2002 Toyota Sequoia: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Nov 24, 2010 · Body, Locks · 100,000 miles · TX

Interior door handle failure - only method of exiting vehicle. Failed for a third time under normal use before reporting to the federal safety agency. If vehicle is in a crash, on fire, or under water, a person will panic and exert greater force than normal on the handle, snapping it, leading to potential death. Dealer told me they have "hundreds" of these come through. Ask toyota how many they have replaced to get actual scope. They have no incentive to correct failure since dealer makes $250.00 to correct the failure. No egress in a burning car is equivalent to no fire exit doors in a burning building.

Filed Jan 30, 2010 · Driver assistance · 98,000 miles · WY

My 2002 sequoia has had a problem with the vsc lights going on and off. Today january 30, 2010 I smelled something burning. I think it is brake fluid burning on the engine. I parked the SUV and will call the dealer. It has 98,000 miles and does not have any warranty left.

Filed Nov 22, 2006 · Body, Locks · TX

Door handle breaking: 2002 toyota sequoia (1) events leading up to the failure nothing abnormal. Housewife exiting vehicle after dropping kids off at school. (2) failure and its consequences the door handle snapped in half, rendering no exit from vehicle impossible, other than rolling down electric window, and reaching outside, opening with exterior handle. Although the immediate consequences in this case were minimal, if the plastic door handle were flawed on a large scale, it is probable that the door handle will break repeatedly, (also confirmed with technician, "we replace these all the time".) the deadly combination of an accident, and subsequent high-stress conditions, potentially creating a life-threatening circumstance of an emergency exit, result in a significantly greater amount of force to be used than normal, I.e. Yanking the handle to get out. Bottom line, if a kindergarten teacher casually exiting a vehicle will snap it in half, what happens when a person is inhaling smoke surrounded by flames, trying to get their kids out? They will exert a tremendous amount of force on the handle to get out, snapping it in half, the window method will not work, or not come to mind. Issue a recall, or at a minimum, obtain from toyota the number of door handles replaced in after-market parts. Unfortunately, toyota postures itself that this is a warranty item. It is not. Human life is not a warranty item. This is a matter for the federal safety agency to decide.

Filed Oct 20, 2006 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA

During the past few months 'vsc trac" ,"vsc off","slip or skid","ABS",lights is going off while driving at low speeds like making turns and trying to accelerate from stop, even though the pavement is dry this happens every time ever since, brakes automatically apply causing the car to cut off or prevent the car from accelerating thus results in not able to control the car, there were instances that making turns is very dangerous due to the fact that the vehicle behind you can hit you due to the fact that failure to accelerate when needed because the ABS/vsc systems override you from accelerating by pressing the gas pedal, this seems to be a common complaint in online forums like edmunds.com tudrasolutions.com, and there was a discussion in there that someone's car with the vsc failure caught on fire, pls investigate.

Filed Jan 19, 2005 · Suspension · 32,415 miles · GA

There was a burning smell coming from the driver's side wheel well. Over time the smell became worse and was accompanied by smoke. *nm the consumer had this problem a total of 4 times where the smell of burning and smoke was excessive and overwhelming under the wheel hub. The seal, bearings, and axle was replaced but the problem still existed. *tc