On april 19th, 2014, at about 1:30 pm, myself and my wife left our friend's home in los altos hills, ca. As we left the driveway at about 5 MPH on baker ln, the car went into a sudden, uncontrollable acceleration mode, reaching speeds 50 - 60 MPH. Within about 1000 - 1500 ft we approached a the intersection of baker ln and purissima rd., all the while desperately trying to press the brake, applying hand brake and shifting to neutral. Against this sudden burst of acceleration, the car went off the road at that intersection, and fell into a ditch and stopped by a tree trunk. Both of us were injured with multiple internal/ external fractures, but we were conscious; my wife in the passenger seat had more grievous injuries, including an open wound of broken bone in ankle and severe spinal cord injuries, and was screaming with pain. Once I collected myself, I called 911 and the fd/ paramedics responded and we were hauled from the ditch by cutting open the car doors. We were transported to stanford medical center in palo alto, after which we were shifted to our hmo, after about 10 days in icu. I am now discharged and rehabilitating/ getting physical therapy at home, while my wife is still at a rehab center, over 10 weeks after the accident. At the time of the accident, the weather, visibility and road conditions were excellent; both of us had our seat belts firmly in place; no cell phone was being used; I had my foot on the brake and off the accelerator all the time; air bags deployed as expected. Since both of us were critically injured, we could not initiate/ pursue any legal action against toyota and surrendered the vehicle (which was totaled) to my insurer, farmers. We strongly feel that toyota is fully responsible for the defective acceleration system and causing serious bodily injury and mental trauma for both of us. We should be compensated by toyota.
2011 Toyota Corolla engine complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 26 of 26, newest first, as owners wrote them.
2011 toyota corolla. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle sudden acceleration. *smd the consumer stated when he removed his foot from the accelerator, the engine would sometimes continue running at the same RPM, not decreasing and coasting as he would expect. As time progressed, the issue became more frequent and the decrease in RPM sometimes came 30 seconds after pressure was lifted from the accelerator pedal.
Well the accident hasn't happened yet, but it could be right around the corner if the dealership doesn't fix this. When I let off the gas at speeds between 40-60 MPH. It seems as thought the cruise is on. The car does not decelerate normally. If there is a slight slope down it even picks up speed, I have to slam the break really heard to slow down the car its really scary when I go down hill. It's still getting fuel even though you don't have your foot on the pedal. It can take a few min or several miles before it kicks off the gas and acts normally. I buy this car brand new in april 2011 since then every time I went for service I told the dealership about the problem I got reply its normal if this is normal then what is abnormal. Right now on my car I have 34000 miles. So please make it as recall and fix the problem as soon as possible.
Vehicle fails to start. Found codes p0606 (ECM/PCM processor error) and p0303 (random misfire) on obd 2 computer. Vehicle towed to toyota dealership where they cleaned spark plugs and cylinders due to engine flooding. Upon return of vehicle drove it home were it sputtered on the drive (afraid vehicle would shut down during drive). Ran obd 2 tester on it again and found a toyota code p1604 ECM error. Returned to dealership were they did test on fuel samples and had the car for a couple of days. Computer was deemed faulty and replaced by toyota. Toyota replaced original computer under manufactures warranty. Have had the car for two days after new computer and 5 new codes are on under readiness codes. P0606 (ECM/PCM processor error), p0303 (random misfire), p0171 (system too lean bank 1), p0172 (system too rich (bank 1), and p0125 (insufficient collanbd temp for closed loop fuel control). Car continues to idle and rev uncontrollably while driving. Concerned vehicle may shut off while driving and or not start.
I bought a used 2011 toyota corolla from beaver toyota in santa fe, new mexico in september 2012. From the beginning I noticed a slight hesitation while driving. It felt like all of a sudden the car would slow down for just a couple of seconds, like a delay of some kind. I took it to the dealer and they felt nothing. It kept happening and I took it back and they drove and felt nothing. Finally, I was driving back from church in the daytime, thank god, and it just stalled like someone has just unplugged it (and its not electric) and all the engine lights came on and I made it to the emergency lane scared to death. I called aaa and they said let it sit for few minutes and try again and it started right up. He suggested I drive to a service station but it was sunday and no one was open. I went into the dealer later that week and they didn't feel anything, no hesitation at all. I kept feeling it and my roommate drove it once thought she felt something. Took to back again and sat 5 hours while they ran diagnostics and said it showed nothing. They did replace a bolt I noticed the head had broken off on the license plate ...just mentioned in passing & that was $110 because the service rep said they had to drill thru the back plate to remove and put in new one! I would have never agreed to that. I looked on line and found an independent toyota authorized repair shop that had great reviews and went there. Toy automan. They took me in at my appt time, one hour later the nice owner came out and handed me a release from toyota dated september 6, 2011 that stated 2011 corollas may exhibit a "monetary RPM decrease above 40 MPH and/or reduced engine braking". I'm so tired of going into this dealer and getting nowhere. They had to know about this notice from toyota and I must be naive realizing that a toyota service dept. Would put a customer in danger for money. Help!
