NHTSA Complaint #10120329 — 2005 TOYOTA AVALON

I HAVE HAD REPEATED PROBLEMS WITH THE AUTOMATIC ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION IN MY TOYOTA AVALON 2005 LIMITED OVER THE PAST MONTH. I HAVE HAD THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP TO HAVE DIAGNOSTICS DONE. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR AND I WOULD HAVE TO "TRAIN" MY CAR COMPUTER TO DRIVE. I HAVE OVER 1500 MILES ON THE CAR AND I CONTINUE TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS. I DRIVE THE CAR AND MAKE STARTS AND STOPS SEVERAL TIMES WITHOUT ISSUE, THEN AT THE NEXT STOP I START OUT AND THE CAR SEEMS TO SHIFT IMMEDIATELY TO A HIGHER GEAR AND I HAVE TO HIT THE BRAKES TO AVOID HITTING OTHER CARS. OTHER TIMES, I WILL PRESS THE GAS PEDAL AND HAVE NO RESPONSE FOR SEVERAL SECONDS BEFORE THE CAR TAKES OFF. IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT TO MERGE INTO TRAFFIC AS I NEVER KNOW WHEN THE CAR WILL GO OR NOT GO. THERE ARE YET OTHER TIMES THAT IT WILL START OFF NORMALLY AND THEN SEEM TO GET STUCK IN WHAT SEEMS LIKE SECOND GEAR AND REV FOR SEVERAL SECONDS BEFORE SHIFTING. PREVIOUSLY, I HAVE PRESSED THE GAS PEDAL AND ENDED UP LURCHING FORWARD WHEN THE SHIFT FINALLY OCCURRED. NOW I LET IT REV UNTIL IT SHIFTS ITSELF WITH NO ADDITIONAL GAS PEDAL DEPRESSION. WHILE THIS HAS STOPPED THE LURCHING, IT HAS LEFT ME VENERABLE IN THAT I CAN NOT DEPEND ON WHEN THE CAR WILL ACCELERATE SO I CAN AVOID ACCIDENTS WITH OTHER VEHICLES, PEOPLE, AND OBJECTS. THIS HAS BEEN QUITE FRUSTRATING. I CONSIDER IT A MATTER OF MY LIFE AND DEATH BECAUSE I TAKE COUMADIN AND IF I AM IN AN ACCIDENT, IT COULD AND QUITE POSSIBLE WOULD COST ME MY LIFE. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ENCOURAGE TOYOTA TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM.