Car Accelerates On Its Own problems of the 2002 Toyota Highlander

Vehicle was in motion on a city street going straight slightly downhill and then uphill. The weather was clear. Speed was about 15-25 mph. I was braking to slow the car down but the car accelerated on its own ( Toyota calls it "unintended acceleration"). The car continued accelerating even though I was pressing the brakes as hard as I could and it was now going uphill. . To avoid crashing I put the car in neutral, and engaged the emergency brake and hazards. The engine raced in neutral and then stopped racing. . Toyota started a case file and inspected it. They said everything is working properly now, case closed and I can come get the car. I had it towed there and am afraid to drive it until something is fixed. It was a terrifying experience. I am concerned it could happen again or to other cars. I am thoroughly disappointed in Toyota's nonchalant attitude; it was-is a potentially fatal situation, and it seems that according to Toyota if such an accident was investigated nothing would show up.

Toyota Highlander 2005. Peterboro , nh. 11 am. Driver was reported to pass vehicle on right in break down lane, then tried to pass another car by going into left lane and hit oncoming vehicle. Four people killed. Driver was very experienced --excellent safety record. I had been in his car with him hundreds of times. Very safe driver --no cowboy. Believe car had uncontrolled acceleration. Updated 05/10/10 updated 10/04/10.

The contact owns a 2002 Toyota Highlander. The driver stated that the vehicle suddenly accelerated and crashed into a wall of his garage while driving approximately 5 mph. There were no injuries. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealership who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was not notified. The current mileage was approximately 48,690. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

I pulled into my garage during early afternoon and came to the usual stop facing the wall. My foot was still on the brake and I had not yet put the car into park. Suddenly the car lurched forward and hit the wall with great enough force to deploy the air bag. The bag fractured my sternum in two places. At the time I was not aware of the prevalence of unintended acceleration problems and did not report it. There have been no episodes since.

Sometime in 2006, my 2002 Toyota Highlander experienced unintended acceleration. I was standing on the brake to make the car stop and it wouldn't. I pulled into a parking lot through the car into neutral, hit the brake, then through it into park while it was still moving. I called jiffy lube who just had performed an oil change. They sent a technician over to look at it. When I started the car for the tech the engine continued to race. We both looked to see if there was something stuck under the accelerator. There was not. We both pulled up on the accelerator and it did not appear to be stuck. The tech couldn't explain it. I can't recall if I had the car towed to Toyota or if the problem stopped suddenly and I drove myself. Toyota is one mile from where the incident occurred. Toyota told me they couldn't replicate the problem and assured me that it wouldn't happen again. I drove him without incident until I pulled in my driveway, the car accelerated and I again had to throw the car into park while moving. The car was then towed to Toyota and we were told the problem was "fixed" and given some excuse that didn't make sense. It never happened again and we traded the car for a new one in 2008. The dealership was bob rohrman Toyota in westmont, IL. I think the recall needs to go back further to include 2002 vehicles.

When engaging car in reverse the car will unpredictably at times suddenly accelerate.

Engaged from park to drive and suddenly acceleration happened, damaging many other cars. Dealer notified.