It occurred in our parking at 11.30pm, 24 hrs after the last time we drove. We didn't install anything in the car. The car had mirrors that fold and immobilizer (installed by toyota here in israel) the glasses exploded to the outside (according to the fireman) the fire started near or at the battery (according to the fireman) the fire moved from the front part, to the passengers part (according to the fireman).
2011 toyota corolla: have had car aligned 2 times due to excessive pulling to the right, therefore tires have worn unevenly and now need to be replaced at 17,000 miles. The edges of the tires wore out before 11,000 miles. I addressed the issue to the dealership, who at first told me I had to pay for the alignment; then I was told it would be aligned under warranty. It had to be aligned a scond time due to continuous pulling to the right. The dealership says I have to pay for tires out-of-pocket, even though I think toyota should at least pro-rate a new set of tires. Second issue is the engine running rough and unevenly. It idles rough, and since I paid to have the injectors cleaned, it gets worse gas mileage than ever. I now have the car in the dealership shop again to fix the idle. They just called and said the y had to replace and reset the engine control module. I expected the car to perform better and tires to last more than a year, as I purchased the car dec. 2012.
Approx. A week after this vehicle was purchased it was involved in a crash on 08/29/2011. This vehicle was crashed due to an higher than usual rev which delays the time for a vehicle to come to a stop. The rev on this vehicle does not decline sometimes when releasing the accelerator. The vehicle came with toyota car so I have went to the toyota dealership many times to have a multi point inspection and they said everything was perfectly fine. They were unable to "duplicate" the issue. Feeling like there is nothing I could do I gave up and just continued to drive it with extra caution and make payments on my lease till the term was over. About a year later at 11,000 on my recent service visit the toyota mechanic told me I needed new brakes. He stated that this was unusual at this mileage and brakes should be fine, but on my car the brakes were completely gone. Now I have about 12,800 miles, and the engine revving is starting to interfere with my ability to control the speed of my vehicle. The excessive engine rev is the culprit that causes my brakes being used heavily. After I release the accelerator the car continues to accelerate and the brake has to work extra hard to stop the car. I have contacted south east toyota finance and they just empathized with my situation. When I went to the dealership the mechanic took three hours to look at the car and referred me to a sales representative who tried to sell me a new 2013 toyota corolla to resolve the issue. I refused to buy a new car and left the dealership. I am not an mechanic but I suspect it has something to do with the computer that controlling the speed, which is causing my speed to not decrease. This causes the brakes to take an extra load and causes first and second gear to conflict at times. This issue is getting worse as times goes by.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 toyota corolla. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH the engine rpms decreased by 300 and braking decreased noticeably. The contact mentioned that he had to apply excessive pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed the technical service bulletin repair under the federal safety agency item number: 10042602 (engine and engine cooling:engine) which included re-flashing the computer. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 31,000. ..updated 11/28/12 *bf updated 12/03/12
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 toyota corolla. The contact stated the vehicle failed to decelerate after releasing the accelerator pedal. The contact mentioned that he had to engage the brakes in order for the vehicle to decelerate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the wiring harness and speed sensors needed to be replaced. The remedy failed to repair the problem. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who sent an engineer to inspect the vehicle. The engineer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the ignition failed. The failure mileage was 16 and the current mileage was 17,000. Updated 01/02/2013*lj updated1/9/2013
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 toyota corolla. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the passenger noticed a burning smell as black smoke began to emit from the hood, followed by flames. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The dealer was notified and stated that while the vehicle was under warranty the fire was not their problem and referred the contact to the manufacturer. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 13,000. The VIN was not available.
Engine tries to stall at speeds of 50 to 40, more at 40.when this occurs the RPM needle jumps up past 3 then drops to below one comes up and jumps. I took it in to the dealer and they had just received a recall notice from toyota,it recommended it be flashed to stop what they said was a miss fire, this was done on 12/05/11. I drove it home it started doing it again,so I took it back in they reflashed it said that it would be alright. Not so it continues to misfire and act like is fixing to stall.I took it back again the head of service drove it said it was jumping in and out of overdrive just drive it don't worry about it .well it seems to be getting worse so I took it back in the service guy said after driving it was the best driving corolla he had been in ,course I knew that was not so cause to this day it keeps trying to stall in traffic.the steering seems to be getting hard to control it weaves more than it should like the front end is out of alignment but if you let go it tracks straight. I am really afraid to drive this car if it does stall in traffic there is going to be a serious wreck.I contacted toyota they said there is no recalls on the corolla not true my paper work shows they did a service recall to the dealers. What should I do next? I use this car to drive my 87 year old mother to the store and doctor god forbid it stalls with me driving her somewhere.I am paying good money for something I'm afraid to drive,it's just not right I bought this thinking it was a reliable source of transportation and it's not it's scary. I feel this car has a major computer issue, it's going to turn out to be serious.
