2025 Toyota RAV4 PLUG-IN Hybrid

On XXX; I drove to [XXX] from [XXX], with a friend for a luncheon. I pulled into the restaurant parking lot to park my car. It was a sunny day and the parking lot was paved. I made a right turn into a parking space, I was applying the brakes and coasting into the space. I was about 1/3 of the way into the space when I felt the loss of brake tension. Then the car revs loudly; suddenly and unexpectedly the car accelerates forward as I was still pressing down on the brakes. I pushed the brakes as hard as I could until the car stopped, but not until it had jumped a small curb, onto the dirt and bushes in front of the parking space. I stopped the car before it hit a fence behind the bushes. The impact bent my license plate but no other damage to the car was noted even though the front end of the car was more than halfway in the bushes. There were skid marks noted on the parking lot pavement from my car . I had held the steering wheel so tight that I tweaked my right wrist which is now sore. Had there been a solid wall facing us we could have been killed. I called SF Toyota to explain what had happened and to ask if they knew anything about the unexpected engine acceleration and brake failure. Their response was vague and they really didn't know. They did not ask that I bring the vehicle in for inspection; nor did they state that I should not drive it. After lunch, with much hesitation, I drove my friend and I back to [XXX]. The car was not driven again until the next morning when I took it to the Service Dept. of SF Toyota. On XXX SF Toyota advised they are awaiting vehicle inspection from a corporate Toyota representative. Toyota Corp. has assigned the incident Case Nos. XXX and XXX. I have asked both Toyota Corp. and SF Toyota for a free loaner. They will not grant this pending their investigation. No warning lamps, messages, etc. appeared. I do not know when Toyota Corp. will send their rep. No ETA for repairs. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

With the car stopped & the transmission in the Drive or Reverse position with foot off the brake pedal: 1. Pushing the Power button once to turn the car off results in the transmission automatically shifting from Drive or Reverse to Neutral without automatically setting the Parking Brake. 2. If the car's front-end is on a slope pointed up-slope the car will freely roll backwards. If the car's front-end is pointed down slope the car will freely roll forward. The above sequence is very dangerous when on a steep slope. This problem was first experienced in a Home Depot parking lot that was uneven. Parked with the nose up-slope in a small depression. The Power button was pushed while the transmission was still in the Drive position & the car immediately started rolling backwards. Fortunately, nobody was behind the car. I quickly pushed the brake pedal to stop the rolling. The proper way to shut off the car, of course, is to put the transmission in the Park position first, which automatically engages the Parking brake, confirmed by a light on the manual Parking Brake switch. I also own a 2007 Prius, bout new. That car has a paddle trans lever, Parking Brake & Power switches. The parking brake is all mechanical with a parking brake pedal. Whereas the 2025 RAV4 does NOT have a parking brake pedal -- it has a switch. Pushing the Prius' Power Switch (off) automatically locks the transmission regardless of the trans mode (D, R, N) such that the front wheels lock& the car will not move, regardless of the parking brake setting. Thus, the Prius is intrinsically safe with locked front wheels unable to turn on a slope regardless of the parking brake setting. I discussed this with Toyota & my dealer. The dealer reported another customer had also complained about this problem. Toyota quickly closed my complaint #251006003193 with no explanation stated. See the attached PDF doc.