We have a 2006 toyota avalon. When that vehicle is in cruise, and accelerates for a hill, the force is so strong that it's like the accelerator was punched for passing. That behavior has existed since the vehicle was new. Since we live in the hilly part of arkansas, we never use our cruise control on local roads. We have noted many recent reports of sticking accelerator pedals, and have wondered if the resultant crashes were actually caused by a malfunctioning cruise control system, in conjunction with the reported pedal sticking issue. If that is true, then toyota's current plans to add shims will not resolve the problem.
2006 Toyota Avalon acceleration complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 103, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. While driving 60 MPH with the cruise control engaged, the electrical system speed control setting decreased the speed to 10 MPH. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The failure mileage was 35,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. While decreasing speed to 25 MPH, the vehicle lunged forward 2 to 3 feet. On several occasions the vehicle would idle and the RPM's rapidly increased. The vehicle sounded as if a jet were taking off whenever the vehicle was turned on. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer twice but the diagnostic test did not indicate any failure codes. The contact stated the vehicle is unsafe since it could potentially cause a crash when it lunged forward. The failure mileage was 42,000.
2006 avalon accelerates from 40 miles per hour to 100 miles per hour when in the cruise control -- I feel my life is in danger and I do not use my cruise control because of this, but I am afraid that it may come in accidentally -- please help me!
Problems with 20006 toyota avalon: on numerous occasions, the car has accelerated spontaneously and the brakes have not stopped the car when the brake pedal was depressed. Luckily, no accidents yet. Recent problems with engine malfunction and vehicle stability control malfunction. Toyota dealer denied any problems, except for "spark plugs" and oil line defect. Dealer denied car was on recall list. Complained that I was never notified about the mat, gas pedal or other recall. Dealer denied that car was on recall list. Dealer charged $1,100.00 (4 tires included) for work . Ongoing problem since car was purchased: gas cap is difficult to replace after fill-up. Check engine light comes on if cap is not "clicked" several times. Car must be taken to dealer to be turned off. It will not go off even if gas cap is on properly. Dealer charged $135.00 for each time.
This administration should demand that toyota fix the pedal issue immediately. Current owners should have the same fix as all new models with respect to this pedal issue. I took my car in for service and complained about this pedal issue about 2-3 years ago. I was told at that time by the technician that it was a fuel energy saving device. He made it sound that my car was safe. Therefore, I think toyota's records are flawed as to the exact number of complaints consumers (current owners) have made to service departments. In addition I purchased an additional 7 year extended warranty with my car through a toyota dealer. Toyota should be mandated by us gov to fix the issue for all current owners, regardless if car is under warranty. A total replacement is necessary immediately. I have always suspected that the pedal was not safe. I had many concerns about someone hitting me in the back end or me hitting someone else on my front end. Toyota has known about this issue too long and they should immediately fix it!!
I owned a 2006 toyota avalon. While driving on mountain road, as I rounded a curve, my car seemed to surge. A dog crossed in front of me as I came into the curve. I slammed on brakes and could not get car to stop I spun out of control and hit the bank on every corner of car as well as head on. Car finally came to rest about 150 yards from where I began braking. I was shaken up but not hurt. I am now convinced my gas pedal stuck or something electronically happened. My husband asked me what happened and I told him I honestly could not explain what happened. My vehicle was a total loss and my insurance paid; however, I purchased a 2007 avalon and I am extremely nervous living here in the mountains and driving this car. I don't have VIN or mileage handy but can get info from my insurance agent if necessary.
My 2006 toyota avalon has been giving me problems with the floor mats and accelerator getting stuck for over two years and now the accelerator gets stuck on its own. I am afraid to drive it back and forth on the highway and hope that toyota would replace it with a rental car until it can fix it.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. While driving 35 MPH the accelerator pedal became stuck and the vehicle accelerated. The contact had to place both feet on the brake pedal to stop the vehicle. The contact called the dealership who informed him to call aaa. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who stated that the floor mat could have caused the vehicle to accelerate; however, the contact stated that the floor mats were not positioned to do so. The contact is afraid to drive the vehicle. The failure mileage was 25,000. Updated 2/17/10 *cn the consumer stated the cruise control was repaired 4 times. Updated 02/22/10
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. The contact stated that when driving, his vehicle suddenly accelerated. . He depressed the brakes but the vehicle continued to accelerate. He kept pressing the brakes and shifted gears into neutral until eventually the vehicle began to decelerate. He took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the cause may have been the floor mats. He did not have any more problems after that failure occurred in march 2006. He called the manufacturer in 2009 about the floor mat recall 09v388000 and was told to go the dealer to have the floor mats removed. The contact stated that the current mileage was approximately 64,900. The failure mileage was approximately 9,000. Updated 2/26/10 *cn updated 09/07/10
I was accelerating when I was changing lanes. I took my foot off the gas pedal and it continued to accelerate hard on its own for about one half of a second. The gas pedal did not stick on the carpet. I do have the correct carpet and it was properly installed in place.
