Accelerator Stuck problems of the 2000 Toyota Echo

2000 Toyota Echo. Accelerator pedal stuck. It has only happened once, around 263,000 miles. Ironically, this happened a few months ago, before news about the latest recall. This car, and its newer model the yaris, are not part of the recall. Occasionally, I would hear a quiet squeaky sound when using the gas pedal, but it was uncommon. I do all my own car work, but was never able to figure out the cause of the noise. . . I'm not looking to have anyone contact me - the vehicle is no longer being driven. I'm just reporting it in case anyone else with an Echo reports it. I don't have the VIN number handy (at work). If you really need it, you can contact me, and I'll email it to you. It is the 4 door sedan model. And it was one of the early Echo's. VIN serial number was in the 6xxx range.

While attempting to stop vehicle using full brake pedal force and hand brake the vehicle continued to accelerate. I was unable to stop the car and nearly caused an accident. After shifting the transmission into park the engine continued operating at high speed. The gas pedal was not stuck or used at any time during this time. This occurred on two separate occasions both at highway and city speeds. It seems that there are other reports of similar incidents with this car. No problems were identified by mechanic who couldn't reproduce the problem.

As I began to accellerate onto highway the gas pedal stuck, I did not panic, place the car in neutral, and pull up on the gas pedal which released the gas pedal, brought the 2000 Echo into the Toyota service center from 2002 through 2008 only to here Toyota say there is nothing wrong or they could not find anything, the problem is there with all models and years.