NHTSA Complaint #10313597 — 2006 TOYOTA COROLLA

DRIVING HOME WHEN CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND ENGINE SHUT OFF WHILE IN A BUSY CURVE OF A LOCAL STREET. LOST POWER STEERING ASSIST. CREATED A SAFETY HAZARD BEING THAT I WAS CAUSING A TRAFFIC HAZARD IN A CURVE. ONLY ABLE TO START ENGINE BY HOLDING GAS TO THE FLOOR, ENGINE SOUNDED LIKE A LAWN MOWER AND RAN BARELY OVER IDLE. MADE IT HOME AT ABOUT 10 MPH. NEXT DAY ENGINE STARTED BUT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS STILL LIT. DROVE TO DEALER, ENGINE WAS SURGING AND CAR SHIFTED VERY HARD. DEALER FOUND THAT THE ECU OR COMPUTER HAD FAILED AND REPLACED IT UNDER THE EMISSIONS WARRANTY. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT THIS COMPUTER HAS FAILED ON MY VEHICLE. FIRST TIME WAS AT 25,939 MILES ON 08/15/07 AND THEY REPLACED THE SAME ENGINE COMPUTER THIS TIME MY WIFE WAS DRIVING THE CAR IN TRAFFIC AND IT DID THE SAME THING. CURRENT INCIDENT HAPPENED ON 12/28/09 WITH 48,874 MILES ON VEHICLE. I CAN SEE THAT THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A MORE SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE IF WE HAD BEEN PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC WHEN THE COMPUTER FAILED. *TR