I have a 2006 Toyota Avalon and have had the accelerator get stuck four times over the past two years. Each time was when I was pushing the accelerator down hard to gain speed. Three times I was forced to put both feet on the brakes as hard as I could to slow the acceleration and luckily I was in open stretches where I didn't have intersections or oncoming traffic to contend with. The fourth time was just recently, after I had heard about the recall and after I had verified the floor mats were secured properly. I actually reached down with my right hand and unstuck the accelerator. The floor mat was not in contact with the accelerator at all. This is a very unsafe condition. When this has happened, it has been terrifying and I am lucky it did not happen on a busy street. I literally had to put the full force of both feet on the brakes to slow down the uncontrolled acceleration. When I drive now, I am very careful not to fully engage the accelerator, for fear of it getting stuck and I also make sure I'm able to reach down to grab the accelerator if it gets stuck again. I have told my wife about this to make her aware of the problem and a way to "fix" it while driving, but this is not an acceptable condition and Toyota is wrong in saying it's strictly a floor mat issue.

- Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, USA

I concur with the Toyota owners who are saying that the problem is some electronic glitch. I have also experienced this. I only have the carpet mats, not the all weather ones, and just had them checked at the dealer and they are properly fastened. My car most often experiences a problem ( on occasion) when you "yield" at an intersection and don't stop--the car bucks or then bolts. It needs more looking into. These high speed accelerations being reported are scary!

- Itasca, IL, USA

Laser guided cruise control is unsafe...on curves it identifies cars approaching as in front and puts on the brakes and motor activates to stop the car. Had this in a couple of times but did not get better. Have to drive with it turned off. Believe that Toyota has now quit offering this unsafe option on their newer models. Should have reported this earlier.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Avalon. She experienced unintended vehicle acceleration when entering a parking space. As a consequence, she crashed into another vehicle. Her knee was injured. The cause of the failure was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 52,000.

- Melville , LA, USA

My 2006 Toyota Avalon is equipped with a laser cruise control. On 06/14/08, I was using the control when it failed. I was forced to suddenly apply the brakes to avoid crashing into the vehicle traveling in front of me on interstate 495. I have tested the unit several times since the initial failure and found it to be intermittent and unreliable. I have found it is unsafe to use the system.

- Vienna, VA, USA

Driving on a two lane highway, using the ir laser cruise control, and following a pickup truck at a speed below the "set" speed of the cruise system. As we approached a traffic signal the truck slowed and my cruise applied the brakes on my 2006 Toyota Avalon as it should. I applied the brake to disengage the cruise and to bring the car to a stop behind the pickup. At that point, everything appeared to be totally normal. But at a speed of approximately 30 mph the brake petal suddenly went to the floor and there was no evidence of any brakes. (total brake failure). I managed to find a hole thru the traffic, by entering the oncoming lane, and ran thru the intersection (against the red light), and managed to avoid vehicles at the light by turning left 90 degrees. Fortunately, other drivers at the intersection apparently saw me coming and held their positions. The car finally stopped rolling about 100 yards beyond the intersection. I shifted into "park" and tried to assess the situation. The engine continued to run, and when I stepped on the brakes again, the pedal responded as normal. The light on the dash indicated that the cruise control was disengaged, and there was no other warning light noticed. I had the vehicle transported to scottsboro, al by flatbed truck. It has been at the Toyota dealers for the past six days. They checked the computer for codes, and tell me that no codes were stored. They also said they called Toyota to see if they have any experience with a failure of this nature, and Toyota apparently told them they did not. Inspection of the vehicle did turn up a problem with the ir laser sensor, which was misaligned, but the dealer told me that would not cause a brake failure. Inability to stop a vehicle is a significant safety issue. Had the traffic pulled into the intersection as they should have, I would have had no place to go, and an serious accident would have occurred.

- Pisgah, AL, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Toyota Avalon. While driving 5 mph, the vehicle accelerated without warning and crashed into a brick column. The dealer stated that the floor mat could have caused the vehicle to accelerate. The current and failure mileages were 8,373.

- Camarillo, CA, USA

On three different occasions, while driving my 2006 Toyota Avalon XLS, I pressed down on the gas pedal to pass another vehicle and the gas pedal continued to depress on its own after I took my foot off of it. I stood on the gas pedal and it took about 5 seconds for the pedal to disengage after accelerating very rapidly. The third time, I had to shut off the ignition. I am afraid to press hard on the gas pedal at this point as it is a very frightening situation. A less experienced driver would get injured. I will not let anybody else drive my car because of this. The dealer had no explanation which I find very disturbing. Help!!

- Dedham, MA, USA

I have a 2006 Toyota Avalon with ~15,000 miles on it. Intermittently, the car will hesitate on acceleration. This is extremely dangerous as I have almost been rear-ended several times and have had to slam on the brakes, at times, to avoid a side-swipe collision. The delay in input to the accelerator pedal to actual acceleration is 2-4 seconds at times. This is a problem known to Toyota. The service department is aware of the problem but describes it as a "characteristic" of the drive by wire throttle system. This is a very dangerous "characteristic" and I'm certain will result in accidents. There are many examples on the "forum" on edmunds.com where owners have expressed the same problem/concern.

- Parker, CO, USA

: the contact stated intermittently, while accelerating and turning a corner the vehicle hesitated, and then lurched forward. The dealership was unable to determine the cause of the problem. Updated 10/17/2006 -

- Bonaire, GA, USA

2006 Toyota Avalon surged forward after resetting cruise control. The consumer stated the tachometer went into the red before she could react and hit the brake. After the consumer was able to hit the brake everything returned to normal.

- Pierre Part, LA, USA

Car did not start for several tries. On about the 5th try, the moment I shifted into reverse, the throttle stuck and the car hurtled out of the garage. It veered to the left (as you face the garage) immediately after clearing the garage, cut under the branches of a big spruce tree on the corner of my neighbor's lot, crossed his driveway, across a small drainage ditch and slammed into the trunk of a huge spruce tree. Car stopped then, with extensive damage to rear, and engine died. Car was drivable and I drove it to the dealer, who chose to not examine anything. During the event, I had my foot on the brake pedal but the anti-lock brakes kept it from locking the wheels and I tried to kill the engine by hitting the start button (there is no key on this model car). That did not work and I hit the tree before I could think of anything else to do. I was not hurt.

- Rockville, MD, USA

Re: Toyota 2006 Avalon I recently bought a Toyota Avalon. It now has 3800 miles on it. In the second week after the purchase, I was driving on a ramp to enter a limited access high way. Speed was about 50 mph as I blended in with the flow of traffic. The lane I was in started to slow down and the lane to my left had an open space. I pressed on the accelerator to gain speed and turned the steering wheel toward the left lane. The car, instead of accelerating, appeared to go into neutral, the tachometer reached almost 7000 RPM, then the transmission shifted into the passing gear and leaped forward. I almost hit the rear end of the car in front of me, but since my car had slowed down a little I was able to steer around and get into the left lane. I have gone into this detailed explanation to demonstrate the danger, and potential terrible accident at 50mph that the "?built in?? hesitation of the 2006 Toyota Avalon could have caused. After this experience, I went back to the dealer, got the explanation that the hesitation was normal for 2006 Toyota and nothing could be done about it. I told the dealer I did not want the car and wanted my money back. Of course that was refused. So I?"M still driving a car I think is dangerous. I thinktoyota should make a retro fit to correct the hesitation problem.

- Monroeville, PA, USA