NHTSA Complaint #10306653 — 2005 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

I AM WRITING TODAY TO ALERT YOU TO A POTENTIAL ACCELERATOR PROBLEM WITH THE 2005 TOYOTA 4RUNNER SUV. IN MID-DECEMBER, MY HUSBAND AND I WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THE CAR INEXPLICABLY ACCELERATED, GOING FROM APPROXIMATELY 40 MPH TO ABOUT 60 MPH WITHIN A MATTER OF SECONDS. MY HUSBAND, WHO HAS HAD PROFESSIONAL DRIVING INSTRUCTION, PUT THE CAR INTO NEUTRAL AND WAS ABLE TO SLOW THE CAR DOWN, AT WHICH POINT THE ACCELERATOR (WHICH WAS MOVING TOWARDS THE FLOOR WITHOUT A FOOT ON IT) POPPED BACK UP AND THE BRAKES BEGAN WORKING AGAIN. HOWEVER, WITHIN THIS SAME JOURNEY, THIS SAME ACCELERATOR PROGRAM OCCURRED TWO ADDITIONAL TIMES. WE IMMEDIATELY TOOK THE SUV TO TOYOTA OF ALEXANDRIA IN VIRGINIA AND EXPLAINED WHAT HAPPENED. THEY NOTIFIED US THAT OUR CAR WAS NOT SUBJECT TO A RECALL FOR ACCELERATOR PROBLEMS BUT, BASED ON OUR CONCERNS, AGREED TO EXAMINE THE SUV. TO THEIR CREDIT, THEY DID CALL IN A CORPORATE INSPECTOR TO EXAMINE THE DISSEMBLED DRIVE TRAIN WHO IN TURN DETERMINED THAT AN ACCUMULATION OF OIL IN THE DIFFERENTIALS CAUSED THE CARS COMPUTER TO MISREAD ACCELERATION AND DECELERATION INFORMATION. DESPITE THIS DIAGNOSIS -- AND SUBSEQUENT REPLACEMENT OF THE DRIVE TRAIN AND REAR DIFFERENTIALS -- TOYOTA MECHANICS WERE NEVER ABLE TO REPLICATE THE ACCELERATION PROBLEM THAT WE EXPERIENCED. AFTER TALKING TO SEVERAL TOYOTA REPRESENTATIVES, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF INDEPENDENT MECHANICS, WE WERE ADVISED TO PURSUE ARBITRATION WITH TOYOTA AND ARE CURRENTLY ENTRENCHED IN THAT PROCESS. IN THE INTERIM, WE ARE USING THE CAR ONLY FOR LOCAL JOURNEYS OUR OF CONCERN THAT THIS ACCELERATOR PROBLEM COULD REOCCUR. I AM WRITING TODAY TO INFORM YOU OF THE PROBLEM SO THAT YOU HAVE A RECORD THAT TOYOTA'S ACCELERATOR PROBLEMS MAY EXTEND BEYOND THE CARS/SUVS INCLUDED IN THE RECENT RECALL. *TR