2015 Toyota Avalon Speed Control & Cruise Problems

The contact owns a 2015 Toyota Avalon. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, drove over the curb, and crashed into bushes. The air bags did not deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. There was no police report filed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the residence. The vehicle was then taken to the dealer, where she informed that the VIN was not included in a recall related to the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 109,400.

ON FEB. 5, 2020 AT ABOUT 6:30 AM, MY WIFE WAS PULLING UP BEHIND CARS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT, AS SHE APPLIED THE BRAKES TO STOP, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED, SHE PRESSED THE BRAKES AS HARD AS SHE COULD, THE CAR CONTINUED TO DRIVE FORWARD HITTING THE CAR AHEAD OF HER IN LINE. SHE COULD HEAR THE CAR ENGINE RACING AND TRIED TO PUT THE CAR IN PARK, BUT IT WENT INTO REVERSE AND RAPIDLY MOVED BACKWARDS, EVEN WITH HER FOOT ON THE BRAKE, HIT THE CAR BEHIND HER. SHE THAN ONCE AGAIN TRIED TO UP THE CAR IN PARK, BUT PUT IT BACK IN DRIVE AND THE OUR CAR ACCELERATED FORWARD AGAIN FILL SPEED HITTING THE CAR AHEAD FOR A SECOND TIME, ALL THE TIME HOLDING HER FOOT DOWN AS HARD AS SHE COULD ON THE BRAKE. AFTER HITTING THE CAR AHEAD FOR THE SECOND TIME, SHE PUSHED THE ENGINE STOP BUTTON AND THE ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING AT FULL RPM. SHE NOTED THAT THERE THE FRONT TIRES WERE SMOKING ALOT SINCE THE TIRES WERE ROTAING EVEN THOUGH THE CAR WAS AT A STOP, DUE TO THE ENGINE RACING FULL RPM. POLICE WERE CALLED AND THEY DISPATCHED A TOW TRUCK FOR OUR CAR. THE POLICE NEVER ARRIVED, THE TOW TRUCK LOADED OUR CAR AND TOWED IT TO THE AAA STORAGE YARD .

THE AVALON HYBRIDS COVERED ONLY BY WARRANTY ENHANCEMENT ZKK ARE SUFFERING THE SAME DANGERS AND FVMSS NONCOMPLIANCE DUE TO BRAKE BOOSTER PUMP ASSEMBLY FAILURES AS THOSE TOYOTA COVERED BY SAFETY RECALLS (D0H & K0L). BY EXCLUDING AVALON HYBRIDS WITH DEFECTIVE BRAKES FROM THE D0H AND K0L SAFETY RECALLS, TOYOTA IS LEAVING THE OWNERS TO HELPLESSLY EXPERIENCE LIFE-THREATENING BRAKE FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION BEFORE TOYOTA WILL PROVIDE THE REPLACEMENT BRAKE COMPONENTS NEEDED TO MAKE THE VEHICLE SAFE. THE LAW REQUIRES TOYOTA TO PREVENT THE LIFE-THREATENING DANGERS OF THIS BRAKE DEFECT BEFORE THE FAILURE OCCURS. TOYOTA'S COST-CUTTING STRATEGIES ARE CAUSING CRASHES AND INJURIES. INJURIES AND CRASHES CAUSED BY THE BRAKE DEFECT EXPLAINED IN THIS LETTER HAVE OCCURRED AND BEEN REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION. TOYOTA'S DECISION TO PROVIDE A REACTIONARY, POST-FAILURE REPAIR - INSTEAD OF A PREVENTATIVE SAFETY RECALL REMEDY - EXPLAINS MANY OF THE CRASHES AND INJURIES ON NHTSA'S SAFERCAR.GOV WEBSITE. RELEVANT COMPLAINTS FROM SAFERCAR.GOV INCLUDE 10515182 AND 11093611. DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES C1256, C1253, C1252, AND C1391 - INDICATING DANGERS AND NONCOMPLIANCE - ARE BEING STORED IN VEHICLES EXCLUDED FROM THE PAST SAFETY RECALLS. TOYOTA HAS LONG HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE UNREASONABLE RISKS TO SAFETY AND FMVSS NONCOMPLIANCE OCCURRING IN HYBRIDS EXCLUDED FROM THEIR SAFETY RECALLS. TOYOTA GETS REAL-TIME TRANSMISSIONS OF DTCS AND FREEZE FRAME DATA FROM HYBRIDS WITH FAILED BRAKES THROUGH THE TECHSTREAM TOOL AT ITS FRANCHISE DEALERSHIPS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TOYOTA AVALON. THE CONTACT RECEIVED RECALL NOTICES FOR THE SERVICE BRAKES AND VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL; HOWEVER, THE PARTS WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE CONTACT TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER AND THE PCS SYSTEM WAS DEACTIVATED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBERS WERE UNKNOWN. THE VIN WAS INVALID. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE. UPDATED 05/11/16*LJ THE CONSUMER REFERENCED THE PRE-COLLISION SYSTEM. UPDATED 06/16/16.8JB

