NHTSA Complaint #10326072 — 2002 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

1) STOPPED AT STOP SIGN WITH SNOW ON THE GROUND. THEN ACCELERATE TURNING ONTO ANOTHER ROAD. 2) VEHICLE CAN ACCELERATE AND MOVE A FEW FEET BEFORE THE TRAC (TRACTION CONTROL) SYSTEM ACTIVATES. THE POWER TO THE ENGINE IS THEN CUT OFF. AT THIS POINT YOU ARE UNABLE TO MOVE, STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION. THERE IS A FEW SECOND DELAY BEFORE YOU CAN GET ANY POWER BACK TO THE ENGINE. ULTIMATELY, YOU ARE LEFT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE INTERSECTION WITH NO POWER TO THE WHEELS WAITING TO SEE IF ANOTHER VEHICLE IS GOING TO T-BONE YOU. I HAVE HAD MULTIPLE, VERY CLOSE CALLS. FAILURE OCCURS EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU TRY TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP AND THE SYSTEM SENSES EVEN A TINY LOSS OF TRACTION. THE COMPLETE LOSS OF ACCELERATOR FUNCTION AND DELAY UNTIL THE RETURN OF POWER IS VERY DANGEROUS. 3) THERE IS NO FIX. I WAS TOLD THERE IS NO WAY TO DISABLE THE TRAC SYSTEM THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SAFETY FEATURE WHEN IN REALITY IT IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SYSTEM. TOYOTA MUST THINK A LITTLE WHEEL SPIN IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN COMPLETELY TAKING AWAY THE DRIVER'S ABILITY TO CONTROL THEIR OWN VEHICLE I HAVE DRIVEN VEHICLES THAT HAVE TRAC AND IT DOES NOT FUNCTION LIKE IT DOES ON THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE. THE SYSTEM IS SEVERELY OVERLY SENSITIVE AND OVERLY CONTROLLING. *TR