NHTSA Complaint #11233657 — 2002 TOYOTA SEQUOIA

AFTER DRIVING ROUGHLY 40 MINUTES ON A STRAIGHT DRY HIGHWAY AT A CONSTANT 70 MPH, MY VSC OFF AND TRAC OFF LIGHTS SUDDENLY CAME ON FOR NO REASON, ACCOMPANIED BY A LOUD HIGH-PITCHED ALARM. THE STEERING FELT LIKE IT WAS DRAGGING, WAS GRINDING, AND PULLED TO THE RIGHT. FELT LIKE SOMETHING WAS BREAKING APART. VERY SCARY SINCE I WAS IN THE LEFT LANE WITH NO SHOULDER. I DECREASED MY SPEED TO ABOUT 60 AND MOVED TO THE RIGHT HAND LANE. AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS, THE ALARM AND GRINDING/DRAGGING STOPPED JUST AS MYSTERIOUSLY AS IT STARTED BEFORE I'D EVEN GOTTEN TO AN EXIT. THE LIGHTS STAYED LIT. BEFORE I USED THE VEHICLE AGAIN, I INFLATED THE TIRES FROM 32.5 TO 35 PSIA, JUST IN CASE THAT MIGHT HAVE CONTRIBUTED. THE NEXT DAY, I DROVE ON THE HIGHWAY FOR 40 MINUTES WITH NO PROBLEM, BUT ON THE WAY BACK HOME, THE SAME THING RECURRED AFTER ABOUT 20 MINUTES, AGAIN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS ON A STRAIGHT SECTION OF DRY ROAD. THIS TIME THE DRAGGING AND GRINDING WAS WORSE AND THE ALARM LASTED MUCH LONGER. AGAIN, IT MYSTERIOUSLY STOPPED AS I WAS PREPARING TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY. SEARCHING SIMILAR ANECDOTES SEEMS TO IMPLY A KNOWN FAILURE OF THE YAW SENSOR. THAT SENSOR HAS TRIGGERED THE LIGHTS TO COME ON FROM TIME TO TIME EVER SINCE 2002, BUT IT NEVER CAUSED THE LOUD ALARM OR STRUGGLE TO STEER THE VEHICLE BEFORE. THIS SHOULD DEFINITELY BE A RECALL ITEM. I THINK I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DISABLE THE VARIABLE SPEED CONTROL AND TRACTION CONTROL FEATURES OF THE VEHICLE BY REMOVING THE FUSE JUST SO I CAN KEEP DRIVING IT.