Tl* the contact had a 2005 toyota avalon. The contact stated that at the end of a long road , which he takes everyday, there is a tight spot were people slow down to make what is a very tight curve that then goes up hill. The contact tried slow down but the vehicle did not respond. The vehicle started to speed up as the contact tried to slow the vehicle. The vehicle was destroyed when the contact crashed into the large rocks on the side of the road. The contact was traveling at 55 MPH. The failure mileage was 46000 miles at the failure and currently had 46000 miles.
2005 Toyota Avalon acceleration complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 72, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I have owned and driven a 2005 toyota avalon since may 20, 2005. Now it has about 35,000 miles on it. From time to time, estimated at seven or so instances, I noted a dramatic increase in engine RPM when applying the brakes. This happened only during brake application, not at other times. In each instance of unexpected acceleration, I was able to stop the car with a firm, steady application of pressure on the brake pedal. After the first recall for the floor mat, I removed the mat on the driver's side. I was skeptical that the mat was a problem because it is a heavy, oem, fitted mat which was anchored with two factory installed hooks on the floor. They engage the mat through eyelets near the mat's trailing edge. With the mat removed, I experienced another sudden acceleration incident in the garage of hartford hospital. It was close to a disaster but the application of heavy, steady pressure on the brake pedal stopped the car. I considered the possibility that the brake and accelerator pedals are configured or positioned so that both are activated at the same time. On close examination I concluded that was unlikely. I now conclude these failures have been caused by a defect in the electronic system in the car. I have reported this to ctdot. A representative(?) phoned to refer my correspondence to federal dot.
Toyota avalon 2005. Although I have not experienced a sudden power surge or runaway car, I do believe there is a link between the accelerator and the electronics. Ever since I have owned the car, brand new, in the twilight hours of driving, the dashboard panel lights will dim and go bright when I step on or let off the gas pedal. I reported this to toyota when I first bought the car, but because it didn't react when the supervisor was in the car with me he couldn't report it or say what the problem was.
My wife drove our 2005 toyota avalon into the parking lot at the tarzana, ca post office. She pulled into a parking spot facing the post office, took her foot off the accelerator pedal and started applying the brakes. The car surged forward, crossing a walkway and ran into a concrete block planter in front of the post office. The car suffered substantial body and radiator damage and is now being repaired at a cost of over $8000. The air bags did not deploy and my wife was not injured. The car was purchased new and has approximately 30,000 miles on it. It has been serviced on a regular basis and was in excellent condition prior to the accident. The car is kept garaged and is unlikely to have had condensation in the accelerator pedal system. The weather at the time of the accident was clear and sunny with the temperature in the 70's. The car is still undergoing repair and we anticipate receiving it sometime this week (2/2/10). We have contacted toyota and they sent an inspector to look at the car on 1/27/10. We have had no report back from toyota as to the cause of the problem. The floor mat was checked the day of the accident and it was firmly in place with the floorboard clips holding the mat to the floor. I checked the floor mat after the accident and it had not moved or interfered with the accelerator pedal. My wife could not have been moving forward at more than 5 miles/hour as she was just moving into the parking spot at the time of the accident. Obviously, the car must have accelerated to at least 15-20 miles/hour in the space of approximately 5 feet before running into the planter. It is beyond belief that the problem was caused by a sticking accelerator pedal.
My complaint is the quick so called fix of the acceleration pedal that toyota says is the problem. The acceleration pedal is not the problem. From my personal experience with this problem with our 2005 toyota avalon occurred after starting the car with my foot on the brake, and shifting the gear into reverse. I had not touched the acceleration pedal so therefore it isn't just the pedal even if the pedal is faulty.
65 MPH interstate 64 e exiting to fort eustis blvd vehicle accelerated uncontrollably. While trying to control with brakes (standing on the brakes) and steering, the passenger moved the gear shift to neutral. Occurrence: once reported to dealer: advised not to drive the vehicle. Nothing else was suggested but to wait until toyota issues a notice.
