general problems of the 2008 Toyota Yaris

I was driving my Yaris and attempted to pass another vehicle on a 4-lane road. I pressed on the accelerator pedal as I entered the left lane and nothing happened. The pedal went halfway down, but the engine did not respond. As I quickly tried to decide what to do as a car in the left lane behind me came up fast, the engine responded unexpectedly and I surged forward. The next time I depressed the pedal, it responded normally at the top of its travel. However, it happened again about 3 weeks later when I was stopped at a red light. The light changed and I pressed on the accelerator. Again, no response. This happened on and off until last week when it started to become more common than the normal response. Since I didn't want to pay Toyota for an expensive fix only a few thousand miles after my warranty ran out, I resolved to get used to it. I adjusted my actions so I didn't expect an immediate response from the car until the pedal got part way down to the floor and, though I'm sure it affected my gas mileage, I could deal with it. Then yesterday, as I pulled into my garage, the pedal response suddenly went back to normal and I almost went through the back of the garage. I bought this car (and one for my wife as well) because of Toyota's reputation for reliability and its fuel economy. Now I don't know what to expect. I have read that Lexus owners have reported the same problem. This is annoying, reduces gas mileage, and could be very dangerous.

When filling car with gas, it always overflows. This car can not be filled without gas overflowing onto the side of the car and onto the ground.