NHTSA Complaint #10426542 — 2008 TOYOTA YARIS

MY VEHICLE HAS INTERMITTENTLY EXHIBITED A FAILURE TO ACCELERATE ONCE A DAY OR ONCE EVERY OTHER DAY FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD COME ON AND THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE UNTIL THE IGNITION IS TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED. MY MECHANIC TOLD ME THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE RELATED TO THE THROTTLE BODY WHICH HE REPLACED WITH NO IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE. HE ALSO TOLD ME THAT TOYOTA HAS ISSUED A TSB RELATED TO THE FAULT RECORDED IN THE ENGINE COMPUTER. P0121 IS ONE OF THE CODES MENTIONED IN THE TSB WHICH WAS ALSO THE CODE RECODED IN MY ENGINE COMPUTER, HOWEVER THE TSB DOES NOT MENTION THE FAILURE TO ACCELERATE. I TOOK MY VEHICLE TO THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALER FOR FURTHER DIAGNOSIS. THEY TOLD ME THE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AS PER THE TSB AND THAT THE COST WOULD NOT BE COVERED BY TOYOTA BECAUSE THE VEHICLE HAS OVER 58000 MILES ON IT AND IT WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. I WAS SHOCKED THAT TOYOTA WOULD NOT COVER THIS REPAIR CONSIDERING THE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS CIRCUMSTANCE ONE COULD FIND THEMSELVES IN WHEN A VEHICLE CANNOT ACCELERATE. TO MY DISMAY THIS REPAIR COST ME 1000 DOLLARS AND ITS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A 2008 MODEL VEHICLE WOULD NEED TO HAVE THE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS REPLACED. *TR