NHTSA Complaint #10304671 — 2005 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER

ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS THIS VEHICLE STUTTERS WHEN MERGING ON TO TRAFFIC. ON THIS SPECIFIC INSTANCE I WAS MERGING FROM TURN IN LANE. THE THROTTLE WAS SLOW TO RESPOND AFTER DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL 3/4 OF THE WAY. THEN IT JUMPED/LURCHED FORWARD. I WAS NEARLY HIT BUT THE TRAFFIC COMING UP FROM BEHIND. THIS HAS OCCURRED ON MULTIPLE OCCASSIONS IN THE PAST, BEGINNING WITH 20000 MILES ON THE CAR. HAD BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALERS ATTENTION IN THE PAST AND WAS TOLD THAT THIS IS A "DESIGN FEATURE" OF THE ELECTRONIC THROTTLE. THEY SEEMED TO BE AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT COULD NOT OFFER ANY SOLUTION. THE ECM WAS REPROGRAMMED ONCE UNDER WARRANTY BUT THAT ALSO DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. *TR