NHTSA Complaint #10310625 — 2007 TOYOTA COROLLA

RE MY 2007 COROLLA CE. DRIVING WITH MY HUSBAND IN MY 2007 COROLLA IN 8/09 WAS MAKING RIGHT TURN OUT OF RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION ONTO HEAVY TRAFFIC ROADS DURING RUSH HOUR. WITH NO WARNING ENGINE LITERALLY STOPPED DEAD AS I WAS MOVING INTO LANE AND PERHAPS 20% OF WAY INTO LANE. ENGINE HAD BEEN RUNNING FINE BEFORE THAT WITH ABSOLUTELY NO INDICATION OF PROBLEM. FORTUNATELY--WHEN ENGINE STOPPED DEAD--FRONT OF CAR WAS NOT FULLY IN LANE INTO WHICH I WAS TURNING AND ONCOMING TRAFFIC COULD MOVE AROUND ME. TURNED OFF IGNITION, LET SET FOR PERHAPS 60 SECONDS; WAS ABLE TO RE-START ENGINE; CAR STARTED AND I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT HOME, DRIVING 1.2 MILES. GARAGED OVERNIGHT; CAR STARTED NEXT MORNING BUT DIED HALFWAY OUT OF GARAGE. AFTER 5-10 MINUTES STARTED AGAIN BUT DIED AFTER DRIVING 30 YARDS. HAD TOWED TO DEALER; LEARNED THERE'D BEEN A "DEALER'S TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN IN 9/08, TSB EGO42-07, IN RE DEFECTIVE PART, TO QUOTE SERVICE MGR "BAD BATCH OF ECM'S IN "SOME" 2007 TOYOTAS." DEALERS WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE INFORMED CUSTOMERS OF THIS DEFECTIVE ECM WHEN THEY BROUGHT COROLLAS IN FOR SERVICE. PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAD THIS COROLLA SERVICED AT 2 DIFFERENT TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS BETWEEN 9/08 AND 8/09, DATE OF INCIDENT, AND NEITHER INFORMED ME OF THIS TSB. MY HUSBAND AND I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THIS INCIDENT AND, SINCE I TRANSPORT MY 4 YR OLD NEPHEW, HE, TOO, HAD BEEN AT RISK. DEALERSHIP REP SHRUGGED ... COULD HAVE CARED LESS. THIS DEFECT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A MERE TSB ... THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL AND COROLLA OWNERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED. ONLINE RESEARCH AT THE TIME INDICATED THAT THERE HAD BEEN COROLLAS WHICH HAD DIED AT HIGHWAY SPEED, SO WE WERE PROBABLY FORTUNATE. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC FOR US. *TR