2006 Toyota Avalon

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA AVALON. WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY ACCELERATED WITHOUT INTENTION. CONSEQUENTLY SHE CRASHED INTO CEMENT AND A FENCE INSIDE OF A PARKING LOT. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A BODY SHOP. SHE WAS ADVISED BY THE MANUFACTURER TO REMOVE THE FLOOR MATS. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE APPROXIMATELY 12,000.

WHILE TOYOTA HAS ISSUED A LETTER REGARDING NHTSA CAMPAIGN #09V388000, I BELIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM WITH CONTINUOUS ACCELERATION IS CAUSED NOT BY THE CARPET (WHICH IS A LUDICROUS STORY) BUT BY THE FAULTY CONTROL MECHANISM (PERHAPS, COMPUTER CHIPS) USED IN THE CRUISE CONTROL. MY 2006 AVALON HAS A LASER-GUIDED CRUISE CONTROL WHICH AUTOMATICALLY SLOWS DOWN MY VEHICLE WHEN IT APPROACHES TOO CLOSE TO THE VEHICLE AHEAD OF IT. AFTER A SAFE DISTANCE IS ATTAINED, IT THEN ACCELERATES TO KEEP UP WITH THE VEHICLE AHEAD. I HAVE NOTICED THAT SOMETIMES IN SO DOING, THE VEHICLE SURGES AS IF I WERE FLOORING THE GAS PEDAL. IT IS SCARY WHEN IT LUNGES FORWARD WITH SUCH A FORCE. I AM NO LONGER USING THE CRUISE CONTROL FOR THIS REASON. I BELIEVE THAT THE PROBLEM IS IN CERTAIN CRUISE CONTROL DEFECT. CARPET HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THAT SOUNDS LIKE A SMOKE SCREEN. PLEASE INVESTIGATE VIGOROUSLY. *TR

THIS IS NOT A COMPLAINT, BUT A FOLLOW UP TO COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE TOYOTA AUTOMOBILE THAT THEIR THROTTLE STICKS OPEN CAUSING UNWANTED ACCELERATION. MARCH 2006 I BOUGHT A NEW TOYOTA AVALON XLS FROM DAVID BRUCE, BOURBONNAIS, IL. ABOUT SIX MONTHS FOLLOWING THIS PURCHASE, I WAS PULLING AWAY FROM A RED LIGHT ACCELERATING RATHER QUICKLY. WHEN I LET UP ON THE ACCELERATOR, THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. WHILE APPLYING THE BRAKE WITH THE LEFT FOOT, I PUT MY RIGHT FOOT UNDER THE ACCELERATOR PETAL IN AN EFFORT TO RAISE IT. IT WAS NOT STUCK IN A DOWNWARD POSITION AND I WAS ABLE TO RAISE IT UP AND DOWN WITH MY FOOT WITH THE CAR STILL ACCELERATING. AT THIS POINT I STOMPED ON THE ACCELERATOR PETAL MANY HARD TIMES WITH MY RIGHT FOOT. FINALLY THE PROBLEM RESOLVED ITSELF AND THE ACCELERATION STOPPED. I TRIED TO DUPLICATE THIS PROBLEM MANY TIMES AFTERWARDS WITHOUT SUCCESS. I LOOKED AT THE ACCELERATOR PETAL, FLOOR MAT, AND THE AREA AROUND IT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THE MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THIS PROBLEM. I TALKED TO DAVID BRUCE ABOUT IT AND FIGURED IT WAS A FREAK OCCURRENCE. OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT AGAIN UNTIL THE NEWS MEDIA AND TOYOTA BEGAN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEM. WHEN THIS PROBLEM OCCURRED, I DID NOT THINK OF USING THE START/OFF BUTTON TO SHUT OFF THE ENGINE, BUT AM AWARE OF IT NOW. THE REASON FOR THE LETTER IS THAT TOYOTA IS LOOKING AT THE DRIVER SIDE FLOOR MAT AS A POSSIBLE PROBLEM AND I FEEL THAT THIS IS NOT THE AREA WHERE THE PROBLEM IS OCCURRING. IN MY CASE I AM 95 PERCENT CERTAIN IT WAS NOT A FLOOR MAT THAT CAUSED THE ACCELERATION AS I WAS ABLE TO PUT MY FOOT UNDER THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WITHOUT THE DECREASE ITS ACCELERATION. BUT, IN ALL FAIRNESS TO TOYOTA, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN AN UNKNOWN REASON WHY MY FLOOR MAT INTERACTED WITH THE ACCELERATOR PETAL THAT I DID NOT SEE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 TOYOTA AVALON. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE ONTO THE HIGHWAY RAMP, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL BECAME STUCK TO THE FLOOR. SHE USED HER RIGHT FOOT TO SEPARATE THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL FROM THE FLOOR OF THE VEHICLE. SHE WAS ABLE TO DISCONTINUE THE UNINTENDED VEHICLE ACCELERATION. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED BY THE DEALERSHIP. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 19000.