Since leasing this brand new 2011 corolla, I noticed that at speeds between 40mph and 60mph the car would feel as if it was decelerating, akin to being buffeted by strong headwinds, although the speed did not reflect it. I drive mostly around a city that has many zones where the speed limit is 40mph, so I was experiencing this phenomenon a lot. By the time I had 250 miles on the car, I knew that it was not just a quirk, and I made an appointment to take the car to the service department at the dealership. The person who booked me in for service said that he had never heard about this issue, but I had done some research and saw that many 2011 corolla owners are complaining of the same problem. I told him to check online. I also complained about appalling mileage - I was averaging less than 20mpg - and he said that he would get their technicians to focus on the two issues. Within 30 minutes he was back to say that not only had he found the deceleration issue online, he found it on toyota's own service website, and he told me that the company had issued an official service bulletin. It is not showing that one was issued on this site, but I have seen it, and the dealership were able to reprogram the car's computer (they called it a "flash"). The conclusion was that the poor gas mileage was being caused by the mistiming, and should be addressed by the software update. If you are experiencing this issue, call your dealership and demand that they find the bulletin on toyota's own site. It's there! My car is now driving much better and the gas mileage is improving...slowly.
I picked up this new lease car march 8, 2011 & noticed this issue at the end of march with about 50 miles on the odometer; car now has 1000 miles on the odometer.. I noticed that always around 40 MPH the engine almost stops as if I were driving standard shift (which I am not) & someone downshifted into another gear, or if the speed control was on (never use it) & it came out of the set speed.. The first time it happened I kind of ignored it but then when it happened again. I stopped at the dealer gettel toyota where I picked up this lease car & the person in the service department told me "not to worry about it that the vehicle was getting used to my driving habits & that if something were wrong engine/dash lights would go on" (pp).. So I went my way keeping his words in mind.. This problem still exists with 1000 miles on the odometer & while I was concerned about it I didn't raise any red flags until now I see I am not the only toyota corolla owner having this issue which leads me to think its another "toyota design flaw".. I learned that term "design flaw" from toyota when I had my 2007 corolla & filed many lemon law complaints on it & toyota would repeat those words in their responses since toyota doesn't participate in lemon law negotiations they told me.. I have been leasing cars since 2002 & this is my second toyota lease which I wasn't going to do again since I had so many problems with my 2007 corolla but I liked the design of the newer model & couldn't beat the deal toyota kept giving me to take another car from them.. Now that I am reading about other owners having this same issue of the speed deceleration I am concerned that there may be a "design flaw" with the transmission or engine mechanics.. Although this doesn't happen all of the time it does consistently happen at 40 MPH & is quite noticeable since the car almost jerks forward when it occurs. The consumer was informed toyota is aware of the issue. Updated 10/18/11
My brand new car (53 miles on it) seems to loose power when you are driving at 40 to 50 MPH. I have my foot on the accelerator maintaining the speed and it feels as if someone else is stepping on the brake. You can feel the surge of the power loss .it drops quickly by itself. Also when maintaing the speed of 60 to 65 on the freeway I will let off the accelertor and my car maintains that speed as if I had the cruise control on.it drives qiute a distance before ever slowing down. I took it to dealer but they said nothing was wrong. Because I know there is a problem!!!!! And if they took it for a drive as they said they did (several times) there is no way they could not have noticed the bogging down of the engine.
My new 2011 corolla le might have a safety defect in the transmission or fuel system. Whether at freeway or local, I can feel the pull-back while driving. Accordingly, the RPM was found to be fluctuated between 100-400rpm dropping instantly (1-2s). It happened a lot. Subsequently, the dealer service technicians duplicated my concern (sudden pull-back). They even found the pull-back (or RPM drops down suddenly) in cruise control at 60 miles. Then they opened the case and got the field technical specialists check this problem. It takes one week and the report said that "other vehicles are checked and same things observed. This vehicle was operated as designed and no repair necessary." but the weird thing is that the service manager (he is the only one that has communicated between these specialists and me) they told me that they also think something was wrong (possible software). They offered me a couples of month payment credit (700-1000$). And they told the service manager that they can't fix it and have to have that done in japan. It takes a while. Now the service manager recommended me to claim to the toyota customer service and get my money back. But the toyota case manager is bad. He insisted that in toyota's position, nothing was wrong. He declined my request. Now, it is still in the processing. But I am afraid that it is hard to get my money back. I also found the same complaint online. Please have a check. See the power train: automatic transmission: http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2011/toyota/corolla/
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