WHILE IN MOTION AND DRIVING NORTH ON RT. 295 AT THE RTE. 50 EXIT TO THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, TWICE, ONCE CAR BEGAN BREAKING WHILE CRUISE CONTROL ON AND ENGAGED, AND ONCE WHILE IN MOTION WITH IT CRUISE CONTROL JUST ON. MARYLAND GOVERNMENT NOTIFIED AND CASE NUMBER IS SR-0267654

MY AVALON HYBRID WAS "RECALLED" OVER 6 MONTHS AGO FOR THE TOYOTA SAFETY SENSE PACKAGE. CONSUMER REPORTS SAYS THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT SAFETY FEATURE SO I PURCHASED THE SAFEST POSSIBLE CAR. BUT, THE CAR STILL LACKS THIS FEATURE. WHEN WILL I GET THIS SAFETY FEATURE INSTALLED?

THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE DYNAMIC RADAR CRUISE CONTROL (DRCC). IT APPLIES THE BRAKES FOR NO APPARENT REASON. BELOW ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF 5 OF ABOUT 20 SUCH INCIDENTS: -ON I-40. I WAS BEHIND A TRUCK MOVING 62 IN A 70 ZONE. THERE WAS A TRUCK IN THE LEFT LANE ABOUT 200 YARDS AHEAD. I MOVED TO THE LEFT LANE. THERE WAS NO ONE BEHIND ME IN EITHER LANE. DRCC QUICKLY SLOWED ME TO 40 MPH. -AGAIN ON I-40, IN RIGHT LANE BEHIND A TRUCK GOING ABOUT 62 IN A 70 ZONE. THE TRUCK 20 YARDS BEHIND ME MOVED LEFT AND ACCELERATED. BRAKES AUTOMATICALLY APPLIED BY DRCC. -ON I-8, RIGHT LANE FOLLOWING A VEHICLE 10 MPH BELOW THE SPEED LIMIT. A CAR WAS CLOSELY FOLLOWING ME. UPON REACHING AN EXIT RAMP, HE EXITED AND QUICKLY ACCELERATED. THE BRAKES WERE STRONGLY APPLIED. -ENTERING FREEWAY; LIGHT TRAFFIC, DRCC SET AT 75. THE ENTRANCE RAMP CAME IN FROM ABOVE THE FREEWAY AND APPROACHED THE FREEWAY AT A FAIRLY SHARP ANGLE. THERE WAS A METAL GUARD RAIL TO THE LEFT OF THE LEFT LANE. ENTERING TRAVEL LANE, STILL AIMED AT THE GUARD RAIL, BRAKES SHARPLY APPLIED. -CONSTRUCTION ZONE ON I-80, . SPEED LIMIT 55 IN THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE AND 70 BEYOND IT. FAIRLY HEAVY TRAFFIC WAS NARROWED TO ONE LANE IN THE ZONE WITH ORANGE BARRELS ON THE RIGHT AND JERSEY BARRIERS ON THE LEFT. THE NEAREST VEHICLE AHEAD OF ME WAS 100-200 YARDS AHEAD, BUT BEHIND WAS A SEMI ABOUT 20 FEET AWAY. CHANGED SET SPEED FROM 60 TO 70 APPROACHING END OF CONSTRUCTION.. I WAS PROBABLY 20-30 YARDS FROM THE END OF THE CONSTRUCTION WHEN I ADJUSTED THE SPEED.. JUST AS I REACHED THE END OF THE ZONE AND WAS BEGINNING TO ACCELERATE, THE BRAKES WERE STRONGLY APPLIED. THE SEMI VEERED TO MISS ME. MY GUESS IS THAT IF THE DRCC IS CONFUSED BY THE SITUATION IT IS PROGRAMMED TO APPLY THE BRAKES. A FAR MORE APPROPRIATE, AND SAFER, RESPONSE WOULD BE TO EMIT A WARNING BEEP(S) AND DISABLE THE CRUISE CONTROL.