Cruise Control problems of the 2006 Toyota Sienna

On March 13, 2015 driving on I-95 south in a 2006 Toyota Sienna van the cruise control would not disengage when the brakes were applied approaching an exit ramp. The vehicle would not slowdown in spite of pressing the brake pedal as hard as possible. Moving the control lever forward to disengage the function was also not successful. The exit ramp was inclined so the cruise control accelerated the engine in an attempt to maintain our speed at 70 mph. The vehicle went thru a stop sign, bounced off the guard rail and came to a sudden stop with the engine not running. The impact destroyed the right side of the vehicle and the stopping was so abrupt that the cell phone (in my shirt pocket)flew out ripping the pocket off the shirt. Neither the front nor the side air bags were deployed. Skid marks made by the vehicle¿s right front tire (and possibly the rear right tire) prior to and after hitting the guard rail indicate the brakes were working on at least this side. Skid marks attributable to the left hand tires were not noticed.

On August 1st at approximately 10:11pm [144298 miles on the vehicle] at the I-10east to I-75south interchange after merging onto I-75 south. Traveling on I-10 east from tallahassee to orlando using the cruise control which was set at 75mph according to the speedometer - in order to take the I-75 southbound (tampa-orlando) exit I applied the brake to slow down and release the cruise control. Upon merging onto I-75 from the ramp I was traveling at about 55 to 60 mph and went to select resume on the cruise control. I removed my foot from the accelerator as I always do and let the cruise do the work. The vehicle accelerated as expected to 75 mph - the set point and stayed there for about 2 seconds (long enough for me to notice the speedometer pause at 75mph and then the vehicle accelerated fast and hard again (like full throttle) and kept going in about 2 seconds I was now at 85 and still accelerating; I applied my brakes to release the cruise control and slow the vehicle - it released the cruise and I was able to slow down - I did not use the cruise control after that.

I was driving on a straight, level dry road with cruise control set at 58mph. Suddenly car began to downshift. Assuming transmission problem I disengaged cruise control and car almost came to a stop. I pushed gas pedal and drove in low gear to nearest pull-off. Discovered left front brake was smoking. After things cooled off I drove car in low gear about 6 miles to local service station. Mechanic found all brakes locked and removed all wheels. He inspected all rotors, calipers brake lines, etc and found no problems. (I had new brakes installed at dealership about 4 months earlier. ) when mechanic manipulated left front caliper all brakes disengaged. Mechanic found brake fluid level was normal. I've driven car about 500 miles since problem occurred with no problems. I don't use cruise control often - and haven't used it since problem occurred. I'm wondering if problem is with cruise control rather than brakes?? this could have been a disaster if it happened on a freeway at higher speeds!.

1. Cruise control device on my 1996 Toyota Sienna has been behaving erratically since about 2 months. It has over 45000 miles on the odometer and is thus out of warranty. 2. Mechanically there does not appear to be any defect. However the following anomalies are being observed during the past 2 months. A: 90% of the time in speeds in excess of 50 mph, when I try to set the cruising speed by pressing the ccl (cruise control lever) downwards, nothing happens. In more than 50% of these times, if I lift the ccl upwards (normally the method to re-set cruising speed after braking/slowing down) the cruising speed gets set. B. Under conditions as in 'a' above many of the operations of the ccl appears to happen in an inverted manner, like setting instead of re-setting, re-setting instead of setting, etc. 3. It appears there is something definitely wrong with the electronics of the cruise control system, and while this has not happened so far, may in fact, cause unwarranted DE-celeration/acceleration, and could cause accidents. 4. It is emphasized that these anomalies have *** not *** caused any accident yet. This vehicle is *** not *** included in any unexpected acceleration-related recalls. But this behavior of the cruise control may have something to do with unusual accelerations.

When using cruise control our Toyota Sienna 2006 van will increase in speed without any changes. We have stop using cruise control to prevent any increase in speed.

2006 Toyota Sienna le with bz package (vsa) - safety issue (electronics): vehicle stability control system (vsa) is unsafe during road slippery conditions if cruise control is used. The slippery condition could be rainy day or snowing or icy road conditions. The incident occurred several time. The first time I noticed the issue is around September of 2008. It was heavy rain, I was driving on a highway with normal speed. The van was set to cruise at 65 mph. I ran over a small pot of water on the road. One of the tire probably slipped for a brief milli-second. The vsa control kicked in (I can see the vsa light flashes), the van was then running from side to side and the rpm suddenly jump up (violently). The van was difficult to control. I tap the brake to disengage the cruise control. Then the van went back to normal. 2nd incident, about December of 2008, I was driving on the highway with light snow. The van was cruising at 55 mph. The van passed a slippery spot. The vsa kicked in and caused violent left and right movement of the van as well as sudden acceleration. The incident almost caused an accident. Since then, I stopped using cruise control on the rainy or snowy days. But if anyone out there with Toyota minivan, I would like them to know it is a serious potential problem. I took my van to be checked out at the Toyota dealership. They said could not find the problem and it is normal as is.

I am assuming you have seen the article about steve wozniak complaining about his cruise control on his Toyota prius. It is an issue of using cruise control with the sonar activated to slow the car down to maintain a safe distance between the car in front of you. When the car in front moved out of your lane, your car takes off like a rocket to regain the programmed speed. I have a Toyota Sienna Mini van that does the same thing he described. When I complain to the dealer they tell me it works as designed. I ask them if they want to drive their kids around on the interstates using the cruise control with the sonar activated or pay my speeding ticket when I get pulled over when it does this. After accelerating at such a high speed the braking mechanism kicks in to slow the car down. So you know you have gone above the speed you set the cruise control. A car shouldn't take off like a rocket and cause you to speed when the car in front of you moves out of your lane. It also does this with the sonar off and hitting the "resume speed" switch on the cruise. I have not had an accident with this issue, but it sure is scary when it does this. As a result, I don't use my cruise control very often and if I do, usually kick it off by tapping the brake when the sonar slows the car down so it doesn't take off like a rocket. I am sure it is a programming issue but it sure isn't safe or comforting the way it currently works.