I have a 2005 toyota avalon. On at least three occasions, I have been involved with extreme acceleration problems with my vehicle. I have been unable to stop the car although I was applying the brakes. This was extremely frightening to me and caused my bold pressure to rise severely...the second incident was reported directly to the safety department of toyota..on december 28th ,2009. Nothing was done to correct the problem...
Sudden acceleration in my 2005 toyota avalon. The mat did not interfere with the accelerator. Without looking at the vehicle toyota has maintained that the mat is the cause of the accident leading me to believe that about what toyota knows about this problem and is not being candid with the federal safety agency when informing them of the issue.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota avalon. Contact stated while parking the vehicle going up a ramp the vehicle accelerated and crashed into wall. The contact thought at the time her foot slipped on the brake pedal. The contact was not hurt and the vehicle was repaired. One year after the first incident, while pulling into the driveway the vehicle surged again. This time the contact was able to break and stop the vehicle from always crashing into the garage. Contact feels this vehicle is unsafe and refuses to drive the vehicle. Current mileage was 47,000 and failure mileage was 27,000. Updated 1/11/09 *cn updated 01/15/10.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota avalon. While entering a highway the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floor. The vehicle accelerated up to 80 MPH. He had to manually lift the pedal from the floor to decelerate. He was advised that he could bring the vehicle in as a trade-in. The failure mileage was 56,400.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 toyota avalon. When attempting to apply the brakes, the vehicle accelerated without touching the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was shifted into neutral to decelerate. The vehicle was towed to two different dealers, but the technicians could not remedy the failure. A complaint was filed with the manufacturer, but no assistance was provided. The current mileage was 45,000 . The failure mileage was 11,000. Updated 11/09/09 *bf the consumer stated his foot was on the brake when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. Updated 11/09/09
Weather: sunny. Engine warm - driven about 10 miles on the way to small shopping center. I'm in no hurry, stopping to browse in a favorite boutique. Looking for a parking space, slowed vehicle to a crawl while scanning the lot & then turned slowly about 45 degrees to drift into an available space when suddenly the vehicle lurched forward out of control ramming the parked vehicle facing the space I was in. I remember a loud noise - which was the engine accelerating: an unfamiliar sound when the vehicle was just about stopped. Then, the noise of the crash - about 6 ft in front of the avalon at the time of the noise & lurch. The impact stopped the car. I put it in reverse & backed away, then turned off the ignition. My foot was not on the accelerator by mistake as it had been on the brake while drifting down the aisle toward the open space - there had been no acceleration while in that aisle. To come to a complete stop in the space I would have had to apply only the slightest pressure to the brake ; therefore, if I had touched the accelerator by mistake I would have not done so with enough pressure to cause the wild acceleration. With my foot above the brake in that instant when I touched the brake to stop the lurch it didn't affect the speed of the car before impact: there was not any hesitation in the engine. No damage to the other vehicle. The avalon sustained some bumper damage and a bent hood - drivable, but I refused to drive it. While waiting for a tow truck I drove to the empty lot behind the stores and tried to repeat the event, unsuccessfully. I discovered that in order to accelerate that quickly, I would have had to have pushed the accelerator to the floor - an impossibility at the 0 miles per hour I was drifting into position in the parking space. The car accelerated suddenly and unintentional through no action on my part. The toyota dealer found nothing wrong with the car.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota avalon. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle accelerated automatically to 80 MPH. The contact attempted to shift back into auto manual mode, but the transmission failed to respond. The vehicle drove up a hill without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact was forced to apply maximum brake pressure to moderate the acceleration and place the vehicle in neutral. The vehicle recently had a routine inspection at 25,300 miles. The dealer did not find any failures with the vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 27,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota avalon. When the contact depresses the brake pedal, the vehicle surges ahead or shifts to another gear. The dealer was unable to diagnose the cause of failure. He has spoken with the avalon division of toyota and they stated that someone will contact him in reference to the failure. The VIN and engine size were unknown. The current mileage is 22,500 and failure mileage was 20,000.
