Acceleration of vehicle on two separate occasions on interstate nearly causing death or injury. Could not stop vehicle. By the grace of god only my car sustained damage. The terror experienced should never have happened the first time, let alone twice! first time August 2007, claimed it was the floor mats. I felt the "lurch" after that and thought maybe I was just being paranoid. Until it happened the second time. It happened nine days ago. The dealer has had my car since the incident. I have yet to hear from them. I will not take the car back. Updated 11/13/09

- Louisville, KY, USA

2007 Lexus ES350 with sudden acceleration. Consumer states that the all weather floor mats were the cause of the sudden acceleration. He also states that he received a recall after he was in the accident. Recall# 07E082000 the consumer stated he experienced sudden acceleration twice. Both times his foot was still on the brake pedal, which resulted in severe damage to the front of the vehicle and also damage to a parked vehicle. The consumer stated as he was about to put the vehicle into park, it suddenly jumped six inches. Updated 03/16/11 the consumer has since traded the vehicle. Updated 05/19/11

- Cary, NC, USA

On two prior occasions the vehicle accelerated from speeds between 20-30 mph, to speeds up to 50-60 mph. On 9/11/07, the vehicle accelerated at speeds up to 80-90 mph. We are aware of the Lexus notification of floor mat interference, so we removed the mats after the first two times, but the last and most frightening, occurrence happened without the mat in the vehicle. The car had to be forced into park in order to slow it down to a halt. My wife was driving the vehicle at the time and she states she almost had several multiple car accidents while trying to stop the vehicle. I had the vehicle towed to the dealer and they said it's the floor mat, before even driving the car. We won't drive the car again until someone other than Lexus determines what the problem is.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Driving on a primary surface street, I stopped at a red light. I was the first car in the lane. When the light turned green I accelerated to change lanes, the car picked up speed and the brakes could not stop it. The car growled and jerked for a couple of blocks until I forced the gear out of "drive". it finally stopped before the next intersection. I did not lose control of the car and did not hit anyone. The car was at the Lexus repairs dept. For 5 days. I was told that I could not keep the two floor mats. They removed the factory installed carpeted mat, placed it in the trunk and left the thin, clear, protective plastic floor mat from Lexus. I never had all-weather floor mats. I do not know if there is any damage to the transmission, engine or brakes. Prior to the incident and since I have occasionally found it accelerating but it stops by braking. I have not attempted a high accelerating test. When I took the car to the repairs dept. I ask if they knew of other similar instances and was told "no". I only had 1,582 miles at the time and I thought I was the only one with the problem. On August 16, 2007 there was an article in the newspaper referring to your investigation and now request that my incident be included. The consumer provided pictures of the floor mats, accelerator pedal and a repair invoice. Updated 09/10/07

- Santa Monica, CA, USA

While accelerating to merge onto an interstate, the Lexus ES350 purchased earlier in the month continued to accelerate. I had to brake with my left foot while pumping the accelerator with my right foot to free the stuck accelerator. When I arrived home, the only thing I could think of was that the accelerator became stuck on the floor mat. I had the all-weather floor mat on top of the carpet mat. I slid the all weather car mat as far back as possible. This problem has not recurred. Despite having the car back to the dealer at least 3 times since this incident, no one at the dealership did anything to correctly install the all-weather mats nor did anyone at the dealership ask me if I ever experienced such a problem.

- Copley, OH, USA

On May 20, 2007 when I was driving in a high traffic private parkway the vehicle suddenly accelerated and hit three other cars. The road had a very gentle up slope and a small curve. The engine was roaring very loud as I tried very hard to brake, but the brake was not effective. I hit three cars: Right, front and front right. One of the by stander told me that her parents had a similar experience with the same model car less than a week before that on a highway. Also, the front car passenger reported that she heard an unusual loud engine noise from my car in the police report. Later, the insurance company's assessor informed me that there was a memorandum from the manufacturer to insurance companies about the all weather floor mat for this model could cause sudden acceleration on the throttle. I reported the accident to the customer service specialist from the manufacturer on May 21, 2007. They have sent a field technician to inspect the car on June 7, 2007, and he concluded there was no mechanical problem with the car. The specialist told me to submit any car rental expense claim through the insurance company, and any further action will have to deal directly with their legal department. I also talked with two service staffers from 2 different dealerships, and they informed me that they were aware of the floor mat problem about the same model of my car. Since then I have found 18 similar complaints about the same model car in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site. I want the manufacturer to reimburse all my car rental expenses and to replace my car because I have no confidence about the car warranty, and I should not be bearing the depreciation cost for a crashed car. The manufacturer should recall all the cars that have the floor mat package.

- Rolling Meadows, IL, USA

Vehicle accelerated rapidly and would not stop, even after repeated attemps to brak creating an extremely dangerous situation while driving on interstate. I eventually was able to put the car into neutral, and the engine raced violently, and turn off the ignition. After calling Lexus roadside assistance, while waiting for the assistance to arrive, I noticed that the accelerator pedal had been wedged in the rubber floor mat. I have not yet determined if the incident damaged the engine or brakes.

- Chicago, IL, USA

The gas paddle on my Lexus ES350 was locked and not released after I depressed the gas paddle to its full stroke and removed my foot during driving and on park. This was a serious safety fault that caused the car to continue accelerating even after removing foot from the gas paddle.

- Huntington Beach, CA, USA