2019 Toyota Highlander Cruise Control Problems

I had just driven up a steep driveway and made a slightly sharper than 90 degree turn at a very low speed to pull into a home parking spot when the car lunged forward suddenly and slammed into the stone wall of the house at a high speed. The section of this driveway after the turn is only 2.5 car lengths, but the car picked up enough speed to smash the front of the car in. The car was totaled and driver and side curtain airbags all deployed. I do not know why this happened as there is no way I would have hit the gas hard while pulling up to a building to stop. I also would not have slammed on the gas thinking it was the brake since there would have been no reason to slam on the brake when I was only going 5-10 miles per hour max around the tight turn. My shoe was not caught on a pedal, both sandals were still on my feet after the accident. I am not a two footed driver. I feel that it was an accelerator malfunction, as the gas pedal had always been a little strange with a delayed response, but may have also involved the transmission after driving up the steep hill and then returning to a short but flat stretch leading up to the house. I was very bruised up, particularly my shins and ankles. Two months later, I still have some visible bruising. I also had injuries from the seat belt on my chest and what appeared to be a powder burn from the airbags. I was quite traumatized by the sudden acceleration and violence of the crash and not understanding how or why it happened. If someone had been standing in front of the house to greet me on my return, they would have been killed. The car was towed away and totaled by the insurance company, so the problem hasn't been reproduced or confirmed. There were no warning lamps or messages that I'm aware of prior to the incident, except that the gas pedal has always felt inconsistent concerning when it engages. My phone self-dialed 911 and law enforcement came out to do an accident report.

The contact owns a 2019 Toyota Highlander. The contact stated while attempting to make a turn in a parking a lot, the accelerator pedal became stuck on the mat, and the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that as she was approaching a guard rail, she turned off the vehicle. The vehicle jerked and the front end of the vehicle crashed into the guard rail. The air bags did not deploy. The contact stated that she sustained pain on the right foot and underwent surgery later. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer collision center, where the vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to an unknown recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

Problems: 1) Check Engine Light lit up. 2) "Hybrid System Malfunction" warning on heads-up display. 3) "Pre-Collision System Failure" warning on Heads-Up Display. 4) Gasoline engine stalls after an intentional deceleration and is unable to come back up to speed. First Event: On July 4th, my wife and I were driving on an interstate highway. We entered an exit ramp interchange to merge onto another highway and when trying to accelerate the car suddenly became sluggish, and gave messages for problems 1), 2), and 4) stated above. Problem 3) did not occur during this event. Messages stated to pull over in a safe location. We parked on the shoulder and immediately shut the car off, waited 5 minutes and then started the car again. We were able to drive to the next off-ramp to a city street (about 100 yards) before the engine started becoming sluggish again and lurching, error messages remained throughout the event. OBD codes stated simply "faulty engine" on a car with 16,000 miles. Dealership was unable to find a cause, but did find a code for ignition failure. They checked some things but did not do any repairs, and were unable to replicate the issue as it seemed to have cleared. Diagnosis was "vapor-lock" and no explanation for why. Second Event: On August 6th, my wife was driving the vehicle to visit family, when pulling onto an exit ramp, was unable to accelerate again afterwards. All the same warnings popped up, but this time also had problem 3). Engine stalled when warnings appeared and did the same sluggish lurching. After pulling off in a safe area, Shut the car off and tried to restart 4 times, warning did not clear. Gasoline Engine does not operate when pedal is pressed. Shut the car down for 2 hours and tried to restart afterwards, warnings still present, engine now runs when pedal is pressed, but stalls when idle. Shutdown for another hour while waiting for a tow, warnings still present, still stalls when idle. Waiting on callback from dealership.

