NHTSA Complaint #11067336 — 2018 TOYOTA CAMRY

VEHICLE HAD AN UNINTENTIONAL BRAKING INCIDENT RELATED TO THE FACTORY SAFETY SYSTEMS WHICH CAUSED PROPERTY DAMAGE. OF CONCERN IS THAT ACCORDING TO THE MANUFACTURER WHO READ THE EDR, THERE WAS NO RECORDED EVENT THEREFORE THEY ARE DENYING THAT AN UNINTENTIONAL BRAKING EVENT OCCURRED. I WAS NOT PRESENT AT THE DEALERSHIP WHEN THEY DOWNLOADED THE DATA HOWEVER THEY LEFT A THUMB DRIVE IN THE CAR WHICH ALLEGEDLY CONTAINS THE DATA THEY PULLED FROM THE CAR. WHEN THE EVENT OCCURRED, THE CAR WAS ON THE TRACK OF AN AUTOMATIC CAR WASH BEING PUSHED ALONG BY ROLLERS UNDER THE WHEELS WHILE IN NEUTRAL. THE SPEED WAS LIKELY 2-3 MPH. WHEN THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE WENT UNDER A CURTAIN OF SWAYING CLOTH STRIPS, ALARMS WENT OFF IN THE VEHICLE, LARGE ILLUMINATED LETTERS THAT SAID BRAKE APPEARED IN THE INSTRUMENT DISPLAY, IT BRAKED BY ITSELF CAUSING IT TO COME OFF OF THE TRACK ROLLERS AND THE CONVEYER PULLED THE VEHICLE BEHIND INTO THE REAR OF MY VEHICLE CAUSING DAMAGE TO BOTH VEHICLES. THE OWNERS MANUAL LISTS AUTOMATIC CAR WASH AS A SITUATION WHEN THE SYSTEM MAY ACTIVATE (ALONG WITH PASSING OTHER VEHICLES, GOING UNDER HIGHWAY SIGNS AND ABOUT 20 OTHER COMMON EVERYDAY SITUATIONS WHERE ONE WOULD BE UNABLE TO DEACTIVATE THE SYSTEMS PRIOR TO THE SITUATION). THE OWNERS MANUAL DOES NOT TELL YOU TO DISABLE THE SYSTEM WHEN IN AN AUTOMATIC CAR WASH. TOYOTA DENIES ANY LIABILITY DUE TO THE EDR NOT RECORDING THE EVENT ALTHOUGH THEY IDENTIFIED THAT IT WOULD AND SHOULD HAVE IF IT OCCURRED. THERE CLEARLY IS A PROBLEM WITH THE EDR RECORDING PROPERLY IF IT IS NOT RECORDING WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO. THE DATA ON THE THUMB DRIVE IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. THE DEALER IDENTIFIED WHEN THE CLAIM WAS FILED THAT TOYOTA HAS A UNIT DEDICATED SPECIFICALLY TO UNINTENTIONAL BRAKING, SAME AS THEY DO FOR THE UNINTENTIONAL ACCELERATION PROBLEMS THEIR VEHICLES EXPERIENCED SO CLEARLY THEY ARE AWARE OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS. *TR