NHTSA Complaint #10322140 — 2006 TOYOTA AVALON

UNINTENDED ACCELLERATION OF MY 2006 TOYOTA AVALON WITH ONLY 25,000 MILES ON IT. FEB 24, 2010. I WSA DRIVING 35 MPH, HAVING SLOWED FOR TRAFFIC, THEN CHANGED LANES, BARELY TOUCHED THE ACCELERATOR AND THE VEHICLE TOOK OFF LIKE A DRAGSTER. I WAS ABLE TO PLACE IN NETURAL AND BRAKE THE VEHICLE TO A STOP WHILE THE MOTOR WAS AT HIGH END REV. I CHECKED TO SEE IF THE FLOOR MATS WERE OBSTRUCTING THE GAS PEDEL. THEY WERE NOT. I TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE AND STARTED IT TWICE MORE, BOTH TIMES THE ENGINE WAS IN EXTREME HIGH REV MODE. AS I SAT ON THE HIGHWAY, THE ACCELERATOR "SPRANG" BACK ON IT'S OWN. I THEN STARTED THE ENGINE AGAIN AND IT WAS OPERATING NORMALLY. I CALLED TOYOTA IMMEDIATELY AND WAS DIRECTED TO A CUSTOMER SERVICE REP IN CALIFORNIA. I EVENTUALLY MADE IT TO A TOYOTA DEALER IN TULSA, OK, WHERE THE ON BOARD COMPUTER WAS "FLASHED" AND PEDEL RECALL WAS PERFORMED. SERVICE TECH WROTE UP A FLOORMAT ISSUE AND STATED THE "SERVICE ENGINE" LIGHT WAS REPORTED BY ME TO BE ON, WHICH IT WAS NOT. THIS SHOULD BE VERIFIED BY THE INCIDENT REPORT #1002144206 OF 2-24-2010 AS TAKEN OVER THE TELEPHONE BY TOYOTA CSR DON LOMBARDO; PHONE # 800-225-2769. I WOULD BET MY LIFE THIS WAS NOT A MECHANICAL RELATED CAUSE, BUT A PROGRAMMING ISSUE WHICH CAUSED THE THROTTLE BODY TO GO WIDE OPEN. I DO NOT KNOW IF THE COMPUTER "BLACK BOX" INFORMATION WAS DOWNLOADED BY THE DEALER OR IF IT IS TOO LATE. WHEN THE DEALERSHIP GENERAL MANAGER WAS TOLD BY THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN THERE WAS "ZERO" WEAR ON THE GAS PEDEL JOINT, HE WAS SPEECHLESS, BUT EVENTUALLY SAID TOYOTA NEEDS THE VEHICLE TO GO THROUGH IT FROM BUMPER-TO-BUMPER SINCE IT HAS SUCH LOW MILEAGE.