I HAVE A 2006 TOYOTA AVALON AND HAVE HAD THE ACCELERATOR GET STUCK FOUR TIMES OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS. EACH TIME WAS WHEN I WAS PUSHING THE ACCELERATOR DOWN HARD TO GAIN SPEED. THREE TIMES I WAS FORCED TO PUT BOTH FEET ON THE BRAKES AS HARD AS I COULD TO SLOW THE ACCELERATION AND LUCKILY I WAS IN OPEN STRETCHES WHERE I DIDN'T HAVE INTERSECTIONS OR ONCOMING TRAFFIC TO CONTEND WITH. THE FOURTH TIME WAS JUST RECENTLY, AFTER I HAD HEARD ABOUT THE RECALL AND AFTER I HAD VERIFIED THE FLOOR MATS WERE SECURED PROPERLY. I ACTUALLY REACHED DOWN WITH MY RIGHT HAND AND UNSTUCK THE ACCELERATOR. THE FLOOR MAT WAS NOT IN CONTACT WITH THE ACCELERATOR AT ALL. THIS IS A VERY UNSAFE CONDITION. WHEN THIS HAS HAPPENED, IT HAS BEEN TERRIFYING AND I AM LUCKY IT DID NOT HAPPEN ON A BUSY STREET. I LITERALLY HAD TO PUT THE FULL FORCE OF BOTH FEET ON THE BRAKES TO SLOW DOWN THE UNCONTROLLED ACCELERATION. WHEN I DRIVE NOW, I AM VERY CAREFUL NOT TO FULLY ENGAGE THE ACCELERATOR, FOR FEAR OF IT GETTING STUCK AND I ALSO MAKE SURE I'M ABLE TO REACH DOWN TO GRAB THE ACCELERATOR IF IT GETS STUCK AGAIN. I HAVE TOLD MY WIFE ABOUT THIS TO MAKE HER AWARE OF THE PROBLEM AND A WAY TO "FIX" IT WHILE DRIVING, BUT THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE CONDITION AND TOYOTA IS WRONG IN SAYING IT'S STRICTLY A FLOOR MAT ISSUE. *TR

I CONCUR WITH THE TOYOTA OWNERS WHO ARE SAYING THAT THE PROBLEM IS SOME ELECTRONIC GLITCH. I HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED THIS. I ONLY HAVE THE CARPET MATS, NOT THE ALL WEATHER ONES, AND JUST HAD THEM CHECKED AT THE DEALER AND THEY ARE PROPERLY FASTENED. MY CAR MOST OFTEN EXPERIENCES A PROBLEM ( ON OCCASION) WHEN YOU "YIELD" AT AN INTERSECTION AND DON'T STOP--THE CAR BUCKS OR THEN BOLTS. IT NEEDS MORE LOOKING INTO. THESE HIGH SPEED ACCELERATIONS BEING REPORTED ARE SCARY!*TR