Problems with 2002 Toyota Camry VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Driver was sitting at a car wash when the vehicle suddenly surged forward straight through the car wash door opening. no one was injured. no property was damaged. the driver says the vehicle hit a snow bank.*ak

I'm very concern about my 2002 toyota camry solara vin#[xxx] since i noticed on several occasions 02/18/04 being the most recent one of something that causes sudden acceleration even when it reads something different on the speedometer. thank you. respectfully, [xxx]. *jb updated 07/26/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

While waiting at a stop sign consumer pressed the brakes and vehicle surged forward. consumer continued to press the brakes and applied the emergency brake, and vehicle continued to surge forward, eventually colliding with a snow bank. there were no injuries, and no police report. dealer claimed there was nothing wrong with the vehicle, and that it was consumer's fault.*ak *la

Tl*the contact owned a 2002 toyota camry. on february 5, 2004 on, the driver attempted to make a left turn when the vehicle accelerated uncontrollably and crashed into a tree. the passenger and driver were both injured. the speed when the failure occurred was 30 mph. the police responded and a police report was filed. an ambulance report is also available if needed. the air bags deployed after the crash occurred. the vehicle was towed to repair facility where it was repaired. the vehicle was sold when the complaint was filed. updated 05/12/10. *lj updated 10/12/10

While making a turn from a stop sign, the accelerator pedal descended to more than the driver had depressed, which caused the consumer to lose control of the vehicle and subsequently hitting a palm tree head on. the passenger sustained injuries. ann saalbach's daughter calerie saalbach issued this information. please provide details.

Vehicle suddenly accelerated and brakes didn't respond when pressed. (nar) *ph *cb updated 7/5/12 *cn updated 07/12/12. *jb

(in reference to your open investigation pe04021) i have a 2002 toyota camry, recently i took the car to the dealership (15,000 miles), my complaint was that the car has sudden and short surges of exceleration while at a full stop. i have been able to avoid accident or injury to others by keeping my foot completely and firmly depressed on the brake petal. this situation has happened in both drive and reverse. the dealer was unable to address this problem because they could not re-create the condition. dealer stated that they had no procedure to diagnose this problem and that if it continued they would have to contract toyota headquarters for advise. i requested that this be documented on the cars history. after hearing of the nhtsa investigation, i contacted toyota customer relations to open a case to get this problem resolve. the dealership customer ralations manager (colleen) is to contact me by the end of the week.

Witnesses saw my parents vehicle (a 2002 toyota camry) coming to a stop and then suddenly accelerate.*ak updated 03/05/10 *bf according to the police report, the driver pulled into a parking space on the fourth floor, when suddenly the vehicle accelerated, drove over the parking curb, struck the concrete barrier wall knocking it out. the consumer then drove over the side, falling 36 feet and landing on its roof. updated 09/23/10 updated 8/21/2011*cw

When idling, the vehicle surged forward without warning. no impact reported. *ak the problem often occurred. *sc *jb

When starting the vehicle and putting it in reverse, the vehicle surged backwards. consumer was preparing to back out of the driveway and placed the gear shift in reverse and the vehicle surged out of the driveway, landed across the street and collided with the neighbor's air conditioning unit. consumer sustained head, neck, arm, and knee bruises.*ak *jb updated 07/01/10.*jb

Sometime in oct. while pulling off of i-74 onto 53rd st. in davenport, ia, was the first time that when the brake was applied the car sped up rather than slowed down. this happened again towards the end of november while traversing from us-6 onto i-80 in geneseo. both times i had been using the cruse control, disengaged it by applying the brake and as the car slowed down reapplication of the brake caused the car to speed up. by taking my foot off the brake and then reapplying the brake car slowed normally about the middle of december i had a more serious incident while pulling into a convience store off of wolf road in geneseo. i diengaged the cruse and pulled into a parking place. the car slowed normally and was almost to a stop when it began to accelerate while the brake was applied. i turned the car to the right, and just missed the building, but took out a 4x4 support for the roof overhang. damage was limited to dents on the car and the 4x4. no personal injuries were involved. after the first occurance i thought it was my mistake, i applied the accelerator when i meant to apply the brake. the second time i felt it was probably a problem with the car, and would bring it up with toyota next time i brought the car in. the third time i was sure that it was a problem for toyota and i took the car into the toyota dealer. they could not duplicate the problem and said neither they or the district office had heard of a similar problem before. we then contacted the toyota office in california, and they took down the information, informing us this problem had not occured before. last week scott yon of the nhtsa contacted us and asked questions about the three occurances. after looking at the nhtsa web site and finding many similar instances i decided to add my complaint to the listing.*ak

