICEABLE GOING UP A HILL, AND IS AT ITS WORST IN A SLOW TURN WHEN THE CAR SEEMS LIKE IT MIGHT STALL. QUITE SIMPLY THIS IS DANGEROUS AND FROM EVERYTHING WE HAVE LEERED A RESULT OF DRIVE BY WIRE. THE DEALER SAYS IT IS NORMAL AND THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. WE SPENT CLOSE TO $35,000 FOR THIS CAR AND IT IS OUTRAGEOUS TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM. THIS CAR IS DANGEROUS TO DRIVE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM ON AVALON (AS WELL AS OTHER TOYOTA MODELS).*JB

WITH CRUISE CONTROL (CC) ON, BETWEEN ABOUT 30 & 70 MPH, ON INCLINES THAT CAUSE A SPEED DECREASE OF 3+ MPH, CAR DOWNSHIFTS MORE THAN THE NORMAL 1 GEAR, & SURGES AHEAD QUITE VIOLENTLY, WITH LARGE RPM INCREASES, TO 3+ MPH ABOVE THAT SET, THEN SLOWLY SETTLES TO THE SET SPEED. WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL SET AT 70 MPH ON A LEVEL INTERSTATE, I SLOWED TO 60 MPH & SET THE "RESUME" FUNCTION; IT DOWNSHIFTED ONCE, ACCELERATING NORMALLY, UNTIL, @ 64 MPH, DOWNSHIFTED AGAIN, MORE THAN ONE MORE GEAR & SURGED VIOLENTLY AHEAD, UP ABOUT 3000 RPM & TO 72-73 MPH BEFORE RETURNING TO 5TH GEAR, & SLOWING TO 70 MPH. THE RAPID INCREASES ARE STARTLING TO ALL OCCUPANTS, AND COULD CAUSE A LOSS OF CONTROL, AND THE OFTEN RAPID BRAKING TO MAINTAIN CONTROL, A REAL CHALLENGE FOR THE TAILGATER BEHIND ON A CELL PHONE! DOWNHILL, WITH CRUISE CONTROL ON, IT USUALLY, BUT NOT ALWAYS, SPEEDS UP EXCESSIVELY; MORE THAN WITH CRUISE CONTROL OFF. IT USUALLY ACTS NORMAL ON FLAT ROADS, AND, EXCEPT AS STATED, ON HIGH SPEED HIGHWAYS WITH GRADUAL INCLINES. WITH CRUISE CONTROL OFF, NONE OF THESE ABNORMAL THINGS HAPPEN. WHEN THE DEALERS SHOP FOREMAN HAD ME TEST DRIVE A 2006 WITH HIM AS PASSENGER. AND BOTH CARS DID IT HE DECIDED IT WAS "NORMAL". BUT EVEN IF ALL 05/06 AVALONS DO, IT'S NOT "NORMAL". WHILE I DO KNOW THAT DOWNSHIFTING GENTLY IN THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES IS NORMAL, AS A HIGHLY EXPERIENCED COMMERCIAL DRIVER & AIRCRAFT PILOT/MECHANIC, & AVID CC USER, I HAVE NEVER HAD A VEHICLE ACT LIKE THIS. WHEN I PHONED CORPORATE TOYOTA, THEY OPENED CASE #2005 0921 1138; HAD THE "AREA REP." INVESTIGATE (HE/SHE NEVER CONTACTED ME, OR DROVE MY CAR); TOLD ME THAT SINCE THE "AREA REP" CONSIDERS IT "NORMAL" MY ONLY RECOURSE WITH THEM IS TO ENTER "ARBITRATION". WE LIKE THIS CAR VERY MUCH, & WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT IF THIS CAN BE RECTIFIED. SURELY IT'S A SOFTWARE GLITCH OR SOMETHING ALONG THAT LINE. PLEASE HELP SOLVE THIS OBVIOUS DESIGN FLAW, BEFORE A TRAGEDY FORCES IT. THANK YOU. *JB

DT: THE THROTTLE STUCK TO THE FLOOR, CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO GO FORWARD QUICKLY. WITH A LOT OF EFFORT THE CONSUMER WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE IN NEUTRAL AND SHUT IT OFF. THIS HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2005. WHEN THE CONSUMER TOOK VEHICLE TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIRS THEY TOLD HIM THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE. THEY DID NOTHING TO ALTER THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER FELT THAT THE VEHICLE WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. *AK

NOTICING HESITATION AT LOW SPEED GEAR SHIFTING . RESULTS IN NO ACCELERATION INSPITE OF PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR AND AFTER A LAG CAR SUDDENLY RESPONDS. HAD TROUBLE WHILE MERGING FROM THE RAMP ON TO THE HIGHWAY NOW FOR A TOTAL OF THREE TIMES. CONCERNED THAT THIS MAY RESULT IN AN ACCIDENT SPECIALLY WHILE MERGING OR DRIVING AT LOW SPEEDS IN HEAVT TRAFFIC.