Two problems related to car accelerates on its own have been reported for the 1999 Land Rover Discovery Ii. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
On the evening of March 16th, my vehicle experienced an episode of sudden acceleration. The event occurred leaving a ski area (approx 9,000 feet elevation)on a two lane road with an average 6% grade. The vehicle was parked in the late afternoon with temperatures approximately 50 degrees and was parked until 7:30 that evening when the air temperature had dropped to about 34 degrees. I started the vehicle as normal and proceeded to leave the resort parking lot. As I crested the hill to the main road, the engine began accelerating (rpm above 4,000). I lifted my foot to make sure that I was not inadvertently stepping on the accelerator and the vehicle surged forward. I had great difficulty trying to slow the vehicle using the brakes. I was able to slow the car enough to jolt the transmission into park to stop the vehicle. The engine revs climbed above 5,000 as I shut the motor off. I restarted the vehicle in a few moments and it behaved normally in the rather nervous 12 mile trip down the canyon. Since the single episode, it has behaved normally. Haven't gotten it to the service center as of March 17th. Absolutely terrifying with my children in the car.
My wife started vehicle in garage (engine cold). She placed in reverse and started backing into driveway. Vehicle suddenly lunged backward, engine racing. My wife tried unsuccessfully to stop the car with the brakes, but the vehicle was accelerating too rapidly. Just before she ran out of driveway, she placed the transmission in park and shut off the engine. Land rover brought in a technician who kept the car two days, running tests. They returned the car to us having adjusted something on the brakes to make sure they were working properly (which they already were). They told us they were unable to find any problem that could have caused the sudden acceleration. We were afraid to continue driving it if they couldn't find the problem. We called Land Rover north America and complained. We were told that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and said the vehicle was not eligible for buy-back. We then talked to the local dealer and sold the vehicle to them, at a much lower price than we could have if we had been willing to sell it ourselves to an individual. Please note: our neighbor saw and heard the vehicle when it lunged backward; he said it sounded like the engine was revved up high and he saw a cloud of black smoke come out of the tailpipe.
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