NHTSA Complaint #10477979 — 2006 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

AFTER PUTTING GAS IN THE VEHICLE, I PULLED AWAY FROM THE GAS STATION AND WHEN I CAME TO A STOP SIGN BEFORE ENTERING THE MAIN THOROUGHFARE THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS SO HARD TO DEPRESS THAT I ALMOST HAD TO STAND ON IT TO GET THE VEHICLE TO STOP, AND NEARLY WAS UNABLE TO BEFORE PLOWING INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC I ALSO NOTICED THAT THE "TRAC OFF", "VSC TRAC", AND BRAKE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR WERE ALL ILLUMINATED. IT WAS A REAL PANIC SITUATION BECAUSE IT WAS TOTALLY UNEXPECTED AND MY WIFE AND 2 YOUNG DAUGHTERS WERE IN THE VEHICLE WITH ME. I AM AN 20 YEAR + ASE MASTER AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN WITH OVER 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE. I STOPPED THE VEHICLE AND VISUALLY CHECKED THE BRAKE SYSTEM AS WELL AS I COULD ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND SAW NO OBVIOUS CAUSE FOR THE ISSUE. THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET THE WARNING LIGHTS OFF AND THE BRAKES TO WORK WAS TO TURN OFF AND RESTART THE IGNITION. AFTER THAT, THE VEHICLE WENT THE REST OF THE DAY (140 MILES) WITH NO PROBLEM. I AM NOW AFRAID TO LET MY WIFE AND KIDS DRIVE THIS VEHICLE UNTIL I FIGURE OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH IT. I DO SEE WHERE THERE ARE A FEW SIMILAR COMPLAINTS, AND A COUPLE THAT ARE PRETTY MUCH IDENTICAL TO MINE. THIS VEHICLE IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH ONLY 52,000+ MILES ON IT. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN AND IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY HURT OF KILLED DUE TO THIS ISSUE. THERE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE SOME KIND OF SAFETY RECALL ISSUED. *TR