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2008 TOYOTA AVALON — VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

crash · 757321 · 2010-02-04

Vehicle

Make
TOYOTA
Model
AVALON
Year
2008
Manufacturer
Toyota Motor Corporation
Component
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
Miles at failure
30,000
Speed
50 mph

Severity

Deaths
0
Injured
0
Fire
No
Crash
Yes
Police report
No
Medical attention
No
Vehicle towed
No

Narrative

LASER CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTIONED WITHOUT APPARENT REASON, MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEMS IT HAS ARE UNCONTROLLABLE ACCELERATION AND SUDDEN DECELERATION, WHICH HAS NEARLY CAUSED MY RAMMING INTO A CAR IN FRONT OF ME AND A CAR BEHIND ME CRASHING INTO ME. THESE, ALONG WITH OTHER PROBLEMS IN THE SYSTEM, OCCUR EVERY TIME IT IS ENGAGED. WHEN FIRST PRESENTED TO THE DEALER IN PHONE CONVERSATION WAS TOLD IT WAS A PSYCHOLOGICAL REACTION TO NEWS REPORTS AND GIVEN AN 800 NUMBER TO A RECORDED MESSAGE TELLING ME IF I HAVE A PROBLEM STOP MY CAR AND REPORT IT TO MY DEALER. I THEN WENT TO THE DEALER AND WAS THEN TREATED WITH DISBELIEF. THEIR INITIAL SOLUTION WAS DENIAL THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM. AFTER DEMANDING A MECHANIC TEST DRIVE THE CAR, THE TECHNICIAN CONCEDED THE PROBLEM IS EXACTLY AS I DESCRIBED. I WAS THEN TOLD THAT THEIR IN SHOP DIAGNOSTIC TEST SHOWED THERE WAS NO PROBLEM WITH THE LASER CRUISE. AND WHEN I QUESTIONED THIS WAS INCREDIBLY ASKED IF I DIDN'T BELIEVE TECHNOLOGY WHEN THEIR OWN MECHANIC VERIFIED THAT IN REALITY THE SYSTEM WAS NOT WORKING DURING THE ROAD TEST.THEN THEY DECIDED TO TAKE ANOTHER TACTIC. THERE IS A 1/2 INCH DING IN THE FRONT BUMPER OF MY CAR THAT IS THE RESULT OF MY CAR ROLLING 5 FEET WHILE IN NEUTRAL AND TAPPING A POLE. THEY DECIDED TO BLAME THE MALFUNCTION ON THIS MINUTE DING EVEN THOUGH I INFORMED THEM THAT THE MALFUNCTION DID NOT CORRELATE WITH THE TIME OF THE BLEMISH TO THE CAR. NOW THEY WANT TO CHARGE ME AN EXORBITANT AMOUNT, OVER $3000, TO FIX THIS DING, HOPING I

Source

Authoritative
NHTSA ODI Flat-File Downloads
ODI Number
10304999
Machine
JSON-LD · Markdown