I saw an article today on www.cnnfn.com about toyota camry safety investigation regarding sudden acceleration. my 2002 toyota camry le has that problem. it happened to me 3 or 4 times already during low speed driving. i did not write down the dates when it happened, so i placed 12/01/03 below. updated 10/22/10 *bf i am also going to report this problem to my service as soon as i can. the consumer would like the complaint to remain activated. updated ivoq 10/26/10*jb

S10 appropriate handling fwd email re toyota recent recall notices, owner of a 2002 camry experienced sudden acceleration and would like nhtsa press release to reflect that my not listed in the toyota recall notice may experience similar problems. *tgw

When the brakes were applied, the vehicle accelerated. the consumer put the vehicle in neutral to slow it down , but to no avail. this problem has happened three times with this particular vehicle. the dealer has examined the vehicle and could not find the cause of the problem. *ak *sc *jb

The consumer was involved in an accident after his vehicle suddenly accelerated and did not stop when the brakes were applied. *mr all computer pulses were tested and nothing was found wrong. when the shifter was placed in the drive position, the vehicle took off. the brakes were applied but did not stop the vehicle. the consumer steered to avoid the parked vehicles and crashed into a church. *sc *jb

While applying the brakes the vehicle surged forward intermittently. *ak *nm updated 7/5/12 *cn the consumer stated on several occasions, the vehicle lunged forward. updated 08/13/12

While applying the brake pedal vehicle accelerated uncontrollably. consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and pulled over. vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection twice. however, the mechanic could not duplicate the problem. *ak

While driving in cruise control at 60 mph, cruise control would not disengage. vehicle was turned off and restarted, but the cruise control would still be engaged. vehicle was taken to the dealer, who could not find a problem. *ak

Makia cafua, driving her 2002 toyota camry. was entering i-93 at exit 39 at 5:30 in the morning when her car suddenly shot across three lanes of travel and was hit, broad side, by another vehicle traveling in the high speed (3rd) lane. traffic at the time of the accident was light. it is believed that the camry experienced an un-commanded acceleration causing the driver to lose control resulting in the accident and her death. the camry has been stored since the accident and no changes have been made to its post accident condition. vehicle is available for inpection/testing by nhtsa. *ak updated 03/05/10 *bf updated 06/25/10 updated 9/21/2011*cw

The vehicle was being parked parallel to the curb. with the drivers foot on the brake, he shifted from park to drive and the vehicle accelerated forward, throughout the intersection, over a curb increasing in speed. the air bag did not deploy. the driver attempted to brake, but the vehicle did not respond. the vehicle was totaled. *ak *scc *jb

Three times consumer went to toyota to tell them that something was wrong with my brakes. the first time, (may 3,03) was braking slowly and 2002 camry jumped ahead, the brakes did not work. the second time(may 28,03) i consumerwent in, told them brake pedal went slowly down to the floor when stopping for a light. 1993 camry never did that. also no ohter car i had did that. they tested, said nothing was wrong. the third timeon july 3, consumertold them, do not tell me nothing was wrong with brakes, did not want to hear it! he drove the car and said nothing was wrong. now on july 11, 2003, while parked at macy's mall at cross county, i am backing up slowly out of my space, and all of a sudden, consumer's vehicle jumped ahead flying and hit two parked cars facing her. all the vehicles had damage. consumer will never drive that car again, could have killed someone.*ak

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota camry le. while driving into a parking space and applying pressure to the brake pedal the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated. the vehicle came to a complete stop immediately after an aggressive force was applied to the brake pedal. the identical failure occurred on a separate occasion without warning. the cause of the failure has not been determined. the contact had concerns of the safety risk involved. updated 11/23/09 *bf updated 11/24/09

The driver shifted the vehicle into drive and the vehicle immediately accelerated up to about 20 mph. the vehicle hit a car and a tree before it stopped . *ak *cb *nlm updated 7/2/12 *cn

While attempting to park with foot applied to brake pedal vehicle suddenly accelerated, crashing into a tree.*ak

