NHTSA Complaint #10578321 — 2007 TOYOTA RAV4

THE CAR UNEXPECTEDLY ACCELERATED AS I WAS APPROACHING A RED TRAFFIC LIGHT. MY FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE TO SLOW DOWN WHEN THE CAR'S ENGINE REVVED UP AND THE CAR KEPT MOVING FORWARD WITH MY FOOT ON THE BRAKE PEDAL AS FAR AS IT COULD GO. THE CAR FINALLY STOPPED ABOUT 6 FEET INTO THE INTERSECTION. THE NEXT MORNING THE CAR REPEATED THE UNEXPECTED ACCELERATION WHILE I WAS TRYING TO SLOW DOWN PRIOR TO STOPPING FOR A STOP SIGN. THE DRIVER'S SIDE FLOOR MAT WAS REMOVED TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO AND WAS NOT PRESENT THAT EVENING OR THE NEXT MORNING. I REPORTED THIS EPISODE TO THE TOYOTA DEALER AND I TOLD HIM I WAS AFRAID TO DRIVE THE CAR. THE DEALER TOLD ME THE CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY, BUT IF I WANTED HAVE TO CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP, HE WOULD HAVE TO TECHNICIANS CHECK IT FOR HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE EPISODE. I WAS ALSO TOLD I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR TOWING CHARGES AND THE COST OF THE DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS. THE COMPUTERIZED DIAGNOSTIC CHECK SHOWED NOTHING HAD HAPPENED AND NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE CAR. I TOLD THE DEALER THE I WAS NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE DIAGNOSTIC TEST DEVICE, AS THE ACCELERATION DID HAPPEN AND THE TEST SET WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT CHECKING THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM. I CALLED TOYOTA CUSTOMER SERVICE TELEPHONE NUMBER IS TORRANCE CALIFORNIA, TOLD THEM MY STORY AND ASKED IF TOYOTA HAD RECEIVED ANY OTHER SUCH COMPLAINTS. I WAS TOLD THAT TOYOTA COULD NOT RELEASE THAT INFORMATION. I ASKED WHAT TOYOTA DID WITH MY REPORT OF THE PROBLEM. I WAS TOLD IT WENT INTO A TOYOTA DATA BASE. I ASKED FOR A COPY OF RAV4 EPISODES IN THE DATA BASE. I WAS TOLD TOYOTA COULD NOT FURNISH THAT TO ME. I THEN ASKED FOR A COPY OF MY REPORT THAT TOYOTA ENTERED INTO THE DATA BASE. TOYOTA TOLD ME IT COULD NOT FURNISH THAT TO ME. TOYOTA SEEMS TO DISCREDIT REPORTS OF THIS ACCELERATION/SAFETY ISSUE AS IF IT COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAPPEN. *TR