NHTSA Complaint #10281642 — 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA

HELLO, I AM WRITING TO YOU IN RELATION TO A RECENT PROBLEM I HAD WITH MY 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA. THE SHORT STORY IS THAT THE CAR'S ENGINE DIED WHILE DRIVING AND WOULDN'T RESTART. I HAD TO TOW THE CAR TO A TOYOTA DEALERSHIP WHERE IT WAS INSPECTED AND FOUND THAT THE ELECTRONIC CONTROL MODULE (ECM) HAD FAILED (ERROR CODE P0607) AND NEEDED REPLACEMENT. SINCE THE CAR IS STILL RELATIVELY NEW, I WAS ASTONISHED TO FIND THAT THE "BRAIN" OF THE CAR IS OUT OF ORDER AND HAS TO BE REPLACED. WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT THIS PROBLEM COULD CAUSE HIGHLY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS WHERE THE CAR'S ENGINE STALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF A HIGHWAY WHILE DRIVING AT 65 MPH. MANY PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE INTERNET AND DESCRIBE SUCH CASES WHERE EITHER THE CAR'S ENGINE DIES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, OR THE CAR LEAVES PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND WON'T START AT ALL (HTTP://WWW.TOYOTANATION.COM/FORUM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=201631). TOYOTA HAS ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS PROBLEM: TSB EG042-07 (HTTP://WWW.TUNDRASOLUTIONS.COM/FORUMS/ATTACHMENTS/COROLLA-MATRIX/27763D1201041193-2006-OBDII-CODE-P0607-06-CORROLLA-TSB.PDF). INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET SUGGESTS THAT FAULTY SOLENOIDS ON THE ECM BOARD ARE CAUSING THE COMPUTER TO GO CRAZY. GIVEN THE SEVERITY OF THE PROBLEM, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT TOYOTA SHOULD BE LEAVING ALL COROLLA AND MATRIX DRIVERS GET STUCK ON THE ROAD BEFORE REPLACING THE FAULTY PARTS. I BELIEVE THAT FOR ANY SUCH ROAD HAZARDOUS SITUATIONS WHERE THE MANUFACTURER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT FAULTY PARTS WERE INSTALLED SHOULD RECALL ALL AFFECTED MODELS AND REPLACE THEM ACCORDINGLY. SINCE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SUCH THING HAS HAPPENED TO ME, I AM NOT SURE WHAT THE PROCEDURES ARE BUT JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE SO THAT YOU DECIDE WHAT'S APPROPRIATE. MY CONCERN IS THAT CAR MANUFACTURERS SHOULD BE PROACTIVE IN SUCH MATTERS AND NOT BE PASSIVE AND WAIT FOR SOMETHING KNOWN TO HAPPEN. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! *TR OGNIAN VOYNIKOV MILEAGE: 23,000