NHTSA Complaint #10286539 — 2004 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

2004 TOYOTA SEQUOIA OCCASIONALLY THE BRAKE LIGHT AND VSC (VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL) LIGHTS COME ON. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE ABS SYSTEM PHYSICALLY MALFUNCTIONS AND THE VEHICLE BECOMES A HAZARD. WHEN TAKEN TO THE TOYOTA DEALER THE DEALER SAID THE ISSUE IS A SKID CONTROL COMPUTER WHICH IS COUPLED WITH THE ENGINE CONTROL COMPUTER. THE FAILURE OF WHICH CAN CAUSE THE VEHICLE TO BECOME UNCONTROLLABLE. THE DEALER ADMITTED KNOWLEDGE OF THE ISSUE AND SAID IT WAS A HAZARD AND A COMMON PROBLEM BUT TOYOTA IS NOT "OFFICIALLY" RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM. NOW I OWN A DEFECTIVE AND POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS MOTOR VEHICLE WITH A SAFETY ISSUE UNOFFICIALLY KNOWN TO BE COMMON. THE DEALERS ADVICE IS TO REPLACE THE COMPUTER TO THE TUNE OF $1500+. I WILL LIKELY DO THIS FOR THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. HOWEVER, RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH A COMMON AND RECOGNIZED SAFETY ISSUE SHOULD PROBABLY FALL TO THE MANUFACTURER OF THE DEFECTIVE MOTOR VEHICLE. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT BY REPLACING THIS COMPUTER THE PROBLEM WILL BE RECTIFIED AND ALL SYSTEMS WILL FUNCTION NORMALLY. TOYOTA IS SO ACUTELY AWARE OF THE PROBLEM THAT THEY MADE CHANGES TO THE SKID CONTROL COMPUTER FOR VEHICLES 2005-CURRENT YEAR MODELS. I HAVE A 2004 WHICH MEANS I HAVE TO PAY FOR THEIR MISTAKE. THIS IS UNFAIR AND UNSAFE. *TR