I was turning left at about 20 m.p.h. I tried to accelerate with the gas pedal about three quarters of the way to the floor. The car would not accelerate but very, very, slowly.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. In november 2009 while driving 45 MPH on a highway, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The failure recurred on january 16, 2010. The failure mileage was 46,500. The current mileage was 47,262. *cn updated 02/17/10
Sudden acceleration.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. While driving the vehicle suddenly accelerated without intention. Consequently she crashed into cement and a fence inside of a parking lot. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a body shop. She was advised by the manufacturer to remove the floor mats. The current and failure mileages were approximately 12,000.
While toyota has issued a letter regarding the federal safety agency campaign #09v388000, I believe that the problem with continuous acceleration is caused not by the carpet (which is a ludicrous story) but by the faulty control mechanism (perhaps, computer chips) used in the cruise control. My 2006 avalon has a laser-guided cruise control which automatically slows down my vehicle when it approaches too close to the vehicle ahead of it. After a safe distance is attained, it then accelerates to keep up with the vehicle ahead. I have noticed that sometimes in so doing, the vehicle surges as if I were flooring the gas pedal. It is scary when it lunges forward with such a force. I am no longer using the cruise control for this reason. I believe that the problem is in certain cruise control defect. Carpet has nothing to do with it. That sounds like a smoke screen. Please investigate vigorously.
This is not a complaint, but a follow up to complaints regarding the toyota automobile that their throttle sticks open causing unwanted acceleration. March 2006 I bought a new toyota avalon xls from david bruce, bourbonnais, il. About six months following this purchase, I was pulling away from a red light accelerating rather quickly. When I let up on the accelerator, the car continued to accelerate. While applying the brake with the left foot, I put my right foot under the accelerator petal in an effort to raise it. It was not stuck in a downward position and I was able to raise it up and down with my foot with the car still accelerating. At this point I stomped on the accelerator petal many hard times with my right foot. Finally the problem resolved itself and the acceleration stopped. I tried to duplicate this problem many times afterwards without success. I looked at the accelerator petal, floor mat, and the area around it to make sure that there was nothing the might have caused this problem. I talked to david bruce about it and figured it was a freak occurrence. Over the past two years I never thought about it again until the news media and toyota began an investigation into the problem. When this problem occurred, I did not think of using the start/off button to shut off the engine, but am aware of it now. The reason for the letter is that toyota is looking at the driver side floor mat as a possible problem and I feel that this is not the area where the problem is occurring. In my case I am 95 percent certain it was not a floor mat that caused the acceleration as I was able to put my foot under the accelerator pedal without the decrease its acceleration. But, in all fairness to toyota, there could have been an unknown reason why my floor mat interacted with the accelerator petal that I did not see.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. While attempting to accelerate onto the highway ramp, the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floor. She used her right foot to separate the accelerator pedal from the floor of the vehicle. She was able to discontinue the unintended vehicle acceleration. The vehicle was not diagnosed by the dealership. The current and failure mileages were 19000.
I have a 2006 toyota avalon and have had the accelerator get stuck four times over the past two years. Each time was when I was pushing the accelerator down hard to gain speed. Three times I was forced to put both feet on the brakes as hard as I could to slow the acceleration and luckily I was in open stretches where I didn't have intersections or oncoming traffic to contend with. The fourth time was just recently, after I had heard about the recall and after I had verified the floor mats were secured properly. I actually reached down with my right hand and unstuck the accelerator. The floor mat was not in contact with the accelerator at all. This is a very unsafe condition. When this has happened, it has been terrifying and I am lucky it did not happen on a busy street. I literally had to put the full force of both feet on the brakes to slow down the uncontrolled acceleration. When I drive now, I am very careful not to fully engage the accelerator, for fear of it getting stuck and I also make sure I'm able to reach down to grab the accelerator if it gets stuck again. I have told my wife about this to make her aware of the problem and a way to "fix" it while driving, but this is not an acceptable condition and toyota is wrong in saying it's strictly a floor mat issue.
I concur with the toyota owners who are saying that the problem is some electronic glitch. I have also experienced this. I only have the carpet mats, not the all weather ones, and just had them checked at the dealer and they are properly fastened. My car most often experiences a problem ( on occasion) when you "yield" at an intersection and don't stop--the car bucks or then bolts. It needs more looking into. These high speed accelerations being reported are scary!
