NHTSA Complaint #10307058 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO, ON ROUTE 840 IN UTICA, I FLOORED THE GAS PEDAL ON MY 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS TO PASS A CAR. THE PRIUS DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF POWER, SO FLOORING IT WAS SOMETIMES NECESSARY TO PASS UPHILL. WHEN I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE GAS PEDAL, THE CAR WAS STILL ACCELERATING. I TOUCHED THE BRAKES. NOTHING. FINALLY, I PUSHED DOWN HARD ON THE BRAKES AND GOT THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND TURNED IT OFF. I HAVE RUBBER MATS. I THOUGHT ONE OF THEM HAD GONE UNDER THE PEDAL. "CASE SOLVED" SO I THOUGHT. LAST DECEMBER, AGAIN PASSING A TRUCK UPHILL ON ROUTE 840, I FLOORED THE PRUIS GAS PEDAL. THE SAME THING HAPPENED! THIS TIME I KNEW IT WAS NOT THE MAT BECAUSE I HAD DRILLED HOLES IN IT AND ATTACHED IT TO THE MAT POSTS. IT WAS INCHES AWAY FROM THE GAS PEDAL WHEN THIS HAPPENED. I PUSHED THE BRAKES DOWN HARD AND STRUGGLED THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD RIGHT BEFORE THE LANES MERGED AND THE TRUCK WOULD HAVE CUT ME OFF (INTO A SWAMP). THE BRAKES, WITH A BURNING SMELL, FOUGHT THE RACING CAR. I FINALLY GOT IT TURNED OFF. WHEN I TURNED IT BACK ON, THE GAS WAS STILL RACING! I TURNED IT OFF AGAIN. AFTER WAITING,IT STARTED NORMALLY. IT HAS DONE IT EVERY TIME THE PEDAL WAS FLOORED(SELDOM). I WENT TO THE INTERNET AND FOUND THIS HAD BEEN A PROBLEM AND TOYOTA WAS PLANNING A PRIUS RECALL, WITH PARTS TO REPAIR AVAILABLE IN APRIL. I WAS VERY SCARED TO DRIVE THE CAR, BUT CAN'T AFFORD TO SELL IT (WRONG) OR BUY ANOTHER. SO I DECIDED TO WAIT FOR THE RECALL. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING ON PINS AND NEEDLES SINCE. AND NOW THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THE PRIUS GAS PEDAL! I'M GLAD FOR THE BRAKE RECALL BECAUSE MY PRIUS HAS DONE THAT ONCE TOO, BUT FREAKED OUT ABOUT NO STICKING GAS PEDAL RECALL FOR THE PRIUS. I WENT TO THE DEALER TODAY FOR 115,000K SERVICE AND TOLD THEM ABOUT THIS. "TECHNICIAN CAN NOT REPLICATE PROBLEM". JUST LIKE SO MANY STORIES FROM OTHER TOYOTA OWNERS ON THE WEB. THIS WILL BE MANY A PRIUS DRIVER'S EPITAPH WITHOUT GOVERNMENT ACTION. PLEASE MAKE TOYOTA FIX THESE STICKING PRIUS ACCELERATORS *CN