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I had a 2006 Toyota Echo which I bought from the original owners, the car was assembled in Canada. About 7 years old when I got it, really great car for me and drove well, always had it maintained. About a year ago, I went to slow down and couldn't. The engine was revving and couldn't stop the car, mechanic said brakes were fine and car was fine. Everything was fine again until a week ago when stopped to get coffee in a drive through, in drive, foot on brake and the car just took off!!! Scared to death, couldn't hardly stop it. Had to get home and thought bet the floor mat did it so took out the mat, drove slow on side streets, thought everything was fine, got in traffic, stopped for a light and it did it again! Just started charging forward with the engine revving and couldn't hardly stop it again. All my strength pushing on the brake to finally stop before crashing. I just junked the car but can't stop thinking about it, I could have killed someone. Has anybody ever heard of this before? I am afraid to drive now,
That is scary, but after 3 times why didn't it occur to you to either turn off the key or shift into neutral? I get that the first time was a surprise and you probably didn't have time to think out all of the solutions, but really?
This isn't so much a dig at you, but to everybody that this has happened to. I have read about this kind of thing happening, and nobody seems to think of turning off the key or shifting into neutral. I do give you credit for checking the floor mat though. I have heard theories about floor mats being the cause of some of these issues.
By the way, shutting off the key one click should not lock the steering wheel, and shifting into neutral should not over-rev your engine and cause it to blow up, as long as your car is somewhat modern (which I would think your 2006 Toyota would qualify). Most modern cars have computer controlled rev-limiters that actually make red-lining impossible.
Either way, that is a scary situation that nobody should ever have to be in. I'm glad you were able to stop the car each time without crashing.
By the way, yes I have heard of this happening before. In 2006 this happened to a guy named Koua Fong Lee in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also driving a Toyota. He was exiting a freeway when his car started accelerating and wouldn't stop. He crashed into a car at the top of the off ramp that was waiting at a stop light and killed the people inside. He was convicted of vehicular homicide and spent 2-1/2 years in prison before his case was overturned and he was exonerated. I believe he ended up suing Toyota and winning a few million dollars.
I had a 2006 Toyota Echo which I bought from the original owners, the car was assembled in Canada. About 7 years old when I got it, really great car for me and drove well, always had it maintained. About a year ago, I went to slow down and couldn't. The engine was revving and couldn't stop the car, mechanic said brakes were fine and car was fine. Everything was fine again until a week ago when stopped to get coffee in a drive through, in drive, foot on brake and the car just took off!!! Scared to death, couldn't hardly stop it. Had to get home and thought bet the floor mat did it so took out the mat, drove slow on side streets, thought everything was fine, got in traffic, stopped for a light and it did it again! Just started charging forward with the engine revving and couldn't hardly stop it again. All my strength pushing on the brake to finally stop before crashing. I just junked the car but can't stop thinking about it, I could have killed someone. Has anybody ever heard of this before? I am afraid to drive now,
Yes some of the Toyotas were having issues with that around that time period they were saying that it was floor mats but it wasn't. I remember hearing a lot of the Priuses having that issue.
It's really, really sad and unbelievably frightening, I will never stop telling people about this in order to warn them. After the first time, 2 mechanics said the car was fine. One looked at me with a smile on his face and said, "Your car is just fine, you are worrying for nothing" and I figured maybe I had been hitting the gas and brake at the same time or something but did talk to another mechanic about it and he didn't have any idea what could have happened other than bad brakes only the brakes were fairly new and very good. This is a terrible, terrible thing Toyota has done to people by not alerting the public because I honestly convinced myself I must have done something wrong instead of it being the car. Thank you for informing me, I will inform others since evidently Toyota only cares about Toyota! So thankful to the Lord for protecting people from my car and at least I know now that I am not crazy.
That is scary, but after 3 times why didn't it occur to you to either turn off the key or shift into neutral? I get that the first time was a surprise and you probably didn't have time to think out all of the solutions, but really?
This isn't so much a dig at you, but to everybody that this has happened to. I have read about this kind of thing happening, and nobody seems to think of turning off the key or shifting into neutral. I do give you credit for checking the floor mat though. I have heard theories about floor mats being the cause of some of these issues.
By the way, shutting off the key one click should not lock the steering wheel, and shifting into neutral should not over-rev your engine and cause it to blow up, as long as your car is somewhat modern (which I would think your 2006 Toyota would qualify). Most modern cars have computer controlled rev-limiters that actually make red-lining impossible.
Either way, that is a scary situation that nobody should ever have to be in. I'm glad you were able to stop the car each time without crashing.
The first time it happened was at least a full year and the mechanics thought it was me instead of the car, I started thinking it must have been me too even though I have been driving for almost 60 years without one accident! As far as turning off the key, it still would have had to slow down and never even knew to shift gears. At least I know that now, thank you!
The first time it happened was at least a full year and the mechanics thought it was me instead of the car, I started thinking it must have been me too even though I have been driving for almost 60 years without one accident! As far as turning off the key, it still would have had to slow down and never even knew to shift gears. At least I know that now, thank you!
I would suggest don't turn off the key because then the only breaking you're doing is with your foot in the booster is off. If you've been driving for 60 years think about the brakes in the first car you drove. You probably had good calf muscles.
The best thing to do if you've got to run away is shove it into neutral if you have the presence of mind to do it. a car developing a mind of its own and taking off wherever it wants can be pretty terrifying. I had that happen to me once and all I did was stomp on the brake until I got it slow enough I could think and I put it in neutral.
I tried to do this on purpose with my various cars.
I had a similar car to yours - a Chevy Geo. While driving along, I put my foot on the brake and then floored the gas. The brakes easily overpowered the engine.
Try this on your car.
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