2005 toyota avalon acceleration surge when braking. Almost rear ended stopped vehicle. Went to dealer they could not duplicate the problem.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 toyota avalon. The contact stated that when the cruise control activated it surged automatically and then level ed off two gears. The failure gave the impression that the vehicle lost control. While driving in light rain at 50 MPH the cruise control caused the vehicle's front wheels to spin. Toyota stated that the failure was caused by a programming failure that needed to be repaired. The current mileage is 242,000 , and failure mileage was 3,000.
Tl* - on 9/24/06 while the contact was driving vehicle at 60 MPH and it unexpectedly accelerated to 75 MPH. The contact had to apply the brake with both feet to disengage the acceleration on the vehicle. On 10/09/06, while driving on the highway at 40 MPH the vehicle accelerated to 75 MPH, had to hold both feet on the brake and pull the vehicle off to side of the road. At that point the contact took the vehicle to the dealership,) and the dealer stated that the gas pedal was most likely getting caught under the carpet. The dealer couldn't find anything wrong with the vehicle. While driving on 12/23/06 at 35 MPH the vehicle accelerated to 75 MPH, after a quarter of a mile contact was able to stop the vehicle by outing both feet on brake. All the brakes were smoking and there was transmission fluid leaking. At that point, contact had the vehicle towed to rosener toyota. *ak updated 01/29/07.
There seems to be a hesitation when stepping on the gas peddle, it takes a couple seconds before the transmissions responds. When it does, it doesn't seem to know what gear to put it in. Sometimes it accelerates normally. But other times it is unpredictable....can be very dangerous when merging or turning onto major roads.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving 40mph through a residential area, the vehicle operated at a reduced speed and suddenly lurched forward. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined the vehicle was operating as designed and was unable to duplicate the problem. Additionally, while driving 75mph the front tire blew out without warning. Upon initial inspection, there was complete tread separation. The tire was a bridgestone, tire line size of p215/55/r17.
Dt*: the contact stated upon initial acceleration the vehicle hesitated. The problem has been present in the vehicle since the date of purchase. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined the vehicle was operating normally.
Dt*: the contact stated while driving speeds of 5mph or less in stop and go traffic, there was a delayed acceleration followed by a sudden acceleration forward. The vehicle was seen by an authorized dealer. A factory representative inspected the vehicle and reprogrammed the electronic control module.
This is a follow up on the incidents reported under 10142940. When starting to slowly proceed forward behind heavy traffic at a stop light the vehicle suddenly surged forward. I placed transmission in neutral and engine rev's to ~7000 RPM before I could shut it off. Tried restarting the engine about 6 times with it immediately going to ~7000 RPM. On about the 7th try the engine started normally and ran normally until I reached home (about 4 miles). Called dealership again and they did not particularly want to see vehicle as I could not report any check engine light coming on. I insisted on an appointment and was put off until next week. They claimed they have never heard of this problem with toyota avalons and camry's except for my vehicle. Called the dealer/zone customer relations and placed complaint but they also do not know what to do except call toyota engineering. *nm see also voq 10142940.
Since purchasing the avalon in early june, I have been frustrated with how the car operates between 20 and 40 miles per hour. The car does not always know what gear it needs to shift into. It will frequently race 1000 RPM ahead without any change in speed. Then suddenly it will accelerate and the RPM's will drop back to normal RPM. It seems to happen most often in rush traffic when trying to change lanes. The hesitation in acceleration will cause me to lose most of my margin of safety in the process of changing lanes. In this regard, the car is not safe. There is no way to predict when the problem will occur, and therein, lies the safety hazard. It would seem that the last effort by the service department to update my computer programming failed to achieve any level of improvement to my satisfaction with one exception. Since the first computer upgrade, I have not experienced the complete loss of gear at high speeds. Is this a problem in all 2005 avalons? Is toyota aware of the problem and do they have plans to resolve it? Serviced on friday, october 21. Toyota reset the computer learning back to factory default. Technical support in ca explained that there are no current plans to address the issue. Once the learning process develops a bad pattern, it must be reset back to factory default and the relearning started over. The problem started all over again and there is no "unlearning" the problem.
