NHTSA Complaint #10356322 — 2010 TOYOTA VENZA

ON SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 MY HUSBAND AND I WERE DRIVING OUR 2010 TOYOTA VENZA ON RTE. 19S, IN FAYETTE, WEST VIRGINIA. WE ACCELERATED OUR VENZA TO MATCH ONGOING TRAFFIC SPEEDS, WHEN THE THROTTLE STUCK WIDE OPEN AND WAS INCREASING IN SPEED. I STEPPED ON THE BRAKES, WHICH FAILED TO RESPOND. I THEN CHECKED THE CRUISE CONTROL, TO SEE IF I HAD INADVERTENTLY ENGAGED IT, BUT I HAD NOT. I THEN STARTED TO PUMP THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WITH EXTREME FORCE, AND AFTER NUMEROUS PUMPS, THE THROTTLE DISENGAGED. AS SOON AS IT WAS SAFE, WE PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND CALLED OUR DEALERSHIP, COURTESY TOYOTA. THEY INSTRUCTED US TO CALL 1(800)331-4331 TO REPORT THE INCIDENT AND HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER. THE CAR WAS BROUGHT TO L&S TOYOTA CITY IN BECKLEY, WV, WHERE THEY PROCEEDED TO PERFORM AN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION INSPECTION, BUT THE TECH WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ISSUE. THEY PERFORMED THE RECALL OF THE PEDAL RESHAPING, WHICH WE HAD NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY NOTIFIED OF, AND CLEARED THE VEHICLE FOR RELEASE TO US, AT THIS TIME, AND ADVISED US THAT IF THIS SHOULD REOCCUR, TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE INTO NEUTRAL AND SLOW THE CAR BY BRAKING. THE ISSUE WAS NOT RELATED TO THE PEDAL SHAPE OR THE DRIVER MAT, AND WAS IN FACT A COMPUTER ANOMALY. WHEN THE ANOMALY OCCURRED, IT FROZE THE THROTTLE AND BLOCKED THE BRAKING SYSTEM.. FURTHER MORE, THE IDEA TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL IS UNSAFE, AS THERE WERE NO BRAKES TO SLOW THE VEHICLE TO A STOP AND WOULD CONTINUE TO COAST ONWARD AT AN UNCONTROLLABLE VELOCITY. I EXPECT THAT TOYOTA COMPANY KNOWS THE DEFECT LIES IN THE COMPUTER CONTROL SYSTEM, BUT MAY WELL BELIEVE THE COST OF CLAIMS AND HUMAN LIVES IS CHEAPER THAN FIXING THE VERY REAL PROBLEM. WE PURCHASED THE TOYOTA VENZA MARCH 30, 2010 AND WERE ASSURED THAT, AT THAT TIME, THERE WERE NO RECALLS FOR IT. THE RECALL FOR OUR VENZA WAS ISSUED MARCH 16, 2010, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN PERFORMED ON OUR CAR, AND WE HAD NOT BEEN AWARE OF ONE UNTIL OUR VERY TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE OCCURRED. *TR