2021 Toyota Venza Hybrid acceleration problems

Filed Apr 7, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · MN · crash

While driving under normal conditions and driving into my driveway on Thursday, March 19, I experienced a sudden and temporary loss of braking ability. When I applied the brake pedal, the vehicle did not decelerate as expected. This resulted in a collision with a residential fence at low speed. There were no warning lights or prior indications of a braking issue before the incident. The loss of braking appeared to be momentary, but significant enough to prevent me from stopping the vehicle in time. The vehicle has been regularly maintained and had no known prior brake issues although there are times when the brakes skip when traction is involved. There are also sudden issues with the acceleration. Given the safety risk, I believe this incident may be related to a potential defect in the braking system or electronic control systems.

Filed Oct 19, 2025 · Acceleration · CA

As I attempted to park in a stall in the parking garage, I turned the steering wheel to the right and aligned the vehicle in preparation to back into the stall. In the split second that I took my foot off the accelerator to put it on the brake pedal in preparation to switch gears, the vehicle surged forward rapidly. I slammed on the brake as hard as I could, fearful that it would hit the car in the stall ahead. Maybe that's an indication that the Emergency Braking System failed, too. I don't know whether it stopped me or me slamming on the brake, but I was within 18 inches of the vehicle in the stall ahead of me. It truly scared me, which is what caused me to search for whether this was a known issue for 2021 Venzas and found that others have had this issue occur.

Filed Jan 7, 2025 · Acceleration, Engine · MI

Vehicle at operating temperature, running, in gear and at a stop. Making a left turn into traffic. I release the brake and apply the accelerator, the car rolls out into traffic but no power, I press more and more until it is 100% throttle, all the way to the floor. Then after about 5 seconds the vehicle moves forward. Complete loss of response/power for 5 seconds. Thankfully no traffic coming. This happens a second time with the same circumstances, different location. Press the accelerator, no response, sudden loss of all power, then after 5 seconds it responds. This time there is traffic coming to my driver's side at 50 MPH, I was trying to press harder but it wouldn't respond. There were no warning lights, MIL, sounds or messages. Toyota wants $169.99/hr plus tax to investigate.

Filed Jun 12, 2024 · Acceleration · IL

Seems like, This is common problems for all the Toyota Venza Car. After stopping at redlight, If we push the accelerator, It doesn't have a pickup speed as mentioned 7.1 sec from 0-60 miles. If, car is take on the 45/55 mile from the local road, it may hit by back side of the car. This is really concerning. Working with the dealer to solve the issue.

Filed May 20, 2024 · Acceleration · TX

Intermittently my 2021 Toyota Venza will not accelerate. It feels like it loses power and will not accelerate. It started in March and has progressively gotten worse. It happens from a stop and from rolling acceleration. Toyota dealer Fred Haas Toyota said "they cannot duplicate the problem" even though I told them to go look online since this seems to be an ongoing problem. I do not feel safe in this vehicle since I cannot depend on it accelerating when I engage the fuel pedal.

Filed Mar 11, 2024 · Acceleration, Electrical · WA · crash · 2 injuries

The crash occurred at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2024 while pulling our 2021 Toyota Venza into a diagonal parking space on a slight upgrade. The vehicle surged over the curb, across the sidewalk and into a brick wall with gas pipelines attached to it. As this was happening, the driver yelled, “I don’t know what’s happening.” The car then rebounded onto the sidewalk and was turned off quickly because of a gas smell. We exited the vehicle and tried to keep people away from the scene because of the smell. The passenger had great difficulty getting out of the car because the passenger side door was blocked by a tree in the median. The Fire Department cleared the area, the police interviewed both the driver and the passenger and the gas company arrived to repair the meters and pipes. No citation was issued. During a call on January 12, 2024 to cancel a pre-paid service agreement, we were referred to the Toyota Brand Engagement Center who interviewed us before forwarding information on to the Toyota Liability Team. Toyota sent a contractual employee to download the information from the vehicle’s computer modules for further analysis by Toyota. On February 20, 2024, Toyota issued a report that stated the vehicle had no defects related to the accident and that the accelerator pedal had been fully depressed prior to impact. The report did not address other information that was provided to individuals investigating the incident, including information about the incident itself, information about a delayed acceleration event several days prior to the incident and notification from the local Toyota dealer the next day that a check engine light had come on around 2:50 the day of the incident followed a minute later by alarms indicating “airbag failure to deploy” and “hybrid system failure.” The report also did not address the possibility of a problem with the throttle system, specifically the accelerator sensor.

Filed Jan 5, 2024 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA

It's its been about 4 times for myself and twice for my husband. When pulling out of parking lot onto busy street making a right hand turn, the car failed to accelerate so that I can merge onto the street. I almost got reareded twice because of this not being able to get up to speed. I have taken it to the dealer twice. The first time they told me there was a computer recall so he would do the update and it if it happened after that to bring it in. We'll it's happened many more times. And the dealer can't tell me what it is.

Filed Oct 20, 2023 · Acceleration, Fuel system · CA

- Vehicle was operating as normal. Slowed down to a complete stop as normal. When attempting to accelerate from stop, vehicle had no throttle response and slowly idled into the intersection. Would press pedal down and nothing would happen. About 5 seconds later, vehicle gained throttle response and took off quickly. Unable to duplicate issue at this time, appears to be intermittent. - Safety was risked due to inability to take off from a stop and being stuck in the intersection for a brief period of time. - Unable to duplicate problem for dealer to confirm. - Called the dealer and they stated they needed to do a diagnostic, but it needed to be in a failed state. It is not currently in a failed state. If it was in a failed state, I’m unsure how I would get it to the dealer for inspection as the issue is lack of throttle. - No warning lamps or other symptoms prior to the failure.

Filed Feb 27, 2023 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA · crash

Forward collision avoidance; automatic emergency braking; adaptive cruise control; I pulled into a straight-ahead handicapped parking slot to park, going about 1-3mph . There was a handicapped sign in front of me on a newly installed steel pole. I pulled in within inches of the pole. When I tried to engage the brakes, the braking system failed to engage the brakes and slow down the car. The car instead accelerated and would have broken through a store front had the pole not stopped it. I also pushed on the brakes, but nothing happened, the car did not seem to slow down at all, like I had no brakes. It's like the brakes did not work and the automatic braking did not work either. There was a complete system brake failure. Also, the air bags did not deploy, which I'm surprised with so much front end damage to my car. So, in a panic to stop the forward acceleration, I put the car in reverse; after which the vehicle accelerated in reverse out of my control and crashed into a 3-foot concrete wall and another vehicle next to the wall. This crash stopped the vehicle. I had no control over speed of the acceleration, steering of the vehicle, or stopping. I am concerned about a defect in the brakes and the PKBS braking system. I could have been killed or backed into another person or car killing someone else. The car has been repaired. I did receive a msg about the raider cruise system being on days prior; I didn't know what it meant; it went away and I did not pursue why cruise control was on because I didn't engage it. I am seeking inspection by Toyota and my AAA Insurance rep.

Filed Sep 1, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · 15,000 miles · CA

The contact's mother owns a 2021 Toyota Venza. The contact stated that while she was driving in traffic and slowing down to 10 MPH with her foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated with a jolt. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The unintended acceleration had occurred on several occasions. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and stated that the failure was caused by driver error. The dealer stated that the vehicle information showed that both the brake pedal and accelerator pedal had been depressed simultaneously. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.