Problems with 2001 Lexus LS 430 VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

The driver/owner of the lexus ls 430 was pulling in to a parking spot behind another car at a private club. it was straight in parking behind a gmc yukon. in pulling into the spot, the right rear tire went over a curb, and suddenly the car accelerated like a rocket. the driver stepped on the brake and nothing would stop it. since the car was only about one foot away from the parked yukon, the lexus was stopped by the impact. the car was put in park and the engine turned off. air bag did not deploy. damage was done to rear bumper of the yukon and the front bumper of the lexus as well as an a/m reinforcement beam and other external damage. as of this date, damage to the engine of the lexus is undetermined. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2001 lexus ls430. while driving 3 mph, the vehicle accelerated without warning. the contact believed that the cause of failure was due to the floor mats being caught underneath the accelerator pedal. there is defect investigation # pe07016 for the 2007 lexus es350. the contact wanted to have her vehicle included in the investigation. the vin and engine size were unavailable. the current mileage is 62,000 and failure mileage was 61,000. updated 02-01-08 *bf updated 02/01/08 *tr

This car has a "drive-by-wire" throttle control system in which the throttle is not directly connected to the engine but is digitized and sent to a computer for analysis prior to controlling the engine speed. the speed control computer analizes the throttle input over time and "learns" the drivers throttle control habits and adjusts the engine response to throttle input based on the long-term driving history of the driver. if the driver drives aggressively all of the time then the throttle response is good. however if the driver drives conservitively most of the time then the throttle response is poor. i normally drive conservatively and i have found on many occasions that this car does not respond in a timely manner in case of emergency accelleration. that is, when i drive conservatively and then need to accellerate quickly to avoid another vehicle, this car hesitates for several seconds before deciding to speed up, even when i stomp on the accellerator. i do not feel safe in this car. i believe that this is a serious safety flaw in the design of this car. i have reported this problem to my lexus dealer on every visit to the service department since i purchased the car new in 2000, yet they have failed to address the problem. i was told by the service department that lexus was aware of the issue as several customers have complained about the problem. on one occasion i was told that the engineers had an experimental firmware upgrade that they were testing with some customers. i have contacted lexus customer service, but they just referred me back to the dealership.*ak