A MONTH AGO, WE WERE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THROUGH SNOW SHOWERS UP TO NH TO GO SKIING, WITH OUR NIFTY ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL ON, WHEN I REALIZED THAT WE WERE ACCELERATING INTO THE CAR IN FRONT OF US. I ASSUMED THAT THE FRONT SENSOR WAS COVERED IN SLUSH, TOOK OFF THE CRUISE CONTROL AND DROVE MANUALLY. ONLY ABOUT 5 MINUTES LATER DID THE DASHBOARD ALERT NOTIFY ME THAT THE FRONT SENSOR WASN'T WORKING. BROUGHT IT INTO THE DEALER. THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG. HERE'S THE PROBLEM: THE CAR SAYS "TRUST ME. IF YOU USE MY COOL SAFETY SYSTEMS, I'LL KEEP YOU FROM HITTING THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU...AND SHOULD SOMETHING DISABLE THE SENSOR THAT CARRIES OUT THIS FUNCTION, I'LL LET YOU KNOW, SO THAT YOU WON'T DEPEND ON ME." BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE. AND, A DRIVER WHO ASSUMED THAT THE CAR WAS KEEPING ITS PROMISE, AS IT DOES MOST ALL THE TIME--MIGHT NOT HAVE REALIZED THAT IT WASN'T UNTIL THEY HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF THEM.

VEHICLE IS SLOW TO RESPOND AND/OR HAS INTERMITTENT PERFORMANCE WHEN ACCELERATING OR MOVING FROM COMPLETE STOP. THERE IS LAG TIME IN THE VEHICLE'S RESPONSE TO DRIVER ACCELERATION WHICH MAKES IT CHALLENGING TO ENTER (FROM ROADWAY OR DRIVEWAY) ONCOMING TRAFFIC OR MERGE INTO INTERSTATE/FREEWAY TRAFFIC. THE DELAY IN THE RESPONSIVENESS AND INCONSISTENT PERFORMANCE CAUSES DRIVER TO NEED EXTRA TIME AND DISTANCE WHEN ENTERING THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC. THE FRONT END ALSO BECOMES JUMPY AND ENTERS WITH A SKID/PULL FORCE CAUSING THE NEED TO STEER INTO THE VEHICLE AND COURSE-CORRECT. VEHICLE ALSO DOES NOT ACCELERATE WELL OUT OF A RIGHT-HAND TURN ON 90DEG TURNS AND LAGS TO ACCELERATION PAST APEX. THIS PARTICULAR VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED 07/25/2020 WITH 4,278 MILES. TOYOTA ISSUED A RECALL FOR LOW-PRESSURE FUEL PUMP IN 01/2020 AND ADDED THIS MODEL TO THE RECALL LIST IN 10/2020. AN INTERIM SAFETY RECALL NOTICE STATING THE VEHICLE COULD STALL WHILE DRIVING INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH, PARTICULARLY AT HIGH SPEEDS. AS OF 02/15/2021, TOYOTA HAS NOT ISSUED A REMEDY TO THIS SAFETY RECALL WHICH HAS BEEN OPEN, IN TOTAL, FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. AS A DRIVER WHO RELIES ON FREEWAY TRAVEL IN ARIZONA, THIS IS DISTURBING AND THE ADDITIONAL ERRATIC PERFORMANCE IN-TOWN DURING NORMAL TRAFFIC IS EQUALLY UNSETTLING. THIS VEHICLE IS STILL BEING USED IN NORMAL CONDITIONS DUE TO THE OWNER BEING IN AN ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY DURING THE PANDEMIC, BUT RECREATIONAL DRIVING IS BEING LIMITED DUE TO THE OPEN AND UNRESOLVED SAFETY RECALL ISSUED BY TOYOTA. I ALSO CONTACTED MY SERVICE WRITER AT TOYOTA BEFORE RECEIVING THE LETTER, SHORTLY AFTER PURCHASING THE VEHICLE TO ASK IF THE ACCELERATION DELAYS AND INCONSISTENCY WERE NORMAL IN THIS VEHICLE BECAUSE THE DRIVER EXPERIENCE IS SUBPAR TO WHAT SHOULD BE EXPECTED WITH A NEW, LOW-MILE XLE VEHICLE.

SEVERE HESITATION WHEN GAS IS APPLIED, ESPECIALLY WHEN CROSSING HEAVY TRAFFIC AND INSTANT POWER/QUICK ACCELERATION NEEDED. ALSO NOTED WHEN GOING AROUND CORNERS, AFTER CAR HAS SLOWED DOWN BELOW 5 MPH TO MAKE THE CORNER. GAS IS APPLIED WITH HESITATION. NOTED MORE WHEN CAR IS AT A COMPLETE STAND STILL/MOVING AT SLOW SPEED THEN GAS APPLIED TO MOVE FORWARD. CAR DOES NOT MOVE/REACT INSTANTLY. I NOTICE THIS PROBLEM ON A WEEKLY (AT LEAST) BASIS.