When trying to park, the driver pressed the brake pedal and the vehicle suddenly surged forward. the vehicle ran over the curb and hit a sign. *ak the consumer was slowly driving in the parking lot, found a parking space, then the vehicle suddenly accelerated over the curb. *sc *jb

Intermittently during braking, the vehicle commenced to accelerate. this condition occurred on three separate occasions. the vehicle has been to the dealer on three separate occasions and they were unable to duplicate the problem. *jb *sc

The throttle stuck in the idle position upon acceleration . the dealer was notified. *nlm

While parked, the vehicle accelerated backwards. as a result, the vehicle collided into a tree. the cause of incident has yet to be determined. *la the consumer attempted to move out of the parking space. as the consumers foot was on the brake and the vehicle was placed in reverse, the vehicle shot back and hit a tree. *sc *jb

Vehicle's new braking system was unsafe. brake pedal had to be depressed almost to the floor before it engaged. as a result, the consumer accidentally hit the accelerator pedal while braking. *ak the consumer's wife was driving the vehicle, and as she turned the corner, the brake was applied and did not respond. the vehicle accelerated over the curb, onto the side walk, and into the library. (one must place there foot on the center of the brake pedal and the right side of the foot could possibly depress the accelerator) *scc *jb

2002 toyota camry se: while car was being backed down a driveway at 2-3 mph with driver's foot on brake backing out of the driveway, the car accelerated suddenly and uncontrollably backward for about 66 feet and crashed into a tree. the car then somehow surged forward for about 132 feet. car was totaled. updated 7/2/12 *cn updated 07/17/12

When the brakes were depressed vehicle surged forward. this problem occurred 6 times since ownership of the vehicle. the vehicle has been to the dealer, who could not determine the cause of the problem. *ak *mr see voq 10063541. *dsy

The throttle sticks never had it happen at highway speeds yet. like when you pull up to a light to stop it sticks but if you hold on to the brake it goes down to nomal. since i've owned this car it has happened 5 times. the last time as i was pulling into the drive. hard to lay your hands on to what to do. *nlm

Consumer called complaining while driving the vehicle at low speed when suffer a sudden acceleration causing a damage to the vehicle. dealer has been notified. please provide further information. ts

The consumer experienced sudden acceleration with this vehicle and a newly purchased 2003 camry. *jb scc the consumer stated that he applied the brakes and the vehicle continued to travel forward. the consumer cut off the ignition and the vehicle finally came to a stop. *tc

While trying to apply brakes at a slow speed, the pedal goes to the floor and vehicle proceeded and caused the vehicle to slam into benches. the dealer representative tested the vehicle at high speeds, in which no problem was found. ph scc

Consumer stated while pulling into a parking space and without any indication, the vehicle accelerated, jumping over a parking block and knocking down a tree. the dealer and manufactured had been contacted. please provide further information.*jb updated 7/2/12 *cn updated 07/12/12*jb

The vehicle was driven at a speed of 3 mph when it suddenly accelerated. the consumer also complained about the pedal. the dealer was contacted and found nothing wrong. ts scc see voq 10003640. *dsy updated 7/2/12 *cn updated 07/12/12

2002 toyota camry. s10 appropriate handling- letter from regarding toyota problem *tgw the consumer stated she as well as her husband experienced sudden acceleration on three separate occasions which resulted in accidents. the first accident occurred when the consumer was slowing down to make a left turn, when suddenly she found herself in the middle of heavy traffic and subsequently was hit by another vehicle. she was cited for failing to yield. the second time, her husband was stopping on a side street before entering a main street and he discovered he was unable to stop the vehicle and consequently, hit another vehicle. the last accident, the consumer stated the vehicle suddenly accelerated and she crashed into her garage wall causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. the consumer stated prior to the accidents. there were rare occasions, at anticipated stops when she lifted her foot from the accelerator to slow down to place it on the brake, the brake would not engage. instead of slowing down, the vehicle would lurch ahead. *jb

Consumer states was driving on highway with cruise control engaged. attempted to disengage by depressing brake pedal to no avail. consumer had to swerve vehicle through traffic to avoid a collision. as a result the front passenger wheel came off slowing car down enough for consumer to downshift gears. ts

Intermittenly cruise control become inoperable, when consumer applied the brake, the cruise control reamain activated. dealer has been notified. please provide further information... ts

