2006 Toyota Avalon

LASER GUIDED CRUISE CONTROL IS UNSAFE...ON CURVES IT IDENTIFIES CARS APPROACHING AS IN FRONT AND PUTS ON THE BRAKES AND MOTOR ACTIVATES TO STOP THE CAR. HAD THIS IN A COUPLE OF TIMES BUT DID NOT GET BETTER. HAVE TO DRIVE WITH IT TURNED OFF. BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA HAS NOW QUIT OFFERING THIS UNSAFE OPTION ON THEIR NEWER MODELS. SHOULD HAVE REPORTED THIS EARLIER. *TR

MY 2006 TOYOTA AVALON IS EQUIPPED WITH A LASER CRUISE CONTROL. ON 06/14/08, I WAS USING THE CONTROL WHEN IT FAILED. I WAS FORCED TO SUDDENLY APPLY THE BRAKES TO AVOID CRASHING INTO THE VEHICLE TRAVELING IN FRONT OF ME ON INTERSTATE 495. I HAVE TESTED THE UNIT SEVERAL TIMES SINCE THE INITIAL FAILURE AND FOUND IT TO BE INTERMITTENT AND UNRELIABLE. I HAVE FOUND IT IS UNSAFE TO USE THE SYSTEM. *TR

DRIVING ON A TWO LANE HIGHWAY, USING THE IR LASER CRUISE CONTROL, AND FOLLOWING A PICKUP TRUCK AT A SPEED BELOW THE "SET" SPEED OF THE CRUISE SYSTEM. AS WE APPROACHED A TRAFFIC SIGNAL THE TRUCK SLOWED AND MY CRUISE APPLIED THE BRAKES ON MY 2006 TOYOTA AVALON AS IT SHOULD. I APPLIED THE BRAKE TO DISENGAGE THE CRUISE AND TO BRING THE CAR TO A STOP BEHIND THE PICKUP. AT THAT POINT, EVERYTHING APPEARED TO BE TOTALLY NORMAL. BUT AT A SPEED OF APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH THE BRAKE PETAL SUDDENLY WENT TO THE FLOOR AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF ANY BRAKES. (TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE). I MANAGED TO FIND A HOLE THRU THE TRAFFIC, BY ENTERING THE ONCOMING LANE, AND RAN THRU THE INTERSECTION (AGAINST THE RED LIGHT), AND MANAGED TO AVOID VEHICLES AT THE LIGHT BY TURNING LEFT 90 DEGREES. FORTUNATELY, OTHER DRIVERS AT THE INTERSECTION APPARENTLY SAW ME COMING AND HELD THEIR POSITIONS. THE CAR FINALLY STOPPED ROLLING ABOUT 100 YARDS BEYOND THE INTERSECTION. I SHIFTED INTO "PARK" AND TRIED TO ASSESS THE SITUATION. THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO RUN, AND WHEN I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES AGAIN, THE PEDAL RESPONDED AS NORMAL. THE LIGHT ON THE DASH INDICATED THAT THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS DISENGAGED, AND THERE WAS NO OTHER WARNING LIGHT NOTICED. I HAD THE VEHICLE TRANSPORTED TO SCOTTSBORO, AL BY FLATBED TRUCK. IT HAS BEEN AT THE TOYOTA DEALERS FOR THE PAST SIX DAYS. THEY CHECKED THE COMPUTER FOR CODES, AND TELL ME THAT NO CODES WERE STORED. THEY ALSO SAID THEY CALLED TOYOTA TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH A FAILURE OF THIS NATURE, AND TOYOTA APPARENTLY TOLD THEM THEY DID NOT. INSPECTION OF THE VEHICLE DID TURN UP A PROBLEM WITH THE IR LASER SENSOR, WHICH WAS MISALIGNED, BUT THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT WOULD NOT CAUSE A BRAKE FAILURE. INABILITY TO STOP A VEHICLE IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY ISSUE. HAD THE TRAFFIC PULLED INTO THE INTERSECTION AS THEY SHOULD HAVE, I WOULD HAVE HAD NO PLACE TO GO, AND AN SERIOUS ACCIDENT WOULD HAVE OCCURRED. *TR

LASER CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM: WHEN THE SYSTEM DETECTS A VEHICLE/OBJECT WITHIN THE PROGRAMMED FOLLOWING DISTANCE IT SLOWS THE VEHICLE AS DESIGNED. WHEN THE VEHICLE/OBJECT THEN LEAVES THE DETECTION ZONE THE VEHICLE WILL, IF IT HAS SLOWED SIGNIFICANTLY, SUDDENLY DOWN SHIFT AND ACCELERATE VERY QUICKLY. THIS COULD LEAD TO LOSS OF CONTROL AND POSSIBLY CAUSE A COLLISION WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE IF YOU HAVE CHANGED LANES TO OVERTAKE THE VEHICLE THAT CAUSED YOU TO SLOW. I CANNOT THINK THAT THE MANUFACTURER INTENDED THE SYSTEM TO WORK IN THIS MANNER , BUT IT SEEMS TO BE COMMON ACROSS ALL OF THESE VEHICLES AND NOT A FAILURE. *AK

ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, WHILE DRIVING MY 2006 TOYOTA AVALON XLS, I PRESSED DOWN ON THE GAS PEDAL TO PASS ANOTHER VEHICLE AND THE GAS PEDAL CONTINUED TO DEPRESS ON ITS OWN AFTER I TOOK MY FOOT OFF OF IT. I STOOD ON THE GAS PEDAL AND IT TOOK ABOUT 5 SECONDS FOR THE PEDAL TO DISENGAGE AFTER ACCELERATING VERY RAPIDLY. THE THIRD TIME, I HAD TO SHUT OFF THE IGNITION. I AM AFRAID TO PRESS HARD ON THE GAS PEDAL AT THIS POINT AS IT IS A VERY FRIGHTENING SITUATION. A LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVER WOULD GET INJURED. I WILL NOT LET ANYBODY ELSE DRIVE MY CAR BECAUSE OF THIS. THE DEALER HAD NO EXPLANATION WHICH I FIND VERY DISTURBING. HELP!! *JB

I HAVE A 2006 TOYOTA AVALON WITH ~15,000 MILES ON IT. INTERMITTENTLY, THE CAR WILL HESITATE ON ACCELERATION. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS I HAVE ALMOST BEEN REAR-ENDED SEVERAL TIMES AND HAVE HAD TO SLAM ON THE BRAKES, AT TIMES, TO AVOID A SIDE-SWIPE COLLISION. THE DELAY IN INPUT TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL TO ACTUAL ACCELERATION IS 2-4 SECONDS AT TIMES. THIS IS A PROBLEM KNOWN TO TOYOTA. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT DESCRIBES IT AS A "CHARACTERISTIC" OF THE DRIVE BY WIRE THROTTLE SYSTEM. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS "CHARACTERISTIC" AND I'M CERTAIN WILL RESULT IN ACCIDENTS. THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES ON THE "FORUM" ON EDMUNDS.COM WHERE OWNERS HAVE EXPRESSED THE SAME PROBLEM/CONCERN. *NM