NHTSA Complaint #11172640 — 2005 TOYOTA RAV4

I AM HAVING AN ISSUE WITH MY 2005 RAV4 THAT HAS BECOME SO FREQUENT THAT I NO LONGER FEEL SAFE OPERATING THE VEHICLE. WHEN I AM DRIVING BETWEEN 30-50 MPH, AND THE ROAD MAKES A SLIGHT CURVE, MY VSC WARNING LIGHT COMES ON AND I LOOSE STEERING CONTROL UNTIL I REMOVE FOOT FROM ACCELERATOR. ISSUE BEGAN: APRIL 2018, AND HAPPENED ABOUT 2-3 TIMES A MONTH. SINCE THEN, IT HAS GRADUALLY INCREASED TO AT LEAST ONCE EACH TIME I DRIVE. APR-NOV, MOSTLY OCCURRED ON SAME SLIGHT RIGHT CURVE UPHILL SECTION OF ROAD. IT'S STILL MOSTLY THAT, BUT NOW IT ALSO HAPPENS WHEN THE CURVE IS TO THE LEFT, OR DOWNHILL THE SPEED LIMIT IS 50 MPH WITH CONSTANT MODERATE TO HEAVY TRAFFIC WEEKDAYS ABOUT 4 ' 6 P.M. I ACCELERATE UPHILL AS I MAKE A SLIGHT RIGHT CURVE, AND SUDDENLY, THE CAR DOES THE FOLLOWING: I WILL LOOSE CONTROL OF THE STEERING AND THE VSC WARNING LIGHT COMES ON. WHEN I TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR, THE VSC LIGHT TURNS OFF AND I REGAIN CONTROL OF THE STEERING. WHEN I APPLY THE GAS, THE SAME THING HAPPENS AGAIN. THE SEVERITY OF THE LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL SEEMS TO DEPEND UPON WHAT PART OF THE CURVE I AM IN. AS THE ROAD IS STILL SLIGHTLY CURVING TO THE RIGHT, THE CAR'S ABILITY TO ACCELERATE GREATLY DIMINISHES. THEREFORE, I AM FORCED TO DRIVE 35-40 MPH, WHICH CREATES AN ACCIDENT PRONE SCENE FOR MYSELF AND THE DRIVERS BEHIND ME THAT ARE TRAVELING 50-55 MPH. MY COMMUTE TO WORK, I'M DRIVING WEST & THIS RECENTLY STARTED DOWNHILL, THE PROBLEM OCCURS AFTER THE HILL WHERE THERE IS A SLIGHT CURVE TO THE RIGHT. ALSO, WHEN THIS OCCURS AT NIGHT, MY HEADLIGHTS WILL DIM AT THE SAME MOMENT AND FOR THE SAME LENGTH OF TIME THE VSC LIGHT COMES ON. SINCE NOVEMBER, THIS ISSUE OCCURS IF THE ROAD CURVES EITHER RIGHT OR LEFT, UPHILL OR DOWN HILL, BUT MORE OFTEN UPHILL. OCCASIONALLY, I WILL ALSO HEAR A BEEP WHILE THE LIGHT IS ON, BUT THIS HAS ONLY HAPPENED MAYBE FIVE OR SIX TIMES.