Consumer brakes did not work on toyota avalon 2005. *ts (11/17/05) the vehicle also would experienced sudden acceleration when the brakes were applied. On one occasion, the vehicle jumped 6 feet before coming to a halt.
Unexpectedly the vehicle accelerated when backing out of driveway with foot on brake. Went to neutral and engine slowed down. Put in drive and it tried to run away again. Took to dealer and could not find anything wrong and no codes in computer log. Twice previously had similar uncontrolled acceleration when driving on freeway. Braked lightly to change lanes and car uncontrollably accelerated. Shifted to neutral with heavy braking and engine response came back under control. Car only has 3200 miles on it at this date. 9/26/05 incident was at 1975 miles on vehicle, prior incidents were probably a month to 6 weeks earlier. *jb see also voq 10149436.
Dt: the consumer complained about an automatic transmission problem. When applying pressure to the accelerator pedal the gear would not engage. The vehicle did not shift gears smoothly. The consumer suspected that there was a problem with the vehicle speed control. The consumer lost control of the vehicle when another vehicle passed. The dealership informed the consumer that they could not do anything because the vehicle was computer controlled. *ak (12/01/05)
We purchased a 2005 avalon limited. From nearly the first day we noticed a hesitation driving. The symptom is that the car will hesitate as it thinks about what gear to go into. This is noticeable going up a hill, and is at its worst in a slow turn when the car seems like it might stall. Quite simply this is dangerous and from everything we have leered a result of drive by wire. The dealer says it is normal and there is nothing they can do. We spent close to $35,000 for this car and it is outrageous to have this problem. This car is dangerous to drive. There are numerous complaints about this problem on avalon (as well as other toyota models).
With cruise control (cc) on, between about 30 & 70 MPH, on inclines that cause a speed decrease of 3+ MPH, car downshifts more than the normal 1 gear, & surges ahead quite violently, with large RPM increases, to 3+ MPH above that set, then slowly settles to the set speed. With the cruise control set at 70 MPH on a level interstate, I slowed to 60 MPH & set the "resume" function; it downshifted once, accelerating normally, until, @ 64 MPH, downshifted again, more than one more gear & surged violently ahead, up about 3000 RPM & to 72-73 MPH before returning to 5th gear, & slowing to 70 MPH. The rapid increases are startling to all occupants, and could cause a loss of control, and the often rapid braking to maintain control, a real challenge for the tailgater behind on a cell phone! Downhill, with cruise control on, it usually, but not always, speeds up excessively; more than with cruise control off. It usually acts normal on flat roads, and, except as stated, on high speed highways with gradual inclines. With cruise control off, none of these abnormal things happen. When the dealers shop foreman had me test drive a 2006 with him as passenger. And both cars did it he decided it was "normal". But even if all 05/06 avalons do, it's not "normal". While I do know that downshifting gently in the right circumstances is normal, as a highly experienced commercial driver & aircraft pilot/mechanic, & avid cc user, I have never had a vehicle act like this. When I phoned corporate toyota, they opened case #2005 0921 1138; had the "area rep." investigate (he/she never contacted me, or drove my car); told me that since the "area rep" considers it "normal" my only recourse with them is to enter "arbitration". We like this car very much, & would like to keep it if this can be rectified. Surely it's a software glitch or something along that line. Please help solve this obvious design flaw, before a tragedy forces it. Thank you.
Dt: the throttle stuck to the floor, causing the vehicle to go forward quickly. With a lot of effort the consumer was able to get the vehicle in neutral and shut it off. This happened on september 18, 2005. When the consumer took vehicle to the dealer for repairs they told him that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. They did nothing to alter the vehicle. The consumer felt that the vehicle was unsafe to drive.
Noticing hesitation at low speed gear shifting . Results in no acceleration inspite of pressing the accelerator and after a lag car suddenly responds. Had trouble while merging from the ramp on to the highway now for a total of three times. Concerned that this may result in an accident specially while merging or driving at low speeds in heavt traffic.
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