NHTSA Complaint #10641568 — 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

IN FEB. 2009, WHILE DRIVING TO WORK, THE BRAKES ON MY SEQUOIA BEGAN TO LOCK AND THE ENGINE STARTED MAKING A LOUD GRINDING SOUND AND SENSOR LIGHTS BEGAN TO BLINK UNCONTROLLABLY. I COULD NOT CONTROL THE CAR STEERING AND WAS LUCKY THAT I WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THIS PROBLEM CONTINUED AND I TOOK IT TO MY TOYOTA DEALER WHO CHARGED ME $2700.00 AND BLAMED THE PROBLEM ON RATS. AFTER PICKING UP MY CAR FROM THE DEALERSHIP THE PROBLEM CONTINUED A FEW WEEKS LATER AND THE SAME DEALERSHIP STILL INSISTED THAT IT WAS RATS AND CHARGED ME AN ADDITIONAL $2300.00. YET THIS PROBLEM PERSISTED SO I TOOK IT TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO HAS NO TIES WITH TOYOTA AND HE REPLACED A COMPUTER SENSOR. THE PROBLEM WENT AWAY FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS UNTIL RECENTLY DURING A RECENT RAIN STORM IT STARTED TO ACT UP AGAIN. DRIVING THIS CAR HAS BEEN UNPREDICTABLE AND SCARY AT BEST. I CAME INTO SEVERAL CLOSE CALLS WITH OTHER VEHICLES ON THE ROAD WHILE DRIVING WHEN MY CAR WOULD LOOSE ALL ABILITY TO STEER AND MY BRAKES WOULD LOCK DURING SEVERAL INSTANCES. THE EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN A MIND GAME AND HAS TAKEN A TOLL IN MY CONFIDENCE IN DRIVING BECAUSE I BELIEVED MY DEALERSHIP WHEN THEY TOLD ME IT WAS NOT THE CAR, BUT BECAUSE OF RATS, WHICH I NOW KNOW AFTER READING OTHER CUSTOMERS COMPLAINTS ON LINE THAT IT WAS THE WAY THE CAR WAS MANUFACTURED. I LOST A LOT OF FAITH IN MY TOYOTA DEALERSHIP HERE IN GUAM. I NEED YOUR HELP TO TELL THESE PEOPLE TO RECALL MY CAR TO FIX IT EVEN THOUGH IT IS 12 YEARS OLD. I SPENT A LOT OF MONEY WHEN I INVESTED IN THIS CAR AND I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY A NEW VEHICLE AT THIS TIME. I AM AFRAID AN ACCIDENT WILL OCCUR TO CUSTOMERS LIKE ME UNLESS TOYOTA ADMITS THEY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR VEHICLES. *TR