NHTSA Complaint #10429356 — 2008 SCION TC

WHILE DRIVING ON A COUNTRY ROAD, WHICH ARE EVERYWHERE IN SOUTH CENTRAL IL, MY DRIVER SIDE-CURTAIN AIRBAG DEPLOYED. THE ROAD IS ONE WHICH I'VE DRIVEN HUNDREDS OF TIMES WITH NO PROBLEMS. THE LOCAL TOYOTA DEALERS REGIONAL MANAGER TOLD ME THAT I HAD DAMAGED THE CAR BY STRIKING A"POTHOLE" AND THAT "POTHOLE" CAUSED THE SIDE-CURTAIN AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. I HAD JUST HAD NEW TIRES INSTALLED THE WEEK BEFORE, SO I RETURNED TO THE TIRE SHOP AND INDEED MY RIMS WERE SLIGHTLY BENT, BUT, THEY WERE STILL PERFECTLY IN BALANCE. TOYOTA CLAIMS THAT THESE "BENT RIMS", ALTHOUGH THEY ARE STILL PERFECTLY BALANCED, CAUSED MY SIDE CURTAIN AIRBAG TO GO OFF.I HAVE HAD SEVERAL OF THE OTHER ISSUES THAT ARE IN THIS DATABASE FOR THE 08 SCION TC. THE DRIVE BY WIRE THROTTLE HAS WENT ROUGE ON ME SEVERAL TIMES( UNINTENDED ACCELERATION AND SOMETIMES A DELAY IN ACCELERATION).SLIGHT BUMPS SUCH AS "SLOW-DOWN" STRIPS UNSETTLE THE CAR GREATLY ALSO. THE STOCK TIRES CAME APART IN LESS THAN 30K MILES. FINALLY, THE THROTTLE IS HAIR-TRIGGER OFF THE LINE WHICH MAKES FOR NIGHTMARISH WINTER DRIVING. THIS WILL BE MY LAST TOYOTA. *KB