Laser guided cruise control is unsafe...on curves it identifies cars approaching as in front and puts on the brakes and motor activates to stop the car. Had this in a couple of times but did not get better. Have to drive with it turned off. Believe that toyota has now quit offering this unsafe option on their newer models. Should have reported this earlier.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. She experienced unintended vehicle acceleration when entering a parking space. As a consequence, she crashed into another vehicle. Her knee was injured. The cause of the failure was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 52,000.
My 2006 toyota avalon is equipped with a laser cruise control. On 06/14/08, I was using the control when it failed. I was forced to suddenly apply the brakes to avoid crashing into the vehicle traveling in front of me on interstate 495. I have tested the unit several times since the initial failure and found it to be intermittent and unreliable. I have found it is unsafe to use the system.
Driving on a two lane highway, using the ir laser cruise control, and following a pickup truck at a speed below the "set" speed of the cruise system. As we approached a traffic signal the truck slowed and my cruise applied the brakes on my 2006 toyota avalon as it should. I applied the brake to disengage the cruise and to bring the car to a stop behind the pickup. At that point, everything appeared to be totally normal. But at a speed of approximately 30 MPH the brake petal suddenly went to the floor and there was no evidence of any brakes. (total brake failure). I managed to find a hole thru the traffic, by entering the oncoming lane, and ran thru the intersection (against the red light), and managed to avoid vehicles at the light by turning left 90 degrees. Fortunately, other drivers at the intersection apparently saw me coming and held their positions. The car finally stopped rolling about 100 yards beyond the intersection. I shifted into "park" and tried to assess the situation. The engine continued to run, and when I stepped on the brakes again, the pedal responded as normal. The light on the dash indicated that the cruise control was disengaged, and there was no other warning light noticed. I had the vehicle transported to scottsboro, al by flatbed truck. It has been at the toyota dealers for the past six days. They checked the computer for codes, and tell me that no codes were stored. They also said they called toyota to see if they have any experience with a failure of this nature, and toyota apparently told them they did not. Inspection of the vehicle did turn up a problem with the ir laser sensor, which was misaligned, but the dealer told me that would not cause a brake failure. Inability to stop a vehicle is a significant safety issue. Had the traffic pulled into the intersection as they should have, I would have had no place to go, and an serious accident would have occurred.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota avalon. While driving 5 MPH, the vehicle accelerated without warning and crashed into a brick column. The dealer stated that the floor mat could have caused the vehicle to accelerate. The current and failure mileages were 8,373.
Laser cruise control system: when the system detects a vehicle/object within the programmed following distance it slows the vehicle as designed. When the vehicle/object then leaves the detection zone the vehicle will, if it has slowed significantly, suddenly down shift and accelerate very quickly. This could lead to loss of control and possibly cause a collision with another vehicle if you have changed lanes to overtake the vehicle that caused you to slow. I cannot think that the manufacturer intended the system to work in this manner , but it seems to be common across all of these vehicles and not a failure.
On three different occasions, while driving my 2006 toyota avalon xls, I pressed down on the gas pedal to pass another vehicle and the gas pedal continued to depress on its own after I took my foot off of it. I stood on the gas pedal and it took about 5 seconds for the pedal to disengage after accelerating very rapidly. The third time, I had to shut off the ignition. I am afraid to press hard on the gas pedal at this point as it is a very frightening situation. A less experienced driver would get injured. I will not let anybody else drive my car because of this. The dealer had no explanation which I find very disturbing. Help!!
I have a 2006 toyota avalon with ~15,000 miles on it. Intermittently, the car will hesitate on acceleration. This is extremely dangerous as I have almost been rear-ended several times and have had to slam on the brakes, at times, to avoid a side-swipe collision. The delay in input to the accelerator pedal to actual acceleration is 2-4 seconds at times. This is a problem known to toyota. The service department is aware of the problem but describes it as a "characteristic" of the drive by wire throttle system. This is a very dangerous "characteristic" and I'm certain will result in accidents. There are many examples on the "forum" on edmunds.com where owners have expressed the same problem/concern.
Dt*: the contact stated intermittently, while accelerating and turning a corner the vehicle hesitated, and then lurched forward. The dealership was unable to determine the cause of the problem. *ak updated 10/17/2006 -
2006 toyota avalon surged forward after resetting cruise control. *kb the consumer stated the tachometer went into the red before she could react and hit the brake. After the consumer was able to hit the brake everything returned to normal.
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