NHTSA Complaint #10328141 — 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I STARTED TO EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS THAT'S RELATED TO THE VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL (VSC) SYSTEM ON MY 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA. THE PROBLEM OCCURS INTERMITTENTLY AND WHEN IT DOES OCCURS, IT HAPPENS DURING INITIAL ACCELERATION. DURING THIS TIME, THE VSC LIGHT WOULD START BLINKING AND I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ACCELERATE. BRAKING WOULD REQUIRE TREMENDOUS FORCE APPLIED TO ACTIVATE IT. THERE WAS AT LEAST ONE INCIDENT WHERE THE VSC ACTIVATED DURING HIGHWAY DRIVING, BUT THAT INCIDENT LASTED APPROXIMATELY 5 OR SO SECONDS. HOWEVER, IT DID REQUIRE THAT I SUDDENLY APPLY THE BRAKE AND STARTED PUMPING IT FOR THE VSC TO DE-ACTIVATE. DUE TO THE INTERMITTENT NATURE, I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP FOR DIAGNOSTIC AND THEY DID FIND THAT ERROR CODES WERE PRESENT RELATING TO THE VSC. THOUGH THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE PINPOINTED ON THE INITIAL VISIT TO THE REPAIR SHOP. SUBSEQUENT OCCURRENCES PROMPTED ME TO BRING THE VEHICLE BACK TO THE REPAIR SHOP FOR FURTHER DIAGNOSTIC. EVENTUALLY IT WAS RECOMMENDED TO ME TO REPLACE THE "SPEED SENSORS" WHICH I AUTHORIZED. AFTER THE REPLACEMENT, THE PROBLEM TEND TO HAVE GONE AWAY. RECENTLY, I STARTED TO INTERMITTENTLY EXPERIENCE A SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH VSC LIGHT BLINKING BRIEFLY WHENEVER I PULL OUT OF A DRIVE WAY PERFORMING AT LEAST AN 80 DEGREE TURN. THIS TIME AROUND THE PROBLEM ISN'T AS SEVERE AND IS VERY INFREQUENT. I WOULD SAY IN A WEEK OF COMMUTING, I WOULD EXPERIENCE IT MAYBE ONCE OR TWICE. OF COURSE THIS IS COMPARED TO PREVIOUS INCIDENTS WHERE I WAS EXPERIENCING THE VSC PROBLEM ALMOST HALF THE TIME. EARLIER THIS WEEK, I READ THERE WAS A 2003 TOYOTA SEQUOIA RECALL WHICH HAS THE EXACT SYMPTOM AND PROBLEM I'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING ON MY 2002 SEQUOIA. I STRONGLY URGE THE NHTSA TO RECOMMEND TOYOTA TO INCLUDE THE RECALL FOR 2002 SEQUOIA MODEL YEAR AS WELL. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND TIME! *TR