On nov. 11, 2010 while driving my 2002 camry, suddenly the engine accelerate, not brakes function at that time then i took a slope were vehicle finally stop and turn the engine off. call the auto-dealer for appointment to check failure. meanwhile only vehicle problem was the revolutions (rpm), too low on nov. 24, 2010 took the vehicle to the auto-dealer were the mechanic stated, failure was caused by the throttle. replacement by a new throttle. *tr

On the date below, i was driving on a highway when my brand new camry went out of control and sped up, sending the car through a guard rail. my car ended up on the other side of the highway going in the opposite direction. i have a perfect driving record, and have never even had a ticket. i believe that my car had the acceleration problem that i've been reading about. i had contacted toyota when the accident first occurred. they sent someone out who checked the tires and the steering, and a few minor things. no one tested anything to do with acceleration. the car was totaled, and i was taken by ambulance to a trauma center, where i was hospitalized. i am now driving a 2003 camry, and i feel like i'm driving a time bomb, since i read that the problem may exist in both the 02 and 03 models. *ak see voq 10063318. *dsy

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 toyota camry purchased brand new. while traveling at speeds of 50 mph, she switch lanes to avoid a construction area. the vehicle then abnormally accelerated without warning or driver intent. she attempted to depress the brakes, however the brakes were not responsive to driver input. she also attempted to maintain control of the vehicle but the steering wheel was also non-responsive and the vehicle continued to accelerate in and out of traffic. the vehicle then swayed to the left and crashed through a metal guard rail. the contact was hospitalized and suffered neck injuries .the she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. cause of the failure was inconclusive vehicle was destroyed. the failure mileage was 2700. updated 4/13/10 *cn updated 05/10/10*jb

Tl*the contact owned a 2002 toyota camry. while driving on the highway at 50 mph, the driver stated that she switched lanes and the accelerator pedal became stuck and accelerated on its own. the vehicle made a u-turn on its own and the driver crashed into 2 guard rails. the vehicle was destroyed. the driver was also injured and taken by ambulance to the hospital. the vin was not available. the failure mileage was 2,000.

We purchased a new 2002 toyota camry 7-16-02 and the accelerator surged while backing out of the driveway 11-9-02 causing it to strike another parked vehicle and stopped 6 inches from striking a house. the total damage was almost $10,000. we told the toyota dealership and they said it had to be an operator error because they never heard of another acceleration problem. the dealer never offered to do a diagnostic check and they told us to go to a dealer closer to our home if it happened again. in 2004 we read an article about sudden acceleration problems with the camry and lexus vehicles. we looked on the nhtsa web site and under speed control complaints we saw a complaint of a 2002 or 2003 camry accident exactly like the one we experienced. we sent a letter to toyota inc. 4-18-04 at p.o. box 2991 in torrance, ca 90509 and toyota never responded back. we never experienced sudden acceleration in the 2002 camry again and eventually sold it. we have a copy of the toyota letter. there was a neighbor that witnessed the accident and said the camry made a loud acceleration noise. my wife put both feet on the brakes to bring it to a stop. *tr

While driving vehicle suddenly accelerated. driver lost control and hit a guard rail. the vehicle was totaled. *ak the driver suffered from post concussion syndrome and still experiences dizziness, problems with balance, tremors, headaches, neck and back pain and memory loss. the consumer is still under the care of several medical professionals and continues to undergo testing. *nm see voq 10062561. *dsy

While stopping at a traffic light the engine revved, followed by sudden acceleration. the consumer proceeded to slam on the brake pedal to stop the acceleration, but it failed to do so. vehicle stopped accelerating by itself. dealership was contacted, but provided no assistance because they weren't able to duplicate the failure. *ak *nm

Consumer complained that the brake pedal was designed too big. on several occasions consumer attempted to move foot from the gas to the brake pedal when their shoe sole got caught under the brake pedal. this caused the consumer to apply the gas pedal inadvertently. *ak *mr

Consumer has problems with the accelarator. dealer was contacted. mr

Unintended acceleration. while pulling into a parking space, my wife's vehicle accelerated to maximum speed. the car jumped over the parking curb and she swerved to miss a building. she clipped two cars in passing them, swerved again into an empy parkilng spot and the vehicle tipped over. car was totaled. no one was hurt, but my wife sustained some bruises and glass shards in the eyes. local toyota dealer looked at the wreck, ran some electronic diagnostics, but said they were unable to find any malfunction.