Car Accelerates On Its Own problems of the 2003 Toyota Highlander

Saturday June 18 2016 at 6:40 a. M. Driving on tully road in my 2003 Toyota Highlander. My speed was 35 miles per hour when the car suddenly accelerated at a high rate of speed. I applied my brakes to slow down the Highlander this had no effect on slowing down the Highlander. The brakes went into anti locking mode the wheels started to pulsate. While this was happening my foot was not on the accelerator , but on the brakes. The Highlander was not slowing down but increasing speed. I down shifted into a lower gear, the engine raced at a high rpms. I then put the car in neutral the rpms still racing at a high rate. I then applied the brakes again to slow down. The Highlander started to slow down I then turned off the engine and then came to a stop. I waited for a minute and started the car the engine raced at a high rpms as if my foot was pushed all the way down on the accelerator, but my foot was not on the gas pedal. I waited again a few minutes to start the Highlander , the same high rpms happening again. A few minutes later I tried again to start the Highlander and this time the Highlander idled normal. I turned the Highlander around and went home which was half a mile away. The total distance of uncontrolled acceleration was in my estimation over 1,000 yards. I had to Highlander towed to stevens creek Toyota where it remains now June 27 2016.

Pulling into a parking space at kaiser hospital as I hit the brake the car unexpectedly accelerated. The car sped forward while my foot was still on the brake. I hit a tree causing damage to the left front area of the car (lights, fender, bumper) had car repaired. At the time I thought that I had accidentally hit the gas pedal;however, one month later while approaching an intersection, as I stopped, the same thing happened. Luckily no car or pedestrian was in the intersection. I was able to stop the car by shifting into park. Took the car to my mechanic. He was unable to replicate the problem. Since this unexpected acceleration occurred in the same way (coming to a stop with foot on brake and gear-shift in drive) , in a five week period, it could be a transmission or accelerater problem. I no longer feel confident driving the car and consider it unsafe.

The contact owned a 2003 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated that while the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle accelerated rapidly without warning causing a crash. The contact sustained injuries to her left foot. Medical attention was required. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed and deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 51,082.

On 7-11-13, going at highway speed on route 52 in north carolina, the throttle became stuck “wide open” causing my car to accelerate beyond my control. I slowed down to get off on the side of the highway, but I could not stop the car, only slow it down, to approximately 10-15mph. Got back on the road and took the next exit. Again I could not stop the car, and though I slowed again to about 10-15mph, I drifted through the intersection at the stop sign, with traffic approaching from both left and right! I turned sharply left, got off to the side of the road, and turned the key off to stop the car. God was watching, because no collision occurred. When I started the engine again, it “roared” like I’ve never heard it before. Somehow, I don’t remember how, I got the car about 100 yards down the road to a marathon gas station, to get completely off the road and out of the way. A man stopped and walked over to me, telling me that my throttle was stuck because of a faulty tps (throttle position sensor). He introduced himself as a mechanic, who formerly worked at a Toyota dealership, and said that was a “known” problem with Toyotas. He towed me to his house, replaced the tps, and we tested the car, to the satisfaction of both of us. It ran just fine, so I followed him to the pnc bank to get money to pay him. While there, the lady helping me, in response to my story, told me that her Toyota parked outside had the very same problem! except it cost her a lot more than my tow & repair did. My incident was most definitely a “part failure”, not an “operator error”, or a problem due to floor mats, as is alleged in the pending “unintended acceleration” litigation against Toyota, and my 2003 Highlander is not specifically listed in that litigation information on-line. I am sending a letter to Toyota, the ntsb and our local dealership where we purchased the car.

On Monday, April 28, 2008 at approximately 7:45 a. M. Cdt, I drove my 2003 Toyota Highlander on to the employee parking lot at unigroup, inc. As I always did, I pulled up past my assigned parking spot, stopped, and put the vehicle in reverse to back into my space. When I moved my foot from the brake to the accelerator and turned the steering wheel to back into space 304, the SUV suddenly accelerated at a tremendous speed, hit and bounced off the Ford explorer parked in space 305 and then hit the Subaru legacy wagon parked in space 317 immediately behind space 304. One witness who was in the parking lot at the time later told me that while he did not see the crash, he heard a huge roar of a motor and the crashing noise of the impact. The owner of the Subaru also did not see the initial acceleration of the SUV, but heard the tires screeching and turned in time to see my SUV hit his Subaru. Both of the two witnesses helped me load the back bumper of my Highlander into the cargo area. Prior to going into the office, I checked the floor mat under the steering wheel, but could not see any indication that it in any way had moved. I am convinced that the only thing that stopped my Highlander was the fact that it hit the two vehicles in spaces 305 and 317. Later that day (4. 28. 2008), I called Toyota to report the incident. I was told by a representative by the name of barbara that there were no problems or recalls on the Highlander, only the camry (this according to the NHTSA. ) my report was given . There was extensive damage to my SUV and the two other vehicles that were hit. Thus far, Toyota has not acknowledged that my vehicle (2003 Highlander) is included in the recall and since the VIN # begins with a j, I am told that there is no problem with any vehicle made in japan. Therefore, I cannot even take it to a dealership for repairs. I am left in limbo with a defective Toyota.

While attempting to park my 2003 Toyota Highlander at a mcdonald's, as I was applying the brake and almost parked, the car suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb and crashed through the entrance of the mcdonald's. I continued to apply the brake when this happened, and it would not stop.

Sudden acceleration while brake was depressed. Vehicle went up a two foot embankment and thru a chain link fence. Vehicle was stopped by placing into park. This all happened while brake was depressed fully.

2003 Toyota Highlander uncontrolled surge in acceleration. Consumer states there was limited to no use when the brake pedal was depressed. The consumer stated the floor mat played absolutely no role in the sudden acceleration incident. The truck was taken to the dealer where they replaced numerous parts, but could not explain the cause.