Speed Control Springs Problems of Lexus IS300

Accelerator failure: twice that I can clearly remember. First time happened in 2003 after gentle depression of the gas pedal, it seemed to push itself further and was stuck into the floor resulting in uncontrolled, max acceleration. . . This was mentioned to the dealer when I took it for service (ray catena Lexus, larchmont, NY). After that, it didn't happen until the spring of 2008 where I was on the i95 on my way to work, in rush hour when the car suddenly went from about 40mph to 70 or 80. I managed to weave around traffic and drove on the shoulder while pressing full force on the brake pedal, pulled on the emergency brake and was finally able to get the car in park. After that occurred, I was followed off he highway by the help truck, took my car to a local mechanic for inspection and nothing was found. . . I immediately made an appt with the dealer but had to wait until the next day for service. In the meantime, it happened twice more on the highway but I was cautious and stayed away from cars and close to the shoulder. I took it to the dealer and was charged $100 to look at it (Lexus of greenwich, CT), was told that it was the floor mat. Interestingly enough, this hasn't happened again and I still have the car but I am very worried that it might.

See all problems of the 2002 Lexus IS300 🔎.

My 2002, Lexus Is300 had a case of sudden unintended acceleration that led to a crash causing over $10,000 worth of damages to both my car and the other persons car. I have seen other reports of other people wondering if the electronic throttle is suspect in these cases, however I personally believe that the real problem is only partly to blame on the electronic throttle. In my opinion, the problem is the likelihood of the pedal getting stuck under floor mats is too high, combined with the relatively "light" spring force on the gas pedal because it is a throttle-by-wire system which leads to the floor mat easily holding the pedal down to full throttle causing an accident. I say that this is "negligent pedal design on the part of the car manufacturer". I also believe that they knew this was an issue because they make reference to this in the owners manual on: pg. 76 where there is a caution that states "make sure the floor mat is properly placed on the floor carpet. If the floor mat slips and interferes with the movement of the pedals during driving, it may cause in accident. " no manufacturer should be allowed to use that caution as a disclaimer to get away with negligent pedal design. They, fully well knowing that this is a safety issue, should have recalled those car models with a pedal design that has a high risk of getting jammed and redesigned the pedal so that it cannot get stuck by a floor mat. In all the cars that I've owned in the past, if a mat slips it just prevents you from applying full gas pedal, not the opposite of applying full pedal. I strongly move that Toyota company recalls all these cars with this potential problem and fix it properly before someone get fatally injured or crippled for life. The dealer informed the consumer there were 2 codes that indicated there was a problem with the abs. Updated.